Evaluation Q4

4. How did you use new technologies in the construction & research , planning and evaluation stage?

What how why!

Many types of technologies were used at all stages of pre-production, production and post production. One important technology was camera. Camera links to my research as I researched various camera techniques, shots and cinematography by looking at various films and directors such as Robert Lepage’s ‘Far side of the moon’. In my research I also used a still camera for creating my own research in cinematography where I made series of pictures or ordinary day objects into something interesting or uniquely shot as inspired from ‘Robert Lepage’, I used this camera because it was a quick and efficient way in recording my work, helping me experiment various types of shots and techniques. This research came in handy prior to my planning for the production as I learnt different camera styles and applied that to the style of shots in my film. For the stage of planning a still camera was also used to take images of the rehearsal so we could go through the images and make any changes to shots we planned to use. I also used a still camera for the photo storyboard to help me plan how the film will actually synchronise and it’s chronological order, it helped me to outline shots that didn’t suit or wouldn’t follow, we could outline everything in a shot and eliminate unnecessary things in it. Not only did it help me outline those issues but also space issues in the location, how much space we will have to move around, what side will the camera be on? For example, the daydream photo storyboard was in a different and more open location where we had access to all sides of the bed, therefore, we could take shots from any side and we did as that is what we planned in our storyboard (where we had the shot reverse shot of Delilah and the two men), however, when visiting the location afterwards we realised that the bed was up against a wall which meant there was not much space to move and place the camera. So, for the side that the men lay on the bed (the side of the wall), we realised we would not be able to do a over the shoulder shot of them looking at Delilah and therefore switched to a point of view shot. This enabled us enough space to shoot. A simple video recorder was used to document discussions and meetings of the group, where the treatment, script and other pre production issues where discussed prior to the filming.
For the construction stage a XHA1 Cannon digital camera was used to film for the production stage, the camera enabled me to create many different shots and pans as it had zoom functions and focus adjustments which helped me apply depth of field in shots in the ‘daydream’ scene. The camera I used was digital and easy to transfer to the editing program, it corresponded with the editing stage as I could easy record and take the necessary shots that I and my group wanted. With print screen shots from the film, which was recorded by the Cannon XHA1, I took many stills from the film and used them for my ancillary tasks (poster & review).
The technology of sound was used for my research into music for my film which also worked along the use of internet. The majority of music sound files I found on the internet and both technologies worked together to enable good research into many soundtracks. The use of internet helped me to find sites that had copyright free music which is what my film needed. With the music files I then uploaded onto the editing where I could then trim and adjust sound levels, add transitions and audio effects.
Adobe premiere pro is a software that enables you to crop, cut, adjust and apply effects, transitions and apply many other functions to recorded film material. Therefore we began to research possible styles and effects in films, clips, music videos or adverts such as ‘channel 4’s seven days’ television advert where the split screen effect was used. Other research I done was on titles where I looked at other opening sequence titles or music videos that appealed to me due to the different effects and styles used which had been made through editing software’s, this helped me to plan my titles for our film by giving us an idea and something to work on and towards. Adobe premiere pro was a software I used to make adjustments to my film, I used tools such as the razor tool to cut specific amounts of the clip as some clips were too long which took up time unneccerily. I also used effects and transitions such as dip to white in the daydream scene. The editing software also allowed me to make audio adjustments to the volume level so I could lower the volume gradually as it ended and add and exponential fade to soften the ending. I could add audio effects such as ‘delay’ however some problems did occur when it would not transfer onto the clips, therefore I needed technical assistance from a teacher who was more experienced with the software. However, this does not undermine my ability to use the effect an software it just a common technical fault which I have learnt from my As prelim and film to immediately ask for assistance in order to work efficiently and to make use of all the time I had. With the adobe software I could enlarge shots and take print screen shots in which I then pasted into ‘paint’ and then saved as an image. This was used for my ancillary tasks (poster and review) and the technologies made the images easily accessible and usable.

The internet was essential for researching directors, cinematography, films, posters, reviews, films, clips etc. My main sources of information for research was ‘google’ and ‘youtube’ where I the most results from for research. Youtube was used for researching music videos to look at different styles and effects, also to look at films and to get information on directors etc. Google was used for general research into music, directors, movies, images etc. I also used the internet to access websites such as slideshare.com where I converted Microsoft office documents and power points into a slide which was then converted into html and added into the blog. Similar websites were kizoa.com where I added several photos of the photo storyboard, cinematography research etc all into a slide which then converted into an html format and then I added it to the blog.

Using the internet one main technology was the Blog on blogger.com this was used to view other blogs and group member’s blogs which contained our work. The blog is the world of my film I designed the template with a background of red roses linking to the idea of a romantic genre, hinting the world of my film to do with love or relationships etc. The blog was used to file all my research, planning and other media related work in. The blog helped construct my film as it was used for feedback purposes as I received comments for my ancillary tasks, the reviews and poster and from there it helped me learn and improve on my work. The blog was a quick and efficient way to communicate with group members and research peoples work as we had links to other people’s blogs and previous blogs which were in relation to our work.