Question 6 for my evaluation

1. QUESTION 6: WHAT HAVE YOU
LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES
FROM THE PROCESS OF
CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
MATT HOLLEY

2. TECHNOLOGY IN FILM
Technologies are vital throughout the creative process for
making a film, from the beginning (pre-production) right
through to the post-production. These technologies play a
crucial role in the research that goes into a film and it’s target
audience before hand; in the production stages; the marketing of
a film to gain audience attention and the distribution of a film.
Therefore in my creative process in constructing this product I
have used a massive variety of technologies from the pre-
production stage through to the post-production stage of my
film to help benefit the final product.

3. TECHNOLOGIES USED IN CONSTRUCTING
MY PRODUCT:
The following is list of all of the technologies that I have used in the production stage of my
film opening:
• Nikon D3100 with a standard 18-55mm lens
• Velbon EF-41 Tripod
• 8GB Sandisk SD Card
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5
• Adobe After Effects CS5.5
• Adobe Photoshop CS5.5
• Computer

4. CAMERA: NIKON D3100
This is the camera and lens that I used to shoot my
film opening with. I was impressed with it’s
performance as it allowed me to achieve high
quality footage that helped to make my film look
more aesthetically pleasing. Outside of the Guerrilla
filmmaking approach (shooting on handheld DSLR
cameras) and into the professional industry they
would use more advanced cameras that would allow
a larger image to be produced ready for cinema
screening. However, the camera that I used still
allowed me to have the option between manual and
auto focus, which we’re both utilised in filming. For
example the auto focus was used in the swing
sequence along side the image stabiliser to ensure
An example of a shot, from my film

5. VELBON EF-41 TRIPOD
I used a tripod for all of the stationary shots in my film opening
because it helped me reduce the movement in the shot that I was
trying to get as trying to do the same shot handheld resulted in shaky
footage. The tripod a pivoting mount which was really useful for pan
shots (a technique that I used to show the audience Karl’s bedroom),
compared to high end tripods the construction isn’t as solid and the
pan wasn’t as smooth but it was capable of helping to achieve some
good quality stationary shots. In the film industry tripods are generally
stronger as they have to support the weight of larger, heavier cameras.
The stationary shots helped to emphasise the sense of urgency in the
shots with motion, helping to show that Karl was late for school.

6. 8GB SANDISK SD CARD
I used an 8GB SanDisk SD card to help store all of my footage
during the production of Karl. I used SanDisk as they are reliable,
well known company. 8GB is a huge amount of memory therefore
it allowed me to film lots of footage multiple times until I was
satisfied with the shots that I had achieved. Having this extra
memory helped to improve the quality of my film opening as I
could shoot the footage until I was happy with the shots.

7. ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CS5.5
Adobe Premiere Pro editing software allowed me to successfully
piece together all of my footage that I wanted to use in order to
portray a story to the audience by using cuts, it also allowed me
to mix the sound levels as well as edit them in (voice overs and
other non-diegetic sound such as music) and create a company
logo and film title. Premiere Pro is an editing software that I am
familiar with due to using it previously, it has a clear, organised
layout that it easy to use and pick up on different tool functions
(if hard to understand there are many YouTube tutorials due to
the programs popularity.

8. ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS CS5.5
Not all of the editing was done on Premiere Pro but
some on After Effects. I used this program
predominantly in the dream sequence as I was
experimenting with ways in which I could portray it
as a dream. I decided to colour grade it as a clear
visual change (along side the audio change) would
help to indicate it as a dream. I also used After
Effects to colour grade the rest on the shots in my
film to make them warmer when he is in his
bedroom and slightly colder when he is in the
kitchen, due to the changing of lighting. I had
An example of the colour grading on After
Effects

9. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS5.5
I used Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 to create the company logo and title for my film.
Photoshop is a photo editing software that helps you to alter various parts of photos
as well as compose completely new ones.
For my company logo I created a logo using Photoshop. It is a good program to use
as there is a wide variety of fonts to choose from, which helped me to create a more
professional looking appearing company logo- this was risen as a strength in my
peer feedback. I also used it to create the title from my film by tracing a generated
font using the line tool and then changing the colour to yellow. This were both then
imported into Adobe Premiere Pro in order to edit them into my film opening by
using different transitions such as fading in.
Production company logo Film title

10. OTHER TECHNOLOGIES USED DURING THE
PRODUCTION OF MY FILM
• Blogger
• SlideShare
• Prezi
• Microsoft office
• Social media
• Google search engine

11. BLOGGER
Blogger, linked with google is a software which allowed me to
upload and collate all of my work throughout the process of
filmmaking. During pre-production I uploaded all of my work
which included my genre research, this allowed me to keep
organised during the production of my film as all of my ideas
and plans were collated using this software. The basic, easy to
use layout allowed me to create a simple, clear and easy to
access blog of all of my work. By being linked with google it
means that I can access my blog with any device with internet
access, making it easier to access my work.

12. SLIDESHARE
I used SlideShare for the majority of my pre-production as it
allowed me to upload full word documents and PowerPoints onto
my blog through embedding them. This helped me to create
good quality documentations for my pre-production which
allowed me to reference to them throughout the production
stage of the film and make them accessible on the go as it
allowed me to put them onto my blogger.

13. PREZI
Prezi is a cloud based presentation software that enabled me to
create interesting, more creative presentations of work in both
pre and post production stages of my film. Rather than always
creating PowerPoints, Prezi provided a refreshing alternative way
in how I could present my work. The software is simple to use
but can contribute to making some really quirky and successful
presentations.

14. MICROSOFT OFFICE
Microsoft Office is a collection of programs that include Word
and PowerPoint. These programs allowed me to create important
documents in my pre-production that would benefit the
production of my film, e.g. Word allowed me to create a shot list
which would help me be more organised and prepared as a
director.

15. SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media such as YouTube platforms played a big role in
assisting the production of my film as it helped me to research
my genre of film from watching clips, particularly on film
openings, in the pre-production of my film. YouTube also
allowed me to find suitable music for my film opening. The same
platform allowed me to upload my finished product in order to
reach my target audience to see how they perceived my film.
Facebook allowed me to get in contact and arrange filming dates
and times for my film.

16. GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE
Google allowed to me to gain information through the research
stage in pre-production concerning the genre and target
audience of my film. I could look up the success of recent and
original comedy films and see the conventions of the comedy
genre that are popular in the target audience. This background
knowledge help me to create a more successful film opening in
the genre of comedy.

17. TECHNOLOGY IN FILM
Technology in the film industry is forever changing and for this reason it is
important to try and keep up with the movement of it in order to survive in such a
competitive industry. Technology benefits the film industry in every process from
pre-production through to the distribution and exhibition of products. The web
2.0 has played a huge benefit in the UK film industry as through social media
independent film companies can market their films on a large scale and help them
to compete with the marketing done by larger conglomerate film companies. The
web 2.0 also helps to make it easier to understand the target audience of your
film as if you didn’t know your target audience you could have the complete
wrong content and marketing strategy for them, this is a vital skill in the success
of making successful film. However, the development of technologies has also
increased the amount of piracy in the film industry through more accessible piracy
sites such as PutLocker which has a huge negative effect on the industry,
especially in regards to independent film companies.