What have you learnt about

technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

Firstly, when I first began my course back in September, I had no idea how to use an

Fujifilm finepix s9600 camera as these were a new

experience for me. It was something that, however,

came natural to me as I was able to use the camera with

ease once I was aware of which button performed what

action.

I filmed a few videos of some shots of people and also done my preliminary task which were tasks that

enabled me to feel more comfortable using this SLR camera. I had a great time using this piece of kit

which only encouraged me to learn even more about it until I was completely at ease when filming footage

with this device. 

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THE SLR CAMERA

Furthermore, Mac's were also new pieces of technology to me. I am usually used to just a normal laptop at home, rather than a

fancy computer with a variety of different tools and programmes.

THE APPLE MACSFrom this,

to this

It didn't take me too long to adjust myself to using a mac as I found that I actually preferred this style of computer. The

quality is much better along with the overall piece of equipment being a lot faster and more practical for the types

of things I was doing in lesson e.g. editing footage.

To edit my footage at the beginning I used

a program called iMovie which was extremely simple when it came to piecing a video

together. I'd crop my clips to my

satisfaction and drag them in place so that

they'd play in a chronological order, allowing each clip to follow on from the

previous one.

To add music I'd simply download a track onto my iTunes account and again, drag this into the iMovie program underneath the footage from beginning to

end. IMovie was really simple to use, it was only when I began to use Premiere Pro that I felt out of

my comfort zone.

I had been so used to using iMovie that I found Premiere Pro to be a lot more technical and more of a challenge. A month into using Premiere Pro I began to understand it's tools and accessories a lot more, which meant that by the time it came to editing the footage for our film opening I was comfortable with what I was

doing.

In addition, with this editing software, I learnt many tricks and techniques that I hadn't known before. I found most of my enjoyment through exploring the range of clip transitions and effects that would suit my film opening. As I filmed a romance movie, lots

of fades and blurs could be used to over exaggerate the soft and loved up feel introduced in

Danielle and I’s media product.

EDITINGEven though the movie opening

included quite a strong hearted teenage girl, it is still a romance that required

these effects to further support its genre.

My favourite one was cross dissolve, as this let the second clip play over the end of the

previous clip so that they didn't just cut from one another, but instead flow

angelically instead.

We were also able to use a colour wheel to adjust the tones in our footage by

using curves and layers, something that I am well trained with from being a

photography student as well as a media student.

When it came to adding the titles into our movie I found this to be an extremely time consuming task. A positive of doing this however, was that we were able to duplicate the title onto the next

piece of footage we were placing it over in order to keep the sizes and positions of the titles consistent throughout the whole movie opening. There was a variety of different fonts to choose from and colours which meant that we weren’t stuck for choice when coming to the final part of

editing, as we done the titles close to the end.

Unfortunately, I didn't have myself an SLR camera at the time of filming and neither did my partner. This meant that I didn't need to put my practice of the SLR camera into the film

opening because we simply used a video camera for our film opening.

SONY HDR SR 8E CAMCORDER

Using this camera was quite straight forward even though it was my first

time again. We simply had to press a button to begin filming, and press it

again to conclude the shot. This made filming Danielle and I’s film

opening simple and less stressful as prepping the shots took the longest period of time. This camcorder was

light and portable as it is not big at all and could easily go into a camera bag

over my shoulder. It was extremely practical when I’d have to travel by a bus and take the camera with me to

my house along with other equipment such as a tripod.

Using this method of filming also allowed us to view raw footage immediately so that we would be aware of specific shots that

would perhaps need improving, and what would be okay for the final product.I came to the conclusion that

the SLR camera we used was not as successful in filming good quality footage in a room, it was a lot more successful to use the

camcorder because the quality of the footage on this

device was miles more defined, clear and of better

quality. Due to a lot of my film opening being filmed indoors, it was therefore a good choice

to decide on using the camcorder instead of the

Fujifilm.

