Intro/Welcome Back

Hello, and welcome back to my blog! My name is Blake Booysen, and I am now a Junior at Fort Lauderdale High School. Last year I was enrolled in the class AICE Media Studies AS Level. However, I am excited to join the AICE Media Studies A Level class this year! As a recap, last year I individually produced a short opening to a film, called the Coastal Killer. It centered around the idea of a young man being put in harms way as he is circled by a Great White Shark. The film ended with blood in the water, as the audience can visually see the shark lunging at something in the water. Prior to AICE Media Studies AS Level, I had never enjoyed reflecting or documenting my progress as I typically liked having free-formed thinking and open options. Despite this reality, blogging and reflecting on my work taught me the value of scheduling myself and setting my expectations for my work. Additionally, I can now reflect on my work and visualize my though process as I was working through each stage of the Final Task, and other assignments. In regards to my opinion of the film, I believe I produced and edited the opening section to the best of my abilities. I was able to incorporate different forms of camera angles/shots, simple transitions, color correcting, and so much more. With this being said, this new found time freedom, has promoted growth in myself regarding my filming talents that will serve as an improvement to the prior year's project. Specifically, over the summer I have conducted drone footage of yachts that my dad lists in his brokerage. This has taught me to incorporate action, lighting, and editing to convey a message of subtle strength, yet pleasant and comfort. I can add dramatic filters, animated strokes, and so much more techniques that has just come with experience. But I must not forget my roots, and it all began with this class. Overall, I am satisfied with the work that I produced on the AS level, including but not limited to the Final Task. Despite this reality, self-promoted growth in my skills this summer has left room on the table for this year's project to expand on my skill sets and be a well-produced short film. So stay tuned, as I document my journey with this Final Task with blogs, in addition to other media platforms!