What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

Research/Planning:Our AS Media portfolio was filed electronically through ‘Blogspot’.

This helped a lot when doing research and planning as it allowed us to share our ideas with the rest of our group so that everyone was up to date. It reduced the amount of paperwork so that our work could be found easier. It also allowed us to receive feedback quicker from our subject teacher. As oppose to waiting for feedback when the next opportunity came, our teacher was able to make comments on blog posts quickly so that we could straight away begin developing our work which overall helped us further with research and planning.

As we were being marked on use on the use of technology, I realised I had to present my research in a more interesting and entertaining way. So I used ‘Prezi’, particularly for case studies on films such as ‘The Third Man’ and ‘Heavenly Creatures’ which greatly helped me keep my writing concise and focused. Though ‘Blogspot’ featured areas for writing, using Prezi meant I could keep one point to one slide. From this I have learn that engaging in different technologies then helps us plan through the ability to maintain focus. In relation to the constructing of the thriller opening, it particularly helped when analysing specific Thrillers, to then convey those aspects that fit the genre to our product. Each person in our group had to create individual research and therefore I have learnt that by being focused and concise helped our group in the planning process to create an idea based on multiple inspirations.

Research/Planning continued:When planning, I had to upload many videos to support my research in

order to plan for my Thriller opening. One example of this is my research for soundtrack ideas where I particularly focused on the whistling soundtrack from ‘Kill Bill’ where the Bride is comatose and Elle Driver is sent to kill her. This was an intertextual reference to an earlier film titled ‘Twisted Nerve’ in which I featured videos of both scenes where the whistling occurred on my blog post so that my research was clear. Therefore I had to learn how to put a video on my blog, but also I had to use Youtube a lot to find resources that would benefit both my research and planning.

Another process I had to learn about was how to put a video on my blog that was not a feature from Youtube. This was for my raw footage in which helped my planning in order to analyse and evaluate what was successful and what wasn’t. It helped me gain feedback from potential target audiences so I could ensure the Thriller opening attracted their attention.

Collaborating:In order to be able to easily communicate with the rest of my group, we

exchanged numbers, meaning that any late changes made to schedules – particularly when shooting – could be easily done through the ability to now contact each other. Another form of communication was social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’ where we all were easily accessible meaning we could contact each other quickly. It also provided an alternative if someone didn’t have access to a phone but did a computer or other forms of internet. Therefore this helped with collaborating to keep organised so that the whole group were informed. For example, our main character played by Razzaq was unsure whether he could make the planned filming schedule some days and therefore having some form of contact allowed him to tell us suitable dates for him to feature in our Thriller opening.

The Shoot:Having a digital camera allowed our group to present raw footage to others

such as our potential audience. This provided us an opportunity to improve shots if necessary, or to choose the best version of the same shot to improve the aesthetic appeal in which was crucial when dealing with the issue of homelessness and hate crimes. For example, our initial cliff-hanger featured the homeless man witnessing the murder committed by ‘Norma’ which then involved a third character. However, based on feedback, we decided that the addition of a third character was too confusing, particularly when filming at night where everything is more ambiguous and therefore we made the decision to have the homeless man murdered by ‘Norma’ thus addressing the issue of hate crimes against the vulnerable.

Through the digital camera, our group were also able to immediately evaluate our footage, seconds after having just taken the shot. We then had to independently analyse whether the shot was suitable and make a judgement based on our audience and whether it would attract and appeal to them in order to follow the conventions of an opening where we must grab the audience’s attention to encourage them to want to watch the rest of the film.

Editing:The editing software used was ‘Premiere Pro’ and although was used for

our Preliminary Task, I still had to learn new aspects of it to enhance my Thriller.

For example, I had never used titles as our Preliminary task did not require it and therefore had to learn this in order to feature it in my Thriller opening. For example, I used the font ’28 Days Later’ as it was gritty to reflect the homeless lifestyle and I created a title and overlapped it over the footage so that it would be on the same clip as the shot. For example I had to mention who starred in our Thriller opening and therefore the audience could identify that it was an opening and could familiarise themselves with the film so that they are encouraged to want to know what happens.

I also had to manipulate the soundtrack to suit our Thrillers atmosphere, and enhance it to make it more suspenseful. For example, my main soundtrack was titled ‘RedLetter’ and I used cuts to select the areas that created the most impact and adjusted them to flow. However I found the end of the soundtrack not thrilling enough so I got someone who was able to record a soundtrack, to create one with an impact to the end of the Thriller opening. I gave him a brief that it must be fast-paced and contrasting to the previous soundtrack to reflect the change in atmosphere from the preparation of the murder to the actual event. I then had to use that and overlap it with the other soundtrack using an ‘exponential fade’ to create a smooth transition.

Other effects used were ‘cross-cutting’ which were particularly effective when crossing between the homeless man and the murderer implying that they are linked in which the end of the opening reveals that he is her victim. We also included fade to black which added to the gritty feel through the situation being a social reflection on modern Britain and the increasing issue of homelessness and hate crimes.