Creative Critcal Reflection

Please click the links below to view my creative critical reflection questions and answers.

Question 1 (Audio Recording)

Question 2 (Canva)

Question 3 (Prezi)

Question 4 (Essay) 

Film Introduction

After much time I present to you my group's film introduction.

Sink or Swim, a film about a 17-year-old Pearl Williams who takes a seemingly innocent jog along the coastal path but is abducted due to family history and must fight for her final breath in the C-10 Canal.  

Week 28 in Aice Media Studies

Introduction

    We turned in our film to our teacher for a review and received our feedback.

What I Did

    After we turned in our film introduction, our teacher gave us feedback. She told us that our film was very good and that all we needed to change was a missing editor's credit and to make the background music a bit higher in a part of it.

What I Learned

    Through this entire experience of filming our introduction, I have learned that teamwork and an open mind will get you further in life than anything else. If I had not listened to my groupmates, I would have never completed this project, and together we made something that we are all very proud of. Working together made every task a bit easier, and keeping an open mind ensured that we never got mad at each other. We were always on the same page, with none of us falling behind.

Week 27 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This was our last week working on our film introduction. We finished filming and moved into the editing process.

What I Did

    This time around for editing, I faced another learning curve due to Adobe Premiere Pro updating to the 2025 version, and some of the past tool locations had changed. I started off with uploading all of our footage and labeling each clip.

    Then I moved all of the clips onto the timeline in order and started to trim them down using the razor tool. I also added transitions to some of the clips. Once everything lined up, I started to work on our title, which appears at the end of the introduction.

    Next, I started adding audio. I use Pixabay for audio since it is all royalty-free and requires no attribution. Now that I had all my audio clips, I added them to the timeline, trimmed them down, and added transitions to each.

    After everything looked good, flowed smoothly, and was in order, I started adding the credits. I dispersed them throughout the introduction to mimic a real-world film.

What I Learned

    I learned how to flicker, skew, fade out, and warp text. To flicker the text, I first had to add a text box and type what I wanted. Then, I went into the effects search bar and looked up "strobe." I then applied the strobe effect to the text and adjusted the speed, allowing it to flicker faster. Next, I changed to strobe color so that the text would appear more red.

    To skew the text, I had to double-click on a pre-existing text box in the timeline and apply a transform effect to the text. Once the effect was added, I could skew the text with a slide bar from the effects control panel that opened up.

    Then to fade out the text, I had to add a linear wipe effect to the text. Then, put the transition completion to zero, moved forward a few seconds on the timeline, and changed the transition completion to 100 percent. Next, I added another linear wipe to the text but on the end of the text box and repeated the previous steps.

    Lastly, to warp text, I used the same process for skewing the text. However, instead of using the skew slider in the effects control panel, I used the warp slider. Both effects work similarly.

Week 26 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This week we started and finished filming our introduction.

What I Did

     We met at our team member, Piper's, house at 7 in the morning to start filming. We started with a debrief of our filming schedule and shot list. We then moved to our first location, which was outside in front of the house we were filming at. We made our first scene outside in the road. This was where the characters were introduced. Piper was the one running, and Vivienne was the one driving in the car behind her. We got many scenes of entering and exiting the car. There was also a mini "fight" scene between them where we see their relationship as characters. Established in this scene, we see that Vivienne is out to get Piper.

    Then, we started our inside filming. There was a scene where Vivienne dragged Piper in the house to show a relocation of scenery. She then also gets dragged on the stairs, and this is where we decided to add the credits in editing. Then she got put into the attic. It was hard to film in there due to the low roofs and also the limited space to film camera angles. There is a short scene of dialogue where the audience gets a little information about why Piper is being kidnapped. 

     Then, there is a new scene where we film in the backyard. The house we filmed at had a dock and boat, which was the inspiration for this film in the first place. Then, Vivienne takes Piper down to the attic and out to the backyard. They then go to the boat, where I filmed from different angles. We practiced how Vivienne would push Piper into the pool because we only have one take for this. Then, she pushed her into the water. We also go to the scene where she took a breath out of the water.

    Finally, the filming process was over. We did go over the clips throughout the filming to see if we needed to redo a clip or shot. 

What I Learned

    I learned that by making a plan and sticking to it or adjusting it if necessary is very helpful. This made our filming process go very smoothly. Also, by brainstorming beforehand, we knew exactly what scenes to film, and we finished filming earlier than planned.

