Our first practical excersise.

Our practical exercise consisted of filming a ruff and ready twenty minute sequence. We were instructed to make it simple, and to film each action from different shots for editing purposes. The idea we had in my group was to do a short sequence of shots, entailing of a man running from an invisible foe, slamming into a room, writing something and then chocking on his chair. We also planned a delightfully cliché ending; by a close up shot of what he wrote, which would read “virus”. Unfortunately our piece did not go as well as planned, due to the fact that we did not follow our orders precisely and our composition may have been slightly warped. Despite all this I am happy with our first attempt for mans greatest teacher is failure.

Introduction to video camera.

In our next practical lesson, my classmates and I were introduced to the mechanics of a professional camera and a tripod. It was necessary to learn some of the basics in order to continue with the Media Studies course. We learnt about the general technical operation of the camera paying attention to composition, exposure, controlling lighting, focus, tripod mechanics and shutter speed. This was preparing us for a practical exercise in the upcoming week.

Our introduction to Photoshop.

pIn our accumulation of necessary skills to explore in Media Studies; Photoshop (apart from a few technical terms) was the first mystery we attempted to unravel. We were given an introduction on the programme and then left to our own devices. Photoshop is incredibly important for it allows you to warp any image to your liking. Film posters (which we have looked at) are a very small field in proportion to the gargantuan amount of things you can do with it. Basic skills with Photoshop will be necessary for the course and generally a great skill to have.

Introduction to working in the studio.

Starting Media Studies we were first introduced to a small simulation of work in the studio. Several of my class mates volunteered to either manage the lighting, camera or even be the interviewer. My other classmates and I were then selected to answer a list of simple questions and tell a joke on camera in a TV interview representation.
The idea was to give us a modest idea of either on screen or behind the scenes work that Media Studies would entail. I thoroughly enjoyed it and relished the opportunity to tell a joke on screen. Because the exercise was a rather precise simulation, I learnt that most celebrities when being interviewed will be given second or even third takes if they are not happy with the footage; unless of course it’s live. This has taught me that when observing a TV interview, I must acknowledge that the normally smooth and quick witted answers are not improvised and are possibly even prepared before hand by assistants and other such employees.