How did you use new technologies in the research, construction and planning stages?

We had access to new technologies throughout every stage of the production process. To have the technologies available meant we were able to conduct research , plan efficiently , construct our film , and them be able to market it both quickly and professional. New technology can also be refereed to as digital technology , which has enabled us to create the production without having to budget at all. The Internet has become the brain of new technology , allowing everyone accessibility to all most anything , from free editing software to video archives. The Internet ables you to conduct research within seconds , which able us to progress at a good pace. When researching general short films I used YouTube , which has access to over 10 million video's , posted by people from around the world. Having this accessible to me at the touch of a mouse made my life a lot easier. By placing a key word into a search bar such as 'comedy' , I could find films similar to ours. Google, another giant within the Internet , let me research cinematographers such as Christopher Nolan and different script writers. Instead of having to read through books or magazines , I found the information I was looking for straight away , and even other pieces of information which was also relevant. Search engines like Google have meant we can conduct research within a matter of minutes, saving time and money. I also used the Internet to search for copyright free music , in which I used a website called the 'London Grid' to do so. I was given an amazing amount of choices with different genres highlighted right in front of me. From this I chose the soundtracks to my film , saving me having to buy or request copyright free music over the phone.
Throughout the production process we were given different deadlines for each stage. To keep up with these deadlines and to understand what was being asked of us we would go to our personal blogs. We set up our blogs a year ago when starting our AS production, and updated it throughout. The blogs are there for us to post different research and each stage of the planning processed could be followed on it. Having the blog meant I could keep all my research in one place , like a database. At the same time it allowed others to comment on my posts , providing me with vital feedback when necessary. This type of new technology has been a a great tool , as I was able to access my blog at any time , so I kept in touch with my teachers and was able to keep track of my other production team members. The teachers also had a blog , this is where I would be able to find out my deadlines and the what was the brief for each task. I can not stress enough how much easier it made it for all of us by having the blog. Its just another example of digital technology taking that step forward. Without the blog I would not have been able to keep all my planning and research together in one place, knowing that my work was safe and accessible was a great feeling.
The blog was compatible with other programmes , one being slide share. Slide share was a programme I found on the Internet which allowed you to create quick slide shows and post them on the blog , or even social networking sites. This was really helpful when creating my pitch as I could place my points onto it , and once the pitch was over I then placed it onto my blog for everyone to see. From this I gained feedback on it which I wouldn't of been able to do otherwise. Slide share also allowed you to place word documents onto it , meaning my location Reece , shooting schedule and script were able to placed onto my blog.
I was already familiar with the filming equipment from my use of it last year , and after a few workshops I felt confident to use it again. If you compare the equipment to the what film makers had 30 years ago , you can see that it has evolved greatly it such a small amount of time. The equipment is now easier to learn and much more lighter making it easier to move around. The cannon HD means we are able to provide the best quality picture , and compete we other films who have shot in HD. To have this available showed that you did not have to spend an excessive amount of money to provide quality. When shooting I felt professional which rubbed of on my other team mates as our equipment was at high level. We found it easy to move to other locations due to the weight of the camera , and finding different angles was even easier due to its compatibility with the tri-pod. Although our film was silent having the boom pole on set was necessary as we wanted to record ambient sounds for safety. The technology we had allowed us to do this when recording the bedrooms scenes. Even though we did not use it in the end , it was nice to have the option available. Although I was familiar with the equipment already I still learnt new techniques through out the process , such as how to auto focus or track smoothly. This was all due to the equipment being user friendly.
The software we used for editing was both professional and efficient. We were lucky enough to have the use of Adobe Premier pro which really help shape our film. As we had created our film so that each scene was themed , it was important that we distinctly showed the transitions between them all. We were able to add an effect onto our cowboy scene , and found splitting the screen surprisingly easy. At the same time it provided quality throughout and allowed to speed up our scooby doo so so that it looked like our characters were running at a faster pace. Being able to create an assemble edit meant we could gain feedback before placing effects onto the timeline , another beneficial aspect of the editing software. Placing the soundtrack onto the timeline was difficult at times but this was due to problems with the computer , not the software itself. Once the soundtrack was placed we could then experiment with the volume and the pitch , getting feedback from each version. Another piece of equipment we used while editing was the Lacie Drive. The Lacie Drive is a portable hard drive which allowed you to store over 360 gb of memory onto it. What the Lacie allowed us to do is place our digitized shots onto it, as well as the the production itself while it was being created. Due to the hard drive being portable it meant we wasn't restricted to only one members user on the computer. Meaning that anyone could edit at any time , allowing us to finish the production even quicker.
One scene in our production consisted of thought bubbles appearing from the heads of the characters. We had problems with this as the editing software did not allow you to create this , meaning we had to use another piece of software and then convert it to adobe. For this we used photo shop , which i a picture editing software. After many failed attempts we finally was able to place a picture into the thought bubble and then place it within our production. Without the use of of photo shop it would not have been possible to create this , which would have meant our production would have suffered as a consequence from it. Although it was difficult to create , the fact that it was possible meant that it was achievable. Photo shop was also what we used when creating our posters for the film . This stage was much easier as we only had to use photo shop to create them. The process was easy and the programme offered many different editing components which I used to create my poster. For example being able to crop my image onto a black canvas , or adding text along the top of the frame. Being able to create posters using professional software meant that our marketing campaign would be even stronger and would give it that realistic look.
Overall , the new technology I used was efficient and professional , which was important as our aim was to create something on a professional level. Due the evolution of technology we had the opportunity and resources to plan , create and promote our film , as long as technology keeps growing so will the number of high quality films.