Question 4

1. How did you use media
technologies in the
construction and research,
planning and evaluation
stages?
Evaluation Task: Question 4

2. Development of camera, sound, editing and
print production skills Notes
 Camera: The camera we used for shooting our short film was a DSLR Canon 700D which is able to record and capture any video in high definition; the features on
this type of camera include a zoom in and out lens, ISO, aperture and many more in order to shoot the video by getting the right exposure as well as focus it well.
As a group, we have used the zoom lens in order to create a blurring effect which tells the audiences to focus on the object to become more significant. I have also
used the same model for my short film as well as photography for my print products, film review and film poster.
 Construction: Being able to focus o an object to give a significant meaning to it is important for horror/thriller film. I have learnt how to bring the camera closer in
order to focus one object and being able to blur the background so the main focus of the main target audiences is to read the text message that Diana has received
from the ghost, Priscilla. Before, I could not get the camera to focus on the phone and being able to blur the background whenever I zoomed in from the lens, but
my mentor has stated that I should move closer when I use the camera instead of having to zoom in because it would lose the rule of third composition of the
frame.
 The use of hand held camera: In our short film, Asmaa & I took turns in shooting with the DSLR camera being hand held. The scenes were it required using hand
held camera is some of the park scene, where Diana & Shannon was walking towards the Abotts Park where Priscilla told Diana to meet up with her there from the
toilet scene. At first, we intended to use the camera stabilizer as well as the tripod however, the use of it was not effective because it kept on being shaky and I
could not shoot it in balance whilst I had to walk backwards as well. This was difficult for me to shoot using hand held camera because I had to walk backwards at
the same time, I had to make sure the camera was focusing on the objects, which is the characters in this case whilst they have to walk forward. I also needed to
avoid the shakiness of the camera, which in some scenes from the final short film- you can tell a few scenes were shaky. On the other hand, we have succeeded
shooting the park scene as I had Anita, one member of my group guided me on where to walk by having her hand on my shoulder and telling me where to stop
whilst maintaining a stable position when I was holding the DSLR camera. I also had to hand grip the camera and took light steps backwards whilst maintaining to
focus on the character in order to not have any shaking of the camera. Also, in the scene where we have to use a tripod from the locker scene- where the ghost
makes its first appearance of the film, I have tried panning shot by gently moving the camera to the right to indicate the ghost presence but it ended up being a bit
shaky as the tripod was not stable because one stand is shorter than the other. However, this took us at least 5 takes to do it over and over again until we
minimized the shakiness of the scene and carried on.
 Panning: The use of panning was one of my favorite skills that I developed as it was my first time having to use this type of camera technique. This shot was used
in the locker scene as well as in the park scene, near the end where Diana and Priscilla had their first encounter after the threatening messages. This was used
using hand held camera as we received some positive feedback stating the fact that they liked the idea of panning around the characters in the park scene to
signify tension and dramatic effect that something bad is going to happen next. The reason why we have used hand held camera is because we have tried using
tripod, but every time we accurately tilt the camera, the handles were difficult tot turn as they would either be stuck or hard to tilt it without making sure there was
any shaky hand movement. Overall, the use of hand held camera makes it appear realistic and personal as it tells the audiences a sense of action is about to take
as the use of shakiness from the camera could portray and annotate the possible transition that is about to happen, so it will be more thrilling and nerve racking at
the same time.

