We used the HD camera to shoot the footage for the film and the tripod allowed us to get a steady shot. This camera was better than using a phone as it was higher definition, had a higher memory capacity and didn't have to be handheld. We were able to take the camera and tripod outside of the school which made shooting the film easier for us even though the leisure centre was only on the other side of the car park. We had to cut out a scene where we had a handheld tracking shot because it was very shaky and this has taught me the importance of holding the camera very steady if I ever have to film another handheld camera shot. I have used one of the cameras before to do my GCSE coursework, so I already knew how to use it and this made the day we filmed the footage a lot easier because I didn't have to learn how the equipment worked.
Voice recorder
The voice recorder allowed us to make a voiceover for the film opening, diegetic lines we missed out while filming (for example, the teacher shouting "You're late, again!") and the commentary for Evaluation Task 3. We used this instead of just saying the lines while shooting the film because it made our voices clearer and we could say something more than once if we made a mistake. This made our overall film seem more professional because we could change the volume of the voice easily so that it fit well with the music and we didn't have any background noise obscuring what was being said. We learnt from previous productions that the audio could easily be ruined by other students as we were filming our footage in a busy sixth form, so this taught us the importance of adding in audio later. I also learnt how to transfer the sound files onto the computer, which i am sure will help me in future productions.
Blogger
I used Blogger to make my blog because it allowed me to put all of my research, videos, pictures and evaluations together where I can easily edit my posts. Although I have used other blogging sites before, I hadn't used Blogger so I had to learn how to use the site and it became easier to use after I had been uploading posts for a while. I was able to edit posts at home too, which was a lot easier for me because only a few computers at school supported the website and I had a lot more time to do work outside of school. The other members of my group were also able to view my posts and this helped a lot because they were unable to find the film opening on YouTube and I had put a link to it on my blog.
I used my Gmail to send pictures and documents from home so that I could put them onto my blog at school. I also used my school Microsoft Outlook account to send the PowerPoint and the script to the other members of the group because it is the only email site that the school computers will support. Using email to send files was easier than sending them via Facebook because I could easily save them and send more than just images. My email also notified me of when I got a comment on one of my blog posts which was very helpful because the Blogger website didn't tell me when new comments were posted and they included improvements that I needed to make.
We used Final Cut Pro to edit the film introduction and it allowed us to add more scenes, delete scenes, edit the footage, add effects and add a voiceover. I had to learn how to use the software because I had never used it before and I now know how to add effects and crop footage out of scenes, which I am sure will help me in future projects.
We used Facebook to talk amongst the group outside of school. This helped our organization and allowed us to communicate with the other group members if they were off school that day - teaching us the importance of making sure that everybody knew what was happening so that we could get tasks done quickly and easily. I used YouTube to upload the video and this also allowed me to take screenshots easier because the videos weren't playing very well on the school computers. As I've never put content onto YouTube before, this taught me how to upload a video and put a link to it onto my blog.
Photoshop
Photoshop allowed me to put screenshots together and add effects easily. I already had some knowledge about how to use Photoshop and this allowed me to use them skills and develop new ones like quickly resizing images and cropping the pictures. There was other people in the class who didn't know as much about how to edit images so I helped them out and this improved my own skills because I had to describe the processes step by step and apply them to different situations.
Mobile phones
My group used our mobile phones to take pictures of props, scenery and equipment used because our phones were more accessible than the cameras the school provide and easier to use because we are more familiar with our phones. I uploaded my some pictures using USB cord connected to the school computers and the others were put on my blog at home because my phone is connected to my laptop so the pictures were saved on there automatically.
I used Google when I was researching other teen angst films and it also allowed me to easily get images from the films. Google was my chosen search engine because my Blogger account is connected to my Gmail and YouTube accounts, so my research was a lot easier when everything is connected and it was very easy to get links to my videos and send documents that will go on my blog. I also used Google to find websites like 'freeplaymusic.com', where I could download non-copyrighted music to use in my film opening.
We used Microsoft PowerPoint to make our presentation for our initial pitch and I also used it to crop my screenshots for the shot list and save them as smaller images. I could of used Photoshop to crop the pictures but I used PowerPoint because I have a lot of experience with it and it made the process a lot quicker. We also used Microsoft Word to write the script and easily print off copies for everybody. This allowed me to develop and use my knowledge of the programme so I could quickly produce documents and share them amongst the group.
