Transferable Skills

Skills which can be adapted to different working environments and circumstances are referred to as transferable skills. While studying media for the past two years, I have picked up a few skills that would be useful in using in a media profession. In this post I will go through the various skills which I have picked up in media and explain how they may be useful to me in a media profession. 

ICT skills                                                                                    

To begin the first skill I will discuss is ICT skills, which has been a skill I have used almost every lesson in media, and throughout the two years has developed even further. As the majority of our assignments are based on the mac's, we are constantly using different software programs to present our work on. These include Microsoft word, powerpoint, excel etc. Another program that we're constantly in use of is blogger, which for me was a new experience as I had never used it before starting media. Other software programs used were final cut pro, which is mainly for editing each production that has been completed. This software is useful and will be transferable in a media environment when editing films, TV shows or even music videos. Therefore again showing that ICT skills are vital and very transferable to the workplace. It also shows that although this skill may be quite boring because of the fact that there isn't anything very uplifting when using Microsoft office, it can also be quite fun and exciting when using platforms such as final cut pro.

Final Cut Pro 

The editing software that I used for editing my videos was Final Cut Pro. Before taking on the media course I had no previous experience with the program. Since starting the course I has picked up some crucial editing skills which I know will aid me if I wanted to work for a media company editing film content for example. The powerpoint shown above is a tutorial I create for my unit 16 work (as it is an editing unit). The powerpoint shows how I used Final Cut Pro to edit the short single camera film in my unit 1 and 22, where I discussed the editing made to the sound, graphics and lighting of the film. This skill of being able to edit a film's content is transferable to a work environment because it is something which most people would not have had the opportunity to learn, this therefore is not only useful in the media profession but can be useful in a wider context. 

Microsoft (excel)

The first Microsoft program I will discuss is Excel, which was one I found myself constantly having to use in order to present my work neatly, and use for most of the pre production work such as the shooting script. I had previous experience using excel, however it was not the usual amount as I would use it in media. The skills I picked up here were being able to enter in information  for each shot of a scene for instance or and create calculations for the pie charts used for our music video research. Again these skills are almost always going to be needed in most jobs today, which means that being able to go into a job having had past experience with Microsoft in media, will stand me in good stead for the job I want to pursue. 

Teamwork Skills                                                                       

Teamwork is another skill that i improved, during the course. Having to work in groups to be able to make a production, apart from the documentary, meant that we had to work as a team. Working on pitches, the actual production, the evaluation and the editing stage, as a group meant that we needed to have, good communication with each other in order to give out tasks and roles to each other, to set up dates where we would film, designing a production schedule, listening to each others idea's and taking in all ideas into account and making sure that everyone participates in the production. Having to do focus groups in order to receive feedback on the finished project, arranging what questions each member of the group would ask, allocating roles then as well. Teamwork requires good organisation among us to be able to arrange dates to film, meet deadlines for unit's, making sure we manage our time effectively. 

Pitches

Communication Skills                                                         

Communication is one of , if not the most important skill needed in any profession. Focusing on the communication needed in my media course, I had to use this skill in almost every task I was given. The times I needed this skill the most was in my pitches and focus groups for ideas I had for productions, and also for my voice over productions. Where I probably didn't need it as much was in the research and written tasks where I didn't need to speak with people. 

The clip above conveys how my group and I used the skill of communication effectively when carrying out a focus group for our music video (unit 29). Firstly, before the focus group was together we needed to gather people in order for them to participate and give their opinions. This required us to communicate with them and tell them exactly what we wanted them to do. 

Organisation Skills                                                                            

Planning

Planning is another area in organisational skills. Almost every subject studied in schools require planning as it is the backbone of everything successful. During the two years spent in media, I have found more and more that planning is this essential. For instance, planning came into good use for the first production I ever made in media. This was my short film from unit 1 & 22, where I needed to be organised and coordinated with everything I was doing or thinking of doing. The planning I did here was pre-production documents which are completed in prior to making the film, these included a shooting script, risk assessment, call sheets, location recce, release forms, prop list, cast list and crew list. Without these documents I will not have been able to even begin filming any footage. This is because the shooting script was useful in giving me direction for the details of each shot, the risk assessment will act as a reassurance that we have taken into consideration all the hazards possible just in case of a real life incident. Again, effective planning comes from good organisational skills and this also requires you to put everything in a single document where it can all be found. Here is an example of my pre-production documents that were done for unit 30 (Advertisement). 

Practical Skills 

The camera language that i learnt, the camera movements, angles, and shot types have all reflected onto the productions that i have made, they can have a big role to play in the shooting stage and getting a variety of different shots, means that you have more footage to work with in the editing stage, also the more shot types and angles you have in a production it will keep the audience engaged more as they will looking at a scene from a different perspective and be more engaged, and not be bored by looking at the same thing all the time. Learning and knowing the various camera language has allowed me to apply them to the productions I have made and will make. 

Research Skills 

Research skills are very transferable and are almost adaptable to every job there is. Throughout studying media research has been the primary and possibly most important thing we needed to cover as it is what we need in order to add depth into our blog work. For instance in our unit 16, where the task was the history of editing, we needed to research the web so that we got accurate dates and information. Another unit where research was important is unit 27 which was the factual programming unit where we produced our documentaries. This unit required us to research into existing documentaries and the various styles in order to understand the ins and outs of a documentary and to build on our existing knowledge on the subject.