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

I learnt a lot this project both in terms of hardware and software and really advanced my technical knowledge in these areas.

Hardware

• The Canon Legria HF G30 camera and tripod were the major pieces of essential hardware. They were very easy to set up although this took longer during the first attempt as I wasn't experienced with this process. The camera was great as it produced a very high quality picture but was also very easy to use.
• Perhaps the only negative with the camera and tripod set was the portability. This wasn't a major issue if we were getting driven from school to the shooting location, however, if public transport was needed, the kit was too much for one person to take. Therefore, we had to split the kit up when this happened and take part home each.

Software

• Adobe Premiere Pro was the editing software that we used. I had already used it at GCSE but this was at a very basic level. I learnt a great deal about the need to get perfect cuts to create good matches on action. It has a very easy to use interface meaning we could speed along through the process of placing and cutting our shots to create the desired effects.
• A big disadvantage, however, was the fact that we could only use the software in school due to the fact that nobody had the programme installed at home, this meant we had to all make a lot of time available to ensure a rigorous editing schedule.

• Adobe Audition was the software we used to record our voiceover. It was very simple to use as all we had to do was plug the microphone into the computer, press the record button and then the stop button when we were done. In addition to this, because the programme was also made by Adobe, we could literally drag the voice-recording across to Adobe Premiere straight from Adobe Audition. 

Social Media

• Our Whatsapp group turned out to be a vital platform for our group's communication. We were able to send key photos to each other that were taken at the shoots but also made it easy to remind each other of important information as well as having discussions about decisions to be made during R&D.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a lot was learnt about both hardware and software during the project. If we had more time, a much more in depth focus on grading would have been likely. Also, if there was more space in my bedroom, I would have liked to have tried using the lighting kit to see what effects we could make with this.