Evaluation question 6

Q6) what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The equipment I have used for my filming procedure was:

Camera

Basically is one of the most important equipment for this filming procedure because without the camera there is nothing to record meaning no film would be produced.
It’s simple.

Before filming our opening scene we learnt how to use the camera and what prospects does this camera include and any technical devices that clarifies the aspects of filming.

The camera includes a LCD screen which as you record will appear on the screen and the button layouts allows you to rewind, record, play, pause and also stand by, these were the main buttons that was used for the filming concept by they had other devices such as AC where its on the camera mode where you can either record or do anything and also VCR mode where it will bring to the things you have recorded for the camera. The problem was that most of the time I usually forgotten to switch of the camera while not recording the film because it usually wastes a lot of battery for no use what so ever but still mange to keep up the process and understand how to use the camera this usually occurred in the begging of our scene where I had to explain my actor what actions to perform so therefore the camera was left out being on for the whole time meaning the battery was being wasted. I also had to be very clear of moving camera because the value of camera was very high and also the property of a school so therefore if I dropped the camera and brake it then ill be paying a fine and also my film will be a fail. I do not consider of dropping the camera.

Techniques learnt while using the camera

I have learnt many techniques of making shots with the camera I learnt how to do ta 180 degree panning shot which is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle. So in simple terms its defined where a shot is usually be taken as a pan around In circles so therefore The 180 degree rule enables the audience to visually connect with unseen movement happening around and behind the immediate subject and is important in the narration of battle scenes. I used this technique at the 1st and 2nd scene of my film where we pan around Emma’s bedroom to show what things and props to give a good clarification about what a bedroom looks like and indicate that we are roaming around a girls bedroom making it clear where the situation is going to set.

I also use the rule of thirds which is defined where is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design.The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. By using this technique will claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would. I used these shots in where Emma’s looking into the mirror and putting on the wig this actually helped us to create this tension and also made sure that that the camera did record anything else that wasn’t supposed to be in the frame. I also used this shot on the over the should of the teddy bear which you can see Emma dancing and this was a fabulous idea that we decided to do because it looked very creative and actually stand out more with the props we used.


Learnt the basis of Continuity editing which smoothes over the inherent discontinuity of shot changes to establish a decent view between shots. Even within continuity editing, though, the match cut is a contrast both with cross-cutting between actions in two different locations that are occurring simultaneously, and with parallel editing, which draws parallels or contrasts between two different time-space locations.

Another technique I have learnt was the match on action which is defined where A cut made on action or movement between two shots in which the action has been overlapped either by repetition of the action or by the use of more than one camera. So therefore for my editing I had to overlap many shots because of the length so therefore I included all the shots I took merged it on top of the other ones so it can shorten the time with fabulous such for example in scene one when panning down to house which cuts into the room and to the bed.

While recording the procedure I have to be fully aware of the weather which was only used for the purpose of scene 1 while panning down of a house because if the weather was very wet it will cause a hazard and damage the camera and tripod so therefore will be very hard to record but luckily the weather was fine and was good to record for this shot only.

My canon XHAI camera

This is the name of the camera I have used for my filming:

Battery (portable and charge pack)

Battery was also compulsory equipment with the camera so we can get the camera working and also the charger was needed just in case the battery was low and needed to charge.

Tripod (and Bag)

We used the tripod in many occasions to steady the camera and held it into position there were many facilities and devices we learnt about the tripod which was the spirit level where is defines of it checks if the tripod is setted on its centre position making it very accurate for the camera to record. The reason why spirit levels is important for the recording process is that it make sure that the camera is in its place while its not either of place and looks very wonky so therefore spirit level checks if the camera is accurate in place which you will know by looking at the bubble if its in the circle. Also I had to be very careful while putting the camera on the tripod so therefore it had a security lock of where you slide in the camera onto the tripod and lock it by turning a small handle just to ensure it doesn’t fall of because if this happened then I would be a big lost for our filming structure and also a lost in our wages.

Tape

Tape was of course an important equipment I needed which its something that we had to record on unless without it then no data will be save d and also wont be able to record the opening scene but had to rewind the tape to the beginning to make sure no recording is lost.

Clapperboard

Clapperboard helped us to indentify the scenes that took place so while for editing we know what bits and bobs to keep and what scene was it.

Chalk

The chalk was used to write the number of the scenes on the clapperboard so while recording it the camera will show the clapperboard with the scene that took place which will help while coming to the editing process.

Lens cap

The lens cap is used to protect the lens of the camera so therefore without the lens there would be likely risk of the lens being damaged and also corrupting the camera s recording,which will lead of damaging the camera of having to replace another lens which will finally of paying the fines of that cause. So to be in a safe side make sure you be very careful of using the camera equipment and also make sure that none of the devices of the camera is damaged.To set up my equipment i had to follow certain steps to make sure everything was safe and secure:
I firstly had to unzip the Tripod case and take it out carefully. To release the legs of the tripod, i had to untwist the grips at the bottom of each leg and extend to the highest length, then tighten the grips securely to prevent it from falling or slipping. Once the bottom half is secure, i then had to repeat the same process with the top half of the tripod, extending the leg length to fit my height, so once the camera is on it would be at my perfect eye line and I also had to change the level of the tripod in each scene because we had some great ideas of how to produce creative shots in our opening scene.

