Evaluation: Question 6

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

Throughout the process of making our opening sequence we used different types of technology to make it at a high standard, where I have learnt lots of techniques and lessons to take on board for the future to do with the technology we have used to make our opening sequence possible.

 Apple Mac's/Mac Book-

We used theses Macs to make our opening on. This is because the high quality and speed of this model which was important when using certain programmes and software to make the process quicker. This model of computer helped with the speed of rendering files and importing/exporting to blog, allowing us to save time focus on the elements of our opening rather than the problems with the device its on. I have learn't about the machine itself but also gaining knowledge in a range of new programmes to improve the quality of my opening. I have also discovered the battery charge for the Mac books it short therefore I had to ensure I had a charger at hand when needed to save the hassle of losing work and wasting time. From the Macs I have also learnt to remember to have a card reader (USB format) to plug in as the Macs don't have a SD Card slot available. This manage to delay us a couple of time due to the fact our footage was save on the SD Card we had to work on other elements instead of editing our opening a couple of sessions. One other element I've learnt is to ensure I saved my footage on the Desktop before opening it up on an editing software such as Final Cut Pro as it doesn't locate the files if the footage is straight off the memory card. Overall I feel this model has helped with making our opening professional and at a high standard.

Programmes/Software-

Final Cut Pro-

This was one of the main editing programmes we used to edit our opening on. I felt it was a quick and easy programme to work and had an easy layout to follow. I feel I'm more confident with the process of cutting shots and deleting footage we didn't need, making our opening flow more to shot to shot. The rendering process took a long time as we had a lot of files and footage to change. I've learnt next time to ensure to convert it into Apple Intermediate Codec format so it doesn't need rendering. This will save time where I can spend it on more editing to improve my work further.

LiveType-
We used this programme to titles for our opening film. I felt it was an effective and easy way to produce good quality titles. I learn't that once the title was made the title will automatically connect to the final cut pro programme, making it quick to edit in and less time to look for the file, import and rendering. This programme allowed us to edit titles with realistic font and sizing to match the conventions of our opening film. I manage to learn how to add special effects on the titles to match the conventions and makes our opening look more realistic. We used a fade in/out effect which showed a ghost present to the audience. Learning this technique of added effects will help me in the future when making a movie as it flows more easily with effects.

Extra Software- 

Copyright Free Music Site
When finding the right score for our opening film we used a copyright free music site called Incompetech. I found this site quick and easy as the genres of music were shown on the side which made it easy when it came to choosing the music that best fitted our opening genre. It was quick and fast to download, however I found some of the music tracks were unrealistic and didn't really match the genres described under, therefore it took a while to find the right one for our opening.

YouTube-
When it came to up downloading videos onto youtube it took longer than expected due to our internet connection. I learnt new skills by creating annotations for one of my evaluation questions. I but these over the top of my final film and showed how our opening film attracts to the audience. Learning this new skill has helped me become more confident with using youtube and will help speed up the process for next time I want to use this technique.

Blogger-
This was our main site to record the process and journey of making our opening film from start to finish. I felt I have learnt a lot about this site considering it was a completely new site for me before I started this project so I was unaware how it worked at first. Getting support from teachers and friends I began more confident and worked on it independently in order to show my journey. One element which was frustrating show moving pictures around on the editing blog page as they often stayed in the same place. This is until I realised I had to double click on the picture and drag to the edge of the page to allow me to move it. I have also learnt that in order to upload a video file I had to upload it on YouTube and then embed the file into Blogger which was a completely new experience and made me more confident with transporting files to one place to another.

DSLR Cameras-

EOS 5D Canon-
This camera was used to film the opening film due to the fact it add special effect filters, focus pull and showed a high quality shot at all times. As I'm a photography student already I was aware of how to use the camera so I was familiar with the basic settings. The focus pull effects were more of an advanced setting which I took a while to get use to but soon picked it up. I found the camera was heavy at times which made it hard to keep the camera stable and to gain clear shots, however when I got the hang of things I managed to pick up some clear shots to use in our opening.

Canon D500-
This camera was a basic DSLR to capture backstage and on set footage, pictures and updating videos. I was familiar with the basic zoom, changing lenses and recording processes so I felt this was a strong area for me which I was confident in.



Tripods-
Basic standing tripod-
I was aware of how to use this equipment from taking photography so I took very little time connecting the camera and ensuring it was stable which allowed us to spend more time on the production and ensuring the camera was safely on the tripod to risk breakages. I feel I was very confident at knowing what to do in this area.

SteadiCam-
Due to my brother being in the media industry we had the advantage to use his equipment and became more confident with new tripods. This tripod allowed us to do tracking and point of view shots which made the audience more involved with our opening and created impact. I was familiar with connecting the camera to the tripod, however I learnt how to hold the Steadicam so its stable and easier, on my shoulder. This gives more support and allowed us to gain steady shots.

Creating our score-
We edited all our soundtrack together on a programme called Soundtrack Pro. This was a very easy and quick programme to use which followed the same layout as Final Cut Pro so we were familiar with how to use it. I struggled to find how to fade in/out the score so had to ask Jade for help and manage to successful produce to the score to match the conventions.


SD Card and Card Reader-
I realised that I needed to be more organised with bringing in the memory sticks due to the fact our footage was saved on the Cards so it delayed our progress for editing when we didn't have them for a certain lesson. We had a problem with one of our hard drives, unfortunately the device broke where we saved our footage. Eventually we managed to backup the files and get the footage back we needed however we were lucky. We have definitely learnt a lesson to backup our files onto other devices to ensure we have saved copies incase we lost work. This saves time doing the work again and having to refilm. We found the rendering process took a long time due to the amount of footage we had on our opening, also putting the Card in to the Macs and opening our film on Final Cut Pro was a challenge at times due to the reconnecting process. We have learn't for the future to save the footage on the desktop in the Mac so the programme can locate and connect the footage when the Card is removed.

Conclusion
Overall, I felt I have learnt a lot from the different technology that helped make our Opening film possible. I feel I will learn from my mistakes for the future to save more time on other key elements but I know I have also created a successful final film as I used all the above technology to improve our opening further. I have picked up some key and useful skills to help me in life such as: Card readers, new programmes I've discovered and working on new unfamiliar computers. Comparing digital, modern technology to Analog puts the element in a whole new perspective, as digital technology is a lot more advantaged and gives the ability for producers to create for possibilities in film making. From using the above technology to help produce an opening film I can now see why film companies rely on digital technology to keep them in the media industry and on top. From the production to the final editing of a film, technology takes a huge role in making the processes possible to come out with a final product worth distributing for audiences to consume.