Haryana BSEH Senior Secondary NSQF Media and Entertainment common mistakes
Haryana BSEH Senior Secondary NSQF Media and Entertainment · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When asked who does what on a set, the candidate answers that the director operates the camera, the editor writes the script, and the producer handles the boom.
Job titles are learned from end credits and entertainment news rather than from role definitions, so the creative, technical, and management functions get merged.
What to do instead
Build and memorise a one-page role chart: producer = finance, logistics and greenlight; director = creative interpretation and performance; DoP = camera, lens and lighting; editor = assembly, rhythm and continuity; sound recordist = boom/lav and levels. Test it with a call-sheet exercise.
Coils XLR and power cables across a doorway and sets a light stand at full height with a softbox but no sandbag, saying the stand is 'heavy enough'.
Speed and limited kit encourage shortcuts, and an empty stand feels stable until a boom arm or softbox is fitted; cable routes are rarely planned before rigging.
What to do instead
Route cables along walls, tape or ramp every walkway crossing, and sandbag stands whenever an arm or modifier is fitted. Use RCD/earth-leakage protection, do a two-minute risk scan before power-up, and assign one person to cable discipline.
Receives a verbal shoot brief and leaves without repeating back the date, call time, location, crew role and deliverable; later says 'nobody told me'.
Hierarchy makes juniors reluctant to question a senior, and briefs are often given while people are packing or leaving, so details are assumed rather than confirmed.
What to do instead
Use closed-loop communication: repeat back the five Ws, put them in a WhatsApp or email, and reference the call sheet. If no call sheet exists, create one and confirm every change in writing before the shoot day.
Keeps the only copy of a project on the edit-bay desktop, names files final.mp4, final2.mp4 and final_final.mp4, and has no separate archive.
School habit of working on one machine, no assessment of file management, and invisible storage costs mean backup and versioning are never practised.
What to do instead
Apply 3-2-1 backup: three copies, two media types, one off-site. Use date-based names such as YYYYMMDD_project_v01, separate footage/project/export/audio folders, enable autosave, and test a restore before submission.
Uses the zoom ring to reframe a subject instead of moving the camera, and states that zooming in is the same as moving closer.
Phone and consumer camcorder habits make zoom the default reframing tool; focal length and camera-to-subject distance are not separated in learning.
What to do instead
Compare the same subject size by zoom versus dolly: zoom compresses the background and flattens perspective, while moving changes parallax. Block the camera distance for interviews, use zoom only to choose focal length, and mark floor positions.
Sets record gain until the meter touches 0 dBFS because 'louder is better', then tries to repair distorted dialogue in post.
Meters are read as average loudness rather than peak level, there is no headroom habit, and phone recordings sound deceptively loud.
What to do instead
Set dialogue average around -12 dBFS with peaks no higher than -6 dBFS; record at 48 kHz/24-bit; use a limiter only as safety. Monitor with closed headphones and check the waveform for flat-topped peaks before wrapping.
Assembles a dialogue scene as hard cuts between two medium shots of the same person, creating jump cuts, with no cutaways or B-roll.
Only a master shot was recorded, and editing is driven by the audio waveform rather than by picture continuity, so coverage and the 30-degree rule are ignored.
What to do instead
Shoot coverage: wide, medium, close, reverse and cutaways. Change shot size or angle by at least 30 degrees between cuts, cut on action, and use cutaways to hide trims. Check eye-line and screen direction before export.
Builds a logo at 72 ppi in a raster editor, enlarges it for a banner, and is surprised by pixelation; exports text as a JPEG.
ppi and dpi are confused with pixel dimensions, vector and raster formats are not distinguished, and screen defaults are carried into print work.
What to do instead
Create logos in vector (SVG/AI) and export transparent PNGs. For print, set physical size plus 300 ppi; for screen, set pixel dimensions. Keep text live or vector and preserve safe margins around the mark.
Uses a popular film song in a showreel and adds 'No copyright infringement intended; all rights belong to the owner'.
Attribution is confused with permission, 'fair use' is treated as a blanket exception, and social-media disclaimers normalise the practice.
What to do instead
Use royalty-free or Creative Commons music with the licence saved in the project folder, or obtain written permission. A credit does not cure infringement; fair dealing is narrow and does not cover entertainment showreels. Document the licence source, track and date.
Submits a showreel that is a three-minute dump of ungraded clips with no slate, no role credits and no running order, and cannot name the target client.
A portfolio is treated as proof of activity rather than as communication to a client; no brief or selection criteria are set before editing.
What to do instead
Keep it to 60-90 seconds, strongest shot first, with a slate for name, role and contact. Use two to three seconds per shot, one coherent genre, licensed music and an H.264 MP4 export at 1080p. Tailor the cut and a one-line service pitch to a named client type.