The document summarizes the key technologies used in creating a horror film opening for a class project. It discusses the use of a Panasonic camera for filming, the importance of using a tripod to get steady shots, and challenges with encoding footage and learning Adobe Premier Pro for editing. The student learned improved camera and filming skills over the course of the project and how to use editing software to enhance effects and atmosphere through techniques like adjusting contrast, cutting between shots, and adding titles and sound.

2. Introduction
 During the process of producing our horror film opening I have
learnt a lot about the different technologies used when making the
film. All of which play a crucial role in making the film look
professional and also make it entertaining and engaging to the
audience.
In this case the genre we are doing is horror so we had to use the
different technologies we had to try and make a film opening that
resembled this genre and it’s conventions.

3. CameraThe most important and obvious piece of technology we used was the camera. In
almost all films, cameras used are large, in our film due to the supplier’s budget
(school) we used smaller more portable Panasonic cameras. This is because they are
easier to move around and less expensive if damaged. Despite being small and
comparatively cheap compared to the cameras used by Hollywood, they were still very
sophisticated and had many of the basic functions of filming cameras. In our group I
was responsible for the majority of the filming. So I certainly learnt the most as my camera
skills improved from the start of filming to the end. One thing I improved was my steady
hand in certain areas, sequences couldn’t warrant the use of a tripod so some sequences
so over the time filming I learnt how to pan and also use zoom for effect (although the
camera’s minimum zoom speed was still too fast in some cases).
I also learnt how to use the camera as a device to create tension and atmosphere. For
example we used over the shoulder and close ups to try and create a sense of the close
compact environment the character was in and this was emphasised through the camera.
The camera also helps in the ending part of the opening. When it’s at a
high angle to try and create the sense of how the character is inferior
and many of this I learnt to create with the camera. So overall after
doing this course I feel that my camera skills have improved as a result.

4. Tripod
During the filming of our horror film opening as well as the use of camera another
significant piece of equipment we used was a tripod, which was used for some of the
sequences in our film notably the sequences which were shot at a relatively long distance
comparative to the rest of the film. The tripod helped us get steady shots which we needed
for our film. It helped us Maintain steady focus on close ups and also allowed smooth pans
in certain places. Overall the tripod was one of the most helpful pieces of equipment we
used because it enabled the steady shots. During filming I learnt how tripods are needed
to make sure the footage is smooth and also that the content is watchable and not too
jumpy due to unsteady hands. Also at first erecting the tripod was not difficult but time
consuming because as a group we were unfamiliar as to how we needed the tripod to be
in order to shoot particular scenes. However come the end we were confident in how to
erect it and we would be confident in using and setting up a tripod in the future.

5. Adobe Flash CS3 Video
Encoder
Following the filming of our horror opening it was required to encode the film file from
the camera to make it compatible and editable in the editing software we were
assigned (Adobe Premier Pro). This is a program that I nor my group had used before
so we were fairly clueless as to how it works. However the need for the
understanding of this program would turn out later to not be as crucial as Premier Pro
as during the filming stage we were issued with newer cameras which had pre-encoded
files meaning they were already Premier Pro compatible. Nevertheless we were still
giving step-by-step instructions on how to ensure the un-encoded footage was encoded
for Premier Pro editing.

6. Adobe Premier Pro
Without any doubt the most challenging and at times most temperamental technology
we used was the editing software Adobe Premier Pro. Despite this it was still crucial in
turning our footage from just ‘some footage’ into something that resembles a film opening
and more specifically a horror film opening. Though it was rather complex to understand
come the end we knew what we were doing.
We used many of the effects that helped us to enhance our opening. For example we
changed the contrast to make the areas that were just a tad too dark to be seen and
made it brighter so it was visible. We also learnt how to use the editing timeline and
use the way we edit the film to our advantage. For example in the scene where the
character is watching the radio we edited so the camera keeps switching from the
radio to camera. This is one example how we used the editing to create an effect.
The area in editing I mainly took charge of was the audio and titles. I used the text options
in Premier Pro to create the titles for our horror opening. I also learnt how to insert sound
and we edited two royalty free pieces in our opening which play through the majority of
the two minute opening.