EVALUATION 6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The process of making this product has introduced me to some new technologies, while improving my knowledge on programs or technologies that I had previously used. I feel that I have learnt a great deal throughout this project.

Technology/hardware/software used during constructing our sequence:

Production: camera, microphone, headphones, lighting

Post Production: Adobe Premiere Pro (non-linear editing), Live Type (titles), Adobe After Effects (graphics)

Editing using Adobe Premiere Pro

What have I learnt and what would I do differently?

Raef and I making our titles

When we captured our footage from our test shoot, we noticed that in our attempt to create a dark, dimly lit room, we had not supplied the camera with enough light, making our footage grainy. This mistake made sure that when it came to our actual shoot, we were aware of this issue and were careful not to repeat the same mistake. I also learnt a great deal about lighting from Raef, a member of my group. Having experience with lighting himself, he brought his set of lights to the shoot and explained to the rest of the group how to use them and different techniques we could use. I learnt about coloured filters and how to create a lighting set up. This knowledge has benefitted the group greatly throughout the project.

After Effects was a program that the group was mostly unfamiliar with. With help from our Media Technician, we created a set of believable graphics. These were then tracked onto the blank computer screens in our footage.

Graphics on After Effects

Focus Pull

Along with generally sharpening up my camera skills, I have learnt how to do a manual focus pull – an effect we used twice in our opening sequence; once on the shot of the mobile phone and once in the final shot with the knock on the door. This allowed us to display slightly more variation in camera technique.
I also extended my knowledge of tools on Adobe Premiere. With help from our Media technician, I learnt how to add a bandpass to the audio track we were using to give the effect that the protagonist was taking out his earphones. This effect used a cross-fade to give the track a tinny sound, turning the music from non-diegetic sound to diegetic sound.

Three Way Colour Corrector

I was also taught how to grade our footage; something I had never done before. I learnt how to use the Three Way Colour Corrector and ProcAmp, which were used to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, skin tone and shadow colour. This was important as it made sure that each shot looked as similar to the others as possible.