Q.6What have you learnt about

technologies from the

process of constructing this

project?

Since the preliminary task, where I was introduced to Adobe

Premiere Pro CS5.5, I have discovered more program’s and have

developed an array of skills. I have had the opportunity to use

equipment like the green screen and Canon 550 camera’s. I have

learned how to use a lot of tools within certain software which

has enabled me to help create a sequence far better than the

preliminary one. I am about to discuss the different software,

hardware and online media which I have developed skills for in

order to complete our main task.

For the preliminary task, I only had the skills applicable to the

basic usage of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5; an editing software.

Since then, I have discovered how to create a dynamic link using

Adobe After Effects CS5.5; an animation and effects software. I

have also started to use the effects, styles and transitions on

Adobe Premiere Pro, whereas I didn’t know about this before.

One of the skills I now have on Adobe After Effects is being able

to alter the sequences colour and background by animating,

stylizing, distorting and keying.

Software

Our film, Elijah, is a gothic-fantasy, therefore we needed a non-

realistic dream-like setting for the dream scene. This meant we

could use the green screen. We used the process of keying in

post-production to create the desired background. On Adobe

After Effects there is an add on called Keylight 1.2, which enabled

us to add the background to the footage. Keylight 1.2 not only let

me change the background, but allowed me to soften the edges of

the characters in the footage in order to keep continuity, as it

looks more realistic.

Software

I also used Adobe Photoshop CS5.5; an image

manipulation software. I used this to create the title

Elijah for the end of the sequence. I had never used

Photoshop before, but I taught myself the basics by

just using the program. I did it on Photoshop

because it saves as a high quality image and also, it

allows me to use fonts from online websites and

manipulate them to how I want it. However, in the

end, we decided not to use this image.

Software

I have also used the Celtx software which is a script writing

program. It allows me to create a script which is usable in the

film industry. It is important to have a legitimate type of script

as every little aspect is important. For example the font needs

to be Courier New instead of something like Comic Sans –

which would be frowned upon in Hollywood. Now I know how

to use this program, I can easily write up a script readable for

actors. These skills will come in handy when creating future

sequences.

Software

The main piece of hardware which we used was the Canon 550d. The

Canon 550d is a digital SLR camera which films up to 50fps at full HD (720p

or 1080p). For our film we used the 720p pixel aspect ratio because there

wasn’t enough room on the Network- FS6. Meaning used only 30fps as

there wasn’t enough memory space. I have learned the basics on the

camera like setting it up, getting the right angles, zooming, panning,

lighting and focusing. As I quickly developed these skills I applied them to

our production; therefore I was a great help to the group. I have learned

that the more frames per second means the higher the quality of the image

(higher pixel aspect ratio), I have also learned that it is vital to film more

than one of the same shot due to mistakes going un-noticed.

Hardware

We were one of the only groups to use the green screen and

lighting provided by the college. We controlled the brightness and

darkness of the scene using professional studio lights. The lights

had a swivel slightly translucent umbrella and a tripod stand which

could be altered to the desired height. By using this equipment, I’ve

learned that lighting is important because its so easy to create

unwanted shadows and unwanted bright patches. Also I’ve learned

that having creases or dark patches on the green screen ruins the

outcome of the Keying on Adobe After Effects CS5.5.

Hardware

Other hardware I used and developed skills for was a Dell PC with

Windows and a SONY Phillips MP3 recorder. I was able to develop

loads of different skills on the PC using software already mentioned. I

first used an MP3 recorder for the ambience track in the Preliminary

task, so I applied these skills for the main task and managed to get a

good ambience for the silent parts of the sequence. Throughout this

experience, I’ve learned that PC’s can be very temperamental when

using lots of software at once and rendering entire sequences. Next

time round I’ll probably be more patient with it.

Hardware