Programs that we used for the R &P stage:
iMac
We used the iMac in the R& P stage but we also used it in every other stage as well but used it for the same things for each.
We used the iMac primarily to put our footage on and edit it, but we also used it so that we could gain access to the internet so that we could blog everything that we did on Blogger. We also used various other programs such as Photoshop and QuarkXPress.
Using a mac was a lot easier than using a windows computer because it is more specialised for media and musical products.
Blogger
We used Blogger to write down what we had learnt and achieved so far in the researching of films and the making of our own media product. I used Blogger to record my journey of recording all of the things I had learnt right from the start of the year, it has a unique way of posting things in an order which is easy to follow and is really easy to use.
I started the year by researching into what short films are and also added some examples to my blog posts and now I have been able to post in detail the process that me and my group had to go through to make our finished ancillary tasks and final film short.
A big drawback to using this was that if the internet went down then we could do no work what so ever, so if we had a bit of work to do but then we couldn't get on to do it then we had another bit but the internet was still down then we would have twice as much work to do.
Scribd
We used Scribd to put documents that we had made as a group together so that all we had to do was embed them to the necessary blogs.
We also used Scribd to get word documents that we needed on our blogs easier, it was easier to export the file as a PDF than to try and copy and paste it straight onto our blogs and also it looked more professional all as one document.
The only drawback that we found with this product was that sometimes it would take a few times of embedding the necessary document for it to show up on our blogs when you go into view mode.
YouTube
We used YouTube in our A2 coursework as a tool to learn and to move forward and publish our finished film product.
Like I said we used this as a learning tool, we looked at tutorials for things like how to focus the camera and what ISO and frame rate to set the camera to for optimum shot focus and lighting.
I also said that we used it to put our film on as well and we did but also we posted things like the rough cut as well so that differences between that and the final product could be seen easily.
One of the problems that we faced when searching for videos on YouTube we found that a lot of videos came up that had nothing to do with what we wanted, but this is not really a problem that can be fixed because anyone can put anything on there so nothing can be done if there are things that we don't want on there.
Wikipedia
We used what is probably the most used information website on the internet, Wikipedia. We used this because it is the most used website for information so that means that it should be reliable so we used it.
We used this to research programs that we would be using for the editing process after the footage of our film short had been filmed. We researched programs like Final Cut X and QuarkXPress.
The only drawback that we found with this website was that it is a website were anyone can put stuff on there so things that it says may not always be true so may have to be checked on another information source.
CeltX
Me and my group used CeltX, this is a program that allows you to easily make professional scripts so we used it to make ours one for our film short. If any changes need to be made after it has been finished then it can be easily changed.
Email
We also had the schools email to help us keep in contact with each other. You can also attach documents to the emails so that we could share files easily. It was very useful for if we didn't have other means of communicating.
There was however a drawback to this method of communicating and that was that if one the people in the group didn't use their email much then they may not get messages and therefore may not arrive on filming days.
Equipment that we used for the filming process:
DSLR Cannon 600D:
This year we changed from the Sony HD camera that we used last year and moved on to the Digital DSLR 600D. We struggled at first to get to grips with how all of the features worked but we just research on the internet a bit and asked our teacher for specific settings on the camera. Now that we know how to use them they are a lot better than the camera's from last year, the focusing is easier and faster and focus pulls are better. You can change the ISO settings and frame rate which makes shooting a lot easier, because we don't have to light a scene we can just change some of the settings slightly and achieve the same thing quicker and easier
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Like I said before the only real drawback that we had was that it took longer to get to grips with than the other camera but when we had it was a lot better and the picture quality was a lot more crisp.
Location Recording Kit:
We used the same recording kit that we used last year and again it has not failed us in delivering amazing sounds and dialogue. It picked up all of the sound that we wanted and because we had already used it before we just picked it up and started using it straight away.
The only draw back was that it was slightly too sensitive and could pick up someone cough or speak even in the other room, but this was only a minor thing.
Tracking dolly and Tripod
We used the Same tripod as last year because it did the job it was supposed to so all we had to do was move the 'foot' off of the other camera and put it on the new camera and it was ready to use.
We again used the same track and dolly as last year so this made setting it up a lot easier. We also already new what shots would work well with this track and dolly so we could pretty much just go straight into using it.
Programs that we used in the post production stage:
Final Cut X
Last year we used Final Cut and this time we used the most up to date program, it putts both Final Cut and Soundtrack Pro together, so you can edit sound as well as the images so this takes out the process of having to export from one to the other cause you can just do it all together in one program.
The same as with the new camera, we had some difficulty at the start with understanding how to use the program but after consulting the teacher and looking at some tutorials on the internet we found out how to use the program.
Free SFX
This was another website that we used last year, it is an amazing website with a vast range of sounds that can easily be downloaded and put onto near enough anything as a background sound to either replace or fill in where another sound should be.
The fact that we used it last year help us out because we already knew how to navigate the website so this speeded up the post production stage.
Programs we used to make the Magazine review
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress
We used this program to make firstly a rough magazine review so that when we came to do our main one then we would know how to use the program. Although some of the things that we used in the main review wasnt present in the first magazine review we still learnt to do using the internet.
The only draw back was that this program was difficult to use so even when we knew how to use it, it still was a bit confusing on how we do certain things. But we made a final product and i think that we worked well as a group.
Programs we used to make the Film Poster
Photoshop
This was the main program that we used because it can manipulate and join pictures together and create the actual poster itself. I personally have already had some experience using this program so anything that the others got stuck on I could help most of the time but we also used the internet sometimes for more advanced things.
The only drawback to us using this was that I was the only one who had used it before so if there was anything that i didn't know then we had to spend time researching it. But we also had the teacher as well so we had a few sources of information for if we needed extra help.
White Backdrop
We used a white back-drop on the background of our pictures so as to make the editing precess easier. It allowed us to easily get rid of the background so that we could merge the seperate images together.
The olny draw back was that we needed to make sure that it was perfectly flat every time we used it so that there would be no shadows, so then we had to point enough key lights at it to get rid of as many shadows as possible.
Key Lights
We used these to light up the backdrop for the photos. They are amazingly bright and we only needed one each side of the backdrop to fill it with enough light so that we got the desired effect on the characters.
The only drawback was that they got hot very quickly so after nearly each shot we had to turn them off so that they didn't over heat and break the bulbs. Also if we put any filters in front of them then we had to be careful that we didn't melt them cause someone could then get injured.
Evaluation
Prezi
We used this last year and it is a really easy way to make good presentation that moves and has effects that can make it visually more appealing than a standard Power point presentation.
The only drawback is that you can't fit as much work onto it as a blog post but it is more appealing visually.
