PRODUCTION INTERNAL: Use of Technology

Operating a video camera
I feel that the operation of a video camera was one of the less successful aspects of my use of technology. Several of my shots were quite shaky and focus and lighting could have been handled better. However I had no trouble with the functions of the camera and the problems with shooting were more physical than technical.


Composing shots
The majority of my shots were either point-of-view or over-the-shoulder shots, and generally I felt that they were very successful. I had no difficulty in creating the POV shots and setting up angles and on the whole I feel that the shot composition of my media product turned out very well.


Recording and/or using dialogue, sound effects and music
My film contained no dialogue, however did contain music and sound effects. I felt that my sound editing was one of the most positive aspects of the editing process. I had to cut a section out of the middle of the song I was using and I was very pleased with the end result, because the song still flowed smoothly. I also felt that the timing and positioning of sound effects in my film, notably the alarm clock sound effect, was a positive aspect of the editing.


Importing images or video files
I found importing images, video files and sound files into Premiere Pro to be a fairly simple process which went smoothly for me and was something I had no trouble with. I also had to transfer files from my camera's SD card to a USB, which was also very successful.


Creating music and/or sound effects
Personally I did not create any sound effects or music for my media production: I used an existing song, A Well Respected Man by The Kinks, and exported foley and other sound effects from Garageband to use in my production, including the alarm clock effect used.


Editing images for moving image production (use of editing software)
Apart from several technical glitches involving saving my work, I found using Premiere Pro to be fairly straightfoward and quickly mastered most concepts, including adding transitions and visual effects to my shots, although these effects did not end up in the final production. These involved changing the contrast, adding different wipe transitions and adding filters. I also added credits to my film through Premiere Pro which was something else I had no difficulty with.


Editing sound for moving image production (use of editing software)
As mentioned above, I found sound editing, and particularly the editing of the song I used, to be a very positive aspect of the editing process. I was able to remove the middle section of the song in order to fit it to the length of my film without having to fade it out at the end. In addition to fitting the song's length to my film, I was able to trim and time the cut in the song so that the song flowed easily from one section to another without the missing portion being noticeable.