The document discusses technologies used during the process of creating a film project. It describes using Prezi and PowerPoint for research presentations, uploading presentations to SlideShare, and embedding them in blogs. It also discusses using microphones to record critiques, cameras and tripods for filming, the Survey Monkey website to conduct audience research, and editing software. The document reflects on improvements in skills with these technologies from the preliminary task to the final film. It also notes limitations like a lack of proper sound equipment for location filming and lighting equipment.

1. 6. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE
PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS
PRODUCT?
Beth hall

2. What technologies have you used?
o Research and planning:
During research and planning: We’ve used technologies such as ‘Prezi’, ‘PowerPoints’, as seen in the audience
research section of our examination of what the audience wanted to see. Our knowledge of these presentation
software has vastly improved during this process. Prezi which was a new technology to us we learnt how to
operate the complicated system of sharing information and shaping them so they are appealing and
informative, whilst also learning how to embed them into our blogs which was similarly a new aspect of
completing this task. This skill in use is seen during Lucy’s opening sequence analysis Prezi and my Mise en
Scene research Prezi. They are successful in making our presentations more appealing and interesting to
watch particularly when compared to an essay format.
Also when using the ‘PowerPoint’ software in order for it to be seen on our blogs we had to upload it to as
presentation sharing website called ‘Slide Share’ and upload it to that website and embed it from there.
Evidence of this is in my audience research essay where I have embedded the presentation at the bottom of
the page and referred to it throughout the essay. This was a complicated process that we had no experience in
so was a new learning procedure, however it has immensely helped us as it has effectively shown us how to
present our work using a number of different platforms. It was a new type of media that we haven't used before
and works well to show the PowerPoint presentations we have made without having to screenshot the slides
and upload them as pictures. It helps give our blogs a ore professional look and style.
We’ve also used microphones to record group critiques such as the one that was completed on the first draft of
the film. This piece of technology really helped us as it allowed us to hear everyone’s views and listen to their
opinions and constructive critics, but giving us the ability to listen to it back and refer to their ideas during the
process of planning. We used SoundCloud to upload this as it was the most effective operating system
available.
The technologies we used throughout the process of creating our final product have helped us
immensely. The website Survey Monkey allowed us to create a survey so we could gather results
and information about our potential audience. It gave us the opportunity to ask potential audiences
what they thought about our idea and what they like to see in a film so we could take a lot of that
knowledge onboard and build our product around their desires while keeping the film conventional.

3. o Filming:
During filming we’ve used digital cameras, tripods and even experimented
with using a smart phone to record a scene in the preliminary task.
Although these shots did not work out when editing and we had to cut
them from out preliminary task, it was still beneficial to experiment using
smartphones for filming shots, which is something that none of us had
done before. This meant that we had the knowledge of how to make
filming on a smartphone if we ever wanted to use the skill in the future.
This is the first time we have used this filming equipment and the
improvement of its use is evident in the camera movements in the first
preliminary task compared to the final film. We have a wider knowledge of
how to work this equipment so it will benefit us. We have a wider
knowledge of camera angles and camera movements. We have come to
terms with how the equipment works and how it is operated. This is
evident in our final task as we use smoother pan shots, especially in
comparison to those that we used in our preliminary task. Furthermore our
knowledge of composition in certain film shots has massively increased to
our benefit. In our preliminary task we didn’t take much care in composition
during the thought process for each shot which is evident as the shots are
very basic and have room for mass improvement. However, in our final
task we took this in to consideration much more when filming. Evidence of
this is through the shot we used of the protagonist and the dark figure in
this shot we incorporated the rule of thirds which was something that we
weren’t aware could be used when planning shots and scenes. This
helped to add a look of professionalism to our film and allowed the shots
we used in our final product to be much more effective and appealing the
audience. Shots used in the opening sequences of all films, not just Gritty
Realism, are essential to enticing the audience to keep watching as they
want to see interesting and aesthetically pleasing visuals. Since our
knowledge of how to use technologies whilst filming, such as the camera
and tripod, we were able to create the interesting and well though out
shots that we knew were needed to compose an effective and appealing
opening sequence.
Our use of the rule of thirds in this shot
creates an interesting and effect shot. It is
especially impactful as it is the first shot
the audience is shown that contains the
characters for the film. This sets in enigma
codes for the audience as they will want to
know who they are, why they are so far
apart, what connection they have and why
one is sat down and the other standing.
These enigma codes are what entice the
audience to keep watching the film. Thus
proving how we have learnt that having
attention-grabbing opening shots is crucial
for the success of the film, as well as for
the success of if the audience get our
preferred reading of the film.

