Evaluation Question Six

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Research and Planning
After getting a general idea of what type of film we wanted to create we started to research films that were similar to our genre, giving up the ability to see what sort of conventions make up a typical thriller film. To do this, we searched for thriller films using Google and found a large list of them on the website IMDb. From there we were also able to analyse in detail the different aspects of thrillers, allowing us to choose what sort of aspects we wanted to include in our own film. These are some of the more simple aspects of technology, as not much knowledge is needed other than search for key words.

We then needed somewhere to display all this knowledge and our ideas. The whole group decided the best thing to do would be to set up a blog, as we could then most our research, diary entries on progress and videos to show the entire process on making our opening sequence. We were given the option to use a Tumblr blog, but given what we were using the blog for it seemed for professional and easier to use Blogger. I was quite unsure about how to use Blogger at first, going out of my comfort zone by choosing it over a more simple Tumblr style blog, however I quickly learnt how to use the different aspects of it which allowed me to put more content into my blog. Blogger was also really useful as I managed to download the free app on my ipod, allowing me to post diary entries at any time.

As text and images from google get a bit boring after 20 odd posts, we decided to think of more inventive ways to display our work. One of these is by using Prezi, a more inventive and interactive type of powerpoint. Like Blogger, I had never used Prezi before but after setting up an account and following the instructions I found it fairly easy to use and a lot more interesting.
Another different method of displaying work was by creating videos and screen recordings. Some of these were done in class on the Final Cut Pro, and others were created at home on iMovie (this is in the case of the behind the scenes footage). This again is a much more inventive way of displaying work that I learned to use during this project.

Creating the sequence
As you can't create an opening sequence without a camera, this is probably the most important piece of technology that we used. We borrowed a camera from the college, as well as a really old and broken one (to use as a prop) and a microphone to attach to the camera to improve the sound. We also used a tripod to hold the camera steady. I had never fully had a chance to use a professional camera before, and so this was all fairly new to me, however, with the help of my group and my research I knew about the type of shots and framing that would be appropriate for our film and so this made the whole process a lot easier.

We also used my Fujifilm Finepix S4000 to film some behind the scenes footage. This also made sure that everyone had a chance to film something during the process, whether it was behind the scenes or footage for the actual sequence.

In terms of editing our footage, the group as a whole decided it would be the best option to use Final Cut Pro. This is because we all edited our continuity task using this software and so we were all familiar with the basics. I later learnt a lot more about Final Cut editing our footage, such as adding filters, sound effects, the various tools (such as the blade tool), transitions and many more. I now feel a lot more confident in my abilities as an editor from learning these techniques during the construction, and I am also able to edit at a much faster pace and work on my own.

Another website that was vital to the construction of our sequence was DaFont.com, which we used to select and upload the font we used in the titles. This was important because although Final Cut has a variety of different fonts available, none of them really suited our film like the one we eventually found.  By learning how to upload different fonts we gained a much wider variety of the type of things we could choose from, improving our sequence.

Youtube
Youtube played a massive role throughout the entire project. From there, we were able to look at and analyse film openings, allowing us to compare and contrast them to our in order to give us the knowledge of our genre and create the best possible film opening we could.

By searching for Royalty Free suspense and horror music we were also able to find the music we needed in our sequence to create the all important tension. We later used Audio Hijack in order to download this music from Youtube and upload it into Final Cut Pro, a technology I learnt to use in the process of constructing our sequence.

Finally, Youtube was also massively important to us as this is where we uploaded our Final Cut, as well as our Rough Cut. This allowed us to gain feedback from a wide audience and see what went right and what we could improve on. Youtube allowed us to place annotations on our videos, which gave us the chance to display more clearly what we did and why.

Overall I learnt a huge amount about technology and how important it is throughout the process of making my opening sequence, and these skills I have learnt are sure to help me in my future media projects. However, even though technology is massively important it can be argued that it is the person themselves that has the creativity, and not there ability to use technology. Technology aids a persons creativity, giving them the ability to do a lot more with their information and understanding, as well as giving them the opportunity to create great content. It's up to the individual how they use this.