Today in class I was fortunate to have my Assessment One task (My Water Bottle Saves Lives) presented to the class and, as a result, I was able to receive copious amounts of feedback from everyone. I was rather happy with the final product which made it easier to be comfortable with my work being shown and also was a way to receive particularly valuable feedback; the Black and Yellow feedback (being recommendations for how I can improve a piece with which I am already happy) are predominantly ideas which I had not considered and thus give me direction on where to explore and develop my skills in order to improve the quality of my work.

The pieces of feedback which stood out to me most and which will direct me in where to focus my attention for improving my work are as follows:

• “Maybe adding a backing track?” (Jack)
  Audio is the area of media production with which I’m least acquainted. I agree that a backing track could have made a huge difference to this piece and is imperative to the integrity of film so it is an area of knowledge and skill which I want to focus on expanding this semester.

• “Editing a little awkward – could have better rhythm.” (Ellie)
  This is something I’ve always struggled with. I always hoped that perhaps the editing felt awkward to me because it was my own work and I knew what to expect but I think it is an area I need to focus on a little more. Youtube tutorials here I come.

• “Different shots – all felt very close up.” (Ellie) (Also similar to Adrian’s feedback regarding experimenting with depth of field and focus)
  I haven’t played with my camera for a while and this assignment reminded me of my love of getting creative with it – if only I wasn’t so out of practice. Some of the other works which stood out to me as being polished and high quality made extensive use of more complex photography and filming techniques and I think that this is a skill which can immediately increase the impact and quality of a final product.

So shoutout to Ellie for all of her feedback, it really stood out to me as being something I could actively work on and once I read her points I understood and agreed with exactly what she was saying. I enjoyed this first task and I’m looking forward to acting on this feedback and seeing where it will take me.