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

Prior to starting the Media AS course I had no knowledge of how to write a blog or what to use one for. The course required us to use blogs to document, organise and publicly showcase work, so we were instructed on how to use the blogs. I have learned that blogging is a very efficient way of organising work as it can be labelled individually and searched up, and there is far less paperwork to take care of by storing the finished product on the internet. I have learned that organising the planning material for my film is very easy when online,e specially with the addition of images, presentations and embedded videos.

Learning of the versatility of a digital camera has been very valuable. Transferring footage to the computer is quick and easy, and modern cameras are small enough to carry with you into various different environments. Due to time practicing, my knowledge of camera angles has been widened, especially in the connotations of shots such as canted angles and panning, as has the knowledge of shot types (I can now select the distance or angle of shots to imply power, weakness or someone being observed with more confidence. Jason's close-up in the mirror shows is menace and his height compared to Helen when she coems home shows his power over her). If I were to want to create a smooth and steady shot of movement, I now know that the use of a tripod and dolly would suit such a purpose.The shots we produced were much smoother when supported properly.

We had to keep to a tight schedule for most of shooting, as we soon realised shooting in the dark would be far too difficult and produce lacklustre results, although filming in winter did create an interesting lack of colour in some of the filming locations. Keeping in contact with each other was also vital, as our initial lack of organisation left us short of attendees on some shoots (having wandered about aimlessly for a good 30 minutes after getting temporarily lost on the way home, I learned my lesson).

We captured the film in Adobe Premier Elements, which, although limited, was an eye-opening program, giving access to a whole new skill set for editing. Once I began to edit, I quickly grasped the idea of cross fades and cutting the footage together. The sink/walking sequence would never have been possible without cross dissolving, and enhanced the continuity by a great deal. The process on a whole was fun and enlightening, but at times tedious. I know understand that ordering the film into a chronological sequence is vital for the audience to catch onto the movement of the plot. The library of effects was useful for creating the desired shots, such as brightening the attack sequence to show up on camera, which before was too dark and blurry.

I learned to use internet outlets to find appropriate music for the sequence, namely the website http://audio.e2bn.net/. I quickly learned how to tessellate the video and audio on the editing software and play multiple sounds as well as execute additive dissolves in the film. Finally a convenient user interface was used to add titles, which I carefully placed so as not to distract the viewer for too long or obscure any key objects within shot, such as the candle in the final moments. The titles list all of our contributions during filming and my own individual edit.