3.  Sound: As for sound, I have used some diegetic as well as non diegetic sound. In comparison to the production I worked on last year, it was to create my own
genre of music magazine, I have developed my own understanding of using appropriate soundtrack and audio to include on to my horror/thriller short film. Also, as
a group, we have worked individually in order to find a specific soundtrack and sound effect that will blend well with our genre of horror/thriller. I have improved my
skills in research as I used a video sharing website called YouTube to browse through soundtracks from past horror films like, Anabelle, Orphan and The Ring and
many more. However, we needed to make sure it was copyright free or if it’s not, then we have emailed and contacted the legal owner of the soundtrack and sound
effects we have used onto our short film so we can have the owner’s permission to use it. We got some of the sound effects, such as the people category where
there was a sound for people talking in the cafeteria and we included that. Also, we have used sound cloud in order to upload some of the copyright sound effects
from iMovie such as, ambience sound in order to get ideas for sound effects and tracks for our short film. Also, we have used GarageBand from the using the mac
computer in order to record our own voiceover for the flashback scene as well as include it onto our title scene. I have never used GarageBand before so having to
use it for the first time was sun and easy as it was straightforward as I have watched tutorials on YouTube based on how to use it which helped me developed my
skills using the software.
 Lighting: Even though I am a photography student and I already fond of the camera settings that includes ISO and aperture setting, I have developed more of my
knowledge about the settings of the camera in terms of shooting a video. The ISO has played a crucial part when we filmed our short film because ISO controls the
sensitivity of the light that is exposed to the camera lens. In our short film, we wanted the video to be quite dark so we decreased the level of ISO from 100 to 200
because we were shooting at early midday where it was the brightest so, we wanted the scene to be in contrast and not appear too bright which would ruin the
atmosphere of filming a horror/thriller film. I have learnt that setting your ISO 400 would make your video appear too dark and grainy which will contain too much
noise and would look unprofessional and not clear towards elder audiences as well as young teenagers. So in most cases, I have used Google sources to make
sure I remember what number I should set my ISO when we shoot at daytime so it won't look too bright when we film and still get the right exposure (aperture) as
well.
 Still image (Photography for Film Poster): In our photo-shoot, I used the same camera because of the mega pixels of 16MG, which we were able to shoot a lot
of pictures as well as try out different expressions for the ghost to do. Also, we did use zoom in lens as I was able to zoom in the ghost, Priscilla’s face and capture
her sensitive and gruesome features of blood around her mouth, as well as some of the blood in her hands and arms. The use of lighting was that we had to
change and play around with the ISO and the aperture at the same time in order to get in contrasting lighting where it is half bright and half dim, which would create
tension between the audiences. We did not use flash because it would ruin the representation of the ghost as using flash gives too much light into the photo, which
makes it inappropriate to use it. In order to get the right exposure of the light, we made sure that the model, the ghost in this case, was in the center of the stage
behind the black backdrop background as we moved the lighting nearer to the model. We have used one lighting because we wanted to make the face of the ghost
half brighter than the other side, which could create a dramatic effect of fear in terms of horror/thriller film posters. During our planning process for out photo-shoot,
we already decided to experiment with medium and extreme close ups of the ghost by looking at previous film horror poster for ideas as well as different postures
and frightening expressions. With the help of blood covered in the ghost’s mouth, arms and hands- we were able to explore many range of shots from a high angle
to close ups and medium shots.
 Editing: We used Final Cut Pro on Mac computer to edit the actual short film. This is the second time I have used this particular program so I have quite a good
knowledge on how to use it, this was also a key element for the other members of the group because I was able to contribute more on editing and teaching my
team members about the basics they need to know about using this software. We were able to work efficiently as we made good progress in short time. We have
had a couple of problems where some of the scenes was not in sync with the sound so we kept on going back to back with the scenes by playing it again and
again. In the end, we successfully synchronized the sound for the specific scene, in this case, the bedroom part where Diana grasped for air and we wanted to use
the sound she was making as she kept on grasping using the DSLR camera sound footage.
 The use of tripod: The use of tripod has helped developed our short film (still images) is to help record the video from a long distance shot. In this case, we have
used a tripod in order to capture our establishing shots for the college as well as the house/bedroom scene. The use of tripod is crucial as it is the most helpful
equipment when having to title pan but in this case, we have used different tripods and some of them were difficult to tilt pan when controlling the handle to move
the camera to the direction we want to point at.

