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

Throughout the process of constructing this product, my knowlege and abilities on using equipment such as the computer (inc. its programmes) and the camera (inc. its additional equipment) has increased. All of the equipment and applicatons I will be talking about have all given me a extreme benefit towards my work and final project.

(An example of myself working on the computer)

Apple Mac Computer:

The Apple iMac Computer was the main piece of equipment I have worked on for posting, processing, creating and editing my work for most of this project.

The equipment included a power source for the computer, various cables for the connection of the internet, keyboard, mouse..etc and included ports for electrical devices such as headphones, microphone and USB memory sticks.

This particular piece of equipmwnt was a great use to me as it had a large 21.5 inch screen and enabled me to work effeciently by being able to have various applications and programmes open at once (such as having the Internet / Blogger open whilst using Premiere pro to edit / create my project).

The Apple Mac included all the sources I needed such as the Internet and various applications, including Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop.

The computer also enabled me to create my own space/folder to store all of my work and images in one place, which enabled me to go back and continue with my work and creating new documents.

I would say that the Apple iMac is one of the best computers you can work on in terms of creating a product such as my own (films/film openings) because it can handle a variety of equipment to be connected to it (such as the camcorder) and is also great for enabling myself to do the work quickly and efficiently.

Camera recorder (HVR-HD1000P):

The HVR-HD1000P is a High Definition camcorder which is perfect for filming many types of occasions such as weddings, sporting events...etc. But the particular use of this camera whilst I was using it was to film the various work and projects I have been set out to do throughout this course, especially the main task to shoot a film opening.

With this particular camcorder, I was able to use it with or without a tripod and the ergonomic feature of it enabling the user to have it rest on the shoulder when recording, was a great use and as time went on - I was able to use it without problems.

The camcorder includes many supplied accessories such as a Lens Cap (to protect the lense from getting scratched), a lens hood (to prevent any extra light going onto the lens), a microphone (to record sound whilst recording the film footage), a touch screen (to enable viewing the film itself, playback and the various settings) and a large sized eye cup (to enable the user to look through at the footage being shot)

The film footage was saved and shot using a film tape which I could easily insert and take out from a panel on the side of the camcorder.

The camcorder also had a ergonomically designed handle which enabled me to use and carry it easily and safely without using a tripod or when I didn't use it upon my shoulder.

The sound quality of this particular camcorder is also a good quality - in terms of capturing the actors voices when they are speaking and other background noises (such as walking upon the leaves in my film). At one stage, I used the camera specifically to record the sound for when I needed to record my commentary of the film.

The functionality of the camcorder enabled me to efficiently record my film, such as the choice to have auto or manual choices, such as auto focus - which is what I had used for most of my filming as it meant that in dark conditions, I could trust that the camera has automatically focused it for me.

Overall, I found this particular piece of equipment was an excellent camcorder and was highly straightforward in terms of how to use it and how it appled well to my type of film.

Tripod:

 The tripod is a three-legged piece of equipment which enables stability along the side-to-side and up-and-down Coordinate axis of motion and provides a large amount of leverage. The only disadvantages to Tripods is that they can be heavy and bulky, however, they are a huge advantage in terms of being used with large equipment.

This piece of equipment came to a greate advantage to me to ensure that I can successfuly create a steady shot whilst filming, and in the type of conditions and area I was filming in, the tripod enabled me to personally adjust its height, angle and steadiness.
It also included a handle which meant, if needed, I could rotate the camcorder in a panning motion or a titlt, which turned out to be highly effective in terms of the footage I was filming.
Alot of my shots involved the tripod to create a clean sweep from side to side or an up and down motion. Alot of these shots enabled me to create a high suspence feel in the film and to enable me to be more creative with the types of movements I could achieve,
The tripod was also easy to transport as it can be clicked down back into its original/manageable size, where it can be easily put into a bag.

 

 (An example of myself using the camcorder with the Tripod)

(An example of myself with the camcorder and the Tripod in its carrying case)

Blogger:

Blogger is a 'Blog' publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with timings on the entries. I have used the 'Blogger' website all throughout my previous projects. This website enabled me to keep a personalised 'Blog' for all of my work based on this subject.

I was able to post different sections of my project into separate posts so that they can be viewed easily and to be in an organised style.

The various features on this blog publishing website has enabled me to post visual content such as images, video and text so that I can exaplain in detail about my project and the various factors about it.

The website enables text, video footage, images, links, formatting, editing, content allignment and lots more!

I found blogger a very straightforward website to use, and so far, I haven't had any trouble with it.

At first, it was all fairly knew to me and I found that I was slow on knowing how to use it and how to organise my posts - but over time, I have found it all very easy and efficient.

I would say this particular blogging website is one of the best on the internet, as it is easy to use for people of all ages and allows any posts of a variety of purposes - such as school projects, businesses, work and social purposes.

Adobe Premiere Pro:

 Adobe Premiere Pro is a software which is specifically designed for the making of films (video editing). The footage of films are based on a real time timeline, which shows the length of the film footage and enables 'cutting' the fim into shorter sections.

Adobe premiere Pro includes many features such as tools (including: select, cut, move...etc) and enables you to import footage and export the final result of video.

Throughout my use of Premier Pro, I used most of the features mentioned. For example, I used the cutting tool feaure to cut my film clip files down to a specific size - especially when I made my film in time with the music, this tool came in extremely useful for me.

I also used the feature 'Import' to put in images, video footage, music...etc into my Premier Pro document, where I was editing/creating my film opening.

