By Connor Cummings

Evaluation Question 6

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

A key technological skill that I have learnt is camera use (Canon 700D). I used camera skills when filming in London and in doing so increased my understanding of how this camera functions. An

example of this is the alignment grid. Previously in the ellipsis discussion, I spoke about using rope to ensure that the public

walked in a straight line. However after continually practicing with the alignment grid, I became more confident in filming

independently and learnt how to use the auto focus square on the camera to ensure that people were in line with the camera. This also made sure that the camera was fully in focus before

filming.

Canon 700D

This is the focus square that I used when filming in London. I positioned the square so that the individuals body was inside of it. This was essential as when you start to record, the alignment grid disappears and so

the square is the only guidance tool. Below is an image of myself filming an ellipsis sequence character

using the alignment grid and the focus square

As a result of using the Canon, I have increased my knowledge of equipment management. I frequently used the stedicam in London and this helped me to film moving shots whilst keeping the camera still. This was important as we wanted a steady flow of action and no breaks to ensure that our audience were engaged. The stedicam allowed me to

keep the camera in one position due to the weights that are incorporated onto the shaft. At first, I held the stedicam with two hands however after learning from online videos, I became more confident in holding it with

one hand so that I could balance it efficiently.

Youtube and FacebookThroughout the development of the final product, I used youtube and Facebook. These websites were useful for our group as with youtube we could upload all of our videos and discussions and

this also included Facebook. We could reach and interact with our target audience.

Youtube allowed me to upload and manage all of my videos and also granted my group access to The One And Only Media account. Previously, I had no experience in using Youtube however the simple online tips enabled me to

learn a variety of strategies. Youtube allows the user to click and drag a video and this will automatically upload without any hassle. This was convenient as

when working on the editing side of anonymous, I could leave youtube to upload our videos by itself. Youtube also allowed me to switch between accounts so that I could manage my own personal videos and those of

anonymous. This was helpful as I had the ability to easily review the videos that had been uploaded by others in my group and those that I uploaded to

my own account

Facebook was also a useful resource as it has a professional software that many film companies use to promote their films. Facebook has a step by step guide which outlined the way to create a Facebook page. I was able to state my intended target audience and through this Facebook gave me facts and statistics on how I could expand to attract more of our audience. I learnt how to promote the Facebook page by recommending it to friends and family and they shared information with others. This made sure that there was a constant spread of information. So far we have increased anonymouss profile through

the 128 people who have liked our page.

BloggerI used blogger to submit my coursework and other information on anonymous. I had never used Blogger before and at first, I found using coding and submitting posts challenging. I

gradually came to grips with how to use Blogger and through this I have learnt how to code, post information and embed links from other websites.

I learnt how to use templates to put as the background for my

blog. This, in my opinion, makes the blog more personal. When a blog is personal, other people

can identify with it and are more likely to become engaged and return to the blog. This can be shown through the 795 people

who have visited my blog

Blogger has a web archive that allows its user to quickly search

through previous posts if the user wants to correct information. This came in handy especially when I

wanted to make changes/improvements to some posts

Blogger has a setting where you can edit your profile so that you can be more

discoverable to others. This was useful as my target audience could review the

progress I was making on my blog. Through blogger, I was able to learn how to use other google resources such as youtube, google

forums etc.

Here is an example of the coding that I used for question 5. In this HTML is an embed link that I

used to present the evaluation video from youtube. Youtube has a setting where you can easily obtain an embedded link and this was a crucial skill that I learnt so that I could present

information on my blog

Blogger allowed me to switch between HTML and compose so that I could view both the coded

version of a post and what the final product would look like

GoPro StudioThroughout the editing process, I learnt how to use GoPro studio when editing anonymous. I have used GoPro studio in the past but not in great detail. I saw the final sequence as an important end

to the film opening and so I went away and learnt more about GoPro studio and how I could incorporate these newly learnt skills into editing the last scene. On reflection, the added value to

anonymous from using the GoPro was that it gave a better/different point of view shot compared to an ordinary camera.

