Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From the construction of this product we started by learning how to use our blogs. This meant that we could post our work and ideas to it. Also, for guidance we can look at other students blogs which can influence our own ideas. Along with this we have also learnt how to use internet and became familiar with websites such as ‘imdb’ to help with our research and with collating clips and stills of the films.

Before the process of constructing this product I barely knew how to use a video camera and I had never used the editing software before. During the process of constructing my thriller film I have learnt about the effects of each type of shots, the camera movement and angles. Before the process of constructing the product, I did already know how to use a digital camera; however I didn’t know that we had to take stills for the location shots. So whilst planning my film, I took shots of the location that I had in mind for my thriller.

I learnt how to use a video camera whilst doing the preliminary task. Whilst doing the preliminary task I learnt techniques such as the 180 degree rule during a conversation which are vital in creating a good film. I then used these techniques and shots such as extreme close ups and long shots in my film which created the effect of disorientating the audience.

When we used the editing software, I learnt how to add parts of the clips to the timeline in the order I want. However, I realised that some clips I had were not the right thing that fitted to the thriller conventions. This meant that we had to re shoot a big part of my film but it taught me that you had to get the right shots because when certain ones don’t work they can ruin your whole film. I also learnt how to add the music. In some of my clips the lighting was a bit too dark so I learnt how to brighten them using the advanced editing tools which I had never used before so I didn’t have to re shoot a lot of my film like I had already done before. The still inserted is an example of a clip that got brightened. It gave my film continuity throughout because many of the shots were the same brightness when they should have been, unlike before when they were very dark. Also, I learnt how to add transitions to my film. Whilst editing, I also had to add titles to finalise the film, I learnt this through the process of constructing the product.