pres

1. Lighthouse
Productions
Evaluation of use of Digital Technology

2. Uses of
Technology for
Research

3. Researching Opening
Sequences
 Whilst researching opening sequences,
we used YouTube as a source to give us
ideas.
 On YouTube there were a variety of
different scenes which we could watch to
evaluate and give us ideas. Using digital
technology to research opening
sequences was an advantage as it gave
us easy access to sequences that we had
never seen before.
 We did not have to know every relevant
film as YouTube searches suggested
ideas we would not have thought of.

4. Music
 We decided to use ‘FreePlay Music’ as a source to help
us research what music best fitted our sequence.
 An advantage of using FreePlay music is that there is a
huge variety to chose from. However, browsing through
the content is very time consuming.
 On the other hand, the search engine made is easier for
us to find what music best fitted our genre. The website
was easy to use, but the wide range of music offered
made it harder to pick the best one.
Search
Engine
Wide
Variety

5. Blogger
 We used Blogger to share our research with each
other. It was a platform to share our ideas and
research.
 Blogger enables you to post photos and videos to
share our ideas. The advantage of using Blogger to
share our work with each other is that we know
what each other has done, so we are aware of
what needs to be done and what we shouldn’t do if
it has been accomplished previously before in
detail.
 It also meant we were able to split research
effectively and cover more as a group.
 Furthermore, we can evaluate each others work,
and help one another improve if we are aware of
something they have done wrong.

6. Blogger
Labels of
members
of our
group,
telling us
who has
done what
post.
Example opening
sequence research and
also selection of other
similar posts to link to.

7. Search Engines
 We used the internet to research facts and
other information needed for our opening
sequence, using search engines made it a lot
easier for us to refine our search.
 Search engines are well known like Google,
Yahoo and Bing, they offer a wide range of
information and are usually bright bold and
colourful.
 Many search engines have other features
including emails and blogs.
 A particular advantage was finding many
images to help establish mise-en-scène – for
example a very quick Google images search
enabled us to have an easy overview of the
common features of counselling offices.

8. Search engine examples
 We used Google as it allows
us to find a range of
information and it useful
because it has a variety of
examples.
 However some of the
information can be unreliable
and not have any relevance to
what you need and this all
needs sifting through and
filtering as the example search
results for ‘UK film production
companies’ shows.

9. Search engine examples
 However the information isn’t
always reliable because
anyone can alter it.
 Had a lot of useful examples
for ideas we could use
 We used Wikipedia because it
is such a useful starting point
and often the first hit for a
search. The information is
always linked to other relevant
sites, which helps speed up
research.

10. Search engine examples
 IMDB was very useful because it showed
examples of the drama genre films which
helped us with our opening sequence. It gave
us ideas of what films make a good opening
sequence and how.
 It was extremely useful because we could
search any drama film and look at what their
opening sequence was like and useful
techniques that make it intriguing.
 As a film-specific site, this was one of the
most useful sites we looked at throughout
the coursework.

11. Search engine examples
 The British film industry (BFI)
was a very useful website
because it gave statistics and
facts about key target
audiences and genres.
 It was important because the
facts and figures were key to
backing up our instinctive
ideas about target audiences
and also helped us make
decisions on real evidence and
the possibility of profit, just as
would happen in the ‘real’
media world.

12. Cross-Checking Information
 Digital search engines allow for the possibility
of cross-checking information.
 For example, we were able to check factual
information across a number of different sites.
 This meant we could be more confident of our
statistical information. Part of the value of the
internet is the easy access to information but
also the fact that there are so many users,
the chance of what you need being there and
checked by other interested parties is very
high.

13. Internet Research Summary
 Advantages of Internet Research:
 There is a lot of information, facts
and statistics available online and
therefore made it easier to do our
research.
 You can use key words to make
your search more specific to what
you are looking for.
 Everything can be found on the
Internet, from something very
simple to something extremely
complex.
 Disadvantages of Internet
Research:
 Sometimes there can be too much
information and therefore can be
difficult to find exactly what you are
looking for.
 Wikipedia allows users to edit and
alter information and therefore it
can be unreliable or biased.
 When using search engines, you
can find much info that is only semi-
relevant and therefore it can be
time-consuming to read through
this.

