SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis 

For the AS course I worked with my friend, Claire, to produce a film opening; accompanied by a preliminary task and displayed on a blog. For the main task (the film opening), we chose the thriller genre; a genre we felt would be fun and interesting to research into and create. I feel that I have developed a considerable amount of skill and understanding about film production over the course of the year; knowledge which I strive to fully apply into my A2 blog (a task that I am taking on independently this time). By completing a SWOT analysis of our AS work, I believe that I can use it as a springboard for my A2 coursework, with the intention of being able to recognise my further developments looking back from the future.  

Strengths 

• I believe that one of the main strengths of the blog was the research that was carried out to choose and evaluate the choice of setting. The thriller genre was previously selected, and the research we carried out helped us to build a greater sense of what we wanted the film opening to appear like. In particular, the evaluation page about location clearly showcases the relevant in-depth research that was carried out to ensure our location choice was as effective as possible. After analysing a few of the most famous thriller opening sequences, we recognised that thrillers set in forested areas are not as common as people tend to realise. For instance on the market research podcast, two out of the five interviewees agreed the woods is typically a place where thrillers are set. The research below showed otherwise; proving that the urban setting was more popular than the woods in famous films (‘Get Out’ being the only film set in the woods). It is for this reason that we decided to break the true conventions of a thriller film and set our opening in the forest. Another similar strength of the location choice is that it was a lot easier to control our environment during shooting, meaning that match-on-action could be more accurate and filming generally took less takes than in a busier environment.

• In the film opening itself the choice of music was a strength, since it timed perfectly with the image, particularly in two places: when the criminal jumps over the gate and when tension builds as they get closer to the victim in the woods. The changes in tempo and volume at these points help to accentuate the important narrative events which would be essential in the understanding of the unfolding story. The music fits well with the genre; helping to build the tense yet professional setting in which the narrative takes place. 

• Another strength of the film opening would be the variety of shots which were used. The variety used proved our understanding of more advanced filmmaking and also showcased our ability to neatly construct a narrative which flowed as a result of our editing techniques. The variety of shots also helped to build tension where necessary and clarify characters’ roles within the short piece of narrative. 

• Aside from the main production task, I believe that the director’s commentary was a particular strength to the AS coursework, since it was a lot more interactive than a written blog post, and it allowed us to try something that is used to compliment films in the real world (including Hollywood Blockbusters). In relation to the coursework, it helped to convey our awareness of professional evaluations made by real directors. 

• The podcast was a more interesting way that we chose to present our results from our in-depth market research. The visuals combined with the voiceover showed editing skills and knowledge of how to effectively use different software. 

Weaknesses 

• Despite the use of the podcast as a form of presentation, I believe that one of the main weaknesses for the AS coursework was that all of our skills in media were not presented as well as they could have been. For instance, this aspect could have been significantly improved by making the coursework more ‘media rich’; taking advantage of websites such as ‘Prezi’ or ‘Slideshare’ to create more interactive presentations.

• Another weakness would be the difficulty in navigating the blog. To make it ‘easier to read’, the dates of the blog posts were altered in order for the posts to be in the ‘correct’ order. However, this inadvertently made the blog more difficult to read. For my A2 coursework, this approach will be dismissed. 

• The storyboards for both the preliminary task and the main task turned out to be less accurate than originally anticipated, since conditions often changed when it came to shooting. Although it could be argued that initiative was used to combat the unplanned unavailabilities, it nevertheless made the planning seem somewhat poor. Therefore, I consider the storyboards to be a weakness; planning could have been more accurate and better presented. 

• Overall, the pace of the film opening was effective because tension was created and maintained for an effective amount of time. However, feedback has suggested that the ending of the film opening seemed ‘rushed’, thus making it stand out from the rest of the sequence. Although pace was sped up purposely to build suspense and install an element of fear, the build-up could have been slightly slower to help the viewers digest the action and its potential significance.

The order in which the blog posts were organised
affected the navigation of the blog.

Opportunities 

• Going into Year 13, I feel that I have the opportunity to correct some of the mistakes and weaknesses from Year 12. This includes the layout of my blog - I will not post so that the earliest blog is at the top of the page!

• This year, I will complete the coursework independently. Doing the work as a pair for AS was useful in the respect that we could use each other to come up with different ideas and perspectives, however the chance to complete a task off of my own back poses an opportunity for me to present my own ideas and find out what I can do myself. 

• This year, I strive to create a high-quality piece of coursework that is planned with a lot more accuracy than in Year 12. Planning more carefully will ensure that the evaluation will be more clear in order to compose, and that the filming does not include excessive improvisation (as this can run the risk of making the final product less effective and messy). 

• The music video main task presents an opportunity to get more drastic and creative with camera shots and movements, since performance pieces have limited ‘rules’ (of course this does not apply to narrative pieces). This will be very interesting and fun to experiment with. 

Threats 

• This year, having the main task be a music video, I believe that the main threat would be accuracy, especially since lip-syncing is vital in creating a professional-looking piece. If filming an editing are not executed with extreme precision and accuracy, the results will not be professional nor effective. 

• I have never attempted to make a music video before, so a definite threat would be effectively combining the narrative style of music video with the performance style. Getting this combination correct with the right use of camera shots and angles to reduce confusion is essential at producing a good music video.