1. What have you learnt
about technologies from
the process of
constructing this
product?
Caroline Alvares

2. Blogger
Before we even started to prepare for our coursework, our teachers introduced us
to a website, Blogspot. I had never blogged before or been on a blogging website
but it wasn’t hard at all! We set up our accounts and were taught how to make
posts, save and publish them.
I am now quite liking Blogger because it is structured and easy to use. At first I was
confused as to why our coursework had to be done on there but now I realise it is
a great idea – It is like a virtual briefcase!
I learnt how to change font styles and designs, upload pictures and screen grabs as
well as how to use the html codes to embed things like my presentations and
audio clips.

3. Digital HD Camcorder
The digital HD Camcorder was absolutely vital for our project. It was very easy to
use as we just pressed a button to start filming and stop. However, we did learn
other things along the way such as working with different focus’, zooms and how
to keep to the 180 degree rule.
The fact that it was HD meant that the quality of our footage was highly satisfying
and we were able to get very good detail in our clips along with bright lighting
which was perfect for our genre.
The camera was mostly hand held and with some practice we were able to keep it
fairly steady. We also used the tripod at times to films some of the clips. I learnt
how to place the camera onto the tripod and get it perfectly straight which is
something I didn’t know before hand! I learnt to about the depth of field and the
use of different angles and positions.

4. iMac
I was quite worried when I found out that we would be working on the iMacs to do
our coursework as I thought they were very different from normal computers and
hard to use. However, once I got the hang of the softer keyboard and different
commands, I don’t know what all the fuss was about!
I am now in love with Macs and would trade my Sony laptop for one of them any
day. I love the big screen and the fact that ejecting a memory stick is as simple as
dragging it into the trash can! I was even amazed when I found out that I could
plug my memory stick into the keyboard!
This recent technology definitely has to be one of my favourites and I never
thought I would get to like it as much as I do now. I learnt new things such as
taking screenshots of pages using basic commands, to copy and paste using
shortcuts and to use new programs such as Open Office.

5. Final Cut Pro
I had never used any editing software to edit footage and Final Cut Pro did seem
challenging for me to get used to at first but after watching and trying it out
myself, I did pick up on how to use it.
This was the software on the iMac which we used to edit our opening sequence
and it proved to be great as from here we were able to insert our titles in the
specific font and position we wanted as well as well as adding and taking away
audio, using fades and cutting clips.
This software is very precise and allowed us to do perfect cuts as we wished. We
were able to edit the whole of our opening sequence on here which would have
been impossible to do at this standard on another software such as Windows
Movie Maker on a normal computer.
Not only was it useful for editing our opening sequence but also for editing our
interview videos. During the time we were editing, some of the techniques I learnt
include: importing pictures, videos and audio, fading and removing audio to
replace it for other sounds as well as using the blade and trimming tools.

6. Hotmail
I normally use my hotmail quite frequently for my music business but I never
thought I would be using it in class! It was so useful for Sam, Phoebe and I to
connect and send each other things through hotmail and we benefited greatly
from it as we could send each other scripts, pictures of the story boards, ideas, etc.
I remember the day when the format of hotmail changed and the “Outlook” logo
appeared! At first I was a bit stuck looking for all the icons I needed but after a
short space of 10 minutes I was using it as normal.
I learnt how to use Skydrive as it was the first time I had to send a number of
photos to my email contacts, as well as how to save all the clips I was being sent
and access them in another program.

7. YouTube
I also use YouTube frequently as I put my music on there so I know quite a lot
about it. I chose to make another account for my coursework as I didn’t want to
mix my personal and school work. That meant I couldn’t have my videos appearing
straight to my blog and I had to embed just the link instead. I didn’t mind this as
with just one click, the video selected would be opened!
However, I new thing which I did learn was how to upload a video straight from
Final Cut Pro onto YouTube! I never thought it was so quick and simple! There is no
time wasted saving the video onto a desktop and then uploading it from there!

8. Garage Band
After having no luck when researching for music we could use on the internet, our
teacher suggested for us to use the music software Garage Band to look for music.
Sam and I listened to various clips and finally found “Yearbook Long” which was
upbeat and perfect for our genre. The only problem was that it was 30 seconds
long. I had never used Garage Band before because despite being a musician, I
have very limited knowledge on music technology. However, as I am determined
and wish to study music technology in the future, I decided to battle it out and
find out how to extend the loop which was less than 40 seconds. After a while I
learnt how to merge and trim the clips and I even added some special effects here
and there! I enjoyed using this technology and definitely learnt a great deal from
it.
I learnt how to merge, extend and trim loops, increase/decrease the speed of the
music, add special effects to the tracks and how to import the final version to
iTunes.

9. Slide Share
This is a really useful website which I used to present this evaluation. I made the
presentations on PowerPoint and then uploaded them onto the slide share
website where I could then embed them into my blog!
It was really easy to work around and I quickly made an account and got going
with it. I then learnt how to embed my presentations into my posts on Blogger by
copying and pasting the html codes from this website

10. Mobile Phone
During our coursework, our phones have been a very useful piece of technology
that we have used to daily to progress. Not only did we keep in contact out of class
using our phones but we were also able to take good quality pictures, such as
those of the story boards, and email them to each other as our phones were
connected to our accounts.
We also used the audio recorder to record the squeaks of our protagonist writing
on the mirror and the opening of the door.

11. Yourlisten.com
This was the website I used to upload my audio track onto and then copy the embed
code to paste it on the html page of one of my evaluation posts.
It was relatively simple as all I had to do on here was make an account and upload an
audio file which I had recorded on my phone and got on the computer by emailing it
to myself.

12. Skills Gained
We have now learnt a number of new skills which have helped us create a high
quality Romantic Comedy opening.
I have used websites such as “Slide Share”, as well as software such as “Final Cut
Pro” and “Garage Band” which I had never used before.
My contribution and team working skills have improved too as I had never worked
in a group to complete coursework before. I am now a lot more confident with
handling the camera and editing too.