Evaluation Task 6By Meagan Moore

The tripod was used to prop up the camera and get it at all different levels so we could film all our shots from the necessary highs. From using this piece of equipment I have learnt that it is helpful to use when filming for lots of different levels, for example there are 3 different sized legs so a small, medium and tall high which can be used by adjusting the leavers on each leg to extend the length. I learnt that we could achieve birds eye view angles with the tripod as well, because at the top there is a handle that the camera is connected to used for tilting the camera a certain way so we used this for a shot of the stairs which was very popular within our feedback comments.

The camera was used to film all of our shots, either zoomed in or out depending on the effect we were trying to create. I learnt from using this piece of equipment how to delete certain pieces we weren’t happy with by clicking the options and deleting. I learnt that we could achieve much better quality shots by getting the picture in focus by using the touchscreen feature and click on the item you want to focus on to make it a sharper picture.

The MAC computer was one of the last things that was used as it was used for editing our work on final cut pro. I learnt how to overlap music, because we need to cut out parts of it due to some unwanted speak so this meant that we wanted it to fade in nicely again so it wasn’t obvious to the audience that there is a jump. Also, I learnt that we could achieve much darker images because we wanted to create a thriller theme too however on filming day the weather was sunny and too bright, so we used specific filters to make our sequence more realistic and obvious to the audience the themes that were involved e.g. thriller.

The phone was used to film the shots where the characters were sending and received texts from each other, and also when the main character was in the gym listening to music. I learnt that we could achieve a much more realistic looking film using the phone to connect two characters, and introduce a new character by sending texts between them making the audience understand the storyline a lot more. I also learnt that by changing the name of a contact to the names of the characters when the text comes through it looks more real and like its from the person.

The iPad was use to record the voiceover which we used after the company idents to make it clearer to the audience what the character is thinking and what they are hoping to do e.g. be in the Olympics. I learnt from using the iPad that it was more efficient if we recorded it on the video feature as apposed to the voice memos, this was because it is easier to transfer to the MACs and insert it into our sequence. By using this technology we could achieve high quality recordings that were suitable to use in our work, it also allowed us to keep retrying if we weren’t happy with the previous recording we could do it as many times as we wanted to get it right.

Our Equipment

Final Cut Pro

We used the transitions button to create a lot smoother jumps into the different shots, this was so that the audience don’t recognise the editing as the most important thing is not to notice to transitions. This enabled us to make our whole piece look professional as we spent a lot of time trying out different transitions to make it look the best it can. If you hovered over a specific transition with the mouse it would give you a preview of what that transition would look like on the shot you’ve selected, which is helpful as then you don’t have to commit until you see one that looks good.

We used the curser button to decide which tool we wanted to use to edit our filming, for example if we just wanted to move certain clips around we could use the standard arrowhead. However, we decided to use the cutting tool a lot so that we could divide up clips and make them separate so we could use them on their own. It enabled us to cut out unnecessary parts in a clip, for example when the main character was walking do the corridor to the gym it took up a lot of time so we decided to cut out a bit from the middle of the clip with this tool; making it a lot more professional looking.

We used the volume rocker to adjust the volume accordingly, we soon found out that the best volume to have our music and other non-diegetic sounds was in the light green area of the scale. This was because was tested with and without headphones because our target audience are likely to be watching it on their phone because they are teenagers. So, we didn’t want it to be too loud that it deafens our audience so it is so important that we get it right.

We used the text icon to create our company ident. Once we had chosen a layout we liked, by using the section below the button, we could then use the section above the button to chose a more specific font, colour and size for our writing. This feature enabled us to chose a font and size and colour that was suitable for the effect we wanted to create, for example darker colours represented the dominant theme of a thriller to our audience.

Picture MontageI used Final Cut Pro. It was lucky that I have had previous experience with this software from other tasks set as I didn’t know how to use it initially, I then knew how to cut clips down and add in transitions. I learnt how to add in audio and how to merge clips together as well. However, it was annoying when sometimes if the clips were too small it would be fiddly to cut and move the correct ones, we worked out how to enlarge them after asking our teacher this made it a lot easier to work with.

I used YouTube to gain knowledge are research on how other companies have created their opening sequences so that I would take note and possibly use some techniques in ours. I learnt that by using this website it was really helpful with searching up other people or companies work to get ideas and even seeing how they’ve edited it. I also used this for looking up how to use some feature like cropping shots on Final Cut Pro, to see how I do it and it was really useful to watch someone else doing it. However, it wasn’t the best at points because when I was searching up how to use something on an piece of software I didn’t know what the feature was called which made it take even longer to find what I was looking for.

I used the camera application on the iPad to record a voiceover that was used near the beginning of our sequence, this was recorded using the video feature because it was the easiest and quickest way to transport the piece over to the MAC. I learnt how to get the video clip onto an email and send it over to the MAC and save it in the documents and then drag it onto our work. However, I did find that when the clip was placed in to final cut that there was a video attached which we had to separate from the audio, this was because we only wanted the audio which was a bit annoying but we managed to work it out.

I used google images to search for character inspiration, for example we have a character that is really well off and girly so we wanted to compare her to a well known character in the film ‘Wild Child’ and see what type of outfit we need to plan for her to wear by looking at images from the movie. I learnt that you have to be very specific with the character names when searching them up so I had to look up what the name of the character was, this made it easier to find the person I was looking for. However, it was quiet difficult to find the right character they were mostly group picture that weren't very good quality which wasn’t very helpful but I found a good quality group picture and cropped the other characters out.

I used GarageBand on the MAC which was an application, this was used to create a suitable sound for our company idents that was unique and hasn’t been used before, this was a great app because it gave us the ability to cerate our own piece of work to use, this meant we had more of a USP within our sequence. Also I learnt how to export the clip onto a memory stick and transfer it to the right computer we wanted to use it on. However, it takes a long time to get used to all the functions. This meant that we spent a long time messing around with the buttons and seeing what they all did and less time making the actual piece.

I used a website called iStock to get information on what types of music and sounds were available so that I could use it in my sound planning. We also used this website for the music that runs throughout our opening sequence as we felt it fit really well with effect we were trying to create, which was dark and mysterious. I learnt how to transport the music onto the downloads in the MAC files and then how to insert it into Final Cut Pro by dragging it in. However, there is so many tracks that sound the same on the website so it was hard deciding what ones to chose and then the names were similar too so it was hard to find them in the files after saving them.