Evaluation

Positive aspects of the process

The process was a lot different and harder to what I expected to be, but it still had many positive aspects. It was cool to take all the photos for the stop motion sequence and see them fit together and play so well in the end, and as I did the filming over quite a large range of time it was nice to see it all come together in the end. Learning all about the new processes was also helpful, especially for the production task next year. Coming up with an idea was really cool too.

Steps in the process that could have been better done
 My time management and personal organisation could've definitley been done much better, gathering my images quicker, not losing my work, spending less time thinking about doing stuff rather than actually doing it.
Strategies suggested to achieve this
I believe I could've achieved a better end result if I made my production log earlier and actually keeping to it, and made more blog updates about the process and what was happening. Putting everything off just made it harder to do in the long run and it was a bad idea even though it was hard to juggle this internal with the mock exams happening at the time. Generally being more organised and motivated would've helped the whole process.
Some evaluation of how these changes to the production process may have affected the media product
If I had been more organised I believe I couldv'e made the movie more professional and polished, adding the transition effects between some of the shots and fading out the music at the end would've been two things I would have definitley done if I had more time, which would greatly affected my end product. Being more organised may have meant I could have taken screencaps for the technology standard also, making that grade better.

Song Choice

I never wrote about what song I ended up choosing, so I will do it now. I used Spooky Couch by Albert Hammond Jr, because it was instrumental which meant the narration would be the main focused sound. The song builds, which relates to the story building, and also creates some more drama. It was also longer than my film, at 7.19, so I didnt have to worry about using more than one song. The simple use of instruments also lends to the hand made feel of my opening.

Technology

Operating a video camera

I didn't have any trouble using my 'video camera' because it was just a digital camera (a Kodak EasyShare c813 zoom) on the video setting. I used it on a tripod for some shots, but there wasnt enough space to use it properly so it didn't change it much. My camera couldn't zoom on the video setting so to zoom I had to just move the camera closer.

Composing shots

Composing the shots was really easy because I shot them in sequence, so the files were all in the right order all ready. I had to speed a few up and slow a few down in order to make it fit with the narration, and cut them when I wasn't planning on to make the narration work also. I did lots of short shots, so there was minimal cutting needed. Lots of my shots were birds eye view, so I stood above my desk to achieve this. Close ups were also used, but I faced trouble shooting these because of the zoom.
Recording or using sound effects, dialogue or music

I recorded the narration on Garage Band, as one big long clip. So to make that easier to use, I cut it according to the pages/scenes. My music was an mp3 I had in itunes already.
Importing images & video files

Importing the files was really easy because as I said shot them in order so it didn't take too long. My photos for the stop motion took the longest because I had to shorten them all up after importing (default time was at 5 seconds). I had to re-import everything a few times because it didnt save to the right place, didnt save at all or I lost my usb with the saved work on it.
Creating music or sound effects
 My movie opening isn't very dramatic, it's more of a background story, so there wasn't any need for sound effects. The only 'music' I created was the narration, which I did in one take on garageband. I had never used it before but my friend Isla showed me the jist of it and it was pretty easy.
Editing images for moving image production (use of editing software)
 I didn't really have to edit my images/footage for my film, as I used both my ceiling light and lamp for adequate lighting when shooting them. I lightened a few of them up using curves on photoshop.
Editing sound for moving image production (use of editing software)
I did no sound editing using special software, so this doesnt really apply, but I adjusted the volumes and did some cuts in Premier Pro.

Production Log

AUGUST

4 August- Gather imagery during class, print off. Technology used- comuter, printer.
22 August- Film 1/2 of footage in the evening. Use Camera, props (book, pencils etc). Technology used- Camera with auto-focus, zoom.
27 August- Photograph stop motion sequence. Use Camera and props (book and ken doll). Technology used- Camera.

SEPTEMBER

12 September- Filmed 1/4 of remaing pages. Use Camera, props (book, pencils etc). Technology used- Camera with auto-focus, zoom.
16 September- Start editing clips together. Technology used- Premier Pro
20 September- Filmed last quarter of footage. Use Camera, props (book, pencils etc). Technology used- Camera with auto-focus, zoom.
21 September- Record narration using Garage band after school.
23 September- Finish editing clips, place narration with it during class and lunch. Technology used- Premier pro.

Production Update

I finished making the book yesterday, filmed the incomplete pages and recorded the narration today, and tomorrow and Friday I will be doing the editing from the start because I have had trouble with files being incompatible/ the movie not saving/ losing my usbs with work on them.
Aimed to be finished the actual film on Friday to work on the written tasks more during the weekend.

Exam Evaluation

Genre
I definitley studied the most for this exam, and I edited my practice essay to make it more of a concise arguement, and I feel I did pretty well. I hope I will get excellence, but merit would be okay too. I wrote quite a bit and remembered all the stuff I needed to.

Representations
 I did not really do that much study for representations because I wanted to focus on genre so I only have to study lots for one exam at the end of the year. I re-read what we wrote in class and wrote some stuff onto a flashcard, but it definitley wasnt as much of a priority as genre. I wrote like 2 pages for representations, and much more for genre. I'm aiming for achieved on that one

In general
Overall, I feel pretty good about the exam. I had time left over because I didnt really care about the representations so that gave me extra time at the end, but in the actual exam when I write more for representations I will not have as much time left over at end, but that doesnt matter anyway because in the actual exams you can just leave and don't have to sit there in silence. I will do more study for representations over the next months and make sure that I make any improvments needed in my genre one too.

In the weekend I did the first stop motion sequence. Here is a preview :