Question 6

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

Technology over the years…

• Technology has enhanced over the years with the likes of internet, mobile phones, ipods and computers. These new types of technology have become popular and interactive, increasing the levels of distribution and marketing. When we were researching thrillers we had to use the internet to access Blogger, Youtube and Goggle which we used to find information about our target audience and show our take them through the production process. I found these in easy to use because I’ve been using the internet for along time now so I’m used to certain sites.

The only one I would say I encountered problems with was Blogger because at first I was confused as to how it works but once I done my first blog I got the hang of it and now I can work my way around it. During production stages you’ll either use a Digital cameras or HD cameras. When we were constructing our product we had to use many of these technologies and a digital camera which had their ups and downs…

The beginning…

• From the beginning of the construction process of our thriller opening , I was introduced to a new range of technology that I was not familiar with such as the Canon digital compact camera & imac/imovies. At first when we got the camera, I didn’t know how to use it so I had to keep asking my team members for help, but as the days went by I started to play with the camera to get to know it a little better.

I only wanted to know the how to use the basics such as recording, taking pictures etc and how to delete video and picture files I didn’t want, but I found it hard so I just waited until the editing process. Although there were a few issues, I enjoyed filming with it because it allowed me to experience new technology which is apart of our society and what we use in everyday life. So it was a good learning process and towards the end I started to feel much more confident when using the digital camera compared to the blackberry camera we used to film our preliminary task.

During the shoot!

During the shoot: Evaluation

• During the filming process when we were shooting the first scene of our thriller, we encountered a few problems with the tripod which was affecting the type of shot we wanted. We wanted to do a high angle shot of the detective holding the pictures of dead people but we couldn’t quite get it right with the tripod so we reverted to handheld. I think because we had to use handheld shots for most of our scenes, I think it would have been better if we got the actual camcorders which have a strap specifically for handheld shots, therefore we wouldn’t have to worry about the safety of the camera when holding it because the strap it had was too big.

Good

Great! :D

• Also the zoom on the camera wasn’t that great because when you press the zoom button it goes really quick and also gets blurry the more you zoom in. Therefore we had to adjust ourselves in ways that we wouldn’t have to zoom that much into shots, but we managed to overcome these issues and not let the camera get in the way.

Furthermore when we were filming the main segment, it started to get dark and we had trouble with lighting. I think another drawback was that it didn’t have a torch on it or if it did we couldn’t find it. This would have been really helpful because if you watch our film you’ll notice that in two or three scenes its really dark so you cant see the girl lying on the floor. Therefore we had to brighten the scene when we edited it.

During the editing process…

• After we finished filming, we then had to begin the editing process which was the hardest part for me I think. When we had to use the iMACs for editing I found it hard because I’m used to the software on my computer at home which is the same as the ones in school in the ict rooms. Although the imac has similar programmes, it’s a whole new software which I’m not familiar with and I think I speak for my whole group too because we found it hard transferring our footage to imovies.

This is when we finally got it uploaded with the help of Paul an A2 student, and began to edit our first scene

Because we didn’t think we were going to find a good sound track to feature in certain scenes, Richard went onto garage band on the imac to try make his own beat. But in the end we never used it and used tracks from the imac and some of our own.

This is me editing the preliminary task. I thought it weren't going to take long because it was a short clip but it took way longer than I thought because of trimming clips etc. Plus I was finding it hard to upload it to the imac and also save it to my usb.