Looking back

I chose this unit to learn how to be more effective in communicating to targeted audiences with using digital media a tool impacting how information is learnt and shared.

Learning what happens behind the scene, in the planning, research, post-production, including Adobe Premiere Pro has given me a new set of skills.

One skill making further adjustments to images with applying a soft vignette and feathering to enhance the focus point of the image. I did this to some seaweed images and although a small change was effective.

The story developed in stages. The adding voice over was a challenge as to what words to say. I had to trust the process to first shoot a lot of footage, and then the story will unfold in the assembling stage.

This gave me confidence when doing impromptu shoots, especially when presented with unplanned challenges. I did not know what I would find at each beach other than what research showed.

When a DSLR camera failed to perform, I swapped to the backup camera of my phone to keep shooting.

When faced with rain I juggled both an umbrella and camera as I shot.

It was learning on the go and my first day of shooting quite clumsy. Half slipping down a sand bank, eyes having trouble focusing, sand on my gear, and the cameras focus playing up. Therefore, a lot of footage was not good and discarded. I wondered if a story would ever happen and saw I needed to be better prepared for the next location.

There is more to the actual executing of filming than in a textbook. The constant travel and changing of locations created another set of challenges. However, I overcame them.

A skill developed in Adobe Premier Pro was applying audio transitions between clips utilising all three of the ’Cross fade’ choices: Constant Gain, Constant Power and Exponential Fade. The smoother transitions inspired me. This skill beneficial when layering sounds to create mood and rhythm, and cleaning up transitions.

The course resource used was from Linkedin ‘in Learning.’ 

Linkedin: in Learning. (2025). Getting started with Premiere Pro for the Non-Video Pro. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/getting-started-with-premiere-pro-for-the-non-video-pro-16384591/what-you-ll-learn-in-this-course.

Another challenge was locating and navigating around the various workspaces when working on Audio, colour, graphics, effects, transitions and other features.

The units’ visual resources helped me become accustomed to which Window Workspace to use. A helpful resource about the functions available in Adobe Premiere Pro being Adobes help website page. Adobe. (2024). Get Started with Adobe Premiere Pro.https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-pro/using/basic-workflow.html.

Improvement for future post-production would be in setting up my default workspace better to enable quicker access to the panels and tools wanting to use. 

The skills and knowledge obtained in digital media will be beneficial in future video/film and website projects.