The document discusses technologies learned through constructing a media product using Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut software. The author learned how to edit images, create posters, import and edit video clips, apply visual and audio effects, cut clips together, modify sound, and use color correction to maintain consistent lighting across clips filmed at different times. YouTube was also used for research, comparison, and textual analysis of film clips.

1. What have you learnt about technologies from the construction of this product?

2. Through the use Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut, I learnt how to use the software in our school to my advantage. To clear the image up, to change the contrast, or even de-saturate an image (causing a loss of colour). I even learnt how to properly create a poster for my media product, using Photoshop to add in text to an image.

3. After shooting scenes with the use of a Video Camera, we loaded them onto one of the Apple Mac computers in our school Media Department. Installed onto the computer is Adobe Final Cut, a piece of software that allows you to ‘place’ the clips together to form your media product. It can also help you to apply audio and visual effects your shots, such as gunshots, or insert text into the shots themselves, such as the main titles. I learnt a lot on how to apply these effects to make the visual and sound flow from one clip to the next.

4. The art of 'cutting' certainly came in handy, especially when attempting to fit the clip into the timescale provided. Initially, I had what could be called an 'itchy trigger finger', where I stopped filming as soon as the 'shot' itself finished. I learnt to provide time for my actors to stop 'acting', and to also give myself some editing space on the clip itself, so I wouldn't have to cut into the actual action in the clip just to get rid of noises from the camera. I also had to learn how to edit and modify the sound, so that I could erase little bits that I didn’t want and enhance the character’s voice so the audience could hear them. Below:- An example of the amount of cuts needed to piece together the video. Right:- An example of the audio editor on Final Cut

5. 'Colour Corrector' on Final Cut was also very effective as, initially, some of our actors couldn't make it to the scene on time. What we had to do then was shoot in what time they could, and attempt to lighten (or darken) the light in the shot to imitate similar lights and tones in each clip, such as below, where we had to film at night time. As such, I had to lighten the area to try and make sure that the lighting remained fairly similar the whole way through.

6. Above, you can see there is a small circle of light, just visible, around the main character Here, I copied the clip, but used the colour corrector to tone down the lighting in particular areas, but to allow the audience's attention to become focused on Arjun that little bit more.

7. Youtube was also used in order to obtain specific clips for research, comparison and textual analysis. Using Youtube, we located numerous clips that represented the type of action film scene we wished to show in our product. Additionally, it helped narrow our search for clips of movies which we could then textually analyse.