1. Alfie Millar
QuestionSix:WHATHAVEYOU LEARNTABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROMTHE PROCESSOF
CONSTRUCTINGTHIS PRODUCT?
Throughoutthe processof creatingmy title andsequence Ihave learnttouse lotsof technologies;
these include;
• Serif Movie Plus(editingsoftware)
• Adobe Fireworks
• Weebly
• Cameras- Handheldrecorders
• YouTube
• Google forms
• Slideshare
The most importantpiece of technologyIhave learnttouse inthisprocessisSerif Movie Plus.Thisis
a simple buteffective piece of editingsoftwarethat we usedtoeditourfull title andopening
sequence.FromthisIhave learnteverysimpleaspectof editing,suchashow to editthe scenes
togethersmoothlysoitlooksprofessional,theseinclude featureslike:croppingclipstohow
short/longIwantthemto be andcut outunwantedsectionssoIcan actuallymake my title and
openingsequence,beingable tofade clipsandtexttogetherwhichlooksprofessional andsmooth,
put soundsoverthe clipswhere Ilike whichhelpedsyncmusictothe correct scenes tocreate the
tensionandshowprofessionalismandpanandzoomclipsto show parts of that shot inmore detail.
BasicallyIsecureda goodunderstandingof the basicsandsome of the more complex featuresof
thissoftware;thiswill helpme forthe future because Iknow how to actuallyuse itnow,whereas
before Ididn’t.Imade textinanimationandincorporatedtheminmymovie because itlooksmuch
more professional thanjusttypingtextandeditingit.Ialsoaddedtextontop of my sequence which
I was able todo withthispiece of software,the reasonIdidthiswasfor the titlesandit isreflective
of real movieswhichinturnlooksprofessionalforme.FinallyanothereffectIaddedonto my title
and openingsequence wasmakingone scene blackandwhite inthe clip;thiswassimple todoandI
didit because Iwantedtogive the clipa flashbackfeel whichIfeel workedwell.
Anothermainpiece of technologyI’velearnttouse iscamera.Firstlywiththe cameraI have learnt
to actuallyuse itbecause withoutbeingable Iwouldbe obsolete,recordclipsformytitle and
openingsequence.SecondlyI’ve learntmore indepthaboutthe differentcameraanglesandhow
theydifferintermsof effectiveness.Forexample,close upsare usedtoexpressemotionsowhenI
wantedtoshowemotionIwoulduse a close up.Thisis the opposite forwhatI woulduse awide
shotfor, whichwouldtobe to showthe whole scene sothe viewerscangetan understandingof
what’sgoingon.Attentiontoframingalsoplays a role intocameraangles.Sowhenusingthe camera
to filmIensure the cameraanglesand the framingwasperfectbecause otherwise itwouldn’tlook
goodwhatsoever.Ihadsome issueswithshakingwhenfilmingformyestablishingshot,which
wouldhave ruinedmytitle andopeningsequence,toovercome thisIgota tripodand recordedthe
shotmultiple timesuntil itwascomplete andlookedprofessional.Duringusingthe cameraalsoI
2. Alfie Millar
learntto use itsstabilizerfeaturethat’sbuildinwithcombinationwithatripodmeansthe shotswill
be still andlookprofessional.I’ve learntabouthow lightingaffectsthe scenesthatIrecordon the
camera,lightingcanmake a scene certainlyinathrillerwiththe gloomyscenes.Ialsoensuredthat
my shadowwasn’tin the shotbecause itshowsunprofessionalismandcompletelyruineverything,
althoughitwas challengingattimesIensureditwasdone.ThroughoutthisprocessIhave also
learnedabouthowcamerasdifferintermsof quality,the cameraIusedwas standard720p HD,
whichforthe mostpart looksgoodand isgood enoughtomake a title andopeningsequence.ButI
have learntthere ismore expensive camerasthatcanfilmin4K and even8K whichisover1440p,
double the resolution.Ihave learntaboutsoundandthe microphone onthe cameras,how youneed
to be close enoughandin the rightenvironment(forexample if itwasextremelywindyitwouldn’t
be able to pickup audioproperly) forthe camerato be able to pickup the audio,regardlesswhether
or not itis diegeticornon-diegetic;diegeticmeanssoundyoucansee where itcomesfromand non-
diegeticbeingsoundwhere youcannotsee where itcomesfrom.
