Evaluation Question 6

To aid the process of creating our opening sequence, our teacher provided us
with a traditional video camera. The one he provided was the Hitachi High
Definition Video Camera. This was the camera we used to film our
preliminary task and after doing so, we realised the camera found it very hard
to pick up on sound (such as dialogue) and produced dim lighting which
made the video unclear.
For this reason we decided to change our camera for the opening sequence
and instead used a Sony Cybershot. We found that this worked so much
better for us, producing high quality and professional footage/shots. The Sony
was also very simple to use and work around because there were step by
step instructions included.
Since Sony is a more well known/used technology brand than Hitachi, we
presumed it would work better for us and in the end, we were right as our
footage turned out better than we expected.

We were advised by our teacher to use a
editing software (provided by our school) called
Serif Movie Plus. We found that all our group
members were not one hundred percent
familiar with Serif, and after using it to edit our
preliminary task we found it had very basic
editing features and felt it didn’t let our product
reach it’s full potential. For this reason we
resulted in using iMovie (an editing software
owned by apple) to edit the footage for our
opening sequence. All group members are
familiar with and use apple products so it
proved convenient for us.
Once we started using iMovie we found it was
very simple and had extraordinary features that
made our opening sequence more successful.
For example, it had a feature that allowed us to
stabilise shaky camera shots (if we were to
experience any) and there was another feature
that allowed us to reduce unnecessary
background noise. Having used many of the
features iMovie provided us with, we feel we
have made a successful opening sequence in
which we are all happy with and proud of.

We began creating our institution logo by creating a
paper sketch of what we wanted it to look like. It
featured a pink high heel, with the text “High Heel
Productions” underneath.
We were advised by our teacher to create the logo
on another Serif software called “Serif Draw Plus”.
We had some experience on Serif Draw Plus in the
past as we used it briefly during GCSE for I.T
course. From this we knew that Serif Draw Plus
was good for creating things like playful animations
as opposed to a professional institution logo. So
again on this occasion, we again felt that Serif
wouldn’t allow us to reach our full creative potential
and decided to use a logo creator called “Render
Forest”.
Render Forest was very simple and easy and yet
created a highly professional institution logo that
went beyond our expectations.

We were required to film progress updates during the process of creating our
media product. Our other peers used their Hitachi video cameras to film these
and then found that the had to use a USB adapter to send the videos from
their cameras to the computer (in order to upload the footage to their blogs).
As a group we found it was easier to film our progress checks on iPhone
cameras, and then mail it via iPhone’s simple “Mail” feature. This meant that
all we had to do was select what we wanted to send and email it to each
other. We did this a lot when we divided blogpost tasks between ourselves
and had to send files (work) to each other. Overall, not only did it produce
great quality videos, it also it made the process a lot quicker and simpler for
us, so we didn’t end up experiencing problems if for example, somebody
forgot to bring a USB adapter for the camera.

YouTube is the platform we used to present our preliminary
task and opening sequence (and all drafts/progress
updates). This was convenient for us because YouTube is a
platform that we are all familiar with and it is also free to
use. It also ensured easy access to our peers/teachers, for
when we wanted to receive feedback.

Blogger is the platform we used to present our blogposts. The
blogposts were done so that we could document every step that
went in to creating our opening sequence. Blogger is a platform
that we were all new to, but it’s simple and clear layout made it
every easy to work around and we became familiar with it after
spending little time on it.
Blogger is something that can be used with your google email
address (so if you use Gmail, you wouldn’t have to create any
new logins) and best of all, it’s completely free!