Evaluation of practical skills

In the last year I believe I have gained a better inside and understanding into editing compare to practical skills, however I can also see i have improved in some of my practical skills and I know the ones I also need to work on.
At the start of the course, my first task was to get a better insight into how the camera works and its basic settings- the ISO, the f-stop, and the shutter speed. I learned how to use them together to create the best photographs/videos working with the current lighting and set up around me. We then also were given a task of learning and practising different lighhting techniques to get a better understanding of the different lighting set ups we could use and work with- Rembrandt, split, butterfly, high key and low key.

One thing that helped me get a better understanding of the camera and all its setting was the short film challenges we were tasked with each week at the start of the year- as I only had a limited time to film and then edit the clips together to create a short sequence, I had to work with what was around me, meaning i had to experiment with different set ups such as working outside using natural lighting, working inside a poorly lit building, so having to use a higher ISO whilst also not compromising the quality and getting grain the final product.

The next task where i had to use my practical skills was in the making of my New wave short film. As the majority of my footage was filmed in Bulgaria, after a short visit there, I had to experiment with different filming techniques, and long shots, such as filming with whatever equipment i had on me at the time and also as I didn’t  have any access to lighting prompts, use natural lighting and my camera settings as best as possible.
A set up where I actually had to rely on lighting equipment was in my music video project, as to use the green screen I had to have my subject always well lit from each side with no shadows in the background, as that would of complicated the editing process. I used different lighting equipment such as a soft boxes as well as well as LED film light projectors to light up the subjects from every side.

I believe my strongest unit, and where I had to show strong practical skills rather than editing, due to unforeseen circumstances and not being able to film, was in my Promotional video unit, where I had to undertake a series of research, developing my ideas whilst working towards the given requirements efficiently up to the standards of 'the client'

In the following year i would like to improve my practical skills, as for example learning about different lenses and how a 300mm lense would benefit me in landscape photography. I would also like to improve on my knowledge and use of sound. In my short films even though I had the opotunuty to mix, cut and edit different diegetic and non-diegetic music, I would like to learn more about the different set ups and ways to improve the sound in my videos and how different sound equipment works.