Anotherpiece of importantsoftware Ihave learnttouse isAdobe Fireworks,whichIusedtocreate
the titlesformytitle andopeningsequenceandmyproductioncompanylogo.Thispiece of software
isverysimple touse once you masterit(itmeansputtingintextand thenmodifyingittothe extent
that youwant) puttingeffectsonlike glow,shadowandblur.Iusedall of these featureswhen
creatingdifferenttitlesbecause Iwasbeingexperimental tosee whichone Ilikedthe most.Italso
can change the size of the text,the widthandheight.All these featuresallowedme tocreate 3
differenttitlesusingall the features.Thisalsohelpedme be decisive because Ihadmore than one
choice whenitcame to the titles,makingme feel more incontrol.The same goesforthe production
companylogo,I wasable to make 2 verydifferentproductioncompany logoswhichmeantagainI
was able topick andchoose.Because of the limitlesscustomisation,Iwasable tomake mytitlesand
productioncompanylogocorrelate withmygenre (thriller)andappeal tomytarget audience of
olderteensandyoungeradults.I didthisbymakingthe productioncompanymore professional and
bold.The title wassimilarbuthadedginesstokeeptothe thrillertheme.Iformattedthe textinone
of the defaulttextsthatisinfireworksinwhichIthenmodifiedittothe extentthatI did.
DuringthisprocessI learntto use websitesWeebly,YouTube andGoogle Forms.WeeblyIonly
learntaboutduringthisyearin Media.It isa website where youcancreate yourown blogandput
your ownthingson.Most of mymediaworkthroughoutthe yearhas beenputon thiswebsite.
Whilstthisprogramme isstraightforwardto use,Ifeel Ihave benefittedfromitbecause ithas
taught me to make page lookand feel professional whichisaskill Iwill be able totake forwardwith
me in the future. YouTube isanotherpage thatI have learntnew skillson;whilstIamalreadyan
active viewerof YouTube Ihave neveractuallyuploadedavideobefore.Butinorderto make my
title andsequence viewable Ihadto putin onYouTube,thisprocesswasvery straightforward,but I
had to ensure the thumbnail wasgoodandthe titlesweren’tmisleading,because itisstrictpolicyon
YouTube statingtitlesmustbe true to the video.Withthe uploadedvideosonYouTube Iwasthen
able to putthemon Weeblythroughthe use of the embedcode thatis easilyaccessible once the
videoisonYouTube,the embedcodesallowsthe videotobe watchedonotherwebsitessuchas
Weebly.Thisshowsme evenmore professionalismthatIcan take intothe future.The final website I
have learntto use duringthisprocessisGoogle Forms;thiswebsite isverystraightforwardtouse,
usersof this website getsfreeprofessional documentstemplates,whichIusedforthe questionnaire
section.We neededthisquestionnaire aspartas our researchon the target audience of movies.
AftermakingitI was able toshare it to my Facebookwhichthengotabout50 participantstotake
3. Alfie Millar
thisquestionnaire,thiswasmassivelybeneficialforme because havingparticipantsmeansIhad
answerstoresearchand explaininmytargetaudience analysis;once the questionnaire wasmade
the resultswere automaticallysavedandstructuredingraphsandpie charts that wasveryeasyto
understandandthenanalyse because itcouldshow me exactpercentagesand avisual
representationinsteadof justanumber.Thiswas beneficial forme because the websitewassuper
effectiveandefficientinwhatIwantedto achieve,Itdidsomethingwhichwouldhave otherwise
takenlotsof time todo individually.AnotherwebsiteIusedwasSlideshare,thiswebsiteallows
PowerpointSlideshowstobe placedonline.Thiswebsite wasstraightforwardtouse andit helped
me because once againit allowedme toplace myslideshowsof Props,Costumes,Locationsand
Actors onmy Weebly throughthe use of the embedcode
