Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing this product?

Pre-production

Before filming we had to plan and research our genre. We did this by watching openings to thrillers on youtube. Youtube is a great new technology as it shows suggested and related videos after you watch one and therefore allows you to watch more related content. The suggested videos allowed us to research more openings that were relevant to thrillers and once we chose our sub genre (film noir) we could find more precise openings and develop a better understanding of our genre. Youtube also allowed us to watch previous openings and preliminary tasks so we could get an idea of how we can film an opening with limited resources and time. 

We also have used Blogger to help develop and construct our thriller. Blogger has allowed for communication between media students and has helped to showcase my coursework with ease as Blogger is not difficult to use. Blogger has allowed me to collaborate on posts with other students. For example, Blogger allows embedding and there prezis can be embedded. Prezis can be made public and allow for more than one person to contribute. 

Blogger is ideal for coursework as it prevents any loose pieces of paper from going missing and it is neat, making coursework look presentable and keeping coursework in one spot. By using Blogger it shows our competency with media products.

An example of an embedded post

Blogger has also allowed for essays and coursework to be more specific in detail as it allows embedding of different media forms. For example, Blogger allows for Prezis, pictures, Scribd, Souncloud and more to be embedded into a post. By embedding different forms of media I can support my points or refer to the embedded piece to create a stronger argument. By embedding a Prezi I can change the prezi and its contents without altering the actual blog post itself. If I wanted to edit a prezi I would edit it on the prezi website and any changes would be shown on the post without having to alter the actual post on Blogger. 

In order to create a successful opening we had to use sound and were therefore introduced to copyright free music. The website which we mainly used is called FreeSound and allowed us to find suitable sound effects and background pieces to use in our opening without using copyrighted music. Some diegetic sounds such as the gun shot we could not record ourselves and therefore needed to find the sound. FreeSound allowed us to do find the sound and edit it into our film. If we could not access these sounds then we would not have the sufficient sounds and the ending of our film would not make sense as the gunshot is important for our plot. We also used FreeSound to find a tension-building background sound to create excitement and without the background sound our film would lack any real excitement. 

Production

Due to the advances in technology we were able to film using a Canon HD camera provided by the school. The small cameras provided HD footage which contributed to the professionalism of our film. The size of the cameras allowed for easy movement and filming during production therefore making filming an easier process especially as we had to re-shoot 3 times. 

The cameras were very easy to use as they use a very simple "point-and-shoot" premise allowing for an easy filming process. The SD card can be put in and taken out quickly allowing for a smooth and easy filming process. In addition to this, the camera allowed us to view our shots as we filmed allowing us to determine whether the shot we just filmed was good enough. 

We also used a SD card with 6GB of space. The SD card was extremely helpful as all our footage was saved to it and it was stored on the memory stick in a format where it was ordered by date. This was instrumental in allowing us to complete the thriller within the time schedule. The SD card is also small and easy to use as all we had to do was put it in the SD card port and then film. There was no additional action required once the SD card was put in. 

Post-production

Moviola

Once all our footage was filmed we had to edit our film. We used an editing software called adobe premier. The software had everything we needed as it allowed us to trim the shots, edit the saturation, add music, overlay and more. The software was difficult to use initially however after the first few days editing we became more used to it and it was easy to use. Adobe premier is a non-linear piece of software and allowed us to edit any scene from our film in any order therefore allowing us to fix any problems easier. The software also allowed us to be more creative in our editing by allowing us to overlay sound from different shots onto other shots.  Over the course of editing we have gone from a beginner to adept. 

Also, digital editing has replaced analogue editing, making it easier to edit. Analogue editing was introduced first and was a linear way of editing a film. The raw footage would be cut and pasted into an order and then went through a machine called a Moviola. The evolution from analogue to digital editing has allowed the film industry to create more creative films.

We also used DaFont.com to find appropriate fonts to conform to our genre. This website allowed us to search through thousands of different and unique fonts to find the most suitable. We found fonts which suited our genre well and without this website our film would lack any professionalism or any signs it is a film noir genre.

The new technology is allowing for more amateur film makers to try and produce independent films. Blogspot for example allows for more individuals interested in media to collaborate easily on productions. New technology is empowering film makers as cameras are not as expensive as they used to be and there is much more editing software available globally for anyone to buy so filming and producing is available to everyone.