2. The tripod was used to prop up the camera
and get it at all different levels so we could
film all our shots from the necessary highs.
From using this piece of equipment I have
learnt that it is helpful to use when filming for
lots of different levels, for example there are
3 different sized legs so a small, medium and
tall high which can be used by adjusting the
leavers on each leg to extend the length. I
learnt that we could achieve birds eye view
angles with the tripod as well, because at the
top there is a handle that the camera is
connected to used for tilting the camera a
certain way so we used this for a shot of the
stairs which was very popular within our
feedback comments.
The camera was used to film all of our shots, either
zoomed in or out depending on the effect we were
trying to create. I learnt from using this piece of
equipment how to delete certain pieces we weren’t
happy with by clicking the options and deleting. I learnt
that we could achieve much better quality shots by
getting the picture in focus by using the touchscreen
feature and click on the item you want to focus on to
make it a sharper picture.
The MAC computer was one of the last
things that was used as it was used for
editing our work on final cut pro. I learnt
how to overlap music, because we need to
cut out parts of it due to some unwanted
speak so this meant that we wanted it to
fade in nicely again so it wasn’t obvious to
the audience that there is a jump. Also, I
learnt that we could achieve much darker
images because we wanted to create a
thriller theme too however on filming day
the weather was sunny and too bright, so we
used specific filters to make our sequence
more realistic and obvious to the audience
the themes that were involved e.g. thriller.
The phone was used to film the shots where
the characters were sending and received
texts from each other, and also when the
main character was in the gym listening to
music. I learnt that we could achieve a much
more realistic looking film using the phone to
connect two characters, and introduce a new
character by sending texts between them
making the audience understand the
storyline a lot more. I also learnt that by
changing the name of a contact to the names
of the characters when the text comes
through it looks more real and like its from
the person.
The iPad was use to record the voiceover
which we used after the company idents to
make it clearer to the audience what the
character is thinking and what they are hoping
to do e.g. be in the Olympics. I learnt from
using the iPad that it was more efficient if we
recorded it on the video feature as apposed to
the voice memos, this was because it is easier
to transfer to the MACs and insert it into our
sequence. By using this technology we could
achieve high quality recordings that were
suitable to use in our work, it also allowed us
to keep retrying if we weren’t happy with the
previous recording we could do it as many
times as we wanted to get it right.
Our Equipment
3. Final Cut Pro
We used the transitions button to create a lot smoother jumps into the
different shots, this was so that the audience don’t recognise the editing
as the most important thing is not to notice to transitions. This enabled
us to make our whole piece look professional as we spent a lot of time
trying out different transitions to make it look the best it can. If you
hovered over a specific transition with the mouse it would give you a
preview of what that transition would look like on the shot you’ve
selected, which is helpful as then you don’t have to commit until you see
one that looks good.
We used the curser button to decide which tool we wanted to use
to edit our filming, for example if we just wanted to move certain
clips around we could use the standard arrowhead. However, we
decided to use the cutting tool a lot so that we could divide up clips
and make them separate so we could use them on their own. It
enabled us to cut out unnecessary parts in a clip, for example when
the main character was walking do the corridor to the gym it took
up a lot of time so we decided to cut out a bit from the middle of
the clip with this tool; making it a lot more professional looking.
We used the volume rocker to adjust the
volume accordingly, we soon found out that the
best volume to have our music and other non-
diegetic sounds was in the light green area of
the scale. This was because was tested with and
without headphones because our target
audience are likely to be watching it on their
phone because they are teenagers. So, we
didn’t want it to be too loud that it deafens our
audience so it is so important that we get it
right.
We used the text icon to create our
company ident. Once we had chosen a
layout we liked, by using the section below
the button, we could then use the section
above the button to chose a more specific
font, colour and size for our writing. This
feature enabled us to chose a font and size
and colour that was suitable for the effect
we wanted to create, for example darker
colours represented the dominant theme of
a thriller to our audience.
4. Picture Montage
I used Final Cut Pro. It was lucky that I
have had previous experience with this
software from other tasks set as I didn’t
know how to use it initially, I then knew
how to cut clips down and add in
transitions. I learnt how to add in audio
and how to merge clips together as well.
However, it was annoying when
sometimes if the clips were too small it
would be fiddly to cut and move the
correct ones, we worked out how to
enlarge them after asking our teacher
this made it a lot easier to work with.
I used YouTube to gain knowledge are
research on how other companies have
created their opening sequences so that
I would take note and possibly use some
techniques in ours. I learnt that by using
this website it was really helpful with
searching up other people or companies
work to get ideas and even seeing how
they’ve edited it. I also used this for
looking up how to use some feature like
cropping shots on Final Cut Pro, to see
how I do it and it was really useful to
watch someone else doing it. However,
it wasn’t the best at points because
when I was searching up how to use
something on an piece of software I
didn’t know what the feature was called
which made it take even longer to find
what I was looking for.
I used the camera application on the iPad to record a voiceover that was used near the beginning
of our sequence, this was recorded using the video feature because it was the easiest and
quickest way to transport the piece over to the MAC. I learnt how to get the video clip onto an
email and send it over to the MAC and save it in the documents and then drag it onto our work.
However, I did find that when the clip was placed in to final cut that there was a video attached
which we had to separate from the audio, this was because we only wanted the audio which was
a bit annoying but we managed to work it out.
I used google images to search for character inspiration, for example we have a character that is
really well off and girly so we wanted to compare her to a well known character in the film ‘Wild
Child’ and see what type of outfit we need to plan for her to wear by looking at images from the
movie. I learnt that you have to be very specific with the character names when searching them up
so I had to look up what the name of the character was, this made it easier to find the person I was
looking for. However, it was quiet difficult to find the right character they were mostly group picture
that weren't very good quality which wasn’t very helpful but I found a good quality group picture and
cropped the other characters out.
I used GarageBand on the MAC which was
an application, this was used to create a
suitable sound for our company idents that
was unique and hasn’t been used before,
this was a great app because it gave us the
ability to cerate our own piece of work to
use, this meant we had more of a USP within
our sequence. Also I learnt how to export
the clip onto a memory stick and transfer it
to the right computer we wanted to use it
on. However, it takes a long time to get used
to all the functions. This meant that we
spent a long time messing around with the
buttons and seeing what they all did and less
time making the actual piece.
I used a website called iStock to get information
on what types of music and sounds were
available so that I could use it in my sound
planning. We also used this website for the
music that runs throughout our opening
sequence as we felt it fit really well with effect
we were trying to create, which was dark and
mysterious. I learnt how to transport the music
onto the downloads in the MAC files and then
how to insert it into Final Cut Pro by dragging it
in. However, there is so many tracks that sound
the same on the website so it was hard deciding
what ones to chose and then the names were
similar too so it was hard to find them in the
files after saving them.
