Evaluation - What Have I Learnt

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

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My knowledge of the technologies involved in the process of constructing our film has greatly improved during the period in which we filmed and edited our short film.

Before we filmed this film, I had very little knowledge of how to even use the cameras that we were given to film. Now however, I have a much greater understanding of how to effectively use the camera to produce the ideal shot for the film, how to use equipment for the camera such as tripods and even how to upload the finished footage to a computer for editing.

To edit our footage we used the programmes included in the ‘Adobe CS4’ package. Prior to editing this film I had very little knowledge of how to effectively use any of these programmes. During the creation of this film I have had to use ‘After Effects’, ‘Photoshop’ and ‘Premier Pro’. This experience with these programmes has dramatically improved my knowledge of them and my ability to use them. 

Using these programmes made me realise how different effects, shot types and shot durations could affect the feeling a film produces. When we created my preliminary video, we used a very small range of shot types and they were all very long in duration. This gave it a very boring and dragged out feeling. Also, we didn’t use any effects, we just put the clips into a chronological order and finished. This made the film feel very boring and awkward to watch.

Now that I have had more experience with the creation of my film opening I fully realise how even the smallest aspect of a film can change the way in which it is perceived by the audience. In our finished product, to give it a ‘horrific’ feel to it, we have tinted it to appear much darker, shortened each clip dramatically to add a ‘jumpy’ feel to the film and even the static transition between the clips and the way in which we have filmed it in first person adds a much more realistic effect.

As well as the effects that mise en scene, camera shot choices and editing techniques have on a film, I have also learnt how important sound can be to achieving the desired affect. In my preliminary piece, we didn’t change the sound at all which made the film even less interesting to watch. In our finished piece however, through experimentation with different music and sound effects, we have managed to find the perfect sounds to go in the background of the dialogue to add a more tense feeling to the film whilst still keeping the film realistic sounding.

In conclusion, since my preliminary clip film was created, I have a much greater knowledge of what technologies are available to me and how to use them to achieve the designated effect for my film. I have also learnt what techniques, in terms of shot types, sound, mise en scene and editing methods are best to use in different situations to create different feels and meanings to a film. I now know how to make an audience perceive my film in a way which leaves them more involved and entertained.