What I've learnt about technologies from the process of making this product

Throughout the making of my media text it has been essential to have a tripod, all of the shots i use apart from a few have had to be done via a tripod. If not then all the footage comes out looking tacky and wobbly. When the camera is still and on a tripod it focus' easier on the things of which are in the center of your shot and allows the quality of the image to increase. On the other hand when we were trying to freehand with the camera the shot would focus on something and if there were any sudden movements then it would go out of focus. The shots of which we have not used a tripod for were either to get into very awkward positions to get effective shots or to give the effect of a character walking by having the camera in front of the character as they walk. 

We have also learnt how the 180 degrees rule can not be broken on a trial and error basis, we thought that when dialogue was in progress we switched over to the other shoulder to do the filming although it ended up looking as if they were talking in the same direction, this can put viewers minds on edge about the film and you never want to take the viewer 'out of the moment' so when you see the chance if this happening avoid it at all costs. By keeping the shots the right side it allows the film to run smoothly and the clips to come together well to create a smooth transaction between each. 


One of the very helpful things we found about the camcorder is its Playback attribute, this helped us to reassure ourselves about the footage we had before we went on to record from either a different angle or a new shot. It is very stressful when you think you've gotten all of your footage and you look at it and there is something wrong with it. With the playback feature you can watch over all the stuff you have just filmed. 


There were many different features we had to learn to use when editing the sequence, one of the hardest things to do and probably the most crucial was setting our preferences at the beginning of the editing. We edited our footage upon a software system named Corel Video Studio Pro and the footage we were uploading to it had to be linked to a folder from the beginning or else it wouldn't save. This happened to us, unfortunately we only realized at the end of editing the majority of our film and therefore had to start again. This was a major learning curve. 


One major advantage for the editing of the footage we had, to make it more precise cutting to help the film run smoother was the Multi trim button, this brings up a pop out box and allows you to drag the shot frame by frame to where you want to end the clip and allow another clip of the same action from a different angle to proceed. Thus allowing a smooth changeover and creating a great interchange for the viewers to enjoy. You can also edit the beginning of the clip to make it shorter by doing the exact same process but choosing to start the clip from a different point, avoiding clips from dragging on and producing tedium among the audience. 


As well as these, i learned how to make clips speed up, this allows me to synchronize how fast the actors are moving in all of the shots. All you have to do is click on the clip, then options and edit the playback speed. This helped my film a lot as it allowed me to make sure that walking paces were not completely different throughout the film. This also allowed me to be a lot more confident with the filming side of our production as i didn't have to worry about re-doing shots so that the speeds are the same. 


On the film, there are additional post-production effects we have added due to our lack of resources when filming the film so we added sound effects such as gun shots. To use this we learnt how to import a media file and synchronize it to the film itself so that the sound does not sound out of line with the gun shot. This helped us out greatly as it allowed us to create a realistic situation. When doing the gunshot we also thought to improvise and include the sound that goes over the top of the film so we ended up importing it as well, the song goes very well with the film and matches the genre of which we have done. 


When it came to adding titles, we left this until last. When all of the editing was finished and the music was over the top we just went through and looked for a correct spot to add titles, from adding the titles i learnt the amount of different techniques you can use to make an effective title. I learnt to create names and titles coming out of people as they walked away. it creates a clever look.