Evaluation Activity 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Me using the MacBook to put the finishing touches
to our film.

During the process of constructing our short Film opening there were many new technologies we had to use and learn with.

The machine we used to edit our footage was an Apple MacBook, this was by first experience ever using a computer with a Apple operating system. It did take time to get used to at first but after a week or so of using it and getting to grips with the product I became confident enough to start doing some serious editing for our project.
The machine was fairly quick and capable for the tasks we asked of it and was a pleasure to work on.

The interface of the Final Cut Pro X
software on the MacBook

The editing software that our MacBook ran was a copy of Final Cut Pro X Version 10.0.2  this was very different to the editing program we had used at the start of the year, there were much more options to utilise when editing. Of course the learning curve on a higher end program is also higher and so it took awhile to get used to the new interface and advanced options this piece of software gave to me. An improved bank of transitions, video effects and text options make this an incredible piece of editing software, and nothing on it requires any major assistance, you just learn as you edit.

By taking this approach I was able to learn:

• how to edit the vocal pitch and frequency of sound clips
• stack and modify various transitions and effects on a single clip
• magnetically link my titles to the video clip when I wanted to move it along the time line.
• apply lighting effects and colour filters to our shots.
• add motion and tweening effects to static shots.
• edit various title effects and there features.
• add distortions to my shots
• link them together through use of professional looking transitions.
• Re time shots between 25% and 8X of normal speed

The Panasonic HDC-SD80, it's small size was useful
for manoeuvrability.

As we were editing on the MacBook we needed to use a camera capable of capturing footage in a HD format as this would allow us to produce the best results from the editing software.  This presented a technical challenge as all previous work had been produced on a Standard definition camera. The camera we had access to for this purpose was a Panasonic HDC-SD80 that was able to record video files in 1080i, this file format allowed us to keep a high level of detail in shots that used motion. A feature of the camera that we utilised was it's excellent ability to record good amounts of detail in low lighting conditions. This particular feature was used extensively in the title sequence.

Me with the tripod in it's most compact form.

In order to create steady and professional looking shots we made use of this tripod to house the camera. This particular tripod was of great use to us as it had many adjustable features and points of articulation. These included adjustable base leg height, horizontal and vertical tilting on the camera housing, the ability to rotate the housing 360 degrees and shortening/lengthening the extension of the housing and the legs. Due to the amount of features we were able to use it took awhile at first to set up the correct angles and heights for particular shots, but it ended up giving us more options in shot selection.



The ESI Rekord M that we used for
our voiceover.

In order to record the voice over for our director's commentary we needed to use an audio recording device. The one we used was the ESI Rekord M, a handheld audio recorder. This was chosen as it was a lightweight, easily portable device, this meant we weren't confined to using it in a specific space. The two microphones present on the top of the device provided excellent recording quality with a clear distinction between high and low pitches and this was important in maintaining clarity in the voice over we wanted to record. The device was simple to use making our task easier to accomplish and less time consuming than it may otherwise of been. The device also had 4GB of internal storage meaning we could do as many takes as possible without worrying about storage space.

The main source of our information
came from searches on Google.

I used Google as the main source of performing research on the horror franchise and the elements that are used to make it up. The reason we used Google is because it is the most commonly used search engine and provides quick results from a wide range of web sources. This made our research quick and efficient, allowing more time to be spent on the production of our film.

We used Movie Maker as our main
compression tool.

Windows movie maker was used as a compression tool. We used this as the process is simple to initiate utilising a drag and drop interface of our completed movies. This was also chosen as the program for compression as it is a free program that comes installed on all Windows systems, making it easy to access. It was important for us to compress the file as this would make the time taken to upload the file to Youtube shorter with a slight reduction in quality but nothing too detrimental.

Our production company logo was produced using
 Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop was the program we used for image editing and image re-formatting. The program was used as it has a multitude of editing tools including colour effects, gradient tools, layer options, free rotation and resizing options as well as many others. It is also able to convert images into many different image formats allowing for greater control over the process. It's main use was in the creation of our production company logo, it was the best choice available to us as it gave us the most options to create our logo.

My youtube channel, hosting all the film versions
I have made.

Youtube allows me to host my film on the Internet for free. This is useful because it gives the film greater exposure to a wider audience across the globe, in particular the target audience (aged 16-28) as they are the most likely to members of the public to make use of the site. Another function I have been able to make use of on the site is the ability to add annotations to the film, this allows me to share my thoughts and incite of the film production as well as link drafts to later versions. Users are able to comment and leave feedback on the video giving me useful insight into areas that are good or need attending to. Youtubers are also able to like or dislike videos and this will give me a feel of the general response people have to the film.

The final film linked to my facebook profile giving it
increased exposure to the target audience.

I used Facebook as a tool to embed my Youtube video onto, by doing this I was able to make use of the hundreds of friends I had built up on my social network. By doing this I was able to elicit a more direct response from the target audience as the majority of my contacts on Facebook that would be able to view the film were in the age range of 15-20. Like with Youtube users were able to comment and like the film giving me more information about the films good qualities and sections which required improvement.




Blogger was the main site we used, it hosted everything
we produced during the project, from storyboards,
to film drafts, location photos and more.

Blogger was used as a tool to host my coursework on. It's simple, easy to use format made it a joy to work with and I was easily able to upload videos, images and music to enhance my blog posts. The blog is open to anyone and so can be viewed by anyone over the world. This accessibility gives my film more coverage as combined with Facebook and Youtube it now has three destinations that it can be viewed from increasing the chances of it being watched. I was also able to use this as a way to right detailed notes and coverage of my film's production from start to finish. With the ability for people to follow the blog those that do are notified whenever a new blog post is uploaded.