Week 24 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This was not something learned in just one week; rather, it was something I learned over the course of this class. 

What I Did

    Over the course of this class, my group produced a short film and a documentary. However, this was not the only thing we did together. We had to make scripts, loglines, storyboards, ideas, and edits. During the entire course of this class, I was never working alone; everything was a group assignment. 

What I Learned

    All of this collaboration taught me how to properly work together in a group. Previously, I was always a bit nervous to work in groups, but now I have gained confidence. I also learned to appreciate working in groups. Both of my group members are very hard workers and help take on some of the workload. 

Week 23 in AICE Media Studies; Continued

Introduction

    Today we had a class discussion and lecture on the syllabus.

What I Did

    My teacher handed out the official Cambridge syllabus to the class so we could take notes. We started off by reviewing the foundation portfolio, command words, the film opening video, processes, and the creative critical reflection.

    Then, we moved onto reviewing component two. We discussed sections A and B, along with AO1 and AO2.

What I Learned

    I already knew everything for the foundation portfolio because we had already reviewed it as a class. However, for component two, I learned that AO1 is about demonstrating knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts, and critical debates, using terminology appropriately. I then learned that AO2 is about analyzing media products and evaluating your own work by applying knowledge and understanding of theoretical and creative approaches, supported with relevant textual evidence.

    Next, I learned that the media text will be shown four times, and the screening time will last a total of 30 minutes, including the note-taking. For section B, we learned that we have to start studying case studies to be able to answer one of the questions. 

    Lastly, we reviewed the technical elements needed to correctly analyze the unseen media for section A. They are camera shots, angles, movement, composition, sound, mise-en-scene, and editing. We have already been taught these individually earlier in the year.

Week 23 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    We did a final review of what the film introduction entails before finalizing our film intros.

What I Did

    On Monday, we reviewed the outlines of the film introduction again, ensuring we were all on the same page. Then, we watched the first two minutes of some famous movies to make sure we understood what was expected of us. This helped me clarify if our introduction would be interesting enough. 

    Next, we finalized the scripts for our film introductions with Ms. Pistocchi. She approved ours on the first try. Some other groups had to retry a few times. We spent the rest of class on this.

What I Learned

    I learned how to make the introduction to your film interesting. After watching clips of famous movies, we realized we needed to end the introduction on a hook, so we added one. I also learned that the first two minutes of a movie can be one of the most important parts. This taught me that if you do not trap people within the first few minutes of your film, then you will lose them.

Week 22 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    We worked on some troubleshooting and designing blogs.

What I Did

    Firstly, we had to do some troubleshooting with our blogs because all of ours had a "read more" button, but Ms. Pistocchi told us that we cannot have that.

      Then, we decided to focus on making our blogs more personalized. I personally added nicer colors and a new background. 

What I Learned

    I learned how to remove the "read more" tab on Blogger.com posts. To do this I just had to make the "available posts" a higher number. 

     I also learned how to customize my blog. My group member Vivienne taught me how to change the header on my blog. All I had to do was go into "layout" and click edit. After clicking edit, I just pressed add image and shrink to fit.

Week 21 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

     We created a poster for our film and discussed our creative film reflections. 

What I Did

    We started off Tuesday's class with a discussion on our creative critical reflections. Ms. Pistocchi
went over everything we need to include in them and her expectations of us. 

      After we broke off into our groups. we decided to make the poster for our film introduction since we could not work on our creative critical reflection.

What I Learned

     I learned about the creative critical reflection. The reflection is made up of four questions;

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

     I also learned how to isolate a subject in Photoshop and darken the background. Then, I used the paintbrush to lighten part of the subjects face, creating a spotlight effect. 

     

Week 20 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    We started off class with an informative video and then worked on our scripts for the final project.

What I Did

    We watched a tutorial on how to write an elevator pitch, logline, and an outline. Then, we had a class discussion on loglines since Ms. Pistocchi wants us to write one for our film finals. After the class discussion, we got into our groups for the final and started writing our loglines.

What I Learned

    I learned what a logline is and how to write one. A logline is a brief two-sentence summary of a television program, film, short film, or book that states the central conflict of the story. Our film introduction logline is "17-year-old Pearl Williams takes a seemingly innocent jog along the coastal path but is abducted due to family history and must fight for her final breath in the C-10 Canal." 

