Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Technology is growing and developing fast and has done for several years, new camera’s and software is being produced and is making film’s more detailed and graphically outstanding. We used a wide variety of technology and products so below I have created a mood board of the key technologies that we have used as a group throughout the project to create our final clip. I have learnt a lot over the past months of filming our project of how technology has a massive influence on the production of the final outcome of the film. Another huge factor to the film is camera quality, many cameras today vary in pixels but distributors have a huge budget so can afford the best technology out there, as us being teenagers we cannot afford high budget materials and products.

Throughout the project I learnt a lot off features that I would need for future references, for example I did not know how to figure out how to adjust a tripod but after being shown by the members in my group it quickly come natural and this was very helpful. Throughout filming there have been many techniques that have helped me record especially as a group, the people who were in my group had a bit more experience then me but they showed me how to use the equipment and I quickly found myself enjoying and progressing quickly.

 Sony Handy cam Camcorder

This was the main technology that we used to create our media project, between our group we all shared the camera individually and all took separate turns to control the camera, this gave everyone a chance to show their skills towards filming. There are many different buttons on the camera, there is a fast forward, rewind, stop, play, pause, delete, zoom in and out button, these all have different functions but throughout the project I got more confident in my ability to use the camera. Although this camera is low budget and not to a high standard to create broadcast images it was appropriate technology for us to learn on and create a film to a reasonable standard.

Flip video camera

When working on our project, we needed to interview our focus group in order to recieve feedback, this is due to its simplicity. The camera has minimimal functions so operating is quick and easy. For example there is no zoom on the lens and there is no ability to select focus. The primary function of this peice of technology is to allow, through the use of its USB connector, a simple quick method of uploading items shot, straight onto a computer. This was a quick and simple process of recording and uploading. This camera is just like a Camcorder but has no screen to watch back the footage, this is also very easy to upload footage as it has a simple USB device that would slot into a computer where you can then upload the chosen footage.

You Tube

YouTube was Key in production and blogging elements of the project. When blogging I referred back to YouTube every time as I needed to find opening sequences to analyse for the blogger posts. I could have done this using “Vimeo player” online but YouTube is the biggest and easiest online video site. We also used YouTube to upload all of our footage from our project. We uploaded both of our tasks onto YouTube as this is what we needed to do to complete our project. YouTube has been a very helpful resource to not only look at proffesional examples of opening title sequences but also to research titles done by other AS media students.

Blogger
This is the website that I have used throughout my project to upload vital information that helped me with my film. I documented all of my work and research on this website so other people can have a look at how I have progressed with my work. I found it quite easy to use although it's not compatible on a lot of computers which meant that some time was wasted trying to get the work up.

Adobe premiere

This is the software we used to edit our project together. When we had finished filming all of our clips we then moved onto the theory side of things are started uploading our clips onto the computer using a USB to connect up the camera. When the footage was uploaded we then needed to put it all together, this is a massive part of success for big distributors as the editing is a key part of the film, film companies such as Columbia, 20^th century Fox, Warner Brothers, and popular production companies would pay a large amount of their budget towards the editing of the film to make it look dramatic and intensifying, a good editing software can almost increase the power of the film. There are software’s out there that can cost thousands of pounds as there is so many different adjustments you can make to add crucial effects to the film.

Google

Google was the main search engine we used when carrying out research towards film production companies and this is where we got all of our information from. Google is the largest ever worldwide search engine used all over the world; it can give information to a great amount of searches. This technology was crucial towards our overall outcome of this project as it helped us decide what was most suitable for our project; I used this search engine to look at forums of what would have been most appropriate and best for our film. I used this search engine as I knew it’s reliable, fast and always gives me productive research. Acess to Google has enabled me to access information from all over the world which prior to 1996, the advert of Google, simply wouldn't have been as available to me.

What I have learnt throughout my project
When I first started Media in year 12 I didn't have a lot of past experience with filming, camera's and media in general, over the past few months I have been taught and trained how to use the equipment that is needed to make a film. At the start of the year I found myself struggling how to use the equipment which was necessary for the task ahead of me. The students in my group have had experience with media equipment and have completed a variety of shots in the past as they have performed media for GCSE. This was very helpful towards my learning as they gave me a good understanding of what I needed to do and they would tell me how to use equipment.

When using technology there was elements that I needed understand and how to use the technology provided and making decisions easier as we knew the best method to create a desired outcome which was a continually evolving process for me. It was through consistent use, support and experimentation  that I came to feel confident with using so many different mediums that I also came to understand which peice of technology to select for a particular task. For example whether to use a flip camera or a camcorder. When using suitable technology in our group before making and producing our film we carried out research within our group to find out what was the most stuiable technology to use for a task, in our group we all agreed with each other and if there was any doubts then we would back track and find a new peice of technology to use.