Evaluation Activity Six:

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

The camera in which we decided to use when filming was the Nikon D3200, we used this one as it had impressive HD filming enabling our product quality to look very professional with the use of high technology. We chose this camera out of  the Nikon D3000, D3100 and D3200. We all agreed that this camera had the best quality. As the majority of my group take Photography A-Level we all knew how to use it effectively using the appropriate aperture etc. By doing this we could make it lighter or darker and change the focal length/depth of field. This meant we could blur out the background, we did this when you see our protagonist drop the dog's lead. By using this camera we have been able to get a successfully created film due to the quality and sound produced when filming. Hopefully when we make our trailer next year we will be aware of more features and possibilities this camera has to offer. To ensure our shots were steady we used my tripod, this was extremely useful as we were able to change the hight of it and move the head around smoothly which is how we got our first shot showing the location using a panning movement. 

The main software and process in which we have all learnt huge things from and hope to take these understandings further next year is Adobe, Premiere Elements.  Myself, and others not only in my group but the whole class can all say it was a hard thing to get your head around! It took time and effect but we can now say that its not as hard as you think! We have learnt how to use different/successful transitions, adding soundtrack, sound effects, merging shots and overall creating a product using the software. We were able to receive help and feedback from our teachers however it was mainly down to us as a group to use our initiative when editing our opening two minutes. We were able to add in transitions when moving from shot to shot and different transitions when titles entered. We learnt that we should use a fade to black when cross cutting and a fade in and out for the titles as it conforms to our thriller genre. The fade in and out precess for the titles looks professional and something which big film industries use. By the end of our editing process, we had all fairly much understood how to use Adobe Premiere Elements effectively. We knew we had used it well as we were able to include a non-copyrighted soundtrack conforming to our genre and sound effects which exaggerated our important shots.  Overall, Adobe Premiere Elements has allowed me to understand the ways in which to edit and create a successful project. Whether its the transitions, timings, soundtracks or clips used.

We also used other technological products, including an iPhone 6 to record behind the scenes and video diaries. We were able to access Time-Lapse to create a mini video showing you what we get up to in lessons. The high resolution of the iPhone meant the quality was detailed and successful. This was an effective way to keep our audience engaged rather than just a written blog. Youtube was also used as we had to upload our videos onto the website to be able to put them on our blog page. Youtube worked well as we were able to receive comments about how to improve our products. This meant we could learn more about the platforms we were using and how to improve. 

Next year, I hope we use different but also exciting technology such as a GoPro which means we can do different things including a fish eye lens and underwater filming. As we will be making a trailer next year we may be able to use a different software like IMovie on a Apple Mac as it has unique and different ways to create a successful project.