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

BY ROIE ZISER

1. Communication and Research methods

As explained earlier in my blog I used a wide variety of different communication methods to converse with my collaborating partner in the project, all of which were very useful in keeping in touch with each other which lead to an efficient and swift production.

Skype One of the mediums I communicated through was Skype. Skype is a video communication software which initially I thought I would only use to contact my collaborating partner, however once I learnt that Skype can host conference calls (i.e. with more then just 2 people) I realized that I can actually use it to host a an online move screening feedback sessions, whereby I would present them with a link to my video and later have a discussion about my video where I can receive detailed and immediate responses and feedback.

1. Communication and Research methods continued…

Survey monkey survey monkey is an online website which allows the user to create, distribute and analyze surveys. It’s a relatively new software which I was unaware of prior to this project which really is quick and easy to use which is particular important as I have a strict deadline to conform to. This technology played an integral role in the pre-production research and post-production feedback that I conducted, as it allowed me to gain an understanding of my audience in a efficient way. Most of its efficiency comes from the fact that it meant I didn’t physically have to print out surveys, distribute them, collect them, analyze them and create the analytical diagram, as instead did it all itself. In additional to all this, it also learnt in the process how to correctly word and structure questionnaires.

2. Production Filming equipment

in order to film a professional looking thriller, high end equipment must be used in order to achieve a high level of authenticity. Luckily, for our thriller, we were provided the equipment which had a plethora of adjustments and settings, which gave us the ability achieve the exact shot we wanted. However, all these settings and adjustments were completely alien to us, so before we could shoot we had to learn there how they effected the final shot. We attempted to do this through the creation of our preliminary task, however despite the early preparation, this proved to be insufficient on the first day of filming, as due to our inexperience with the equipment, we managed to overwrite all our footage meaning we were only left with 50% of all the shots we filmed on the day, which in turn meant we were set back on time, and had to organize a second day of filming.

2. Production In these two video’s, I show all the different camera equipment

used to film our thriller, and in addition how to adjust the redhead lights to change the light beams shape and scatter. Adjusting the light was a particularly useful thing I learnt as lightening plays a huge role in how the final product looks and moreover, in our thriller, lighting played a massive part in how the final scene was presented (through the use of shadows to mask the characters identity).

2.Production continued…

Camera settingsluckily for us, we had a specialist come into the school to teach us the affects of different camera and lighting settings. On the day I learnt how to change the gain, zoom, focus and aperture and how they effect on the final composition ie change the depth of field or give a particular look to the shot (Chiaroscuro). Furthermore we later discussed the reasons why we may want these effects to be implemented, and the repercussions they hold.With this newly acquired knowledge, I felt confident in shooting my thriller as it gave me self-assurance in my ability. I feel like self assurance has in turn been transferred to some very successful shots in my thriller, which I will highlight on my next slide.

Using a wide angle lens VS a standard angle lensIn the first scene of the thriller, I wanted to have a steady-cam looking shot whereby the camera slowly walks in and around the room slowly revealing the message on screen. However, for this shot I also wanted to showcase the room he was in and perhaps in turn infer to the audience through the use of strategically placed props the boy was from a wealth family. In order to do this, with my newly acquired knowledge I realized that using a wide angled lens as appose to a standard angled lens would be more appropriate as it would include more of the surroundings in the frame.

Post production technologies

Post production technologies are paramount to the effectiveness of the final product. For the editing of our media, we were provided with adobe premiere which is a very capable video editing software. Although I had never used adobe premier prior to the production of the thriller, I found that it was particularly easy to get to grips with, and I quickly managed to do complex tasks such as synchronizing the non-digetic sounds with the on-screen action very effectively. Furthermore, Adobe premiere hosts a plethora of different video and audio transition presets, which once I learnt how to tweak them to my needs, gave me very professional looking cuts from one shot to the next.

Filming and editing

As I had prior experience in both filming and editing, I feel like during the production of the thriller I took a prominent role in these areas as I felt that with my prior- experience’s enabled me to spot interesting positions and angles to film from which lead to an interesting variety of shots which gave the viewer many different perspectives during the title sequence.That being said my collaborating partner also contributed hugely to both the filming and editing, and through some of his own original idea’s, such as adding camera shake to specific shots in Adobe After Effects, I learnt how post production technologies can be use to involve the audience more by startling them.

Methodology and evaluation

One of my favorite shots which I worked on was the final shot of the whole title sequence whereby the antagonist gets hit around the head with a golf club. This shot I thought was particularly interesting to work on as I came up with the idea of actually filming the shadows of the characters created by the redhead lights, as appose to filming the actual characters themselves. This in turn meant that the secondary character’s identity was masked and thus it meant that the viewer was left wondering who he was.

Although the idea was quite an original way of using the technology at hand, I feel like the final shot didn’t come out as effective as it could have been, however given the circumstances and strict deadline, I’m happy with how the shot came out.

Health and safety

In order to avoid any health and safety issues while producing the thriller, we create a risk assessment plan in order to try a prevent any risks before they occur. Luckily we didn’t end up experiencing any issues whilst filming as I feel like we were particularly careful when handling the equipment, and managing ourselves while being in the particularly dangerous environment, of a building site/warehouse.

I feel like during the production I learnt to handle the equipment with a lot of caution as not only can you damage it, but you can also pose risks to your own health as equipment like the redhead lights can get very hot and actually burn you.

In conclusion…

I feel l that without the technology used throughout this course the final product would never have looked as professional nor would my blog look as polished

The high end cameras used really helped to create the filmic look that many indie filmmakers struggle to achieve

the editing software helped me achieve a elegant looking thriller which looks authentic and effectively manipulates the audience to feel frightened.

All of these newly learnt techniques now mean that in future projects I will able to replicate the success of my thriller and perhaps even further perfect some aspects of my production such as time management.