Research and Planning
One piece of hardware we used was a MacBook. The MacBook was a very important part of creating our blogs. We needed the MacBook's in order to start our work on blogger. MacBook's are a useful piece of hardware to use when creating a blog because it has several pieces of software that a normal computer doesn't have which I will be explaining later on in the post. The advantages of MacBook's are that they are very light, slim and have a good battery life so if we needed them throughout the whole day they are very light and easy to store compared to an ordinary laptop. Especially as MacBook's are an apple product, you are guaranteed to get the best quality out of you work. I have encountered some difficulties when using a MacBook to do my work. I have been doing my work sometimes and the screen has just froze, then the wheel starts spinning which means I cannot click on anything I need. This results in me having to delay doing my work to wait until it is no longer frozen. Another problem with the MacBook is that if you take it somewhere where there is no Wi-Fi then the internet doesn't work. This is a problem because without the internet I cannot go onto YouTube to get videos for my blog or pictures for my blog etc.
One piece of software that we used in the research and planning was Microsoft Word. We used this for many things. We used it to write up our script for our thriller opening, we used it to write up our treatment for our thriller. We used it to create our Target Audience profile for our identified target audience that we would like for our thriller. We used it for many different things in the research and planning of our film. The advantages of Microsoft Word is that it is very easy and straight forward to use. There are many different elements in there that can make the presentation of your work better like different colours, fonts, word art, you can insert images into your work etc. We created our treatment and script on a different piece of software but them copied it onto Microsoft Word so we could then upload it onto scribd. However, Word can have a tendency to freeze and can sometimes be unresponsive. This can mean that I do my work slower.
Another piece of software that we used was Scribd. This is a piece of software in which you do work on Microsoft Word and then upload it onto Scribd. This then allows you to embed the document onto your blog and also takes up less room on your blog than if you wrote it all in one post. Scribd allows you to upload work for teachers to see and can ensure that all homework gets completed. However, if there is no internet connection where you are working them Scribd will not work and therefore resulting in you net being able to complete your work. Also if work gets deleted from Scribd then it is very difficult if not impossible to get it back which means you will have to try and find your work on the word document and re-upload it to Scribd which can be very time consuming.
We used google a lot in our research and planning because we had to research different things for each of our posts. For example, in our UK film distribution post we had to research different distributors for different films and look at their history, without google we wouldn't have been able to carry this out effectively. Also for our film classification post we had to go onto the BBFC website which again we couldn't have done effectively without google. We also had to use google to get images to embed onto our blog to give examples of real media products and to back up what we were saying in each of our posts. The disadvantages again of google is that if there is no internet connection then there is no images and research that we could have done or could have done effectively.
We also used YouTube a lot throughout the research and planning. We used YouTube to look for videos that backed up what we were saying in our posts a little bit like the google one but instead of images they are videos. For example, when I am talking about real media products that are similar to our thriller then it is a good idea to embed a video of a particular part of the film that remind me of our own or when embed the trailer of a film to get the idea.
A very important piece of software that we used was Blogger. It is very important because for our coursework we had to create a blog so without Blogger we wouldn't have been able to do so. The process of posting things on Blogger is very easy to do, its quick and straightforward. It can be easily customized with the theme of your choice. It is very simple and straightforward to post images and videos into Blogger. However, if you are someone that has never used Blogger ever before then it is can be quite difficult to use as it takes some getting used to especially if you are someone who has never created a blog before, it takes some time getting to know what everything is, where everything is and what everything does.
We used Celtx to create the script for our thriller opening. Celtx was very useful because it allowed us to create a script in the correct format. If we'd have just written it all up on word it would have all just looked like a piece of writing in a document whereas with Celtx it allowed us to use the correct format and layout of a scrip which made it look more professional. The disadvantages of Celtx is that if you went somewhere without Wi-Fi you would be able to use it as it needs internet connection to work so if you wanted to work outside you couldn't and if you did you wouldn't be able to complete your work.
Filming Stage
This is one piece of hardware that we used in the filming stage of our thriller. The camera is an important part of the filming stage because without it we wouldn't be able to film. The advantages of this technology is that it allowed us to capture the true image of what we would like to portray to the audience. If we were to use any other camera it would probably give a very low quality image of our scenes whereas this camera allows us to produce high quality scenes with high quality images. It is easy to move around as it can detach from the tripod that it sometimes sits on. This can allow the camera operator to capture scenes using hand-held camera movements to give the scene a more realistic feel. The camera can be used in many different ways to portray the scene in many different ways. The disadvantages of this camera is that it is quite heavy to move around especially when carrying it long distances. There is a lot of equipment needed when using a camera like the charger if it runs out wile filming, the tripod to allow still and cleaner scenes that is heavy to move around as well.
The tripod is another useful piece of software as it allows people to create still scenes or cleaner scenes. Instead of having it hand-held and all shaky. The tripod also allows for easy storage wile filming when the camera is not being used as it can just be placed on the top of the tripod. The tripod is very heavy and when carrying it long distances can be very difficult to move around.