    I also learned that an outline is a scene-by-scene breakdown of the entire story of your screenplay. I also learned that an elevator pitch is a 30- or 60-second summary of your film that explains the concept in a way that any listener can understand it in a short period of time.

    

Week 16 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

   On our first day back, we continued the presentations. All the groups finished presenting. On Wednesday, we discussed the guidelines for our AICE exams and what we will be doing for the next semester.

What I Did

   On Monday I watched the last four groups present their projects and do their Kahoots.

    Then, on Wednesday we discussed how the film introduction for the AICE exam would work. Ms. Pistocchi explained how it needed to be a maximum of two minutes long, how many group members were allowed, and what exactly a film introduction should consist of.

    Next, we divided into groups and started planning our film introductions. My group consists of Piper Wilson and Vivienne Horvath. We started thinking about the plot, supplies, mise-en-scène, locations, and lighting. In the next class, we will start storyboarding and scheduling our filming.

    On Friday we made the storyboard for our film introduction. 

What I Learned

    I learned about film editing techniques like superimposition. Superimposition is when two or more separate images overlap each other in one single frame. It makes it so that both images are seen simultaneously in the shot until the first image fades out entirely. Superimposition adds a dream like quality to the film.

    I also learned what an ellipsis is. An ellipsis is a narrative technique in film that removes a display of action/movement to audience, which allows the viewer to logically fill in the narrative gaps in the film. 

    Next, I was informed what the expansion of time was in the film. It is contrary to the ellipsis. Expansion of time is a technique used to extend the displayed time it takes for an action/movement to take place. Filmmakers use this to deliberately slow down or extend a moment or scene, making it appear longer than it would in real life. 

    One group taught me the difference between a static composition and a dynamic composition. A static composition is when the shot is still and there is minimal movement. A dynamic composition is when the camera is moving a lot and there is motion in the scene.

    The same group also informed me what the various vectors are. A graphic vector is when a stationary element in a scene indicates direction. An index vector takes the form of something in the shot that is pointing somewhere, such as a one-way sign. Motion vectors are created by elements in the shot that are moving in a certain direction.

    Lastly, I learned what linear perspective is. It is when parallel lines go to a singular vanishing point.

Week 15 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

   We all presented our projects and played each other's Kahoot.

 

What I Did

   We presented our project first and then our Kahoot. Everyone in our class did well on our Kahoot. 

    Then, another group presented, and we did their Kahoot. I only missed one question on the Kahoot. However, I did learn from my mistake.

    On Thursday, three more groups presented their projects. The first group focused on sound, the second group focused on soundtracks, and the final group focused on camera shots and angles.

What I Learned

   I learned about the components that make up mise-en-scene. The components are location, studio, set design, costume and makeup, lighting, and color design.

    Next, I learned about the different types of sound. The presentation taught me about diegetic and non-diegetic sound, synchronous versus asynchronous sound, sound motif, mode of address, and direct address.

    Lastly, I already knew the camera angles and shots since we had gone over them in class.

Week 14 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    We spent the entire week finishing up our presentation on the various types of cutting in editing.

 

What I Did

    On Wednesday, I completed all my slides for the presentation and added some transitions and graphics. All of my group members finished their slides too.

    Then, on Friday, we all worked on the Kahoot for the presentation. The Kahoot would act as an interactive element of the project. 

 

What I Learned

    I learned a few new film cutting techniques, such as the reverse shot, which is when you start with a shot of a character and then cut to what the character is looking at, and finally you cut back to the initial shot to show the character's reaction. 

    I also learned what a graphic match is. A graphic match cut juxtaposes two or more shots with similar graphic elements, like shape, line, or color, usually in different settings. Another method I learned was the action match. The action match transitions from one shot to another while matching the action of the first shot.  

    The next technique was one I already knew how to accomplish but never knew its name, parallel editing. Parallel editing is when two or more scenes that are happening simultaneously are cut interchangeably to show that they are occurring at the same time.

Lastly, I learned what an insert shot is. It's any shot whose only objective is to draw the viewer's attention to a single aspect inside a scene.

 

  

Week 13 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    On November 6, we watched all the documentaries that the class produced. On Friday, we learned some new vocabulary and film techniques. 

