Coursework

I decided to evaluate past media coursework projects in order to recognize areas of both strengths and weaknesses. The briefs for these coursework are different than my brief however the micro elements (shot types etc) still apply even if the macro elements are different. As the documentary coursework was extremely limited, I decided to watch a few different genres of coursework.

http://online.clickview.co.uk/libraries/categories/cef16778-d896-6a9d-6eb3-a9979d3b32a9/videos/a35a7454-7a9a-0e14-b195-4625a6bb0269/soham-station-documentary
Soham Station Documentary

Pros
Makes use of Broll
Archive footage


Cons
Horrific audio (sounds like it was recorded with a colander)
Balance of music and voice over is wrong - you can't hear voice over
Links are boring and energetic 
Lack of variety of shots

http://online.clickview.co.uk/libraries/categories/f6b652a2-0389-0ead-4cf4-07fa4c61bd14/2011?sort=productionyear
Wake up call

Pros
Good misc-en-scene
Contains genre conventions of horror - fire, blood etc

Cons
 Confusing, distorted music

Deception

Pros
Good use of lighting - specifically dead body
Good set design - police control center
Good credit scene

Cons
Audio difficult to hear
Doesn't follow genre conventions of "previously" - should quickly summaries previous episode with fast paced editing and cross cutting instead is very slow

Overall I was underwhelmed by the coursework. I felt that although effort had been put into the individual micro elements they were not tied together; there was a lack of focus on Macro elements. I feel that generally the coursework would have been better if they had analysis genre conventions and followed these (although it can be necessary to break them you have to be able to justify it).
I felt that in many projects there was a lack of purpose (as in the ambition of the director) and a lack of respect for the assignment as an art form. I had the sense that many students completed this as a task - instead of  an expression of themselves and a vision they really wanted the world to see.

None of the films made use of non natural lighting - however not everyone has access to lighting equipment (although hardware stores sell very cheap building lights!). This would have increased the quality of the interior scenes and allowed more artistic freedom. There was also a lack of attention to audio mixing and recording. This could very easily be improved through the use of a microphone and recording equipment. Color correction and grading was also ignored largely in the coursework that  I watched and non of the editing was particularly impressive.