4. o Lighting: Our Knowledge of the importance of lighting has vastly improved. In
the Preliminary task it is evident that lighting wasn't highly considered other
than when thinking about the shot where Jeanne turned the light on and off
where we focussed on the continuity of the lighting. The lack of lighting in this
shot was not done intentionally, whereas the shot below it from our final
product contains lighting that was intentional. This shows how our knowledge
on how to use lighting to create mood and atmosphere has grown massively.
However, I don't think our familiarity of lighting has grown as much as it
could’ve. This is because we have not had the opportunity to work with
various lighting methods and equipment therefore our greater awareness of
how to use lighting is only theoretical and not yet practical.
o Editing : Throughout the entire course we used Serif Movie Plus to edit
footage on. This was a new software for us all and at first we experienced
difficulty with it. We first practised using the software with our preliminary
task. The difference of the editing in the preliminary task compared to our
final task editing is vast. Our editing skills have improved massively during
this process. We are now able to edit the film so it is smooth and looks more
professional. Our knowledge of using jump cuts and straight cuts has
developed as we can distinguish the difference between the two and use
when appropriate. We can now use them to create a interesting scene that is
attention-grabbing for the audience and helps them understand the narrative
and ensuring they have our preferred reading of the sequence. Our skills
have also developed as we were able to create the graphics for our title
sequence which assist in making our film more conventional. Another skill
that we have developed that creates a higher level of conventionality is
adding text to video footage. We similarly did this in the Serif Movie Plus
software and this development in skilfulness has allowed us to create an
opening sequence that looks as if it could be the start of a real film.
Shot from our preliminary task where
we focussed on Jeanne turning the
light from off to on with chiaroscuro
lighting – non intentional.
A shot from our final film showing intentional
chiaroscuro lighting which was done to
highlight the antagonist and make him stand
out whilst keeping the protagonist in the
dark. This was done to represent how Chris
(the protagonist) sees Chris Mark 2 (the
antagonist) as the only true person who
understands him.

5. Sound: Throughout this process our knowledge of using both diegetic and non-diegetic
sound to our advantage has greatly improved. We had difficulty with the diegetic sound
due to the nature of tour filming location and weather conditions. However when
recording the soundtrack Lucy and Dottie used an acoustic guitar to create the song.
The, once we had all approved of the song and the lyrics we used an Apple MacBook to
record the song through a music app. This meant that the music and lyrics could be
picked up extremely well and was of high quality sound. By using this app we could add
a few other instruments to give the professionalism and depth to the soundtrack that we
wanted and thought would make our film more conventional of the genre. Furthermore
using this technology also meant that it was unproblematic to edit the song and re-
record it if needed before adding it to the movie editing software. This greatly developed
of our knowledge of sound recording equipment as it was something new for us. If this
would not have been available to us we would have consequently used a smart phone
or microphone to record the non-diegetic sound which would’ve reduced the quality. This
developed our knowledge of different recording devices and helped add affect and depth
to the soundtrack. Although our non-diegetic sound is of high quality we have had issues
with the diegetic sound in the final product. This is because when we did our preliminary
task and when did our opening sequence we had a lack of proper recording equipment.
To further our knowledge of sound we could try out using different sound equipment
such as microphones that attach to actors so their dialogue is picked up better or a
boom mic that would’ve been perfect for windy day when we filmed the shots on
Sidmouth Sea front.

6. Limitations and difficulties:
We had a few limitations to technology during the production of our final film. One of these was the lack of sound
equipment we had available to us. This meant that to overcome this we had to film and alter out shots of the
scenes on the seafront in order for the actors to be heard and the scene make sense. This is because it was very
difficult for the camera to pick up sound of the actors dialogue over the sound of the wind and sea. This is evident
at 00:42 - 00:55 seconds into the film. We did not encounter this problem throughout earlier projects such as the
preliminary task as it was filmed in an inside environment and was therefore not susceptible to nature’s
interferences. To overcome this we could have recorded the actors saying the exact same words and dubbed
over the soundtrack, however, we considered it and come to the conclusion that it wouldn't work the way we
would want and the dub would be too obvious. Furthermore, we also realised that dubbing over dialogue was not
conventional of the genre and as we wanted to keep our film as conventional to the genre as possible we did not
do this.
Furthermore we also had difficulty with the quality of the camera we used as it sometimes makes the film come
out fairly pixelated, however this may also be considered a positive as it suits the look and aesthetic of the gritty
realism genre.
Furthermore, during the process of research and planning we encountered problems with the technology
‘Blogger’ that we used for uploading coursework. Some problems we encountered were trouble uploading mp3
soundtracks or video tracks directly to the site. This meant that in order to overcome these issues we had to use
outside sources such as Sound cloud and Vimeo. Evidence of these outside sources being used is on Dottie’s
blog where she uploaded the preliminary task through Vimeo as well as on Beth’s blog where she used Sound
cloud to upload the process of making the soundtrack. This was a slight hindrance, however, we still managed to
upload all the items that were required.

7. Another limitation we experienced was the lack of lighting equipment that was
available to us. This meant that it was difficult to achieve the lighting conditions
we wanted and required to create the right mood for our film. To overcome this
issue and limitation we had to use the lighting available in the location we were
filming in or use the torches on our smartphones.
This is an example of one shot in which we had to
improvise with lighting and use the torch off of a smart
phone, the shot was previously even darker and
thankfully the lighting was just as subtle as we
wanted.
Next time, in order to prevent this issue and
therefore improve the lighting quality of our
film we may want to either invest in some
professional lighting or rent some out.
However, we also thought this worked to our
benefit as the chiaroscuro lighting outside
compared to the high key lighting inside
could represent how when Chris is alone
outside he doesn't have to hide his mental
illness and is left with his depressive
emotions. Whereas when he is inside his
house, as he lives with his mother, he has to
act happier and more ‘normal’ and stable
than he is. The light in the house in the shot
shown on this slide could also be
foreshadowing how his mother helps him get
better further on in the film, if it was to be