EVALUATIONTECHNOLOGY

CAMERAS• Before filming our opening sequence I had not used a camera to film before. This is why it was vital that I did a trial shoot before actually

filming the real thing. The camera we used was a DSLR camera.

• For my preliminary I had used my iPhone to film which is completely different to the DSLR camera. This meant that I had to learn very quickly how to use one.

• Although some sound was used, which was recorded on the camera, it wasn’t as good as we had hoped. This meant that we used music through out the clip and sound effects to achieve the result we wanted.

• I didn’t know how to use a camera effectively when I first started, so it was important that I gained a better understanding of how different angles, movement and other components effect different elements of film.

• One the first things which I learnt when filming was that to gain a steady and clear image I would have to use a tripod. This would producer a better quality and leave me with better techniques in the long run. It also makes the audience less irritated as the camera is less likely to go out of focus.

• I also knew after researching what happens on professional film sets that it is important to shoot each scene from various camera angles. This way you can edit to form a more professional looking piece. It allows the audience to view a scene form various angles and perspectives, building a bigger picture. I felt it was important that this was recreated when filming our opening sequence as it highlights the emotions and actions of each character from a wider range of perspectives.

IMOVIE• To edit our opening sequence we used iMovie. This is also a program which I had not used before, so I

was able to experiment and find out what suited our opening sequence and what did not.

• I was able to view all the different shot which had been taken and decide which ones were worth keeping and using in the film and what were not. This was a very long process as we had many hours of film footage. I learnt how to cut and edit clips together, how to change the contrasts of a video, edit the pitch and speed of a sound clip and a video clip as well. This allowed me to build a better overall editing technique.

• Even though iMovie was really useful as a starter program, I feel that other programs, such as Final Cut Pro, would have provided a better result. It was also rather limited as I couldn’t change the font to one which I downloaded from DaFont and was also static in its position. This meant that I had to use Keynotes and create green screen for the typography. This also allowed me to make sure the placement was right on the screen.

BLOGGER

• I really like using blogger as a way to track my progress this is because it allows me to keep a copy of my work on the internet so I was less likely to lose it. It also meant that all of my research, planning and construction could be found in one place, meaning it was easy for me to look back at my progress.

• Furthermore, it was really easy when I wanted to find out information I had already researched and compare it.

• It allowed me to be more creative with how I present my work as I could embed videos, power points, spider scribes and so much more.

• I felt this was a really interesting program to work with and believe that I will be using it more in the future.

PREZI• Prezi became one of the most useful programs which I found online. I ended up using it multiple times

to present my findings in a more interesting way than just writing on a blog.

• It allows you to view large amounts of information in small chunks, making it really easy to for people to use. It also acts a mind map because of how all the ideas jump around and then eventually come together. Moreover the fact that it also allowed me to develop some creative skills as well as academic skills made me even more impressed with it.

• I also like how easy it was to manage, access and use. This meant that I could quickly put what I needed into a very creative presentation.

• It was also really simple to embed videos and photos, which would ultimately make the presentation more interesting. This allowed me to embed my own videos and analyse them in the same place,

YOUTUBE

• YouTube was another very useful website. This was because it was a great place to view work from previous media students and use it as research for my own opening sequence. It allowed me to see what was achievable and the standard that was required to produce a good quality video.

• It also allowed me to see what codes and conventions had been used in their opening sequences, and would be useful to have in my own. This should help to improve the quality of my own opening sequence.

• Furthermore I could upload my own research in a more creative way than before. This once again allowed to present my research whilst learning how to use different platforms.

• It was also really useful as I could upload my own edits of my opening sequence to it. This way I wouldn’t lose any of them if my computer broke.

DAFONT

• I thought DaFont was a really useful website when trying to research what sort of typography I wanted to use in my opening sequence. This is because it has a huge archive if free downloadable fonts of various styles, which was really useful for me. I was able to easily download multiple fonts which I though would suit my opening sequence and compare them to see what I liked best.

• The wide range of fonts meant that there were no limitations when researching what font I wanted to use and it was also really easy to compare them.

• They way you download and install them on a mac is also really easy. This was once again really helpful I had no previous experience with doing this.

OTHER PROGRAMS

• Some of the other programs I used included spider scribe, lino, time toast, slide share, wix and scribd

• I used a wide variety of programs as I felt that it would give me a better chance of finding programs which I felt worked for me and what I had to do. It allowed my to improve my graphic and visual awareness, meaning that I gained better skills of how I should present work.

• Although I didn’t use it very much I really liked time toast as I felt it was a really easy and creative way of presenting a time line.

• Another program I liked was lino as I could easily organise my information in a simple but effective way.