14. Uses of
Technology for
Planning

15. Blogger
 The advantage that Blogger
brings is that it allows us to
store our plans such as shot
lists and filming schedules,
copies of scripts etc. in a place
that was easily accessed by
any of us, at home or at school
and even during filming.
 We were able to comment on
each aspect of this planning
and amend plans accordingly.

16. We used the digital editing software as part of our preparations and
planning; we filmed several practice sequences to learn how to use the
cameras and to edit using the programme Final Cut.
Final Cut is a digital editing programme and learning to use it properly was
a big part of our learning curve. Digital editing is effectively non-linear
editing and we really couldn’t have filmed our opening sequence without
this. We were also able to practise using pre-packaged effects and
transitions.
Final Cut Express

17.  A key aspect of our planning was to
make ourselves comfortable with
equipment for example: cameras,
other filming equipment and MACs.
 We carried out many practice
activities which involved us using
canon cameras to make sure we
were confident using them.
 The canon camera was easy to use
once we were taught all of the basics
and it gave good and clear results.
 However, occasionally there were
focusing issues and making sure the
battery was adequately charged was
also an issue at times.
Filming Equipment

18. The iMac allowed us to use
Final Cut Express for our
practice filming tasks to
make it into a film.
The Canon camcorder allowed
us to film our practice tasks
and take relevant photos for
our piece. It uses digital
technology that is compatible
with the iMac and allowed for
quick and easy transfer of
footage
This equipment was
only available in school;
even the latest digital
technology is not
effective if you can’t
access it when you
need.
Digital Cameras / Macs

19. WhatsApp
 We had a group chat on WhatsApp where we were
able to discuss our coursework. We would talk about
any concerns or issues we had about our coursework,
for example who was bringing in what props for our
filming or we would ask one another for guidance on
our research.

20. Uses of
Technology for
Construction

21. Final Cut Express
Final Cut Express allowed
us to edit our footage.
It is a digital editing package
that enabled us to achieve
professional editing for our
opening sequence.

22. Final Cut Express
We could view
our opening
sequence from
here.
These were the tools we
used to cut out footage as
well as zooming into out
shots so we could make the
continuity more accurate.
Here, we could arrange our
shots into the order we wanted
them to appear. It allowed us to
cross-cut between our
characters as well as control
our sound.
This is where
our footage,
music, ident
and credits
appeared. It
meant we
could drag it
onto our
timeline and
edit it into our
opening
sequence.

23. Sound
 When finding a soundtrack we
used the site free play music
which gave us access to a huge
range of royalty free tracks.
 We entered key words such as
‘slow paced’ or ‘melancholy’ to
narrow down our search and
eventually after listening to
various tracks we selected
‘Babylon’.
 We had to edit the volume
levels on the final piece as
come sound was drowned out
by the music we had added.
This was just a simple click and
drag process.

24. Manipulation of Sound
 We also had to manipulate
sound on our final piece.
We did this in parts where
we needed to balance the
dialogue woth music or
needed to hear an effect
such as the phone ringing
before the actual shot in
which it was shown came
in. We also needed to add
gain to some of the quieter
dialogue.

25. Effects and Transitions
 cross fade – we used a cross fade transition when it
came to sound, specifically the music we added.
This allowed us to merge the same track twice
without it sounding like we were repeating the track.
 fade in dissolve – after our ident was shown we
faded in to the opening sequence. This is a smooth
transition that makes crossing in to the next scene
soft, not sharp or hard. We used it at the end of our
sequence to fade in to the title as well.
 fade out dissolve – we faded out our ident once it
had been shown, this allowed a smooth transition in
to the next scene. We also used this transition when
the piece ended to fade in to our title card and again
to fade out from the title.

