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

One the major skills that I have learnt from this unit of work is how to use a camera and the different features/ shot types they are capable of. Throughout filming our prelim and thriller opening I have learnt about the different camera angles which can be achieved using a camera, for example close up shot, medium shot, long shot, point of view shot etc and what effects they have on the footage. One of the most effective shots we used was an angled shot looking up at the interrogator and an angled shot looking down at the hostage. These two shots where effective because they gave the impression that the hostage was weak and hopeless and the interrogator was powerful and in control. The reason why we used these two shots is because it allowed us to give the effect of who is in-control and who is at there mercy, this is very important because thriller movies are designed to show the feeling of the characters and this shot shows it perfectly because it shows the hostage powerless and scared and the interrogator with all of the power feeling confident and prepared. The most common camera shot which we used was a basic medium range camera shot positioned at the hostages eye-level, we used this shot the most because it allowed the audience to clearly see the hostages face and his emotion which is important in thriller films because it allow the audience to create an emotional attachment to the character. We also used this shot because it is a type of composition and framing and it also allows the audience to see the interrogator moving around the hostage and you can see the hostages reactions when the interrogator says/ does something, for example when the interrogator shows the document to the hostage you can tell that he is worried because of the facial expression he pulls and he looks away.  Learning multiple different camera angles has helped me to create my thriller opening because it has allowed me to film the opening differently from just using basic camera shot types.

I have also learnt how to use the different features of a camera, for example the zoom and manual focus. Learning how to use the zoom on a camera is very important because it allows me to capture what I want in a scene, for example if I only wanted to capture a certain section of a scene I could alter the zoom of the camera so it would only pick up what I wanted to capture. The manual focus option on a camera is not used that much but it can be helpful when it is needed. For example if you wanted to create a blur effect you can alter the focus so you can get the effect you are looking for.

I have also learnt that getting the lighting right for filming can be very difficulty because natural lights can something be too bright or dark and artificial light can be too dark or light. I have found out that the best way to ensure that your lighting if ready for filming is to test it before you film so that is something is not right you can do something about it quickly and efficiently. If your lighting is not correct which happened to us when we were filming out thriller opening you can adjust the brightness and darkness of footage by using video editing software such as iMovie which I have also learnt how to use.

I have also learnt how to film steady footage using the tripods. Being able to film steadily is important because it allows the audience to pay their full attention to the footage not the uneven footage. Tripods are also good when trying to film a panning shot because they allow you to alter the angle of the camera horizontally and vertically very precisely. Tripods have been one of the most important pieces of equipment I have learnt how to use because they allow me to film precisely and steadily something which is impossible to achieve with the human hand.

I have also learnt how to use the editing software ‘iMovie’ which we used to edit both our prelim and thriller opening task. Learning how to use iMovie and all of the features it possesses was one of the most beneficial skills that I learnt throughout this task. iMovie has numerous features such as transitions, effects, video cutting etc. We used all of these effects when editing out thriller opening, below is a list of what features I have learnt how to use in iMovie.

·         I have learnt how to cut clips down to the size I wish them to be so that they fit properly with the other clips.

·         I have learnt how to alter the sound which is embedded into recorded footage, for example I can change the volume throughout a piece of footage.

·         I have learnt how to alter the speed of footage; I can slow footage down or speed it up.

·         I can add sound effects and music to my video, the sound effects we added to our thriller was off the GarageBand audio library.

·         I can change the visual effects of videos and photos using features such as brightness, contrast, exposure, darkness etc.

·         I can add transitions between video clips and pictures and edit how fast they change and what effect they have (fade to black, fade to white etc)

·         I can add titles over the top of videos and photos as well as being able to choose and edit the effect of the title.

·         I have learnt how import numerous video files and then cut them up so that I am left with the footage I require to complete my entire video.

·         I have learnt how to export my completed footage and upload it onto a CD where I can create an interactive dashboard.

I also learnt how to use other software such as GarageBand which allowed me to create and edit my own sounds for my thriller opening. GarageBand has numerous features which allow me to insert sounds, edit them and then export the file ready to be placed on my thriller opening in iMovie. This software is extremely helpful and effective because it allows me to create my own sound effects as well as edit existing sound effect; GarageBand comes with numerous features which allow me to edit the sound. Also GarageBand allows multiple sound effect or music clips to be paired together to create one sound file, GarageBand can also be used to cut up a sound file into smaller parts so that they can be used separately. GarageBand was extremely helpful to us because it allowed us to pair a number of sound clips together so that they created one larger clip which we used over the entire of our thriller, also the features it has allowed us to merge the sound effects together so that they don’t sound as if they are ‘clashing’. GarageBand also have an extremely large audio library which it shares with iTunes, this is very helpful because there are so many audio clips that there is defiantly going to be a suitable clip somewhere.

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