Evaluation Question Six : What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The IMBD website helped me develop my knowledge about existing films, by providing key information not only about the genre and a synopsis of the film, but also what company distributed and produced the film therefore helping me determine knowledge about the kind of company that would be attracted to distributing my film. Generally I found it extremely useful during the research element before I actually started constructing my opening, as it provided me with knowledge about many aspects that are attached to the film industry.

Another way in which the Internet became an important aspect when constructing my film was by allowing me to use Google. For the research it allowed me to search the web for information about all aspects of the film industry, such as the site "art of the title" which in turn gave me more knowledge about how many title sequences to have, and what they should be. It also allowed me to search for images to go along with my media glossary within the research stage, this overall made my blog much more interesting to view. I also used Google however in the main construction, especially when I was hunting for copyright free music (without Google this would be been an even harder task then it was!).

When documenting the process to my final two minute opening, I found Blogger not only effience but also rather easy. I had never used a blogging site before starting the AS course, so therefore it was a new technology for me to discover throughout the year, for example I discovered how to upload videos from my you tube account straight onto my blog.. It has been perfect for not only because I can show clearly all the stages of the development to my film, from the initial researching to the storyboard to the final edit, but also because it can be viewed by other class mate therefore allowing me gain feedback quickly on my work.

Youtube, has been an extremely useful website through the process of constructing my opening two minute film. Before starting media studies I had off course used you tube in order to listen to or watch videos, but I had never personally used it to upload one of my own pieces of work therefore I have learnt how to do this within the course. Although it does take a while to upload my films to you tube, one I had been patient and gone through the process of uploading adding them onto my blog was very simple (insert video-my you tube videos). I also found you tube useful during the research stages as it allowed me to watch existing AS level work, along with professional openings therefore allowing me to gain an idea of what worked for an opening and what didn't.

When it came to constructing my film I feel it was within the process of using the editing software that I have learnt the most, developing my knowledge within editing started with learning about using Photoshop for my company ident. I had to learn how to trace an image, depict colours, add a transparent background and then export the image into after effects so I could construct my ident and add the necessary animation.

The second piece of technology involved in editing which I learnt about during the construction was After Effects. This came useful in all aspects of constructing my film, from putting together my company ident where I learnt many new skills such as how to add new layers including text layers and add animation such as fade in transitions to my text/images. I also used after effects in order to create my title sequences, it enabled me to create a text layer on a transparent background so I could import my titles on top of my film footage.

The last main piece of technology that I used to edit my film was Premier Pro, this piece of editing I had however used prior to editing my opening, as we had been set the task of re-creating the opening of "The Hangover" and our preliminary task where we had to film and edit the pieces. I used premier pro firstly by individually editing my home-video film clips, I was able to overlay the footage to create a "super 8 effect", by distort the colour and noise to create this in my opinion made a realistic home movie. I also used it as a base where I could put all my film clips together, along with my ident and title sequences from after effects. I was then able to overlay my audio to the appropriate footage, along with my piece of music and where appropriate I added a cross-dissolve transition (such as between my second ident and the family photos) to create a smooth shot transition.

I was able to incorporate my music easily into premier pro, however the main issue I has was in order to find copy right free music. I therefore learnt about new music sites, which enables users of the website to down load the music copy right free. I first of all looked on "sound cloud" however I did not find a piece that I felt was right for my film, therefore I looked on another site called "Jamendo" where I was able to find a piece that I personally felt fitted perfectly with my film opening. I learnt how to import my music into premier pro, where I could distort the volume to allow my own non-digetic and digetic dialogue to be heard.

Throughout the actual filming I developed my knowledge about the equipment involved within creating a film. We had all used the equipment before hand in groups when creating the opening of "The Hangover" and completing our primelary task, however I had never used the equipment by myself, so I was therefore able to really develop my skill of how each part on the camera worked. I used a Canon HD camera, the quality was high enough for what I was filming and the camera was not over complex so I felt confident when filming. I also used a Tri-Pod during some of my shots, (example = the police interview scene), however when I was re-creating the home-video shots I used a hand-held shot so that I could really create the effect of a home made video, I did firstly try with a tri-pod however the most effective pieces were those shot with me just holding the camera.