Evaluation of my Progress so Far

What have I learnt?
I have learnt the way the camera is used in a media text to portray a character, setting and atmosphere through the different shots and angles. For example, I have learnt that a high angle camera shot portrays a weak and inferior character. I have also leanrt about mise-en-scene which is everything related to what you see in the frame of a pice of media e.g. costume, props and lighting, and how this can be used to add and create effects, as well as tell us more about the characters we are seeing. I now understand how different types of music and sound can be added to a piece of media text for a number of different reasons. For example I now know there is diegetic sound (within the scene) and non- diegetic sound (added through editing). As well as this, I have learnt the other techniques that are used such as amplifying a sound such as a watch ticking, to make it more noticeable. In addition, I have leant about how sophisticated genre is, and the codes and conventions of many genres, in particular, thriller to aid my coursework. Furthermore, I have gained a better understanding of title sequences and I have analysed many to find out key aspects of them to learn from.
In addition, I've also learnt how to share responsibilities within a group and ensure I manage my own time and work to make sure I'm organised in order to meet deadlines. Furthermore, I have learnt how to blog on a website because I had no knowledge of this when I joined the course. This doesn't just concern my ability to blog content that we have covered in lessons, or my own individual work. But I have also learnt how to improve my evaluative skills in order to evaluate and highlight what I've learnt from my own and my groups individual work.

How have I learnt this?
I have learnt a lot through going to my media lessons and being told how camera, mise-en-scene etc. affect a piece of media text, and what we can learn about the text from this. We usually then put our learning into practise by watching a past exam clip, making notes, and discussing what we have seen as a class. For example, recently we looked at how editing was used in an episode of Dr Who. I have also learnt through questioning my coursework group to see how and if they understand something I'm not hundred percent sure of. If none of us are too sure we tend to research it together so we can all learn from the experience. Furthermore, I have gained a better understanding of some topics through taking what I've learnt in lessons, and then adding to my knowledge by doing some individual research in order to post it on my blog. I also find it useful to have a look at other blogs from my class and see if anything they have posted can add to my learning.

My Strengths
I see myself as a rather efficient person which means I like to see what jobs I need to do, study deadlines, then complete my work in order to meet them. Therefore, I believe one of my key strengths is my time managment because I like to be orgainsised and up to date with my work. I also believe another of my strengths is to produce thorough evaluations of my own, and my grops work in order to show exactly what I've leanrt. In addition, I feel my understanding of how a camera is used in the media is strong, as well as my undertsanding of mise-en-scene.

My Weaknesses
I think one of my weaknesses would definitley have to be in my ability to edit a piece of camera work. I would say I have very basic knowledge in some of the techniques used to edit camera and film, but at this moment in time I would be very unsure as to how to put this into practise. Another of my main weakenesses is that I've stuck to mainly typing and adding a few pictures to my blog and I haven't yet shown a variety of ICT skills by adding presentations, audio, or video. I also struggle with understanding some of the semiotics we learnt at the beginning of the term. Even though I have gone back and revised them, I continue to get confused with the differences between an iconic and symbolic sign. This means that I will have to try another technique of attempting to learn this.

Targets
I have set myself some targets in order to aid and continue my learning.
1. To study and attempt to learn some basic techniques of editing a piece of camera work, to ensure I have a better understanding when it comes to editing our coursework.
2. To show a range of ICT skills on my blog by adding audio and video to some of my posts.
3. To have another attempt at learning the difference between an iconic and symbolic sign, possibly by using the textbook, or talking to one of my teachers.

Overall Progress
Overall I believe I've progressed a great deal as an A level media student so far. I have gained a lot of knowledge on techniques used within the media for example, camera and sound, and ideas about representation and genre. As well as learning to develop a number of skills such as, working in a group, evaluating work and blogging. Having identified my strengths, weaknesses and setting targets, I now know what specific areas I need to work on as an individual to progress even further.