Which will; lead to take out the camera from the bag and unclip the strap that is holding down the camera. Holding the camera firmly by the handle i removed the lens cap and tested it to make sure it was perfectly working (we had time before we started our filming so therefore if there was any problem such as the tripod and camera we had time to change it). However, in the event that the shoehorn was loose, i could easily just tighten it with a 10 or 2 pence piece. When the camera was slid onto the tripod, I locked it in from the side and tested that it was firmly safe by shaking it softly from the handle. I also had to insert the tape and rewind al the way to the beginning so it doesn’t get cut out while we were filming and also had to switch off the camera after its not being used but to switch on the camera I also had to put in the battery which the camera included a button which I pressed and inserted the battery inside the camera and then I switched it on and to be on the safe side I checked if the battery was high just in case we needed to charge.This leads to putting the camera on the tripod which I obviously had to secure the locks to make sure it doesn’t fall of and before recording I then checked the spirit level, depending on the make of the tripod the spirit level handle differs, and also loose up the handle so for the panning shots for example scene 1 it will be nice and smooth to do an 180 degree turn. I then had to proceed with his sound checks and make sure that the LDR lead was in the correct socket and that the camera was on the correct setting so the sound was being picked up from the Boom and not the microphone built into the camera. I did this by going in to Menu>setup>sound and turned LDR switch ON.

When everything was set up I manage to organise these premises to start recording all the scenes but with the tripod I had to change the level according to the camera shots I planned for my story board.



Editing process

Some of the reaction shot that I used for editing was very conclusive and easy to merge for example I got all the shots of Emma roaming around the bedroom and made her to react and to pretend that her sister is coming and also made her react to smile when her sister opens the door. The editing on adobe Photoshop helps me to merge the two shots from Emma sister and Emma to make one actual scene where we see Emma sister walking up and seeing the reaction of Emma’s face so therefore we see both of Emma’s action side and her sister side. For the editing process they had many tools that was very desirable and also simplistic to use for example cutting where I allow you to cut the scenes you want so therefore I used this tool to cut each scene that took place and also cut some of the bits that was needed. The programme was very hard to use at first but manage to get help from the teacher of how to use the system and also manage to do all the processing myself so therefore I learnt how to increase the time and depth of the credits I included and change the fonts and also make an effect of the credits fading away in a certain time of the opening scene and also managed to match the music with the scene so it will keep up the pace of the actions that re being performed. I also learnt of how to merge the multimedia devices into the editing which is by dragging with the mouse, very simple. The sound of the recording had to be changed because it included the sound of a beeping noise so therefore I managed to delete the audio and instead wasn’t used in our film since we included background music to cover it. I also increase the pace and cut of some of the shots where Emma was putting on her ballet shoes so it gives a fast tension and also keep up with the music that is being played. I had to also change the opacity of the shots that I needed to shorten down so therefore I changed the opacity level to high so it will keep the credits and the opening shots very simplistic so it doesn’t waste any callable time of our opening scene. Overall by using adobe premiere was one the most supportive programmes that was used for our editing and managed to understand the concept of how to edit films and make it very accurate for out target audience it helps how to organise the shots we made for example using the cutting to tool to cut a section of each shots we would desire to use and also know how to produce an effective opening scene with the creative tools that premier provided. I also had to be very careful of the saving procedure of my film because every time I made any changes I had to quickly save just in case the computer the programme has been cancelled which could occur in some point of time.



Problems

There were problems we come across while filming which was:

Location of the bedroom-Since our location was setted in a media room we had a lot of problem trying to get the shots that didn’t include the things that was needed such as the fire extinguisher,computers,stage lights and other things, so therefore we had to try and get the shots that didn’t include any of these objects.

Staircases-we used the staircase of the media block to try and make it look like an actual staircase of a house but to do this we had to try an get the shot of the handle and half of the space of the case so it doesn’t look really fake and not a proper stair case of house so therefore it was a problem because we had to try and move the camera in many positions where it will be suitable to record this shot.

The weather/outside premises-The weather was also a problem with only one shot because this shot was taking outside of the house and therefore we had to be very sure that the weather was fine and not wet because it would of damaged the camera and tripod which leads to us paying the fines.

In conclusion I have learnt many strategy and techniques of filming and editing and by these concepts it will help to record any idea I have in mind and while recording I have to be very careful and make sure I have to list the problems that may occur and try to solve it before filming the opening scene. With the editing there wasn’t any problem but in the future I will try and include other shots that may look fabulous into our film and add different types of music that would be very suitable for our opening scene.