Evaluation Number 6

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

During the production of our product, we used a variety of technologies to put it together, which helped us make it successful. We used Macs which helped us access the internet and softwares such as Final cut pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion the JVC camera, mobile phones, flip cameras, still cameras, video drives and memory cards to create our film.

 

In the process of putting our film together, we used the Mac computers in which we used many technologies such as Safari for browsing. This helped us with our research and planning through Youtube and Google images because other thriller openings such as Kidulthood inspired us.

Through Safari, we also had access to Blogger which helped us with the research and planning for our final product. It helped me feel more independent because I was allowed to blog freely and publish whatever I felt was relevant to putting towards our planning through creativity, such as using Prezi to put our ideas together.


Of course, without Safari it would not be possible for me to be putting information across on to Blogger. However the Macs also allowed us access to Final cut pro, which without it we would not have been able to put our fim together. Final cut permitted us to view our footage, put it together, edit it and delete it in the timeline. For example, on Final cut we noticed that some scenes did not link together so we had to swap them around in order for them to flow. This software also helped us to add in effects such as flashes, music and add on titles. Without Final cut, our film would have looked as if it was thrown together and would have appeared very messy and unprofessional. Being able to use Final cut has made me more creative and have a professional insight to how producers create their films. At the start, it was quite difficult to use but the more we imported files and edited on the timeline, the more I got more confident with using it and began to enjoy using the software. Being comfortable with using Final cut was very vital because it had an important role of putting our footage together.

As well as using Final cut, we used Sound track pro to import sounds on to Final cut. This helped us to choose, create and combine sounds that were most suitable for our product. It was enjoyable having a taste of the variety of sounds they had on the software. We put our sound together on there and linked two bits of music together. Using Sound track, we could increase or decrease the speed and the volume of our music. We then imported it on to Final cut so that it can build up the opening of our film. Although, like Final cut, this was quite difficult to use at first. However later on, Naziara and I got the hang of it and had fun listening to all the creative sounds. It allowed me to experience what a professional media producer does to put on their sound and realised that the production of a film is more complex than I had imagined. Overall, using Sound track pro was a great opportunity.

I believe that the most creative part of the process of creating our media film was using the software called Motion. Motion is where we created the icon of our distribution company "Eye Watch Films". This is because we started from scratch from putting together a name, and then how we would present it so that it looks engaging. On Motion, you can create a little sequence of how you want your icon to play. We added in Bokeh effects and chose a font for our distribution company and the transition that will be used for it to appear. This was interesting because we were free to create it however we want and be as creative as possible. Naziara and I tried to make it as professional and engaging as possible and I think we were quite successful with it. I thoroughly enjoyed using Motion because it improved my creativity skills and gave us an understanding of how icons such as "Warner Brothers" are created.

Camtasia was a software we used to put on a voice or annotations to our film. It records you whilst your film is playing so that you can watch it and discuss it at the same time. Like Final cut, it allows you to edit, combine and put footage together. It also allows you to annotate your footage such as adding in symbols such as arrows and then describing the scene. I used Camtasia to record a 'director's cut voice', commenting on my film and the forms and conventions we used in our thriller opening. Camtasia is very useful for creating footage like documentaries, where one can do voice overs and add in graphics. It helped me to look over my media product and see what went well and what didn't.


 In order to put our videos on to Blogger, we converted the files to MP4. We did this by using a software called MPEG Streamclip. We dragged our videos on to the little software and it converted with great success. This made it easier whilst uploading our videos and it was good quality.



 Indeed, using Macs helped us to create, edit and put our ideas together however without the JVC cameras, filming our footage would not have been possible. The JVC cameras helped us to capture professional and high quality footage. At the start of the process of creating our product, we were shown a health and safety tutorial of how to use the cameras. As a young adult of this day and age, I am so used to using the cameras on my mobile phone. Therefore, getting to experience what it feels like to use a professional camera was a great opportunity and gave a professional feel. I was not comfortable at the start, but going further into our filming, I became more confident with using the cameras and gained good composition by using media techniques such as close ups, wide shots, the 180 degree rule and the rule of thirds. Experimenting was fun with the JVC cameras and looking back at our footage involving mistakes was quite humorous to watch and reflect upon.

 

In order to save what we had captured, we inserted memory cards into our cameras as taught how to in the tutorial. We had 3 memory cards, A, B and C. After capturing the footage, we inserted the memory cards into the Macs to copy into the video drives and to open on to Final cut. The memory cards were a useful technology and backed up any bits of footage in case something happened to our video drives.

Everything is saved on our video drives. Without our video drives, all our work would be all over the place. The video drives contain a big amount of storage space to save all our work on and works as a file to keep organised. We connect our video drives to our Mac computers and use the footage to open up Final Cut.

 With the modern technology of today, we are able access almost everything through our mobile devices. Although I did not use my mobile phone, as I own an Apple Product, the iPod Touch, I was able to download the Blogger app and upload photos and post blogs. This was easier for me rather than taking pictures with the still cameras and connecting it to the computers. I found the Blogger app very useful and helped me to access my blog posts quickly and through a portable device.

As we had our iPod's/mobile phones to take still images, we did not really use the still cameras through the process of producing our final product. However we did use them for our preliminary exercise. We used the still cameras to take pictures of our props and then upload them to our blogs, using the media cards. Still cameras were useful to capture photos with high quality. I found them very easy and comfortable to use.

 

The simplest technology I found to use were the flip cameras, because we simply turned it on and pressed record. When we was done, we just inserted the USB into the computers, and then converted to an MP4 file using MPEG streamclip. We used these flip cameras to get feedback and interviews from our teacher and target audience members. I found them a very handy device and good to capture videos in every day life and in great quality too!

To conclude, using a variety of technologies gave me an insight on the work professional media producers do and helped me to experience what it is like to create media footage and different media techniques. The media technologies used for our products linked with each other, for example, without the video drives we would not be able to open up on Final cut, and without safari we would not be able able to use Blogger. The softwares and devices used helped me to improve my creativity skills and  I gained confidence, which without them would not have been possible.