The document discusses technologies used in creating a film opening project. It summarizes the hardware, software, and online tools used and what was learned from using each one. The main hardware included an iMac for editing, a tripod, USB cable, and video camera. Software used was iMovie, Sony Vegas Pro 11, Microsoft Word/PowerPoint, and Photoshop. Online tools discussed were Mindmeister, YouTube, Blogger, Freesound, and Slideshare. The document focuses on how each technology helped with creating, editing, presenting, and sharing the various elements of the film opening project.

1. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
contrasting this product?
By Alessia Carofalo

2. Hardware

3. IMac –
I used an apple iMac as it is a more up to date and useful piece of
technology that allowed me to edit my film opening efficiently with a
number of different tool which other deceives may not of required. As well
as this I was also able to build my confidence and found that working with
the mac hardware was beneficial and easy to use as it has better editing
tools than an ordinary computer. IMac also contains software’s such as
safari that enable me to further my understanding of new and different
technologies that I haven't used before on the IMac system. By editing my
film opening on an IMac was easy, quick and useful as the software was
easy to use and understand as a whole.

4. Tripod -
I had a tripod ready at hand when filming however I didn’t use it often.
It’s a good piece of equipment to use at it stops any wobbly camera
movements when filming which helps with the quality of the shots. The
tripod also helps carry the weight of the camera which additionally helps
with steadiness of the camera shots. As well as this the equipment
provides great assistance when it comes to the prohibiting lateral forces.
I should of used the tripod more when filming my opening so that my
camera shots were steadier.

5. USB cable –
The USB cable was widely used by myself as I used it for a number
of things such as, transferring pictures and videos from the video
camera or my phone to either the iMac or my Packard bell laptop.
Due to the use of the USB cable it was an effective way to send
data rather than using email as it’s less time consuming and very
easy to do. The USB cable was so handy as its an effective and easy
way of transferring data from one system source to another.

6. Video camera –
The video camera was a main piece of equipment that I used widely for a number of
projects. In addition I used it for the filming of my preliminary tasks well as my film
opening and more. Whilst using the video camera I realised that the footage was of
much better quality as well as allowed me to have footage of a longer amount,
which I wouldn’t of been able to do if I used my phone. I’ve always been used to
using a video camera from a young age therefore I was confident when it came to
filming as I knew the different functions within the video camera that aren’t
available of my phone.

7. SD card –
The SD card was used by myself whilst filming because I wanted to
keep all my filming data in one place so that it was less likely to lose
any footage. As well as this with the use of the SD card was
beneficial as if I lost any footage I could easily back-up any of my
data which meant I had more protection if anything went wrong.
The SD card was also good to use as I didn’t need too worry about
running out of memory as the SD cards memory was huge.

8. Software

9. iMovie –
I used iMovie when it came to the editing of my preliminary task, however due
to my inexperience with the software I found it fairly difficult, therefore when
it came to the editing of my film opening I done it at home via the use of Sony
Vegas Pro 11, due to the fact that I done the editing techniques and tools
easier to use to create a better film than I would of probably done with
iMovie. For example editing such a cut was easier and better to use between
scenes as well as the audio was better as it could replace music efficiently. Plus
with Vegas Sony Pro 11 I could use a vase range of fonts for my film titles
which created my genre on horror to be portrayed better.

10. Microsoft –
Microsoft was one on the main and most used software as I used it for word and
PowerPoint so that my work could be presented in the best way possible. These
programs were easy to use as I’ve had a lot of experience using them,
additionally it was a lot easier to use this software instead of writing because as
soon as the work was completed I could easily upload it straight onto my blog
which want time consuming at all. Because I wouldn’t of been writing up my
work it meant that I wouldn’t be making errors such as spelling mistakes for
example that I couldn’t change unless I started is again which would be very time
consuming to do again.

11. Photoshop –
I used Photoshop to create my ‘Dark Skies Production’ company logo. This was the first
time I had ever used Photoshop however I quickly picked up on what to do as the
software was straight forward therefore I had no troubles with creating it. The only
difficulty I had was uploading the pictures of my choice onto the software however once
it was uploaded I found it easy to use the tools to change things like the shape or sixe of
my logo.

12. Online Tools
You

13. Mindmeister –
Mindmeister was great to use when I created my mind map that presented
features in my film opening such as costumes, setting, mise en scene,
props, characters and more. I used Mindmeister as I could present
all my work on one nice layout that held all my information on
one big slide. With Mindmeister I could try out new tools which
meant I could present my work differently as well as make it
eye-catching with the use of different colours and unique
layouts. Another good thing about Mindmeister is that it was
effective and very easy to use especially since I hadn't ever used
it before.

14. YouTube –
In order to get my media work completed I opened up YouTube account so
that I could upload all my videos, I had never had a YouTube account
however I learnt how to use it quickly as it’s a straight forward, user friendly
site. The videos I uploaded were my preliminary task and film opening as
well as more. It was good to create an account as it meant all my videos for
example were all in one place, which overall helped as it created an easy
way to upload anything onto my blog. For one of my other blog tasks I used
YouTube to watch film opening of films that have the same genre of me so
that I had a better idea of what was expected of a horror genre film.
Moreover it allowed me to gain more of an insight on the conventional
horror genre diegesis, costumes, locations and more which I could use in
my own film opening.

15. Blogger –
I used blogger so that my entire project could all be in one place where
everything could be under a straight forward and easy to use contents.
With me using blogger it also meant that anyone on the internet could
get onto my blogger and look at all the tasks I have completed. blogger
was a useful online tool that allowed me to keep all my tasks in a orderly
neat manner that had a good set up and presentational layout. With the
use of blogger I have also become more confident with how to
personalise things such as my blog as well as how to tag and label my
tasks and more. All this made my blogger account unique to me.

16. Freesound –
Freesound was an online tool that I used so that I could get a number of
different sounds for my film opening. This site was useful to me as it
meant I wasn’t copyrighting any music as well as find a number of
diegetic and non-diegetic music that would make my film opening better.
Without having sound in my film opening my film wouldn’t have been
realistic. The site allowed me to search up key words for my specific
genre that made the site for me extremely helpful as I was able to find
many sounds from a number of different tracks which I could use in my
film opening.

17. Slideshare –
Every time I completed a PowerPoint via the use of Microsoft I used
Slideshare so that I could upload my work. Slideshare is handy and
different as its easy to use and it allows power points to become more
interactive as it’s not like a normal slideshow with Slideshare. Once my
work was uploaded onto Slideshare it then became very easy for me to
then upload my work onto my blog. I also really like using Slideshare as
it allows individuals to view a PowerPoint at their own pace which
creates a calmer atmosphere rather than rushing to read anything on
the slide before it changes.