Evaluation Question-6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your media product?

Camera and tripod: During the production of our media product I was able to develop camera and filming skills and used a range of settings on the camera to achieve a range of shots, angles and movements. I have also learnt how to use a tripod to effectively stabilise the shots I was taking. I filmed shots in the media product consisting of the flashback scenes and the shots of Lucy with the crime board. These shots were some of the most effective as they held meaning. The split-second flashbacks are important as it is the first insight the audience receives about the events that will occur within the film and are also introduced to the film's non-chronological order. The shots of Lucy pinning information about Lucas and his continuation on her crime board show the characters relentless determination for the truth. I was able to develop my filming skills my getting the opportunity to film multiple shots within the opening, my aim when filming was to capture the necessary shots with the appropriate variations of camera angle, focal length, and camera-to-subject distance. From developing my camera skills I learnt that taking into account the lighting and angle of the shot can affect the outcome of the final media product as when uploaded can look irregular and not flow as one. This then creates problems as the shots will become inconsistent when layered with shots from different days. To ensure this didn't happen every filming session was planned with an outline of the shots we needed to cover, how long they needed to last and a brief description of the shot. Another skill I was able to develop was the ability to use a tripod when filming, the purpose of this was to allow the shots to remain steady and consistent. Throughout the production process, I was able to learn how to attach a camera to the tripod, how the tripod moves and how it could improve the shots I was filming. This played a huge role in the production of the final media product as the camera remained steady throughout the entirety of filming giving the final product a professional and appealing finish.

iMovie: I have previously used iMovie before beginning the production of this media product so knew some basic editing skills. When editing the shots we had filmed together and realised the high level of work we wanted to produce as a group it became evident to me I was going to have to research higher level editing skills to allow our media product to stand out and look as professional as possible. I learnt many new skills during the production process such as title duplication, which allowed me to effortlessly duplicate text, whereas previously I would spend time creating new text and trying to make it match the previous text. I found that highlighting the clip that had the original title and clicking on the "clip" button on the menu and selecting "duplicate last title" option allowed me to duplicate text easily. When it came to the editing of the voice over, I was given the opportunity when using iMovie to add an individual touch to the product without distorting the original content. I was able to easily download the voice over Mp3, adjust the length of the audio as well as its volume to my desired level. In addition, when editing the visual effects within the media product I found a tool on iMovie extremely helpful that I had not used before, 'one-click visual effects' which I used to improve the quality of all of the shots within the product. I was also able to use this skill to speed up, slow down and fade videos among many visual effects available, I used this to speed up the flashback shots to increase suspense with the audio effect of the heartbeat lasting the same amount of time as each shot. I also faded together certain shots to allow the transition to be controlled and flow easily. I also slowed down certain shots that were too short or that had a credit overlay to allow the credit to remain clear and give the audience time to read them. One of the most effective editing skills I have learnt to use during the production process of our media product is how to stabilise shaky videos. This was achieved by ticking the 'stabilise shot' box on every video on the iMovie timeline, this gave the final product a professional and high-quality finish. When it came to transition editing I was able to browse a range of transitions and was also able to get the chance to edit them appropriately. There are pre-made as well as customised transitions available. The majority of the transitions in our opening cuts to give a quick fast paced tension filled effect, the subtle use of other transitions was customised to allow them to give the opening a unique feel that was in keeping with the effect the cut transitions gave. Finally, I learnt a great deal about the audio effect and advanced audio management, I was able to use the advanced audio management to change to tone of the voice over, sound effects and soundtrack of the opening. Using these advanced settings I was able to remove the background noise of the voiceover, to create a clear and easily understood voiceover by removing the rustling in the background that distracted away from the characters speech. 

YouTube: When it came to uploading our final media product onto the media platform YouTube, I learnt to allot about the media platform itself and how to physically upload a file. During the process, the platform made me aware of the privacy settings of my account and the videos on my channel. Our product had to be previously saved into the theatre on iMovie to allow the file to be uploaded onto the YouTube platform. As the video uploaded I was given the opportunity to edit both the basic information and the advanced settings of the video and decide if I wanted to notify subscribers. I firstly named the product so people were able to search for the product, the title was clear and easy to search for. To add to this, I chose the thumbnail for the video which shows Lucas looking down at Ellie's grave. I used this image as the thumbnail as in my opinion it is one of the most effective shots of the media product and reflects allot about the film's plot and genre. Using video manager and the advanced settings I was able to ensure that the product was centred on the screen when being viewed to ensure to focus pull was the video itself. I was also able to write a short sentence in the description box of the video stating it was for educational purposes only. When uploading our final media product I learnt allot about the media platform YouTuube and how to upload files onto it.