What I Did

    On November 6, we watched all the documentaries. We voted our Lego Movie Documentary the best in class.

    On Friday, we did a discussion-based assignment to reflect on the entire process of making our documentary.

    Then, after finishing the assignment, we started our next project. This project will be an interactive presentation on the various forms of film cutting. We only managed to finish the first two slides because the last assignment took longer than expected. We will continue next week.

What I Learned

    I learned that the majority of people loved my group documentary. I also learned what a reverse shot is. It is a film cutting technique where the shot starts with a character and then cuts to a shot of what or who that character is looking at, and finally cuts back to the initial shot to show the character's reaction.

 

    

Week 12 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This week, we are editing and publishing our documentary and will have a watch party for all the films on Friday.

 

What I Did

    I started the week by editing the documentary. It took about five hours to edit due to my still being new to Premiere Pro. I used many tutorials to figure out how to edit certain parts. I used the weekend and Monday to complete all the editing. 

    On Tuesday, Ms. Pistocchi graded our documentary. My group received 100%, with our only issue being that our audio quality was slightly inconsistent. I decided to go back into Premiere Pro and fix that, as it was relatively easy. Now, our film will be ready for Friday's watch party.

    On Friday, our teacher was not at school, so we worked on an analysis of a PSA from ShortCutsTV on YouTube.

 

What I Learned

    While I was editing, I learned new things. I wanted to zoom into a picture to use it as a transition into the next clip, so I used a tutorial on YouTube to teach me. I also learned how to use a green screen. It was simpler than I thought it would be. All I had to do was add the desired background to the clip under the green screen on the timeline. Then, I just had to go into video effects and drag the "Ultra Key" effect onto the green screen clip. After that, I just used the eyedropper tool to select green, and the clip now had a different background. 

    Next, I wanted to split a clip into multiple parts, so I looked up how to do this. A short Google search informed me that the razor tool on the sidebar of the timeline can do this. So, I used the razor tool to split up a few clips and sound bites.

    Afterwards, because I now knew how to use the razor tool, I could create J cuts and L cuts. This was helpful as our documentary had many voiceovers. The J cuts and L cuts made it much more interesting. 

    Since I did not want the voiceovers to sound hollow, I needed to add background music. I already knew how to add background music, but I needed to add another sound line to the timeline. I figured I could do this without a tutorial, so I clicked around a bit and found out all you have to do is use the scroll bar on the right side of the timeline. I used the bar to scroll down a bit and made enough space for a second sound bar where I added the background music. 

    All the editing was done on Premiere Pro. I have loved learning all this new information and techniques. I can't wait for our next project.

Week 10-11 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This week we continued working on our documentary.  

What I Did

    Today, we started class with a mock exam to prepare us for our final. We watched a 15-minute short film called Melons and wrote down all the shot types, editing variations, and anything else we could spot, like when they used cross-cutting or a medium shot. Afterward, we discussed the notes we took as a class. I wrote down most of the different techniques used, only missing a few.

    Then, we broke off into groups to continue working on our documentaries. Today we added to our script and filmed an interview. 

    Sadly, another hurricane hit Florida, and we missed another day of school, so there was no progress made Wednesday. However, on Friday we managed to film an interview. I will turn this into another two-week blog as we missed school one day and have a short week coming up.

    Wednesday was a school-wide testing day, so we were not in class and could not complete any work.

    Friday, we could not bring our backpacks because there was a pep rally. Due to this, we were only able to film a small amount. There are only three more scenes before we are done filming. 

What I Learned

    During these two weeks, I learned how to analyze a film. Ms. Pistocchi taught the class how you would analyze the meaning of a film by breaking it down, frame by frame. Then, you would explain how each frame furthers the plot, affects the tone or mood, or creates an effect on the film or audience. This will be very helpful for the AICE exam at the end of the year.

Week 8-9 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This week in class we continued working on our documentaries. My group finished scripting and moved on to filming. Most groups are still working on their scripts and storyboards, so it is pleasant to be ahead. We are definitely putting way more effort into this project now that we know our way around the basics of everything. 

What I Did

    On Tuesday, September 24, my group started off with some scripting. We finalized some fine details and formulated our interview questions. We did a final review of the script, and everyone in the group sat down to read over it silently. We fixed a few mistakes and moved on to the next step.

