Final Product

Question 7

For the opening sequence I needed to use any different technologies successfully. Firstly I used an online log called 'Blogger' to store and share  my work at different states. This made it easy for me and my partner to take different parts of our research and planning to use and edit as we wished. This also acted as an online diary, so I can look at what I had created earlier, and eve change things that I wasn't satisfied with. This website was easy to use and helped me to see where I needed to improve my work, however there were some occasions where it didn't do what I wanted it to. For example on the location research and planning task the pictures never stayed aligned. This downgrades the presentation of my research, and personally annoys me.

In making the sequence it was the first time I had worked with a video camera. This presented me with lots of different problems that I needed to fix. When recording some scenes the camera needed to rest on a tri-pod. This was used to help the camera be more stable and straight, making it look more appealing to the audience.

For the opening sequence I needed to edit the footage using 'I-Movie'. To do this I imported all the footage from the camera's SD card on to the computer then onto 'I-Movie'.This was an easy tool to use and didn't require me to look up too many online tutorials to get the effect I was looking for. The most convoluted part of the editing was finding and choosing the shots that I wanted to use. I found there were large amounts of dead footage that just needed to be deleted. When making the titles for the sequence I looked on 'YouTube' to find different ways of doing it. I came across a tutorial that involves using 'Keynote' which is a programme that is already installed on the 'Mac' computer I was editing on. The use of this programme introduced me to many new transitions that were not available on the default 'I-Movie' and led me to the transition I used for the main titles 'Trace". As the time for this transition was quite long, and it was difficult to read at the  beginning, I decided to use a dissolve entrance on the rest of the titles.

This is the 'Youtube' video I watched to understand how to transfer the transitions from 'Keynote' onto 'I-movie'

When bringing all of my research and planning together I needed to use a variety of helpful online programmes. This involved the use of 'SpiderScribe', 'SlideShare' and 'Prezi'. 'SpiderScribe' is an online mind mapping tool, that constructs an interesting way for information to be viewed. It is more efficient that a pen and paper mind map because instead of having to rub away if I made any mistakes, or think about the arrangement of my bubbles before hand, I could simply remove a segment from it, or move the bubbles across the screen. 'SlideShare' is a website that can share any slide show that you create on 'PowerPoint', and allows it to be embedded onto other websites, such as 'Blogger'. 'Prezi' is similar to 'SlideShare' in that you can share a 'PowerPoint', however with this website, it is possible to create the slideshow online. In that sense it is like a mix between 'SpiderScribe' and 'SlideShare' which makes it a really efficient tool.

Question 6

From the preliminary task I had learnt of the techniques required to present a good looking sequence. I learnt there needed to be a large amount of 'Match on Action' to show the continuity in the piece. I should have learnt from the preliminary task the reluctance people have to act within a short sequence, I realised this when trying to film the opening sequence as none of the actors who said they could make it came. This resulted in a last minute effort at finding some actors, but it resulted in some bad footage. I have since removed the entire segment from the sequence, and have ended the sequence before it gets to that part in the narrative. From this whole experience I have learnt that it is better to use one or two actors that I know will be fully committed to acting tin my piece rather than having four or five that half-heartedly take part.

The camera work was quite difficult as I often struggled to find the correct equipment in order to film. From the preliminary task it was obvious that the camera always needed to be placed secure in a tri-pod, or else the footage comes up shaky, and I would loose marks on it. This means that in the final task I spent a fair amount of time on each filming day looking for the correct piece of equipment, which reduced the amount of time dedicated to filming. Some of the angles that I filmed in the preliminary task, such as the over the shoulder shot, proved hard to record, especially when the character was standing up. This was because the trip-pods I have access to do not have long enough legs to get to the actor's height. In the preliminary task I fixed this by holding the camera up with my hands, and keeping it still. However, in the final product  I avoided this entirely by not including any direct over the shoulder shots, instead only a small subtle one in the beginning. If this was more of a long shot then it would defiantly constitute as an OTS shot, however the medium close-up helps me to avoid this problem. Also, if it was a long shot then it would put more of the protagonist in frame, but that would go against the idea of keeping the true identity of Dylan a mystery.

Question 5

Question 4

Question 3

Question 2

Clique's representation of social groups from Ollie Favell