Camcorder footage

Fujifilm footage

Moreover, YouTube was an extremely practical website to use when doing

research into current movies and current film openings. I used this website so that I was able to study existing romance movies and look at what was perhaps included in their movie opening, along with the types

of shots they used throughout the film.

YOUTUBE

Shot of the room as a setting for when girls are upset – The Fault

In Our Stars

Two shot of couple – Leap Year

Long shot of couple outside – The Notebook

I watched a variety of

romance genres to gather an

understanding of what could be included in our film opening. I

used PowerPoint to create a

response to this about

conventions of my genre.

I also carried out a timed analysis which I revisited before planning Danielle and I’s media product to be clear on what it was we wanted to include in the first two minutes. I also studied the types of melodies that played during the

beginning of a movie to see what would be appropriate for Our Last Christmas, thus deciding to include a Christmas theme tune at the beginning

along with a slow relaxing chime throughout the rest of the film opening. YouTube allowed me to look at all of these different romance movies which

was vital in the research and planning process.

Shot of the room as a setting for when girls

are upset

Two shot of couple

Long shot of couple outside

PRODUCTION WORKFurthermore, I believe that my skills in production work has developed efficiently since the start of my course because I now understand the amount of work that goes into just two minutes of a movie, let alone the whole duration, and also the style of filming that is needed to pass as good

quality footage.Examples of this would be the framing of my

shots, something which would have to be precise in order to make sure that the

frames consisted of no wasted

space and didn't cut off certain

parts of someone that the audience would need to see

for example, during a

conversation shot (over the shoulder shot) their whole head would need

to be in the frame.

These shots are examples of bad filming, because their

heads have been chopped off in the frame.

These are improved shots, and what they should look

like so that the audience can see their whole face in the

frame.

I've learnt a lot about frame work specifically as this is something that would take me a while to correct. Another technique I've learnt during the process of constructing this product would be to film everything needed at

a particular location, altogether. Whether that be the first ten seconds needing to be filmed there along with the last thirty seconds. Even though

this footage would be at different parts of the film opening, it is more practical to film everything together at that location instead of continuously

going back.

We filmed the last parts of the film opening just after the bedroom scenes, because Anika was

still dressed in Ameerah’s costume. Even though the first flashback comes before the

ending, this was filmed after all of the scenes with the red jumper because of the practicality.

THE MICROPHONEUsing the

microphone to record our

actress speaking her

narration was a difficult task.

We understood how to begin the recording, and that the

person with the recorder had to sit away from

the person speaking into

the microphone.

This was easily done, however

it was the actual

narration into the microphone

that was the problem.

We wrote up the script on our blog for Anika to speak in the studio, but

it took us approximately an hour and more to get her to speak the narration in a casual way, instead of sounding strained and as if she

was just reading. We needed her to be enthusiastic, so adding this part into our film opening added more stress, however we were pleased

with how it emphasised the footage when we edited it in, therefore

finding the access to a microphone was important for Our Last

Christmas.Using a “dead cat” on the microphone protects it from moving air hitting it which

obviously causes unwanted noise/rumble. This was more effective than using it without

this tool because it allowed Anika’s voice to sound more

clear and defined.

My blog is another aspect of technologies that I have learnt how to use through the development of constructing this product. I created one on

blogger.com with my Gmail account and it’s something that I have found to be a key part of my media, and I couldn't picture doing a media course

without having a blog.

MY BLOG

They are efficient because they allow me to upload story

boards and still images along with videos with the embed

code.

By using this blog it also means that the teacher and

the students are able to give immediate feedback

when it comes to gathering this information from our audience. Our whole class

are able to access each other’s blogs to gather

inspiration perhaps or just to generally see any of

their latest updates to their work.

 This kind of technology reduces the demand for

paper folders which reduces the chances of a cluttered classroom and files going

missing. Having everything on a blog keeps certain

projects organised as you can label the work, and in future click on that label

which will then take you to the pieces of work under this

label.

Having a blog is now essential for me as a media student. It’s practical and easily manageable. Considering I had no understanding on anything media studies related when I

began this course back in September, I am proud with how much I have learnt and achieved in the first 6 months.