Evaluation question 6

Camera Equipment
The camera equipment we used was a full HD camera that filmed in 1080p. This camera was effective as it allowed us to make our film look a lot more professional, therefore making it more effective to the audience. The weaknesses of using this camera was that it was reasonably difficult to use. It was difficult to to navigate the touchscreen interactive screen, however was easily remedied with a bit of experience after using it several times.

We used a tripod in order to make a shots stable, and to keep it at the desired height we wanted to film our piece. This was good because it helped us keep our shot steady, therefore emphasizing the professionalism in our piece, as a handheld look is something we did not want to incorporate in our opening. The weakness of this piece of equipment was that it was difficult to rotate when filming. In order to keep it remaining steady, it must be tightened, however once loosened it was difficult to keep it steady; especially when the camera was moving on the tripod.

Our group also used a dolly to generate the tracking shot used in our opening scene. The tripod and camera were fastened to the bolts on the dolly, and was then able to be pushed around giving the illusion that the camera was floating. This piece of equipment was effective as it allowed us to form a tracking shot successfully, and give our piece a professional feel. It allowed us to keep a steady shot, even when we were on the move with our camera. The weakness of this piece of equipment was that when running over the smallest of rough ground, it was very apparent when filmed. This resulted in the clips being very jittery, baring in mind the ground we used the dolly on was reasonably smooth. Secondly, it was very loud when in use. This meant that we could not use diegetic sound in our opening.

The computer we used to edit, import and finalize our piece was the Apple iMac. This was effective because it allowed us to gain access to editing programmes such as iMovie, Final Cut and other computer applications to make our piece as professional as possible. The strength of the Apple iMac was that it was very fast, therefore allowing us to complete our editing very quickly and efficiently. The weakness of this computer was that it was reasonably difficult to use for a first time user. Minimal training was needed as to the simple layout and navigational features of the Apple iMac.

The editing programmes we used to edit our work were iMovie and Final Cut. These allowed us to add text to our pieces, trim our clips, as well as add sound and other effects to our opening. These were good because they allowed us make our piece look professional, as well as doing it with good speed. The weakness of these programmes was that they were fairly hard to use for first time users, much like the Apple iMac's themselves. Extra training was needed, therefore reducing the amount of time we had to complete editing on our pieces.

Other applications we used to complete our coursework was Blogger. We used Blogger to continually update our progress into our media AS level. It was helpful because it was easy to use, and allowed us to see what work needed to be done, and what was of good standard already.