    Next, we started the filming process. We filmed our introduction and one interview. That was all we were able to get done for this class period. Thursday we will pick up where we left off. 

    Sadly, due to living in Florida, school was canceled Thursday, so I was not able to work on my project. I decided to turn this into a two-week blog as I did not get a chance to learn anything new this week. 

    Monday, at the beginning of class, Ms. Pistocchi showed everyone a video on the basics of film cutting. The video was by The Shot List covering the main seven film cutting techniques. Once the video finished, we discussed the notes we took as a class.

    Then, we broke off into our groups to continue working on our documentaries. Afterwards we worked on voiceovers and uploading the film clips we have to our Google Drive. 

    Wednesday, we continued working on our voiceovers, but we could not do anything else because we had a substitute. Due to this we were not allowed to go into any of the other rooms, like our green room. This meant we could not film any interviews or in-person clips.

    Lastly, we started searching for clips to add to the documentary. We were not able to find all of our needed clips. We will continue next week.

What I Learned

    This week I learned about various types of cutting in film. The video we watched went over the main types of film cutting: eyeline match, point of view shot, cross cutting, split edit, intellectual montage, and cut-on action. 

 

    Then we went into further detail on the different types. An eyeline match cuts to what the character sees. A point-of-view shot cuts to what the editor sees. Cross-cutting is where the editors cut between two scenes that are happening at the same time. A split edit can either be a J cut or an L cut, where the audio or visual changes before one or the other. An intellectual montage puts "random" shots together to create a certain atmosphere for the viewers. A cut on action is a cut on a character's action, creating a smoother scene. 

    After the video, our class discussed a very important fact, which is that eyes motivate the cut. This was all I learnt last week and this week in AICE Media Studies.

Week 7 in AICE Media Studies

 Introduction

    This week we reviewed all the films that were submitted for our first project. We then discussed and started our second project, which will be a documentary on the film industry.

 What I Did

    The first thing we did on Monday was review all the films submitted in our class from our first project. We offered constructive criticism to all the groups. We used the sandwich method of positive, constructive, then positive again for the criticsm. 

    Then, our teacher went over what our next project will be. We have to make a documentary on the film industry. My group went with a documentary on the history of film marketing, specifically the transition from print press to digital media marketing. 

    After we decided on a topic, we started researching it and writing down important details. We also created a timeline that included the four major milestones during this time period. By this point, class was going to end soon, so we got ready to leave. 

    On Wednesday, we continued to do research on our topic. However, we changed our topic from the history of film marketing to a deep dive on our favorite move, The Lego Movie. We kept the same groups from our first projects. So, Vivienne and I finished most of the research while Piper worked on the storyboard. She got about half way through the storyboarding. We spent all of class on this. 

    Friday we continued our research, finishing it. Then, I made a coming soon poster on Canva for our marketing campaign and our crew sheet. Our team also finished the storyboard. Next class we will start filming the documentary.

What I Learned

    During the research I learned quite a bit about the Lego Movie itself such as, who created it and when. I learned about how they filmed the movie. They used a computer-generated animation of real LEGO® elements, achieved in a photoreal stop-motion style. We researched all the directors, producers, and writers. I even learned some fun facts like, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill made cameos and the movie grossed over $468 million dollars. That was all, I cannot wait until next week when we start filming.

    

Week 6 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    This was a short week due to Tuesday being a school-wide testing day. So, I was only in class once. We used this day to finish a discussion board and catch up on blogs. 

What I Did

    I started class by sitting down at a computer and going to Canvas. Then my teacher, Ms. Pistocchi, explained the assignment, and we started. It was a simple discussion board where we reflected on our film project and its process. 

    After finishing all the questions and posting them, I had to reply to two other classmates. By the time I finished posting my replies, there were only a few minutes left in class. With that in mind, I decided to just make the title for a post and packed up.  

What Did I Learn?

    I learned that my classmates and I had similar struggles, dislikes, and likes when it came to the project. Nearly all the discussion board replies I read mentioned that my peers disliked editing but loved acting and writing. I too disliked editing and enjoyed writing; however, my favorite part was filming. I love being right behind the camera. 

    Additionally, just about everyone in the class had part of their work deleted at some point because the computers do not save your work. Several people in my class, including myself, did not realize our work would not save, which caused us to lose our progress. Thankfully, I had a backup file and only had to remake the very end of the film. So, I may not have learned a lot this week, but I surely learned something important. 

