How did you use media technologies in the construction and research , planning and evaluation stages?

Visual capabilities

To record our film, we used one standard 5.0 mega pixel digital camcorder. Due to our low budget, this was all that was available. This meant recording the script from different angles with one camera. To prevent obvious stop-starting in our film, we recorded the script fully from numerous angles, so that it looked more professional and natural when edited into one film. When recording we also used a standard tri-pod, this enabled to us to create steady shots and smooth camera movements such as pans and tilts. A key factor in using this camera, was using the ‘zoom’ leaver to full advantage, this created intriguing shots from experimental angles, however we did not use the zoom leaver at all to pan or track in and out.

Recording the film

Recording the film

Audio capabilities

The low budget filming meant that only the in built microphone to the digital camcorder was available. This limited our audio capability to a certain extent. It meant that certain settings would be unobtainable and that the camera would have to remain a certain distance away from the dialogue in order to pick up any sound. This however, limited our creative control and for that reason we decided to only include particular dialogue (which we enhanced) and to create all the rest of our audio artificially to a higher quality using logic pro 9.0 (which will be demonstrated further on in the slideshow)

Editing the film

We uploaded all of our filming clips from the camcorder, onto the computer. From here we could import them to an editing package, where we begin to construct the film. The editing package we used was ‘Adobe premier elements 9’. This was my first time using this editing package and a quick online tutorial prepared me to begin editing our film.

Creating and editing the film

By clicking ‘get media’ it takes me to a list of options of where I can see ‘files

and folders’ which leads me to the pop up on the right hand side

Here I can see all the video clips which I uploaded from the digital camcorder, these files are in the exact format and condition in which they were filmed from the camcorder (raw versions).

Once my raw video clip is selected it appears here in my video selection box

and has now been imported into the adobe editing package.

From dragging the clip from my selection box into my scene line the clip is now part of my timeline making it an

actual scene within my film.

Although the clip has been selected into my scene line, it is still a ‘raw version’ and is therefore in the exact format as it was filmed, meaning that entire clip may not be need, rather just a particular section of

the clip. The circle on the left hand side brings attention to a tab. This tab can be dragged to select an exact time within the scene. Once the exact time in which I want to begin or end my scene is found, i can

select the ‘cut’ logo as circled on the right hand side this will divide my ‘raw version’ clip into the exact part of the clip I wish to be in my scene, and once divided the ‘waste’ parts of my clip, that I don't want in my scene can be deleted (as demonstrated below) leaving me with a ‘modified version’ to be included in

my film.

DELETEKEEP

By continuously repeating the steps shown in the previous three slides i gathered a scene line of all the ‘moderated versions’ which I chose to use. I could now arrange them into a

particular order in which to display my narrative.

Stop motion

In order to create the effect of beer glasses building up in front of the character I used stop motion. I did this by placing the glasses in front of him one by one with a full beer on

the end and in-between placing the beers down, taking a picture of them with a digital camera in exactly the same position i took the previous picture. I then placed the four images in the scene line one after the other and selected the amount of time i wanted

each image to remain on the screen for before the next appeared, creating the effect of the glasses building up.

Ident

Creating the ident

By clicking on the ‘text’ icon as shown above it leads to the screen below. This enabled me to add text over the top of my footage. On the right hand side the array of fonts are visible, where i

could select the most appropriate to my genre of film.

Creating credits

By clicking edit then titles and then choosing art-in-

motion credits , this provided me with a

convention running credit. However this didn't fit either

the genre of my film, the ambiance or the rhythm of

the music. So I repeated the previous slide on top of a

on-running black screen in order for the credits to fit in with the genre of my film.

Effects and transitions

By clicking on edit, you are lead to a choice of edits

and transitions, here is an example of if I was to

select transition, then I would be provided with a list of different transitions

which I can select to add to my scene line.

Once a transition or effect is selected I can drag it across between the two scene I wish to transact between or to the scene I wish to add an effect to, as demonstrated by the

arrow.

Creating soundI have previously mentioned our audio capabilities. Now i will demonstrate how we

created artificial sound of a higher quality to fun in unison with our visual footage we created on Adobe premier elements. To create the artificial sound we used ‘Logic pro

9’ which is a high quality recording and audio software. We began by laying out a number of recording tracks in order to create different sounds flowing together at the

same time, known as layering.

Genre browser

Specific effects

Specific search bar, as you can see here I searched for a

specific ‘traffic’ noise effect

I then searched through a loop browser in order find the sound effects which

would work in unison with our visual. By searching through, it is possible to find

all different tones of each effect and what would match our film correctly.

Once I had selected the sound effects I wished to use, I laid them out in a timeline similar to how I made the visual film previously

mentioned. This then created one flowing audio as the individual tracks all played collectively, creating a realistic audio for the running

visual.

Individual tracks

timeline

The key technique to making the visual work realistically was perfecting the timing of the sound effects along with the visual film. This meant chopping

individual tracks and running them evenly alongside the visual equivalent. As demonstrated below, the footstep sound effect circled about has been

chopped into individual footsteps and ordered to play in exact timing with the actual visual footsteps in the film.

chopped footstep effectsOriginal footstep effects

We also used a technique called filtering in order to make the sound more realistic and believable. One example of this is the bathroom scene when the audio changes to an

‘echo’ like bathroom sound on entry, this enhances the verisimilitude. Below demonstrates how i opened the filter programme and was able to alter levels of bass

and treble in order to create a muffled sound.

Levels of bass and treble