Evaluation - Question 6

"What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?"

The first thing I learnt was how to blog using http://www.blogger.com/, which I believe is a much better way of displaying portfolio than folders/files or Powerpoints as it is quicker, easier to display things such as photos and videos and it is easy to link to other websites in order to explain fully what you mean.

I have a list of hardware and software we used which I will refer back to in this post (see pre-evaluation summary).

Things I learnt whilst shooting:

• I learnt how to use our Canon mini-DV HD cameras and its basic features such as setting it up with battery and tape, the zoom button and recording (we did not use HD tapes because they are expensive and would slow down our school computers, which have not yet been updated with correct HD settings). We learnt how to run the camera on batteries, not mains, so it was versatile with the tripod and we could shoot handheld shots.
• I learnt how to play the roles of director, assistant director and sound director. As director we were told to ask, "Sound? Camera rolling... and, action!" and we were taught to run the camera for a couple of seconds either side of the action to make it easy to edit and not miss any action. Assistant director held up the clipboard with scene number and take number and sound director got to wear the headphones to hear what the on-board mics were recording. It was all very efficient.
• I learnt how to use studio lights (we used three) with barn doors to gain lighting in all different kinds of angles. We also used blue gel clipped to the front of the lights for our blue effect and a white throw in the background to cover much of the clutter in the scene. We learnt that the lights were very versatile and great to gain extreme varities in light intensity and in colour using different coloured gels. However, they were a hassle to keep having to set up and pack away, and it took them a long time to cool down after using them for a few minutes - this led to an accident on shoot (a burn and smashed light filter). They have to be handled very carefully and the group must take full responcibility in looking after them and themselves.

[Pictures on test shoot: top left - high intensity lighting / top right - video camera use / middle left - use of orange gel on lights / middle right - use of blue gel on lights / bottom left - the camera & lights set up / bottom right - low key lighting.]

Things I learnt whilst editing:

• I learnt the basic processes of using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit, which included non-linear editing. It gave use the chance to switch between different sequences and timelines. We had a practise timeline in which we pieced together random strings of shots that we thought might look good in our actual sequence. The ones we liked we copied and pasted into our real timeline. We also used another sequence to cut together some outtakes. It was very easy to do all these things in one project and mistakes were easily undone, so there was no pressure - we could relax whilst experimenting.
• I learnt some new processes I had not come across before in this particular editing software (which we have used for a previous project). I learnt how to layer shots, vary speed and duration of shots, vary volume and sound levels using markers, ghosting using the cross-dissolve transition, transferring files between PC and Mac, and frame by frame editing in Paintshop Pro (to eradicate a schoolbag in the background of a scene). I was used to these processes by the end of the project and from now on I am probably ready to move on to more advanced settings.
• I learnt how to use Adobe After Effects (another part of the Adobe creative suites - CS's) to make our titles special. This was done by editing each individual letter for our title seperately and putting a glowing/fade in effect on it, whilst also setting markers on transparency to make them flicker. We put an order to when each letter faded in and put them all together as one animation in which random letters came in at different times to spell 'Reservation'. From now on I will probably use the programme to create titles. Other programmes I briefly used were Livetype and Handbrake on iMac, Livetype had built in animations that we never used because they were not what we were looking for, and Handbrake we used to enhance our scream sound at the end by mixing it with a sound ripped from a DVD, which did work in the end. It was Jack who used this programme more so I did not learnt how to use it properly.

[Picture - our edit suite.]

At the end of the project we discussed ways we think we could improve the teaching in the media department to teach students even more about technologies they could be using for years to come:

• We agreed more should be taught about using the manual settings on the Canon video cameras as we had a problem with blur during inconsistent lighting (our flickering lights kept making the lense re-focus and therefore blur for a couple of seconds). My brother informed me there was a way of adjusting the lense settings so that the focus did not automatically adjust to changes in lighting, and therefore would not move in and out of focus on flickering lights - we did not know how to do this and still don't, but the method is supposed to be simple so could be something we learn early on this course.
• We thought there could be more lessons on using the lighting equipment as only two groups (including ours) got to use the studio lights and we had to be assisted alot by the media technition in handling them. We thought more could be made use of out of the focus settings on the lights for more filmic effects and to adapt to different surroundings. In the end this was not a problem as our lighting was OK, but it is something we thought we might need to know on future shoots.

Overall, the technology we used was very good for a school media department and for an AS course. The technology all worked very quickly and nothing was ever too complicated (technological issues were always eventually resolved). I learnt alot of things about using hardware on shoot and software in the edit suite. There are a couple of things I would do differently on hindsight, one being that I would try and challenge myself more on shoot to try out things such as a man-made amateur dolly (a skateboard perhaps) to fix our tripod/camera on and try hard advanced techniques such as a 'Hithcock' contra-zoom or a 360 arc of a subject. The other thing I would do differently would be to research more into the manual settings of the camera, and focus settings of the lights (see improvements to course above). However, with the technolgy and support we recieved, I think we did a brilliant job, and I am alot more prepared for all sorts of new meda technologies in the future.