I found this particular software fairly straightforward and easy to use and I also thought it was a very suitable programme for people of all ages, because I feel that anyone is able to use it because there aren't very many tricky things about it.

(Creating/setting up a new project)

To do this I simply opened up a new project on Premiere Pro and was then able to set up and name my project. It also included various presets which were available for the type of film and the footage.

 This is the Tool bar which enabled me t use a various choice of tools and functions to use. Such as 'Select', 'Track Selection', 'Ripple Edit', 'Rolling Edit', 'Rate Stretch', 'Razor', 'Slip', 'Slide', 'Pen', 'Hand' and 'Magnify/Zoom'.

The main tools I had used to help me throughout my project mainly involved the use of Select, Cut, Ripple Edit, Hand/grab and Zoom.

The tool (shown in the image above, below the Toolbar) enabled me to use the magnification of my project by using the sliding function.

Throughout the project, I had used various types of Video Effects to help with the effects and visual styling of my film clips.

There are many folders containing different types of effects that can be added to the video clips. Some which I had mainly used throughout my project includes Blur and Sharpen: Gaussian Blur. Colour Correction: Brightness & Contrast. Image Control: Black and White. Stylize: Alpha Glow, Solarize, Strobe light. Transform: Crop, Horizontal Flip.

Above is an example of the type of editing that can require a more in depth and manual edit of audio or visual effects/content within the project. The points and the lines enabled me to adjust and set the way in which I wanted the audio or visual footage to work with the project.

 This block was visible at all times (Top Left corner) so that it was easy to access if I needed to important any material. It enabled me to transfer all of my imported videos, music and images into one place and drag them into my timeline if and when I needed them.

To import a file, I simply went into 'File' and selected 'Import...'

I was then able to go into any accessible folder and find the file which I wanted to be imported into my project. This included the many cut film clips I had kept as a separate file, Images and music which had been intended for my project.

In order to import the video file from the film camera, I had to use the 'Capture' tool. This enabled me to run through the content on the film camera and he footage which I had captured.

With the capture, play and fastforward/backward enabled me to capture the footage in parts so that I could save each piece of footage in lots of manageable parts, rather than one huge stetch of footage.

When making my film project, I had to include some opening titles in order to add to the effect of the film opening sequence.

To do this I selected the '....' icon, which enabled me to create and edit my own title. With the various options of effects, fonts, sizes and so on, I was able to create a title under my own control and choice.

Photoshop:

Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing programme, which enabled me to edit images and text, to the be used in Premiere Pro.

 A really useful thing I found out is that Premiere Pro also integrates with Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop files can be opened directly from Premiere Pro and then be edited in Photoshop. Any of the changes made will immediately be updated when the Photoshop file is saved and focus returns to Premiere Pro.

I didn't use alot of Photoshop in my work, but it did come in useful from time to time when I had to edit something like titles/text or a photo for my final project piece.

However, even though I have been familiar with Photoshop before, I found that I learnt alot more about the tools and features available (such as turning individual images to become a singular file and tile them together, the crop tool, select tool and resizing the image) and how they can apply to my work creatively.

Adobe After Effects:

I did have a try on a programme called 'Adobe After Effects' is a digital motion graphics and compositing software that can apply to films and video.

I begun to use this programme to help me with my titles for my movie - but I had a few difficulties creating the font I wanted and to a particular style, so I ended up not using it.

However, I did find that it was a good programme in terms of creating more detailed text for titles, as it gave more options and effects for text.

By using this programme briefly throughtout my project, I know that I can refer to it at some point in the future for more creations of films.

Google:

Google is an internet 'Search Engine', which is useful for looking up furthur websites, information, images, maps, news, shopping, mail and so much more!
I used this search engine to look up various information for my project such as about media in general, camera shots, examples of film footage, looking up other websites and finding images to apply to my ideas and work.
I found this site extremely useful as it is simple to use and, most of the time, find the types of things I was intending to look for on the internet.

Wikipedia:

Wikipedia is a free, web-based encyclopedia project which anables others to view information on over 17 million articles from around the world - 3.5 million in English.

This web based encylopedia enabled me to research more into depth information on topics that I wasn't familiar with at the time, such as camera angles, shots, techniques, companies, distributors...etc!

I found this site extremely useful throughout my project as I was able to access information for myself and to understand alot more about the types of things I wanted to know about for this project.

Hotmail:

Hotmail is a free, web-based email sevice that is run by Microsoft. I already had an account with this particular web-based email service so I had some familiarity with the site.
The beneficial purposes of this particular site througout my project is that it enabled me to recieve and send information to / from others within my classroom from home or where ever I was (including my teacher - who sent us emails when we weren't in class to let us know about deadlines, work...etc)
This was useful for me as it enabled me to communicate with others / for help and information purposes throughout the project.

Youtube:

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos.

I used this website to upload, watch and share videos.

For my my final task (film opening sequence), I put it up onto youtube by uploading it and got an 'embed'. For my Main Task, I used Youtube to get the code and to put it onto my own Blogger - so that other could view my video from my Blog. This wasn't too hard to do - since I only had to copy the code from my youtube account of the video and paste it into the HTML section; so that it can be shown as a video feature.

I also used Youtube for parts of my evaluation, such as the annotated and commentated version of my final film opening.

Youtube was extremely good for the annotation purposes of 'Evaluation Activity 5' as it enabled different features and ways of annotating and letting me adjust the frames to a certain size and position.