26. Effects and Transitions
 We did not use these to a
great extent as they were not
appropriate for our piece.
However, we used simple
cross-dissolves and fade in
and outs where appropriate
and they were very easy to
achieve.

27. Live Type
Live Type was the software that
we used to create our credits.
This involved creating multiple
LiveType files that hd consistent
fonts, lengths, effects and
appearances.

28. Live Type
From here we could
decide what font or
animation we wanted to
use for our credits.
This was where we entered
what we wanted our credits
to say as well as editing the
size, speed of animation and
colour.
This is where we cut or
changed intervals of
when the credits would
come in. It allowed us to
organise all the credits.
Moving our credits around the
screen was done from here . It
also allowed us to see our credits
in the format that they would
appear.

29. Ident
Made using a combination of filming, editing in
FCE and LiveType. We also used Final Cut Pro
as it had an effect (lighting ) we particularly
wanted. All these packages are compatible.

30. SUMMARY -
CONSTRUCTION
 Digital software editing packages
enabled us to create work that looked
professional.
 We were able to use these packages
quite quickly with a little tuition.
 Without these packages, we would not
have been able to create our
coursework at all.
 We were also able to combine work
from these packages to create effects.

31. Uses of
Technology for
Evaluation

32. Evaluating Work
 Throughout the coursework we have evaluated our own work to show
how we have improved and what has changed. This research has
helped us to adapt our final piece effectively to make it flow smoothly
and look good.

33. Comments Feature
 Because the blog is open to the public we are open to criticism and praise
from anyone. This is helpful as we get a non biased opinion on our work
and can see what people really think about what we’ve produced. This is
important as the feedback we get from our teacher may not be enough
help as they have seen our course work step by step, so know what it’s
about. Someone who has not seen the work before can then write if it’s
clear what genre it is in.

34. Audience Feedback
Using the comments
function allowed us to
get extremely useful
feedback from another
school.
This was a good
example of the reach
of the blog.

35. Photoshop
 This allowed us to
create our mind maps
on target audience
 It allowed us to
separate our points so
we could explain more
clearly as well as
allowing us to combine
text and images
together which we
could then screenshot
and add to our blog.

36. Image Combination on
Photoshop
• We combined stills from our
opening sequence in order to
evaluate how we used camera
angles and mise-en-scène in
order to apply to our chosen
genre.
• We could then talk about the
techniques we used on
Blogger as part of our
evaluation.

37. PowerPoint
 We used PowerPoint for our
evaluation of digital
technology that we used
during the making of our
opening sequence. This was
useful as we could use small
points and present our
techniques in a different way.
 We separated or PowerPoint
into four sections. They were
planning, research,
construction and evaluation.

38. Commentary
 We were able to record a
commentary using the digital
cameras and then edit this
beneath our work using FCE.
 Using the multimedia format
options in FCE we were also
able to add in screenshots of
comments we had received
and recorded interviews to
support our main points.

39. Debates in Known Formats
 We recorded some of our
evaluation in the format of TV
programmes such as The
Culture Show. This helped us
to have a style for our debate,
helped us split up the
speaking more sensibly as
we had designated roles and
gave a structure to our
debates.
 We were able to imitate this
style using FCE to edit our
debate.

40. Formatting on Blogger
Blogger allows us to upload
pictures like screenshots of
coursework to the blog along
with text and other formatting
means. This is helpful as we can
visually see
changes/improvements to our
work. It also acts as evidence
that we have researched and
evaluated our own work.

41. Overall Advantages of
Blogger
 We can see the progress we have made as a group.
 We can upload content from any computer meaning
work can be done from virtually anywhere.
 Comments from the general public can be written on our
posts which is useful when we evaluate our work.
 Comments are unbiased so we know they are going to
be helpful.
 We can post in a variety of formats such as pictures,
text, PowerPoint and video.

42. SUMMARY - EVALUATION
 We used different kinds of digital technology to
present our evaluations.
 These helped us work effectively as a group and
created our evaluations as media products in their
own right.
 Blogger is a vital tool for making our evaluations
accessible to all.