The document discusses the use of various equipment and technologies in creating a film project. It describes how a tripod was used to film shots from different heights, and how the camera was used to film shots either zoomed in or out. It also discusses using a Mac computer for editing in Final Cut Pro, a phone to film text message scenes, and an iPad to record voiceovers. It provides details on learning how to use each piece of equipment and the software, including overcoming challenges faced.

1. Evaluation Task 6
By Meagan Moore

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 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. 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.
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.

5. Picture Montage
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 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.
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.

6. Picture Montage
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 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 les
time making the actual piece.
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.

7. Picture Montage
I used Prezi to create a presentation about
my film genre research and also our group
create a Prezi explaining our full idea for
our opening sequence. This was useful as it
was an easy way for us all to have a copy
and when we all improved on it we could
send it to each other by email, this made it
also easy to show all the information we
gathered in one document and we showed
it to an audience. I learnt how to set up a
new template on Prezi and how to create a
path so that when someone is going
through the information it is animated and
more interesting. However, it was hard to
delete spare boxes if your didn’t want to
use them so I had to re arrange my layout a
few times due to this problem.
I used the Pearl and Dean business
website to do research on my target
audience to see what people typically got
to see different films, for example more
men go to see action film than women. It
was really useful as I learnt a lot about
how film companies categorise people,
like the percentage of women over 25
that go and see a film this makes it easier
for them to know for future who will go
and see a certain film genre. However,
whilst using this website it was quite
tricky to work out at first how to find the
films that have been on ages ago which is
what I wanted to see. There is a small
button below the normal search bar
called advanced search which then let
me put a more detailed search in.