I learnt how to crop videos using the mark in/out point icon. This was useful as I

could easily speed though footage and crop them down to a certain size. Previously, I had to individually cut clips to trim them down however after having learnt how use the mark in point, I could

quickly trim videos without much hassle

The background music was essential for anonymous in creating a tense atmosphere. I learnt though GoPro studio how to incorporate background music by clicking and dragging the music from the media icon. From here, I cropped the music using the mark in point icon and this helped the music

to flow with the action.

GoPro studio also taught me how to edit

the speed of the footage by increasing/decreasing the speed

slider. This was important as in

anonymous, there is a subtle decrease in

speed of the point of view shot to immerse the audience in the

moment

I learnt through GoPro studio, how to select media

footage from the camera and how to export them onto the editing software. This could be done by selecting media

and typing in video into mac finder. I could then

select the relevant footage and from here I could

choose, convert and crop the clips

Online web resources Pearl and Dean - Pearl and Dean is a website that has facts and

statistics on films. I used Pearl And Dean during my primary research stage as it provided information about our target audience. For example

I was able to find out that thrillers have a common trend with being popular amongst males. This piece of research was fundamentally important so that we could target the right people. Pearl and Dean

taught me that there is much more to making a film than simply filming, good research pays dividends and leads to a more targeted outcome.

Scribd - Is a website used primarily to submit documents online. This website allowed me to submit all word files so that I could convert them into a PDF format that would show up on my blog. Not only have I learnt how to embed off blogger, I have also done this through Scribd and this

was important so that I could upload my documents

Slide Share - Is a website that allowed me to upload all of my keynote files that I made on my mac. The process is

similar to that of scribd and so through learning the process of uploading via scribd, this taught me how to use

slide share.

Premiere Pro

Premiere pro was the main driving force behind our editing of anonymous. This is a professional editing software that many companies use to edit films. I had no experience in using this software and as a result of anonymous, I have learnt how to remove colour and crop clips. In order to make everything in black and white and the bag in colour, I learnt that you need to select Leave colour on Premiere pro. This taught me that through doing this, all colours are removed and the bag is isolated. We had experienced difficulty at first as there were other objects in red in London. To get over this problem, I added a garbage matt over the bag and would go through frame by frame, moving the

garbage matt into place. This garbage matt was a useful resource as it removed every colour apart from the red bag. The removal of colour was key as the red bag had to be a focus point for our audience to pay attention to. We

wanted the red bag to really stand out and through using this garbage matt, this enabled me to learn colour removal techniques. Below is a screenshot of my editing using the garbage matt and colour correction tools:

I learnt how to move the garbage matt around

objects to ensure that the red bag was completely

isolated from other colours. We were allocated

clips to edit frame by frame to ensure that the garbage matt was only picking up the red bag.

This was a long process!

By continuously practicing, I eventually

learnt how to colour correct video footage by

using the Three Way Colour Corrector that is

pre-installed on premiere pro. This feature allowed me to increase/decrease

tolerance levels of our footage to get the best

colour out of them

iMovie and iPhoto

I used iPhoto mainly to export images onto my laptop so that I could organise our location shots etc. However I also discovered that the app has an inbuilt feature that allows the user to adjust image quality. This was a useful tool as I was able to design our anonymous poster using

photographic enhancement.

iMovie was helpful especially when required to edit videos for my blog. I didn't necessarily use it for the

editing side of anonymous as premiere pro has a more advanced editing software. However I used iMovie to edit

behind the scenes footage and coursework questions. iMovie had an easy to follow guide that introduced me to

new editing techniques on a new software.

I acquired a variety of skills using iPhoto. I was able to reduce the exposure and shadows to create a

poster that stood out as being suspicious

Before

After

iMovie allows its user to click and drag footage from the top left viewer down to the timeline. From here, I learnt how to crop clips by pressing cmd B on the mac to

break the clips up.

I worked out how to use titles and

transitions by selecting

them in the bottom left

hand corner. This made the

behind the scenes

movies more personal