How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? What particular camerawork techniques & editing tools were used and to what effect? You need to discuss specific tools and techniques that your knowledge of the cameras & Pinnacle Studio HD V.15 enabled you to use.
In my production of ‘Higher’ – we used several different forms of software. Our main form of editing software was ‘Pinnacle Studio HD15, we used this software to edit the production and add in post production techniques such as transitions, motion titles and sound effects. We also used it to edit the speed of shots, as this added to the realism of the trailer production and allowed us to match it to the time frame we were working to. Some shots were also slowed down for effect and so that the audience had time to realise what was actually going on on-screen, this was also important as we didn't want to cause any confusion for the viewer. The speed of the editing made our production follow the conventions of the thriller genre, as it gives a sense of fast-paced action and build up of suspense. Another form of editing we used in the software was the ‘Night’ setting under contrast. This helped us alter the colour levels to recreate a chiaroscuro effect and make the lighting more realistic.
Another function of ‘Pinnacle’ was the ability to cut sounds shorter and adjust the speed of these sounds, however most of our soundtrack was edited and altered in Logic Pro which is more advanced and has a wider range of effects such a reverb which helps add to the texture and fill the soundscape of the production, making it more cinematic. We also used ‘Pinnacle’ to record our director’s commentary over our production. When using Pinnacle Studio we were faced with a few problem to do with the software itself. For example, the software would randomly freeze and shut down, this was mostly apparent when we tried to edit titles which suggests that the programme had a bug to do with this function. By repeating the method and hoping it would not freeze, we got around this which was the only way. Another problem was that when we exported some clips there would be a blank green screen in the final outcome. This suggested a problem with the exporter and we realised that this problem was down to the title editor yet again. To get around this problem we remade the opening titles in Photoshop by adding text over an empty black screen and simply exported them as a JPEG picture. We then imported this picture into Pinnacle in replacement of the titles and simply added it into the timeline and altered the timing levels to make it seem realistic and avoid the fact that it had been made in an external programme.
Another function of ‘Pinnacle’ was the ability to cut sounds shorter and adjust the speed of these sounds, however most of our soundtrack was edited and altered in Logic Pro which is more advanced and has a wider range of effects such a reverb which helps add to the texture and fill the soundscape of the production, making it more cinematic. We also used ‘Pinnacle’ to record our director’s commentary over our production. When using Pinnacle Studio we were faced with a few problem to do with the software itself. For example, the software would randomly freeze and shut down, this was mostly apparent when we tried to edit titles which suggests that the programme had a bug to do with this function. By repeating the method and hoping it would not freeze, we got around this which was the only way. Another problem was that when we exported some clips there would be a blank green screen in the final outcome. This suggested a problem with the exporter and we realised that this problem was down to the title editor yet again. To get around this problem we remade the opening titles in Photoshop by adding text over an empty black screen and simply exported them as a JPEG picture. We then imported this picture into Pinnacle in replacement of the titles and simply added it into the timeline and altered the timing levels to make it seem realistic and avoid the fact that it had been made in an external programme.
We also used ‘Audacity’ for a short while to edit sound as it had a wide range of effects, it was also on the school computer so we had the chance to use it whenrever we wanted to. However, we didn't use any sound we edited in Audacity as we decided it was easier to bring a laptop with Logic Pro installed into school as we only needed a memory pen to transfer them, we could also work on them at home which is important because if you are working to a time limit with sound it sometimes interrupts your creativity and the final outcome won't be as good as it could be.
The software we used for editing still frames and images was ‘Adobe Photoshop’ – this was used for the titles; including the film production logos and our title. The ability to add and move images and text in layers, apply colour filters and alter fonts gave us the appearance of a ‘real’ film production, as we could look at examples of films in our genre, and follow the colour and style conventions. One useful function of the software was the magnetic lasso tool – which allowed the selection and movement of a picture of Callum we had captured as a still from our to our film to place it into our poster. We used this with the font we chose from ‘dafont.com’ – this creates more flexibility in our titles and poster and makes them look more professional. ‘Adobe Photoshop 7.0’ did challenge our group, as none of us were experienced in the software, and it was difficult to create the looks we were planning though we succeeded through practice and also used the motion title editor in Pinnacle to add animation to the titles we made.