Week 5 in AICE Media Studies

 Introduction

    My team and I spent all of this week focused on editing and marketing. We were finally able to access and use Premiere Pro. I learned so much about editing, and cannot wait to tell you all about it.

 

What I Did

    I started off with having my team review the footage we already had edited to see what we should change or add. Everything seemed good, so I started editing while my group mates started brainstorming how they were going to market the film.

    I decided to add more background sounds to the suspenseful clips, roll the end credits, make smoother sound transitions, and add a black screen with text right before the credits rolled.

    The last thing I did was the end credits. During this time my group members were working on the marketing for the film. They ended up making two posters and a trailer.

    All I completed this week was editing because it is a very timely task.

 

What I learned

    This week I learned how to add background sounds, remove background noise, isolate and raise vocals, make transitions on Premiere Pro, and roll end credits. 

    Firstly, I wanted to add more background noise while removing some, and since I switched platforms from Express to Premiere Pro, I was not sure how to do this. To add background music, I found out through a short Google search that you can use sounds built into Premiere Pro, which is what I used first. However, for another scene, I could not find a sound that fit the scene, so I downloaded one from a royalty-free website. Then, I uploaded it to Premiere Pro.

    Secondly, I wanted the audio to sound clearer. So, I used a YouTube tutorial on how to isolate vocals. This helped me make the "nat" sounds higher for the outdoor clips. 

    Next, I needed the scenes to transition smoothly. I was just clicking around when I discovered you can right-click in between clips, and it will open a drop-down menu where you can press "Add Transition." Given that I had a strict time limit, I just used that rather than making my own transition.

    Then, I got to the end and wanted to create a black screen with text on it. I decided that I should try to figure this part out without a tutorial. I spent a minute looking through the drop-down menus at the top of the screen before founding the "Graphic" drop-down. In this drop-down, I found an "Add Text" selection and used that to create a text box. Then, centered the text and added another black screen with text. 

    Subsequently, I used the new text box I created to add all the end credits. I wanted to have them roll down the screen, but I did not know how to do this. I tried to do it on my own, but struggled for about ten minutes. So, I decided to just look for a tutorial on YouTube. It turned out that I just needed to type everything into a text box, center the text, center the box, deselect the text box, go to text graphics, and click roll. Then the credits rolled down the screen, and I simply made the clip longer so it would scroll a little slower.

    Lastly, I reviewed the footage with my group mates. Once we all agreed it was complete, I exported the film. After exporting it, I saved the final film to my OneDrive and submitted it for a grade. My teacher, Ms. Pistocchi, graded it the next day, and we got a 100%. 

  

Week 4 in AICE Media Studies

 Introduction

   Week three was focused on filming and editing what would be our first films for the class. We broke up into groups, and mine was made up of Vivienne Horvath and Piper Wilson. We storyboarded our film, then got together and started filming. Lastly, we started editing the film.

What I Did

    Firstly, we made a storyboard, detailing the dialogue and camera shots. This was our first project, so it was a bit scrappy at first and had a lot of erasing, but we eventually found our way and everything came together. Thankfully, all of us already knew how to storyboard. So, we managed to get ahead of the rest of the class. 

    Next, we started filming. We had limited time this class period, so we only got two scenes finished. We decided to pick where we left off, and next class we finish filming everything. 

    Then, we attempted to upload the videos to the computer, but it never worked. Our Google Drives couldn't even open because of the poor school Wi-Fi, and every time we uploaded the files using any other method, they would download as CR files. CR files are not compatible with Premiere Pro or Adobe Express. We spent all class attempting to fix this, but eventually ran out of time.

    Next, after giving up, we decided to just do the work on our computers at home. So, we uploaded everything to Adobe Express and started editing over the weekend. We completed most of the editing this way. This concluded week three of AICE Media Studies.

What Did I Learn?

    Most of what I learned this week had to do with editing. This being my first time using Premier Pro and Adobe Express, I learned quite a lot. 

    Due to technical difficulties, my group had to use Adobe Express before eventually switching over to Premiere Pro. I started by learning how to upload clips to Express and then rearrange them. Once I finished that, I wanted to find out how to make the transitions smoother. After a few minutes of trial and error, I figured out that you just have to right-click between the two clips. Then, you press add transition and select the transition type you want. After the selection menu opened, it showed that I could adjust the transition duration and speed. 

