Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?

What I learnt:
During the filming of our opening scene I learnt that different lenses and cameras have different focusing speeds, such as our dslr camera took a long time to focus compared to our smaller hand held one. Another thing I learnt is the importance of a tripod as no matter how hard you try there will always be shake from hand held filming. While editing our film I learnt the different controls on iMacs as well as how to use iMovie such as putting in voice overs and other clips on top of our video. As a group we also discovered new techniques of filming such as bokeh. Due to our film being low budget we found interesting ways to create our credits without using expensive editing and filming equipment. For example the Scotch Guard and number plate credit. Finally I learnt how to use Blogger effectively and other animation tools such as Powtoons and Prezi. One thing I discovered especially on blogger was how to embed code and how to make labels at the top of my blog.


What Sarah-Jane learnt:
I have learnt that for certain shots manual focus is better than auto focus, for example when filming the running shots because of the amount of movement it was easier to set the focus on the subject before moving and so when I was on the skateboard all I had to do was keep the same distance away from the subject in order to keep her in focus whilst running. 
To get the light bokeh shot it helped with having 2 people, as 1 could zoom out and adjust the tripod head while the other drops the stencil and changes the focus. This in turn creates 1 swift movement which smoothly transitions from one shot to another with no cuts.
I have also learnt how to overlap 1 video on top of another which helped greatly when answering our evaluation questions to a high standard.
Even though I have learnt new things about technologies, I have also found out that some equipment hinders our creativity as when filming the beginning overhead shot, after numerous attempts using the dslr we found using my small pocket camera was a lot easier because of its portability and autofocus was far better. In addition to this because of our low budget we used our innovative in some areas, as for most of the running shots I was on a skateboard which worked well to get a steady shot, whereas in a real film a 3 axis gimbal or steadicam would be used. This gave authenticity to our opening scene.


What Emma learnt:
From using the equipment I have learnt that getting the tripod to the correct level with it being level is particularly hard especially when you plan on moving it for example when we moved the camera swiftly for the match on action. I also learnt that the focusing of the camera is difficult as it will focus on particularly sections and then not focus on other parts for example the first scene where you would be able to focus on the milk but then not the letters and if it the camera would not focus on the rest of the table, to conquer this problem we used a range of methods using auto focus and manual focus, whilst also trying a range of cameras. Using iMovie was interesting as I learnt the new ways of using it, for example I learnt how to add videos on top of other videos and the different ways you can add post production edits onto what we have filmed.
I also learnt a lot about different types of ways that we could create integrated credits from doing DIY to doing a light Bokeh Shot. We had to test a large range of how we would do many of the credits and the best methods for them and so we could have the best quality and professionalism to our Opening Scene.  

What Archana learnt:
During our process of creating our opening scene, I have learnt how to get the light bokeh shot by using the zoom lens and a cardboard stencil. It was difficult to film as it required 2 people where 1 zooms out while the other person removes the stencil and changes the focus, however after several attempts, the outcome was great. I also learnt basic editing skills on iMovie such as placing a video on top of a video or using voice overs. Even though our film was a low budget film, our integrated credits were the main attention such as the 'JOE LEE' credit where the letters appeared after the splash of water or the the number plate as it looked realistic due to the laminate. As a group we learnt that using a tripod is crucial so that our video is balanced (checking the spirit levels) and runs smoothly. However using a hand held camera can be useful for our purpose as it can accompany our action genre.