Describe the ways in which your project work was aided by your use of digital technology and how your ability to use digital technology developed over time.Throughout the course of media studies, i have developed my skills when referring to the use of digital technology. This is apparent throughout the development from my Foundation portfolio to my Advanced portfolio.
Firstly in my foundation portfolio, i had to do a preliminary task which was to create a short video including specific shots such as some walking through a door, shown through a match on action shot, and two people having a conversation, shown through a master shot, over the shoulder and shot reverse shot. Throughout this task, i used a Nikon D3100 camera on a tripod. This allowed me to become more confident with the camera so that when i came to shooting my film opening, the shots were more planned and skilful. After i had all the required shots, i uploaded them on to the Mac computer to then be edited on IMovie. As this task did not require any complex editing techniques, i felt that IMovie was the most suitable software to use especially considering i had not edited anything before. IMovie taught me how to cut videos, order them how i wanted as well as add music and titles to achieved the desired effect. Finally to distribute my preliminary task, i uploaded it to Youtube using Web 2.0 to then upload on to my blog.
For my main task in my foundation portfolio, i decided to create a horror film opening. This required a lot of research therefore i used Web 2.0 as my main source. I used Youtube to find existing horror film openings. This allowed me to understand the conventions of horror opening in order to use it in my own work. Then went on to use Adobe Premiere Pro, a more complex editing software. This allowed me to included some of the conventions which i found from earlier research such as fades to black and short cuts using the razor tool. This also had a more complex way to export my finished video allowing me to make it HD for the best possible picture. I then once again used web 2.0 to upload my video the blog.
In the second year for my advanced portfolio, I created 2 adverts for my main task along with a online pop-up and sponsorship sequence for my ancillary task. Within research and planning I used Youtube in order to look at existing adverts to see which shots were used as well as the length and speed of the shots. When editing in premier pro, the software was more complex allowing me to create a more professional and complex advert. I was able to speed up, reverse and crop clips. This meant that my advert could meet the required conventions which I found during my research of other fashion adverts.
For the ancillary part of this task I had to create a web pop up for which I used photoshop as this includes features allowing me to delete the background of a photo, add text and change the levels and curves. I also had to create a sponsorship sequence to introduce a tv program. This required recording a voice over using a mic. I had to practice using the microphone as this does not work every time and doesn't always give a clear sound however with practice I was able to get a smooth recording.
Overall i can see a significant progress and development of my skill using digital technology. I was able to upgrade in editing software from IMovie to Premiere Pro allowing me to use much more complex editing techniques.
