1. Q6: What have you learnt about technologiesfromthe process ofconstructing this product?
Our thrillerusedarange of newtechnologiestoenhance the technical aspectsof ouropening
sequence of ourthriller.These technologieswereusedbothduringproductionand post-production.
ResearchandPlanning
Our researchandplanningworkwascontrastedand postedusingbloggingsiteBlogger.Thisisthe
easiestwaytodisplayourworkwithoutdoingitbyhand. It alsoallowsusto addadditional
resourcessuchas internetandtextbasedsourcestostrengthenourworkfurther.Italsoallowsusto
presentourworkin a varietyof ways,whetherthatbe throughthe use of MicrosoftWord, Microsoft
PowerPointorPrezi.Thisnotonlygivesaesthetictowork,but showsa range of skillsinhow Icould
presentmyworkboth aestheticallyandwithinformationthatwill helpmyworkthrive. Bloggeralso
allowsfeedbacktobe constantlyavailablefromteachersthroughout
the course of the year.This permitsanongoingdiscussionthroughout
the year of what to improve andwhathas gone well,whichisextremely
importantfordevelopmentof workthroughoutthe academicyear. In
termsof research,the internetwasextremelyuseful inprovidingme
withadditional informationthroughwebsiteslikeIMDBand Rotten
Tomatoes.These websitesallowed me toresearchconventionsandstylesof certainfilms.Theywere
useful whenconsideringintertextual references,asIMDBallowed
for researchintosuccessful psychological thrillersfromwhichwe
couldformulate anintertextual reference.WithoutIMDB,we
wouldn’thave beenable toresearchsuccessful psychological
thrillers.Inthe end,we chose Inception,whichwe chose toreplicate
a shot inthe film;we researchedthisthroughanothersource of
internettechnology,YouTube.YouTube allowed ustoresearchshort
clipsof films,givingustipsandhintsonnew,alternative waystoportrayingsomethingthrough
technical aspectssuchas, editing,camerawork,soundorlighting.Itwasextremelyuseful asit
provideduswith knowledge aroundagenre toconformto the conventionsof thatgenre.
Furthermore,we were able tograbscreenshotstostrengthenourworkasit allowsusto endorse
our workwithsegmentsthathelpthe analysisof it.The internetwasalsousefulforprovidingour
soundscape asit helpeduslookforroyaltyfree musictouse to helpincrease the tension.Websites
like YouTube andBensound.commade iteasiertosearchfor music,as opposingtocreatingourown.
Anotherwebsiteusedinthe researchwasdafont.com, whichhelpeduschoose anappropriate font
to supportthe theme of our film.
Production
In production,we optedtouse a DSLR. We decidedtouse thisbecause of the qualityof aestheticit
provideduswith,whichgave ourfilmaprofessional feeltoitwhilstmaintainingall the narrative
techniquespreviouslydiscussed. The DSLRpromisesgreatquality,and
can manufacture lightinginordertocapture the verybestshots.Thiswas
Our
Intertextual
reference
2. importantwhenwe consideredhowwe wantedourfinal producttolook.One feature of the DSLR is
it allowsinstantplaybackof the material youjustcaptured.Thisisextremelyuseful foraproduction
companysuch as ourselves,aswe couldanalyse the material we justcapturedanddeclare whether
or not itis the bestit can be in termsof camerawork,soundandlighting. Tocapture sound,we used
a Rode microphone inorderto capture the bestsoundpossible,butalsotominimisethe background
noise.Usinga Rode microphone meantall oursoundwaspurposeful and planned,whereasusing
the microphone off of the camerawouldhave ledtopoor soundqualityandunplannedsoundwhich
couldhave ruinedthe shooting.The advantage of usingamicrophone of a goodqualityallowsusto
manipulate the soundinaway that benefitsus.Forexample,inthe film, TomRushstandsonand
breaksa stick(Asseeninthe screenshotof the filmseentothe right)
whichisemphasisedandenhancedbythe qualityof the microphone
and postproductiontechnology.
Post-Production
In terms of post-production,we use PremierProforediting.This
programme allowedustouse differenteditingtechniques suchasa
flashtransition(seenatthe beginningof the sequence)toa simple cut.Afterfilmingall the needed
shots,we thenmovedtoplace the clipsin orderbefore refiningthemtogive the filmfinesse and
continuity.iMovie alsoallowedustoedittechnical aspectswhichwouldgivethe filmemotionand
character. For example,byinputtingsoundintoiMovie,we couldeditthe pitch,volumeortone at
whichitwas inorder to drawemotionthroughthe use of sound.Soundisarguablythe most
importantaspectof film,asthe filmwouldbe plainandemotionless.We canalsouse colour
blendingwhichwouldtransformourfilmforsomethingthat lookedlike itwasfilmedona
camcorder,to a professional feel.IniMovie,we were alsoabletoaddtextto our camerawork,
meaningcreditscouldbe addedtoenhance the realismfurther.The use of
typeface couldbe alteredsoitmatchedthe theme of our thrillerandcomplied
withthe conventionsinawaywhichpositivelyimpactedourfilm.
