Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the project?
For the production of the opening sequence, we used several
technologies. The first, to which we were introduced, was Blogger. When we
asked why we should use Blogger, our teachers told us that that way they can
find and more easily mark our work. In the beginning it was a bit tricky to remember
what buttons we had to use in order to upload a picture or video from “You
tube”. However, after the first two lessons, it all started to make sense.
It
was not really Blogger that made it difficult, but using a Mac. For 13 years I
have been thought how to use a Windows operational system and never a Mac
(Because Macs were counted as unacceptable software for the Bulgarian citizen.
After a couple of hours of practice on the Macs at an Apple store, I remembered
how to properly use a Mac (Even though I still prefer and use a Windows).
The
second type of technology we were introduced to was the camera and tripod. We
had a special, one hour lesson in which we were taught how to use them. The
camera was easy to use. I personally loved using it because of its rugged
simplicity (Just like the VW Beetle).
The tripod was even better as it had a handle which when rotated
anti/clockwise, changed the height of the camera. It reminded me of a submarine
periscope. The editing software we used was called Final Cut Pro X. It was a
very simple and yet effective software to use. I can prove this by telling that
the last two days of editing the rough cut were done by me as George (Our Chief
Editor) was missing. At the time Danni was sick so it was really up to me to
make sure that the rough cut is completed. So I asked my teacher to tell me the
main buttons and then I started to bring life to our masterpiece. The same
software was used by George to create the credits for the opening sequence. I
personally found editing quite fun, however my biggest weakness with it was
when we had to change the light of two shots using the software. It was a
nightmare person who had edited them previously had accidentally overdone the
decreasing of light. The way I overcame that problem was by asking miss where
the light options were. And the software used for this evaluation is Microsoft
Word. Some of my colleagues used the Word on the Macs to type up their
evaluations, however I refused to type it on a Mac as their layout is with a
lot of shortcuts and small drawings that make no sense what they are supposed
to look like. My biggest weakness would probably be holding the camera straight
or without moving as my hands shake a lot. This is why when the tripod was of
no aid, either me or George had to become the tripod and rotate the
camera. The hardest angle that we had to
film was probably the panning angle for the Passat passing by. The reason why
it was hard was because we had still not asked for a tripod or a camera. I had
to use the family photo camera which had a video option but made my life hard
with the focusing as it to be focused manually and it could be done only once
before the filming was done. The way we came over that problem was by choosing
a close zoom, so from a close distance the car will be in focused when passing.
The area in which I was heavily involved with editing was when the killer had
arrived and went to the kitchen to when the husband grabs the keys and opens
the door, only to find the killer. During those parts, I was heavily involved
with the filming and editing of the film as my colleagues were busy with family
or school events. Nevertheless a completed Rought Cut was presented to the
class with both me and George to talk about.
Danni had made a presentation in which we presented our film and
then what the narrative is and what the audience might expect. From the
gathered results that were given by our colleagues, we discovered what we need
to improve upon. George courageously took the task of re-filming some scenes.
However he was so eager that he re-filmed the entire opening credits. Twas not
a great loss as we had to improve the scenes where there were more than two
actors, acting as one character for one scene.
For our complete cut, we made sure that all of our crew was
together and more camera styles were used as the ones that we used were a bit
repetitive. Another thing that we improved is the use of the needed characters
with just one actor per character. In one of the scenes, the main character is
represented by one of the other actors as the actor that was in the role of the
main character was unable on that day. This is why in future filming, we will
make a better filming schedule as our original was with great gaps where there
was nights in which either half of the cast or filming crew could not arrive.
Two people will be taught to use the editing software in order to save time and
worries regarding deadlines. Another thing that we might change is the Time
when we film our thriller. When we were filming, we had very little time to
muddle about, so we had to start filming the moment we got to my place rather
than go and think what we should film first. The reason was that we filmed
during the winter period so it was getting dark quicker than we expected it to.
In some scenes (mainly the car scenes) torches had to be used so the filming
crew could see what they have to press.