We also used a smaller digital camera. This was used to take pictures of behind the scenes when we were filming. These photos will have then been put on our blog in click here to see this post and all of our photos from behind the scenes. This camera is very good to use as it can be stored very easily due o its size and also it can be took from location to location as it isn't heavy and is easy to carry. However, along with all of the other equipment it is still quite a lot to carry and seems less important than some of the other equipment that we would use.
Editing Stage
In the editing stage Final Cut Pro X was used a lot. Final Cut Pro X was used to edit our film. We imported our film from the camera onto Final Cut Pro X and then began editing our scenes together to create our film. Real life doesn't always offer the best conditions for shooting. Therefore Final Cut Pro X gives you the ability to easily adjust and correct problems with colour and lighting. You can use these features to give your film a more natural appearance or to give your film an entirely new look. For example, for us we had a couple of scenes that had to be at night time but because we couldn't physically film them at night time we used the colour editing in Final Cut Pro X to give it the effect that it was dark. Final cut pro has a more precise sounding which means that you can have as many soundtracks as you want or need. For example, in our film we wanted a soundtrack running through the whole thing but we also needed sound effects to go underneath the soundtrack and with Final Cut Pro X this was possible. The disadvantages is that sometimes the clips didn't transfer over from the camera to Final Cut Pro X because the software had crashed, therefore we weren't able to edit our film for a while which delayed us in completing our work.
We also used the camera again in the editing stage. We needed the camera in order to transfer the scenes from the camera onto Final Cut Pro X. Without the camera we wouldn't have been able to edit our film as there would have been no clips on there to edit. This is very easy to do because all that we needed to do was connect the camera up to the MacBook using a cable and then transfer the clips. However, sometimes transferring the clips wasn't that easy because sometimes they wouldn't transfer because Final Cut Pro X had crashed or there was something wrong with the camera which again meant we couldn't edit and then delayed us from doing our work.
Post-Production Stage
We used free SFX in the post production stage of filming. We did this because after we had finished filming and editing we went back over our film to add some sound effects into our thriller to make it more effective and maybe add sound effects and soundtracks in places that needed them. This software was very good as it had hundreds of sound effects and soundtracks on there that we could choose from. However, there were a lot of sound effects that weren't very good. For example, one particular problem we had was trying to find a sound effect of glass smashing. There were loads to choose from but none of them sounded right and all of them sounded more cartoon like. We therefore found it difficult to find a suitable sound effect which was therefore time consuming.
Exhibition/Sharing Stages
We used Vimeo in the exhibition and sharing of our thriller opening. After we had finished the filming and the editing of our film and made sure everything was there, we then had to upload the finished product to Vimeo. From Final Cut Pro X we had to click share and then click onto Vimeo where our finished film would upload. We then had to embed our finished film from Vimeo and then put it onto our blog. It was very easy to upload to Vimeo from Final Cut Pro X all we had to do was click share, Vimeo and then wait for it to get to 100%, where it would then be on Vimeo. However, sometimes we found it very difficult to get onto Vimeo and then once we were on there we found it quite difficult to locate our film. For someone who has never used Vimeo before it is very confusing.
Communicating with Other Members of the Group
When communicating with each other we used Facebook. Facebook is very quick and easy to use it is also free to use. It allowed us to talk to each other at anytime we needed to whenever we had any questions for each other or if we had any ideas for our thriller opening Never Look Back.
We also communicated over text messaging. We found it very easy, like Facebook, to communicate with each other. It is again very quick and easy to use and also free. It allowed us to talk to each other at any time when we had any questions or ideas for our thriller opening.
Presentation of Work
Emaze is a very useful piece of software that we used to present our work. Emaze allows you to create 3D presentations as oppose to boring 2D ones. You can include videos and cool effects to make the presentations look more appealing, it is very easy to insert objects like images and videos. There are many designs to choose from so you can choose the one that is right for your presentation and the topic that you are doing. Emaze, however, does not come up with a search bar at the top of the page to help you with anything you don't understand so if you are someone that has never used Emaze before then you might find it difficult to get started. Again it is online so if you are ever anywhere that does not have Wi-Fi then Emaze will not work which means you cannot get any work done.
Prezi is a very useful piece of software that we used to present our work. Prezi allows you to create presentations of any research that we have gathered. Prezi allows you to create customized presentations. You can include videos, images, effects to make the presentation look more appealing. Ii is very easy to add images and videos onto a Prezi. There are many different designs to choose from. Prezi, however, for someone who hasn't used it before can be quite difficult and confusing to use as it doesn't have a help bar at the top of the page to show you what to do. Also if there is no Wi-Fi then it won't work as it needs internet connection to work, therefore if you are somewhere that has no internet connection then you will not be able to use it.
My next post will be Evaluation Question 7.
