Evaluation 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Above is my preliminary task that was when I had first used the cameras and had low editing skills. It has a reverse shot of me walking through the door from a rear view and then from the front, which then leads on to the girls having a conversation on the canteen.

I have evaluated this task in one of my previous posts here is a summary of the positive and negative things:

- Good use of reverse shots
- Good use of stationary shots (Tripod)
- Improve the editing in terms of the flow of the conversation
- Needs to make sense
- Could have used more variation of shots.
- Camera could be positioned slightly better (Closer to conversation)




Above is my final construction of my Crime-Thriller film "The Damned", which has had some improvements to it from the feedback of the audience and personal preferences.

In this opening I have made sure the quality of the shots are better and flow with each other being positioned well, I have also amended the lighting of the clips which were either had too bright lighting or too much darkness by changing the contrast. The first time I had filmed didn't turn out well due too the poor lighting and the fact that what appeared to be bright whilst recording wasn't, therefore I fixed this be applying extra lighting and re filming the killer scene.

As seen in the film I have also included a wide range of shots, from long to close ups, high or low angle, tracking and panning. This was a major improvement that helped me understand the different techniques to use and was fun to experiment different shots

Evaluation 6

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

Apple Macs

 

We had to use Macs in order to use the Internet to go on blogger and run other software Garageband, Adobe Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro. Macs are great for editing videos and creating your own soundtracks as the interface is easy to navigate and pick up, however those who don't own a Mac or don't normally use them may have trouble getting used to it. I prefer using PCs over Macs as my experience of Macs aren't that great, however in time I learnt shortcuts and how to use Macs to a certain standard and adapt to changes from using a PC to Mac which wasn't difficult.

HD Camera

In order to film for my Crime-Thriller I was provided a HD Camera for recording, I had some experience of filming but in the previous tasks I had a tendency to constantly use the tripod to support the camera, which is good to some degree as the shot will be steady but it is limited to be varied. When filming my opening scene I tried to test and experiment with different shots as possible, as I was inexperienced and sometimes holding the camera still can be troublesome I had to take more shots of the same scenes to perfect it. Eventually my camera holding skills improved as they got more steady throughout filming. 

 

Since the cameras were HD it made the quality of the clips good and proved better image quality, although I learnt that what is displayed on the screen is not always exactly what it would appear once transferred. This was because when I was filming the killer scene for the first time what appear to be visible on the camera when I recorded wasn't accurate, and was pitch black on some clips therefore I had to provide some back light from the camera and adjust the lighting inside the room. Overall I gained alot of experience as I rarely have use a HD Camera to film.

Tripod

I had never used a tripod before but it was simple to use, but I could say a skill I gained from this is by knowing how to assess and place the tripod in a suitable place for a specific shot. Tripods are great for stationary shots for when you want something to be accurate and set in a position like establishing a location, as you can adjust the height and the angle of it. However tripods are limited and aren't the best options for tracking, and panning shots but they are very useful.

Final Cut Pro

My experience with Final Cut Pro was poor as I had never used it, however with the help of my teacher I learnt many things such as separating video and audio, cutting/trimming clips, applying titles, uploading a new font, applying transitions such as fade in and fade out, adjusting the volume or sound clips. Learning to use this editing software was very difficult at first, but with time I've achieved alot from using this software.

Adobe Photoshop & Flash



I am very familiar in using Photoshop and Flash so in which I decided to incorporate both for my company Ident as realistically many real companies Idents are animated and have a unique font. They are both very effective and using these two together I havn't learnt much from the process but I applied what I already knew.


Garageband & Soundtrack Pro

I have used Garageband before whilst at an Apple store, and at my previous schools, as for Soundtrack Pro I had little experience however importing sounds into Final Cut Pro was an easy task. I used them to create my soundtrack for my film opening by recording myself using the midi keyboard that you can use on the software.


Blogger & Youtube
 


Blogger was used record the development and progression of the completion of the final product of my film. Organising and managing the blog was difficult at first as it was new to me however Blogger is very effective and great for displaying progression. Blogger helped me manage my time better for preparation of filming as I had a variation of shots listed and a time schedule for filming.


Youtube is great for sharing videos online to the public and is very popular worldwide ,allowing you to upload your own content to the community. Anyone can watch your videos and you can gain feedback on your video/film and have awareness of how well your film is doing amongst the web