1. How have your post-production skills developed throughout your AS and A2 coursework
I believe that I have progressed from AS to A2 as I have developed my skills in post-production. At AS
I think that my skills in using the software was relatively basic whereas at A2 I could then use my
knowledge and gain even more technical ability to achieve a more professional and industry
standard level of production of my work.
For my AS post-production work I used Adobe Photoshop CS5 to create my magazine which
consisted of a front cover, contents page and double page spread. This allowed me to work with a
blank canvas which I could experiment with; however I only had developed basic skills in using the
tools on Photoshop. For example, when I inserted my photography I applied basic editing techniques
such as brightness and contrast, increased saturation and selective colour to enhance the aesthetic
quality of my star image of my artist. However, I did develop my post-production skills by
researching tutorials on how to cut my artist out using the lasso tool, which allowed me to use the
refine edge tool as well which I otherwise would not have encountered. But my skills in Photoshop
were still limited, due to the my magazine brief I reduplicated the same layered editing styles such as
the levels tool on different photographs across my contents and double page spread. Also, due to
lack of skills I did not develop my preliminary on Photoshop but drew it; whereas at A2 I could
quickly use my skills from AS to create a quick but representational image of my desired aesthetic
look of my Digipak and Album Advert for my preliminary. The DIKW model can be applied here as
without my previous knowledge from AS I would not have been able to progress as quickly in the
time restraints on my A2 post-production work.
During A2 however I believe my post-production skills progressed because the advanced portfolio
was less restricting in terms of genre so I could use new tools that were not applicable at AS. For
example, at A2 I used Adobe Photoshop CS6 I was able to use the darken layer application on my in-
scanned image of my hand-drawing. These removed any negatives white areas from the paper and
left the outline of the sketch. By using additional scanning technology in my post-production I was
able to represent my artist in a hyper real aesthetic. By not being restricted to photography at AS I
was able to develop knowledge of new editing styles that I could not use at AS. In addition I have
also been more accurate at A2 than at AS which allowed me to provide an industry standard
outcome. For example, I frequently use the scale tool to keep images, such as my sketches and text,
in proportion and so they did not become distorted which was not as prominent at AS.
From AS to A2 I also increased my awareness of post-production styles similar to that of real media
texts which allowed my ability in the software to increase to a professional standard. For example, I
used Adobe Premiere Element 8.0 to create my music video, a new software I had never used
before, and analysed the conventions of other real media texts and use my software to replicate
these. This was evident as in a particular text, Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’, where a fade
out was used at the end of the video to connote to the audience it had finished. I then experimented
with the same Fade Out tool on Premiere Elements, altering the opacity of the fade and the length
of the fade which I eventually incorporated in the end of my final music video. I had more freedom
to choose techniques such as these at A2; in this case I complied with Bentley’s theory that ‘the
making of the new and rearranging of the old’ makes new texts, such as my own where I adapted old
conventions in my new text via post-production. From my knowledge of similar tools on Photoshop
at AS these were also applicable to the editing techniques of Premiere Elements. For example, I used

2. a black and white overlay on a verse of my music video, from AS I knew this was a technique but had
not opportunity to apply it to my cover, contents or double page spread. I also applied this black and
white technique on a slow section of the song to connote a deeper and reflective mood of my artist;
whereas at A2 I only adopted increased saturation to represent my artist in an appealing light.
At A2 I believe I have become more confident in my post production skills. I only had previous
knowledge of Windows Movie Maker during my preliminary music video to test the basic tools, such
as straight cut and clipping. However, I used straight cut more confidently, using the slow motion
tool/replay on Adobe to ensure that my lip syncing was as accurate as possible and not random. I
also edit shot types in post-production, such as cropping my video to an extreme close-up, rather
than relying on production on the day which was evident in my AS. By using this cropping tool in
post-production I could apply Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory and use close up shots of my artist
to make her more appealing to my target market. This tool gave me freedom of selection of shot
types, even if I had not filmed in that particular shot whereas for AS I was reliant on the outcome of
Photography for the positioning on my canvas on Photoshop. I also adopted new techniques I did
not use in my preliminary A2 music video, such as speeding up a shot of my artist picking up the
telephone. This gave my video more variety and added interest to Barthes’ Amplification narrative
theory I had chosen to apply as shots such as these are symbolic to the mood of my star artist.
Overall, I believe that I have progressed greatly in terms of post-production. But without the basic
knowledge I had learned at AS I would not have been able to achieve a higher standard at A2. These
skills will allow me to improve further and refine my work.