Beth has learned about various technologies that have helped with her film production coursework, including: - WordPress blog platform for planning, organizing, and sharing work - YouTube and IMDB for research and uploading final films - Survey Monkey for collecting audience feedback - Digital cameras, voice recorders, and tripods for production equipment - Movie editing software for assembling footage and adding effects and transitions to the final film

1. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT
ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM
THE PROCESSES OF
CONSTRUCTING THIS
PRODUCT?
BETH PANNIFER

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY
Throughout the process of constructing my product I have learnt
to use a wide range of technologies which have been beneficial
in a variety of ways. These technologies have allowed me to
improve my research, planning, shooting and editing of films.
Without these technologies I would not have had the helpful
platforms to plan, edit and produce any of my coursework.

3. BLOG
At the beginning of the year I was introduce to WordPress and taught how to navigate the blog
site which would form the fundamental foundation of my coursework. This provided me with
the ability to create posts consisting of a variety of media, such as embedding YouTube videos
for my deconstructions and my final film. It also allowed me to present my work in an
appealing and organized fashion to give my blog a personal touch, supplying me with a
platform to present and share my findings clearly and effectively. Although I faced some initial
difficulties with certain elements of the site such as embedding images and the format of the
text, with much practice and regular use I quickly overcame these setbacks.
Due to the time I have spent using the blog site for my coursework I am now extremely
confident and aware of the benefits it provides and am grateful to have been introduced to it
as it has made the process of completing my coursework much simpler and straightforward.

4. WEBSITES
On commencing our research, YouTube and IMDB were very helpful and influential. When
carrying out research YouTube was very effective as it allowed use to find film openings,
however, not all films were online which did cause some inconveniences and was one
downfall of using YouTube. We uploaded our rough cuts and final film onto YouTube which
proved very easy and straightforward but did take quite some time to upload. IMDB,
Internet Movie Database, was also useful for research specifically our deconstructions.
Another new platform we were introduced to was a survey site, ‘Survey Monkey’ which
we used as part of our research regarding favourite genres which formed the groundwork
of our production planning and decisions regarding which film genre to produce. By
sending out links to the survey on social media and through email we were able to collect
over on hundred results.

5. PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
During the production of our product, we used two digital cameras which allowed us to capture each
scene from different angles and perspectives, producing a significant amount of footage. With guidance,
as well as trial and error, we learnt how to operate the cameras by ourselves and were able to even
experiment with our filming as we felt confident in our ability to use them. As we used two cameras of
the same model, Canon HF625, this ensured that settings such as colour, balance, brightness and
contrast were all the same and therefore producing footage from separate cameras but with the same
settings.
Along with the camera we used a voice recorder to record the voice-over for our film opening which was
a new piece of equipment that we had little experience with. Again, through some direction and trial
and error we were able to successfully use the equipment in order to attain the recording we needed. In
production for our preliminary film sequence we did not utilize tripods mostly due to unawareness of
the importance of a steady camera. Since our preliminary we have made a conscious effort to avoid
repeating mistakes such as this, and so took three tripods with us to filming. With two small tripods and
a 7ft jib we were able to create a range of shot angles and movement which greatly contributed to the
quality of our film.

6. EDITING SOFTWARE
Furthermore, during the editing stage we used Serif Movie x6, a software which we also used for the
preliminary task. Subsequently I had a great deal of experience with the software and was able to easily
navigate and utilize the several editing options it provided, it is considerably advanced, offering a great
variation of effects. Some of the key settings we utilized were the speed of clips to create longer shots
that complied with the conventions of our genre as period dramas use many long slow shots. We
discovered new ways to enhance our film with the use transitions and text which we found interesting
to experiment with.
We also had to edit the sound in our film which was a new experience for us as it proved quite
challenging to alter the volume of the music and voice over whilst also making both audible and
avoiding letting one dominate the other to the point that we might lose some of the audio. We sat down
with a focus group consisting of young girls from the age of 16 to 18 as, from our survey results, this was
the largest age percentage. They then gave us feedback, suggesting improvements. Some of these
included removing shots and added other shots which we then edited using the software and proved
very easy to alter.

7. SUMMARY
Since starting the production of my film I have learnt an incredible
amount about new technologies and current media platforms, all of
which have considerably benefitted the success and quality of
production.