Revisiting the Studio Guide this week has both refreshed the aim of our studies in this course, as well as highlighted my change in thought when discussing coverage. I initially chose this studio as my first glimpse into media studies because I was interested in learning about the basic operations of technical equipment, and wanted to investigate how these instruments could be used creatively.

With only a minuscule of technical knowledge when beginning the course six weeks ago, I definitely feel that I have achieved my goal of gaining a ground level knowledge on how to operate film equipment.  My second aim, to see how these skills could be used in unique ways, has not been developed too much yet. I think that perhaps I had a slight misconception about the focus of the course when I first found out about it. The Studio Guide notes that coverage can have two quite broad meanings. One meaning relates more so to “expressive potential”, and the art of cinema. It is this area of creativity that was at the forefront of my mind at the beginning of the course.

The second perspective on coverage is simply being able to capture a scene, which “alludes to functionality and industrial efficiency, and is closely associated with the notion of the supremacy of a script, or text, as blueprint”. It is this definition that we have been focusing on a lot in class. Although this is not exactly how I assumed the course would be conducted when it first began, It has been an important and valuable lesson into some of the dynamics of the film-making industry, and the collaborative nature of a film set. At the start of the semester my definition of coverage was too narrowly focused on the creative elements of the concept, and did not consider the other, more industrial ways in which this term could be applied. 

Now, six weeks in, my thoughts on the two major perspectives on coverage are far more equally balanced in their importance. Becoming more knowledgeable on the politics and procedures involved with filming has heightened the importance of the “Do we have sufficient coverage?” way of thinking in my mind, so that it is now on par with the creative elements of the term. I would, however, like to explore the creative side of coverage throughout the rest of the semester. We have learnt a lot about the rules of film-making in the first half of the course, but rules are often made to be broken. I have been considering choosing the 180 degree line as the topic for my individual research project, as I think this will allow me to research both the technical and creative side of coverage. It is a frequently noted rule that ‘the line’ between two characters is not to be crossed by the camera, but this has been achieved successfully before. I think it would be interesting to investigate how this can and can’t be done. Hopefully, by delving deeper into this area of interest I will be able to further fulfill my aim of becoming both creative and technically competent in my work.