Although it took a a while to get used to the Apple Macs, we managed to quickly learn how to use each piece of software and take advantage of all different tools and things that can be done on a Mac rather than a PC. It was easier to store files on the MACs and it was quicker to access software and the Internet.
The main programme we used to edit our trailer with was imovie. We used our previous skills from AS to use various editing techniques, for instance, slow motion, fade in/out, creating montages, importing clips and sound from the camera, reducing unwanted background sounds, importing music and sound effects and enhancing the light and saturation.
Blogging meant that it was accessible for both of us wherever we were in school or out of school to be able to store work and make posts. The only downside was that we couldn't upload all of our rough cuts because there were so many and it wouldn't upload such a large file. The good side is that its not all done on paper and therefore easy to lose, but it is always there and easily edited. Also, being able to incoroporate videos, images and sounds to support our work. It was also a way for Aisha and I to leave messages to eachother, in order to make sure everything was completed and uploaded. Other students commented on our posts as well and comments were made from the teachers to inform us on what could be improved. There is also a chance to put links to other websites into the posts to support the work.
We used a scanner to upload our storyboards and moodboards. This meant we were able to create a storyboard on paper, rather than on the computer which might have taken much longer. It was a fast way of getting it onto our blogs.
We used the internet movie database to research on trailers and other horror films, in elements such as production companies, directors, distributors, taglines, genres and casting. Although we did much of our research online, I did also read books on horror films, which gives a slightly different angle, but when the Internet was down in school, instead of doing nothing, we took the opportunity to visit the library for further research. We also read film magazines and newspapers for research, however, it is far more time consuming because it takes longer to search for the information you want.
We used Facebook to message eachother on schedules and also and created photo albums in order to share images for editing etc. This meant we had easy access to our work.
We used Youtube for trailers and music to incorporate onto our blog.
To create and edit the images for our film poster and magazine front cover, we used a photo editing website, to airbrush, change the saturation, brighten, contrast and change the focus of the foreground and background. For the front cover of the magazine, I edited an image by cutting around it and placing it on a white background. We decided not to go ahead and use it as our final piece, however.
We used garageband to produce our music. We used current immediate music pieces and cut and pasted parts of each, along with our own additional sound bridges to enhance the emotion in each part of the trailer. We also found other already made sound bridges and embedded them into the trailer from Youtube. Garageband was useful to be able to mix the different pieces, rather than making our own song in real life. It would have been time consuming to gather a band together to play a song.
The video camera (Panasonic HD), was simple to use and was enhanced with the use of a tripod.
We used digital cameras to take our location photos.