4. Technologies used for
Planning & Research
 YouTube: This video sharing website played an important part in research as well as case studies. I have discovered various
horror/thriller films such as film posters which had helped me for my 3 media text; print products and the short film. The link between
YouTube and blogger is Google.
 Google: The use of Google has helped me developed my researching skills when it comes to planning as well as researching for my
film poster ideas through images navigation on Google. Also, I have used to search for similar genre of film posters as well as
planning the costumes, makeups and shots used for a horror/thriller film. This is used in order to give us an insight view of
professional horror/thriller films such as, Orphan, Carrie, The Ring and many more and being able to use some of them as case
studies and analyzing their similar context element features. I have also used it on to my construction part of my short film, which was
we have uploaded our initial and final short film video on YouTube and after, I have embedded into blogger and uploaded it there to
reach for more wider target audiences. Google was used to search for additional theories about narratives and structuralism and any
other theories I did not understand.
 Moodle: I used Moodle in order to look back on assignment briefs as well as the checklist for print products as well as the editing
deadlines so we can meet it under circumstances, so I won’t be able to fall behind. I have accessed all the documents needed to
complete tasks, such as the call sheets, treatment guide and talent and release forms as well as risk assignments.
 Timetoast: I used Timetoast technology in my planning stages as it is online timeline. I liked using this technology because it was
easy and user friendly to use as it tells you the things you have to work on as well as you can easily embedded into your blogger,
without having any troubles.
 Whatsapp & Facebook (Messages): My group & I used the application called Whatsapp quite often as we used to communicate
outside school about our filming days, arranging meetings as well as rehearsals and bringing in costumes and props for the day of
filming. This was the best way of communicating as the application is free and easy to use, it is like messaging someone. Also, we
used Whatsapp and Facebook messaging in order to get hold of our cast so we need to let them know when we need them (call
sheet.) It is also the efficient way to get in touch with our actress/actors so we can update them and give out their call sheet.
 Dafont: This website has enable us to browse and look for ideas for our font styles as well as out title, tag line, headline and so on.
This was easy to use as we already know what category font style we were looking for and that was ‘horror’ so this has saved us
some time having to look for it.

5. Use of Adobe Photoshop
(CS4) & InDesign Software
 I have used Photoshop to create all of my print products and being able to edit the images from the
photography for our film poster. I have had some many experiences using Photoshop, since I’m a
photography student as well, I use it to edit my pictures, effectively and in a professional manner so I
mostly developed and recalled my editing skills that I already had. My initial designs for my film poster was
used in Photoshop so it was user friendly and easy for me to get along well with creating my initial ideas for
my film poster, as well as having to edit the image used for the front film poster. This has given me another
opportunity to bring one of my initial idea prints into an actual film poster to be printed on poster to hang on
street windows, walls and so on so people/audiences will be able to see it. We, as a group, have each took
turn in editing the image used for the film poster as we have used brightness and contrast as well as the
level of curve in order to make the image appear in contrast of black, which gives a more horrifying look as
it is dark. We have used ideas from our case studies for our film poster, which is, Orphan and many more.
 The use of InDesign is to create our film review for our short film as I have used the software before on my
previous project about creating my own music film review. My past experiences has led me to become
used to working with InDesign software as it is straightforward and user friendly. Although, I had forgotten
how to create a double page spread so I have used YouTube as well as Google to help me browse for
tutorials on how to create a double page spread using InDesign in order to create my own film review in
magazines. I have looked at past magazines, e.g. People magazine, in order to get ideas to help me plan
my initial and final version of film review. In the end, I was able to teach myself using the tutorial guides
from Google to create my double page spread and started including shapes, texts, title and images- all of
the formal elements needed to include for film reviews, in this case, mostly horror/thriller film.

6. Development of Presenting &
Web designing skills
 I have used Prezi slide share as it is fun and easy to use when it comes to presenting our own initial ideas for print
products as well as our treatment and proposal. This online slide share helps you entertain the audiences as it involves
features where you can choose your own font style types as well as colour schemes, design templates, insert images
easily and so on. I have used Prezi for my technology as well as Treatment and proposal presentation as it appear
effective and user friendly towards its own target audiences. Prezi is also a great way of using to present ideas as it is
easy to be embedded into blogger as well.
 The use of iMovie that I have used is to create my evaluation technologies. I have used this program before but mostly at
home, so I was able to do some extra work away from college and being able to finish my evaluation task at the given
deadline and meet it. In comparison to using Final Cut Pro, iMovie is more straightforward and less hassle when it comes
to knowing the basics and I also wanted to use a different technology to deliver it.
 I also used PowToon as it is an online alternative PowerPoint. It allows you to present slides, animations and transitions
from one slide to another. This is more interactive with the target audiences as it is my second time using PowToon. It is
simple yet effective and it will definitely keep the elder audiences entertained as much as the younger ones. I have used
this on my evaluation tasks.
 The use of Blogger is a platform where you upload and document all of your work. It is simple and easy to use as it
includes different templates, font styles to choose from and layout structure of your own taste. The thing I like the most
about using Blogger is it is free as well as user friendly and it keeps the audience engage and interact with presentations.
Also, you can check blogger when you are on your phone as you can access it anywhere and wherever you are. And it
keeps a record of everything of your own notes from your phone if you haven’t got any pen or paper.