By enrolling in the media studies course, there are many things I’ve learnt about

understanding software, hardware and online tools. From a simple preliminary video of a short scene, to learning how to create the

final product “Easy Target”.

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

Although Media Studies was a new subject to me, being a GCSE Photography student, I was

aware of how to work the camera and the necessities to create a well framed, high quality shot. I believe this was a very useful skill as I was familiar with this technology. I had experience with Canon

cameras in the past, however not with the filming side. We used a Canon 50D to film our preliminary task and then continued to use it

during all of the footage for our final construction, meaning we gained knowledge along the way. The camera’s manual focus

allowed me to focus specifically on the areas I wanted to be blurred and of high

contrasting quality. For instance the scenes in the park I chose a high aperture to focus

on the actors not the scene.

Camera

I was familiar with using a tripod before and knew how to

attach the camera safely, however as there were many tripods in the

department, we never used the specific same one and each design altered differently. This meant we had to plan ahead time in

which to set up before shooting and ensure the tripod was level (directed by the spirit level

bubble). The camera allowed us to film shots that were steady and

not wobbling, making it look less amateur and stopping the audience from being distracted from the

narrative.

Tripod

Lighting I was not familiar with the red head lights and diffuser. I quickly learnt

how to use them and adapted the position of the light in each shot

type to achieve maximum lighting. The outdoor shots were captured during the

day, meaning the sunlight meant no synthetic lighting was necessary. This was difficult during the production of

our first initial screening as we attempted to film approximately 5pm

during the winter season. It got dark extremely quickly and we were unable

to see most of the footage. Quickly we learnt from this, and our final construction was filmed during

lunchtime, where the natural lighting had very discreet changes.

I used Adobe Premier Pro to edit and piece together my final film opening. I was

unfamiliar with the software at the beginning, and learnt at the start how to simply cut down the clips we wanted, piece them together and remove any footage un-wanted. Later I learnt the effects, such as audio transitions, or

changing the white balance and adjusting the saturation of the video. As the course

continued, I learnt it was extremely important to get maximum amounts of footage as they could

be cut down, in contrast to having little footage and attempting to extent it. I feel I am a lot more confident with Adobe Premier Pro

now, and am able to experiment with transitions, blend modes and volume levels in order to create a professional, high quality

video. Throughout editing jump cuts and fluency became easier to create, my continuity

improving massively.

Editing software

AudioI had never used an audio recorder

before, however found out it would be important to use one for our voice-over news statement. We used a Zoom Audio

recorder. I learnt how you must have a silent room with no background noise as the device detects any small sounds of

movement or whispers. Therefore we recorded in an empty room with no

audience. The recorder was simple to use, with just an on/off switch and a

recording button, then we could play it back and adjust the volume. We practised the voiceover many times, changing it from a news report to a statement,

therefore we became very familiar with the technology by the end.

Conclusion

Each individual piece of technology became massively important to build my knowledge and

I learnt a significant amount through the process. I was able to see the effect of shot lists, scripts and storyboards. I found out I was able to manipulate my raw footage to suit

the ideas in my head. My camera skills developed, I used red head

lights, an audio recorder and light diffusers for the first time while learning from scratch

how Adobe Premier Pro works.