What have you learnt about technologies

from the process of constructing this product?

MINI DV DIGITAL CAMCORDER

We used a Mini DV Digital Camcorder to film all of our footage. This includes our preliminary exercise, our interviews, visual mind map and our actual thriller.Over the course of the last few months, we know and can use the many features of the camera, including the record button, the zoom feature and the playback mode. Additionally, we have improved our filming skills over time and are now comfortable with tricky shots such as the pan or zoom shot.We have also learnt how to upload our footage into Final Cut Express – which is obviously a vital piece of knowledge.

TRIPODThe tripod was an essential piece of equipment. It allowed us

to capture professional looking shots, which meant that our thriller was of a high quality.We quickly understood the functions of the tripod for example, we could safely attach the camera to it. We also learnt how to adjust the height of the tripod be either altering the leg length, or moving the pole in the middle. We knew how to tilt the camera, move it from left to right, and gain complete control of the camera whilst it was on the fixed axis.

STILL CAMERAWe used two types of still cameras for in the process of

making our thriller. The first was a standard digital compact camera. We used the photo feature to capture the pictures for our animatic. We also occasionally used it during our lesson to show what we were doing.

We also used a DSLR Camera when out filming to show what we were doing. We did this as we were unable to use the school’s camera for this exercise. When using the DSLR Camera, we adjusted aperture, shutter speed, ISO and other settings. This camera was also used to capture the images for the potential advertising.

MOBILE PHONESMobile phones were also used to capture images of our

progress. These were used when any other still cameras were unavailable.

Using the mobile phones meant that we could easily Bluetooth the images to the iMac Computers in class.

APPLE IMAC COMPUTERSThe Apple iMac computers were used to upload and edit our

film, as well as to blog. The computer work different to the usual Windows computer, meaning that we had to adapt our knowledge and learn the features of the computers.

These machines are extremely capable and helped us to create a high quality standard of work. They use many pieces of software, and can easily run many applications at once, meaning that the process of creating our thriller was quicker and simpler than it would have been using Windows computers.

BLOGGERBlogger, www.blogger.com was the website we would use to

create our blogs. The blogs were used to collect ideas and inspiration, and to show our development over the duration of the project.

The blogs can be viewed by anyone across the globe, which means that our blogs gained views from places such as Japan and Pakistan. Also, used the traffic sources feature of the site to discover that my blog was on a referring site.

Using the site, we learnt how to embedded videos, add videos, slideshows and many other things to our blog posts.

SURVEYMONKEYSurveymonkey was used to create surveys for free. We

quickly created our surveys using the software, and published them onto our social networking sites.

After a short amount of time, we could easily check and analyse our results. Doing so gave us a clearer indication of what the audience wanted to see in a thriller. This allowed us to alter and adjust our thriller to suit our audience.

SLIDESHARESlideshare is a piece of online software that enables the user

to upload a PowerPoint presentation and embed it into our blog posts.

The process of upload and presenting is simple, and is a quick and easy way to expand the variety of media used in my project.

WORDLEWordle was a simple but effective way to show the data

collected from our survey. Wordle allows the user to type in text, and create a visual mind map. The mind map can be adjusted to look certain ways, and is very visually appealing.

The software enabled us to quickly look back over our survey results, without having to do extensive searching or analysing.

YOUTUBEYouTube was a very useful tool during the creation of our

product. We could quickly and easily search for many videos which helped us gain a deeper understanding of what goes into a thriller.

Some of the videos were of the opening credits of thrillers, the opening scenes, famous scenes from thrillers, and famous idents. We also uploading our own videos to the site, and embedded them into our own blogs.

WINDOWS MOVIE MAKERI used Windows Movie Maker on my laptop to create several

different videos to put onto my blogs. These videos included my Misfits Montage, and the video detailing the original cast.

Using the software, I learnt how to import clips, cut and join clips, add text and use the transitions. Gaining basic knowledge of this program also helped me to understand Final Cut Express better too.

NEWGROUNDSNewGrounds was the site where we found all of the music we

used.

After locating the audio portal, we could easily browse through hundreds of different tracks. We could also filter our search by genre, rating and the date submitted.

NewGrounds proved to be very useful, as all our music for our thriller came from the site.

MOBYGRATISMobyGratis was used to collect music for our thriller. The site

was easy to use, and the response from the site was very quick, add we even received an email from them on Christmas Day.

We asked for permission to use two songs from the site, but didn’t use them for our thriller. The reason for this was because we felt that the other music we had better suited the film, and created an atmosphere closer to what we wanted.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOPAdobe Photoshop was used on my laptop at home to create

the .png files which were uploaded to the ident.

I was able to use the software before starting the project, so I used all my previous knowledge to create sleek and sophisticated pieces of work. I also used to software to create the poster for our thriller.

The graphic match examples were also created using Photoshop, and the files were saved in .GIF format,

LIVETYPELiveType is a piece of very useful software that can create

animated text. We used this piece of software to create our ident and film titles.

The software is difficult to understand at first, but once the basics are learned, it is easy to experiment and try different things.

FINAL CUT EXPRESSFinal Cut Express was the main tool we used when editing

our thriller. We spent several hours mastering the programme, and eventually finished our thriller. As with LiveType, the software is hard to comprehend at first, but is soon easy to understand. The software can create really sophisticated videos, and has a wide range to effects for both video and audio.

SKILLS GAINEDI have gained a lot of new skills during the project, all

of which have helped me create a high quality thriller opening.

I have used various software to help me, gaining a good understanding of each program. Also, I am now more aware of the numerous ways to display information.

My team work skills have improved, and I am now more confident with the subject of media as a whole.