The equipment we used was our DCR-HC35 Sony Handycam camera, cassette tape and tripod. These allowed us to capture our footage and also keep the camera still and straight for better quality footage. Unfortunately, the DCR-HC35 camera wasn’t able to capture high quality footage, as it made many shots appear grainy and often the colours weren’t shown clearly. If a better quality camera was used, we would have been able to record with more clarity and efficiency. In our AS production we used a canon 550D camera which was very high quality so we downgraded in terms of quality. However, the ease of using a camera from school was that it was there on demand. We could also plug it into a school computer and work on our production in any free time we had. Last year in our AS production I used my laptop to edit the production which was just extra hassle and it meant that editing time was limited or shortened slightly.
The software we used for editing still frames and images was ‘Adobe Photoshop’ – this was used for the titles; including the film production logos and our title. The ability to add and move images and text in layers, apply colour filters and alter fonts gave us the appearance of a ‘real’ film production, as we could look at examples of films in our genre, and follow the colour and style conventions. One useful function of the software was the magnetic lasso tool – which allowed the selection and movement of a picture of Callum we had captured as a still from our to our film to place it into our poster. We used this with the font we chose from ‘dafont.com’ – this creates more flexibility in our titles and poster and makes them look more professional. ‘Adobe Photoshop 7.0’ did challenge our group, as none of us were experienced in the software, and it was difficult to create the looks we were planning though we succeeded through practice and also used the motion title editor in Pinnacle to add animation to the titles we made.
The equipment we used was our DCR-HC35 Sony Handycam camera, cassette tape and tripod. These allowed us to capture our footage and also keep the camera still and straight for better quality footage. Unfortunately, the DCR-HC35 camera wasn’t able to capture high quality footage, as it made many shots appear grainy and often the colours weren’t shown clearly. If a better quality camera was used, we would have been able to record with more clarity and efficiency. In our AS production we used a canon 550D camera which was very high quality so we downgraded in terms of quality. However, the ease of using a camera from school was that it was there on demand. We could also plug it into a school computer and work on our production in any free time we had. Last year in our AS production I used my laptop to edit the production which was just extra hassle and it meant that editing time was limited or shortened slightly.
We also used a FlyCam which is a form of handheld camera mount that uses weights to balance the camera which is attached to a plate on a moveable axis. The FlyCam has a handle which is attached to a bearing allowing you to move the camera very smoothly by simply holding it, as if it was attached to a steadicam or another smooth moving object. This was also a new piece of technology to us all. It was very effective when it was set up correctly but this took a lot of time and effort which created problems for us. There is one particular shot in the garage scene where we were working to the natural light and we had to be quick. We wanted to use the FlyCam but after 20 minutes of trying to make it balance we weren't very successful and only had time to use it for a couple of minutes. We also though it was more effective to use the camera handheld as it looked more realistic and added to the 'paranormal activity' style we wanted to go for in that few seconds. The camera also used a cassette as a form of memory to record to. We did encounter problems as it's very easy to over-write footage already recorded by trying to be efficient, luckily we realised when we were very little into it and it wasn't so much a problem when we were aware that this kind of thing could happen - this wouldn't be possible with more advanced technology such as discs or SD cards which we used in our AS year. It also meant that when we wanted to import raw footage onto a computer we had to use a camera stand and firewire cable to import it as opposed to simply removing an SD card out of the camera and plugging it into the computers SD card slot. Another problem we encountered was that we found it hard to show the whole of the bedroom in the first few scenes with Callum as the lens struggled to show a whole picture, but we had the opportunity to overcome this asI had a Fish Eye lens. The lens simply screwed onto the end of the camera and it allowed us to capture a wide angle, convex view of the room.
This is the fisheye and the difference it can make.
In terms of other post production software being difficult to use and having cons, there was a slight problem in when making our soundtrack. As Logic is specific to Apple computers, we could not use the software at school. This mean we had to use memory pens to transfer work between computers which took about 10-15 minutes a time as the file had to be mixed and bounced down out of logic before it could be transferred across. This was the only problem which came with the soundtrack though and it was quite good to have the 10-15 minute time period before testing it again as it wasn't too repetitive and you didn't get bored of hearing it.
In terms of research and planning, web 2.0 was also very beneficial to us as it allowed us to reach a large audience and receive honest feedback through the click of a 'share' button. For example, here is a screenshot of our soundtrack on SoundCloud which is an audio hosting website.
As you can see from this picture, it shows the waveform of the track along with a timeline below for comments. We utilised this feature by asking other people who produced music to comment on the piece and provide us with feedback. As it is online we could solicit opinions from the thousands of users on the website. If we didn't have the web in for this, we would be limited in terms of the people we could ask and it would most likely be people we know who might not give us honest feedback. Feedback from the soundtrack is included in Evaluation Question 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment