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

1. Evaluation –
Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?

2. Different pieces of Equipment and
Technology used:
• Canon DSLR 650D EOS
• Camera lens
• Microphone
• Lighting

3. Canon DSLR 650D EOS
Advantages:
• Very easy to use
• Can manually adjust the focus of the camera to achieve the desired shot
• Settings and menus were easy to access
• Achieved very good quality footage which added to our thriller opening’s
realism
• Small and compact meaning it was easy to carry around
Disadvantages:
• The built in mic was very weak and fuzzy
• Battery life was short and meant we had to charge the battery/turn the
camera off when we weren't filming

4. Camera Lens
Advantages:
• Allowed us to zoom into objects and characters with little to no noise
• Ability to switch between auto and manual focus
• Easy to attach and detach
• Easy to change the focus of the shot
Disadvantages:
• Auto-focus was very sensitive
• Whilst auto-focusing, the camera created a lot of noise which was picked up
on playback
• Some shots still had blurry elements despite our best efforts to focus the
camera

5. Microphone
Advantages:
• Allowed us to capture high quality sound
• Could operate without being on top of the camera, which allowed us to
record Foley sound (EG: we recorded the blowing out of the match and the
audio separately which enabled us to get a realistic sound)
• Provided a massive improvement from the camera’s built in mic
Disadvantages:
• As well as plugging in the mic into the camera, we also had to turn the
switch on, which proved a problem as we forgot to turn the mic on a couple
of times, which left us with no sound for that scene
• Although the mic did pick up high quality sound, it did not always
completely block out background sound

6. Lighting
Advantages:
• By placing the light in certain places, we were able to create an eerie
atmosphere and illuminate our protagonist
• We were able to adjust the intensity of the light, allowing us to pick and
choose from dim to strong
• The light was small and compact, yet very effective
• It had the ability to be attached to a tripod which helped in creating
consistent lighting
• We could have put filters on top to change the colour of our shot
Disadvantages:
• We had to be careful not to create any unwanted shadows
• In some shots, it was often obvious that key lighting was being used, so we
had to result in not using the light for those scenes

7. Filming Technologies – What we
learnt
• We as a group were able to figure out what ISO setting was best for different
lit areas
• We were also able to establish what aperture to use with what environment
we were in
• We also learned how to manually focus the camera which proved to be very
important as the auto-focus was too sensitive at times
• We also learned how different the sound quality is with/without the mic – we
also learned the importance of the dead cat in filtering and blocking out the
sound of wind

8. Different Software's and Systems
used:
• iMac
• Final Cut Pro
• YouTube
• Soundcloud
• Blogger

9. iMac
Advantages:
• They had a good software to record high quality audio
• We were also able to capture good quality video to film audience feedback
• iMacs have auto-save which proved a good feature when it crashed
• We were able to use the Macs to collect research for our thriller
Disadvantages:
• The Macs sometimes shut down randomly
• They sometimes also froze which proved to be frustrating especially during
editing
• They were often slow
• Our saved work could only be accessed on the same Mac we were working on
before and not on another Mac

10. Final Cut Pro
Advantages:
• We were able to detach audio and replace it with pre-recorded sounds
• It was easy and fun to pick up and learn about the different aspects within
the software
• We were able to edit our product in a professional way
• There were many filters, effects and transitions which made it easy to create
an eerie atmosphere
• It was very easy to add credits and titles into our opening
Disadvantages:
• Apart from our preliminary task, none of us had any experience in using the
software
• Sometimes, the software would freeze and we would have to result in
shutting down the Mac

11. YouTube
Advantages:
• We as digital natives are used to the concept of YouTube and we know our
way around it
• We were easily able to find copyright free backing tracks
• Inspiration for certain sound effects and backing tracks came from listening
to a wide range of different atmosphere setting tracks and sound effects,
which were easy to find
Disadvantages:
• It took a long time to upload videos onto YouTube
• We had to make sure YouTube did not make any adjustments to our final
video as sometimes, the system automatically changes the uploaded
material

12. SoundCloud
Advantages:
• It was easy to record podcasts for our initial thriller opening ideas and for
the evaluation process
• It is quick and simple to use
• Records in high quality
Disadvantages:
• It is only limited to audio and no video recording capabilities

13. Blogger
Advantages:
• It was a good way to keep a track of our media work
• It is easy to look back on our previous work for revision
• It was quick to post new blogs
Disadvantages:
• It was quite difficult to get used to as none of us had used the system before
• Difficult to position images in their desired places as the pictures’
alignments were restricted to “left”, “centre” and “right”.

14. Software and Systems technology –
What we learnt
• As a group, we all enjoyed using and learning Final Cut Pro
• We learned that the Pre-Production and Production stages are key in
producing a successful product. We had over 20 minutes of raw footage
which was more than enough for us to work with and pick and choose the
best angles for each scene
• We also learned that the most effective way to blog is in bullet points as it is
easy on the eye and easy to find what you’re looking for
• We were able to experiment with a lot of different elements and by doing
this, we learned what the most effective sounds and effects were for our
thriller opening

15. Difficulties during filming and
editing and how we overcame them• One scene where we experienced difficulties was when we shot the scene of our
protagonist lighting a match in a dark room. It was very difficult for the auto-
focus to focus in on the match and also pick up the eyes of the protagonist in the
background.
• We turned off the auto-focus and we turned the lights on in the room. We then
manually focused in on the match and then turned the lights off so the camera
was already focused in on the correct object.
• During the editing process, the colours of the walls appeared to us to be too
bright and vibrant for a thriller
• We edited the shots of the walls and hallways by turning down the capacity and
brightness
• Whilst filming the shot of our protagonist burning a picture, the camera was left
on auto-focus and upon playback, we noticed that the sound of the lens focusing
was very loud
• We then detached the audio from that scene and deleted the sound so we and the
audience will not be able to hear the camera focusing
• We noticed that one of our shots was slightly unsteady whilst panning with the
tripod
• By using Final Cut Pro, we were able to stabilise that shot and the shaky
camerawork is now unrecognisable