      Now that I knew how to make transitions, I wanted to learn how to add blank screens where I could type out the end credits. I figured it out pretty quickly; all I had to do was click the plus icon at the end of clips and add a text box. This is all I learned on Adobe Express.

   The first thing I learned on Premier Pro was how to upload media, then drag and drop it into the timeline. I then figured out you can rearrange all the clips. 

   Since, I had limited time this week, I had to end my Premiere Pro journey there. So, I saved what we had completed to my OneDrive account by exporting the media—another new thing for me. We will pick up where we left off next week.

    

    

August 16, 2024 in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    Today was my third day in class. We worked on setting up our Adobe Premiere accounts and taking some notes on varying camera shot sizes.

What We Did

   We started off class with Ms. Pistocchi explaining the day's activities. We were given a choice: learn how to storyboard or set up our Adobe Premiere accounts. The class chose to set up our Adobe Premiere accounts. However, we first needed to watch a video on the various camera shot sizes to prepare us for the future.

    The video we watched was the Ultimate Guide to Camera Shots: Every Shot Size Explained [The Shot List, Ep 1] by StudioBinder on YouTube. We spent twelve minutes watching it and then another five afterwards discussing what we learned along with the notes we took. 

    After the video we all moved to a computer to use and logged in. Thankfully, everyone had already logged into the computers, so they started up much faster.

    Then, I opened the Microsoft window and searched for Adobe Premiere in the applications section. Once I found it, I clicked it and waited for it to open. This took about five minutes.

    Next, I looked for the in-app tutorial and got to work on it. I spent the remainder of class going through the tutorial.

    I was one of the few lucky people who were able to log in successfully. The girl sitting next to me spent the entire class period troubleshooting and still couldn't open Premiere. Around ten people total were able to set up their Adobe Premiere accounts and start the tutorials. The class spent the entire period working on this.

What I Learned

    During the StudioBinder video, I learned about and took notes on the various shot sizes, including:

• Establishing 
• Master
• Wide
• Full
• Medium Full
• Medium
• Medium Close-up
• Close-up
• Extreme Close-up

    I spent about 20 minutes on the tutorial and learned some of the basics, such as:

• Creating a new project
• Importing footage or clips through the project window
• Closing and opening panels in the workspace
• Creating folders within the project window to organize clips
• Dragging and dropping clips into the timeline
• Shortening clips in the timeline and reordering them
• Changing the speed of clips

    I cannot wait to learn even more about Adobe Premiere, editing, and filming.

    

My First Week in AICE Media Studies

Introduction

    Welcome to my first post. My name is Saarah Juman-Welch, and I am a junior at South Broward High School. Today was my second day in this class, and I cannot wait to learn more. 

What We Did

    On Monday, August 12, my teacher, Ms. Pistocchi, introduced herself and went over the class rules and expectations. She then had the entire class stand up and get their first-day packets. After sitting back down, she reviewed the AICE exams and informed us of what would be happening throughout the school year.  

    Later on, Ms. Pistocchi broke us up into groups of 2–4 people for a first-day activity. Said activity involved each group creating a persuasive, informative, or entertaining essay detailing what they did over the summer. My group was assigned persuasion and wrote about a trip to Busch Gardens Tampa, Volcano Bay in Orlando, bowling, learning to drive. During the last 30 minutes of class, each group had to present and see if the audience could guess what category their essay fell into. That was all we did on Monday.

    Next, on Wednesday, August 14, our entire class had to make their Blogger accounts and work on our first post. Sadly, our school computers are very slow and have many issues. We spent the entire class period attempting to create our accounts and blogs. 

    Firstly, our computers have horrible service and work incredibly slowly. So, starting up the computers took ages. Then we had to log into our Gmail accounts. Next, we made Blogger accounts. That part took the longest and caused the most trouble because most of the students, myself included, kept getting error messages. Eventually, after having to log out of all my accounts, closing all applications, and restarting the computer, I was able to log back in. I then made my first blog post. Which brings us to this point.

What I Learned

    Monday and Wednesday were not much of learning days. However, I did learn how to make a blog and post it. That was all for my first two days in AICE Media Studies.