G321: Evaluation Question 6

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Technology is constantly changing and improving, and is an important aspects of cinematography. Before taking Media Studies for A Level, I had some knowledge of editing and the use of camera angles within cinematography, but it was very limited. I had, had previous knowledge of the program we used to edit our thriller - Adobe Premiere Elements - for videos on YouTube, but did not realise how much tools could be used to enhance and adapted video. I knew the basic 'dip to blacks' and the various transitions to choose from in the effects tab, but I didn't know exactly which transition did what. I tested out various types of effects such as additive dissolve, cross dissolve and many others, to see which effect best suited the change between each shot, and very rarely did I use the a simple cut, such as the ones shown on TV dramas. I also found out how to change the video to black and white. I decided I would go for a black and white version, just to enhance the suspense, and pay tribute to the classic noir thrillers of the 1940's, for example 'The Third Man'.

When joining the course I had little understanding of what the connotations of different angles were. For example I knew about the high angle, but didn't know it was used to show vulnerability, similarly, I knew about the low angle, but didn't know it was used to show dominance and to connote power in the character it was portrayed on. Once I had a better understanding of camera angles from research of the thriller genre, I was able to include various camera angles such as tilt shots connoting alienation, and panning and tracking shots, and come out with a much better production.

Examples of tilt shot, compared to tilt shot in 'From the Night':

Website were a big influence of my understanding of how much of an impact technology has on cinematography. During my AS level, I have learnt how to put clips from YouTube onto my blog, and how to insert screen shots into my blogs posts. In addition I also found out how to embed digital scrapbooks such as Beeclip and Prezi into my blog posts, to show my understand of the latest technologies. Furthermore, the use of websites such as Amazon.co.uk, IMDb.com and FilmSite.org allowed me to enhance a wider knowledge in both target audience and the conventions of the thriller genre.













Before the year I had very little understanding of how to use blogs, and often found myself searching the internet and advising my teachers to help me out. Now after getting this help my understanding of blogs has improved, and I am now capable of insert a wide range of analysis in different digital ways. The ability to use blogs as our foundation for our coursework, has been a very good experience, one I much prefer compared to having to write it all out on a piece of paper.














Example of posts before publishing, with a range of screen shots and videos: