Evaluation Question 6

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

1. Canon fs200 - We used this camera for some of our filming because we found that it was easier to use then the Sony HD A1, and that it was easier for us to carry around as the tripod that it uses is a lot smaller then the tripod for the Sony HD A1.

Pros - Lightweight, Easy to carry around, easy to use.

Cons - Cannot record in HD, cannot get high angle views due to small tripod, quality is not great, would rather use Sony HD A1.

2. Adobe After Effects - Our group used After effects to create our thriller titles. At first we found this program quite hard to use at first, but after a 60 minute lesson it became a lot easier to use, and it has a wide variety of items to make numerous titles.

Pros - Can create very good titles, Large variety of effects and fonts.

Cons - Very hard to get used to without a training session.

3. Final Cut Express - We used this to create our thriller opening. This program is highly effective at creating films, because it can cut down to every frame, and allows for very accurate cuts into the video. It also has many useful effects that we used in our thriller opening, such as viewfinder and text, which we used to help create our CCTV camera effect.

Pros - Cut to frames, many effects, easy to get used to.

Cons - Hard to use at first, may get confused with the number of effects.

4. Sony HD A1 - We used this camera for the majority of our filming as it allowed us to film in very high quality, it recorded the film in HD, and the tripod that comes with it allowed use to record some high angle views. Initially we decided to film using only the Sony HD A1, as it recorded footage in HD and would provide us with the best quality end product. However, we soon learned that it was quite hard to work with, not to mention the weight, and the effort it take to carry it around with the tripod. It did have its strengths though, such as the high tripod allowing us to record higher angles.

Pros - Tall tripod, Records high quality, Records in HD

Cons - Has many settings, hard to get used to.

5. Adobe Media Encoder - We used the media encoder so that we could transfer our video into a smaller mp4. file size so that it became a lot easier to upload onto youtube, in which people could watch it and give us feedback.

Pros - Can greatly decrease file size

Cons - Video quality decreased, need to know what you are going to transfer video to.

6. Adobe Photoshop -Photoshop was used to edit newspaper titles and add pictures to it so that it is our own. Photoshop also converted the PSD file into JPEG so that it was compatible with Final Cut Express. Other equipment used was a Desk Lamp for indoor lighting, and we used Garage Band to create our music. Garage Band was a very useful tool, and was very easy for me to get into and learn. It provided many sounds and it has a very user friendly, allowing me to create what I wanted to. There were multiple layers I could put each sound on, and many things could be altered and played around with. These include tempo, volume of each layer, and whether each layer play in the left speaker or right speaker.

Pros - Useful for editing, large number of options to edit, professional quality products

Cons - Very hard to use if you are not used to photoshop.