The document evaluates the equipment used to construct a student film production. It discusses the Sony HDV HVR-ZYN camcorder that was used, noting its professional features but also problems with audio quality that required re-filming. A tripod was used to ensure smooth pan shots and steady footage. Pinnacle Studios 15 video editing software allowed layering of shots and multiple sound tracks but had limitations due to school computer restrictions. YouTube and Blogger were used to upload and share the finished production online in an accessible way for feedback.

1. EVALUATION
OF
EQUIPMENT
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF
CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
(ACTIVITY 6)

2. CAMERA
The camera we used was Sony HDV HVR-ZYN which is a
professional camcorder. This was suitable for our group as it
was easy to use even though it had many features e.g. zoom,
focus, and a built in microphone as well as an external add
on microphone. It also let us edit the lighting of the footage
to make it darker giving it a more edgy and mysterious feel to
it. The camera was easy to transport from location to
location.
However we did have problems with the sound on the
footage, as you could not hear the dialogue from the actors
as we had the microphone too low, this lead to us having to
re-film parts of the production again losing valuable filming
time.

3. TRIPOD
When filming we used a Tripod, this ensured that the pan
shots were smooth and the camera was steady during still
shots. Without the Tripod the footage would have had
unwanted shakes, this would of distracted the viewer and
took away the professionalism we were aiming for.
The Tripod was also practical as the camera we used was
heavy, meaning it would have been uncomfortable to hold it
for long periods of time. It was also collapsible so it was easy
to transport to and from the locations.

4. PINNACLE STUDIOS 15
For the editing of our production we used Pinnacle Studios 15,
which is a video editing programme. It allowed us to layer our
shots so we could use overlay titles. It also allowed us to use
more than one sound track at a time, which was important to us
as we used non-diegetic sound effects and non-diegetic
background music at the same time.
I have previously used pinnacle studios to edit my preliminary
production, which gave me the basic knowledge of how to use
the programme.
The only issue we had with Pinnacle Studios is that due to the
schools restrictions on the computers we were unable to save
the production to our user area, meaning we had to save the
production to the specific computer we were using. This caused
a problem as we could not edit on any other computer in the
school, this limited us as we were unable to edit if the computer
was being used by another student.

5. YOUTUBE
To upload our production we use YouTube, which is a site
that allows people to upload and share videos for free. After
uploading our videos to YouTube we embedded them in our
blogs. YouTube was a convenient website to use as it was
accessible from both inside Sixth Form and at home, which
would of not been possible if we would of used Vimeo.

6. BLOGGER
We used Blogger to upload pieces of our coursework to. We
used this site as it was free and easily accessible from sixth
form and home. Blogger was also easy and simple to use
meaning quickly allowed us to upload pieces of our
coursework. Blogger allowed us to go back and edit/adjust
previous blog posts, so if we needed to make any changes
they were easy to make. On Blogger you can also
personalise your blog, embed videos and upload pictures
and links.