QUESTION #6By Jacob Mayuga

Pre-Production

Throughout the production of our design we used several pieces of hardware and technology to improve and help our film process. In pre-production we used several online tools and technologies such as:

• Google - To gather information and general research into distribution companies, the history of the horror genre and its primary themes and conventions. We also used Google to find out about other opening horror sequences and what made them so successful. Lastly we also used Google to gather images and logos to place in presentations to make them look a lot more interesting and provide the audience with a visual aid to make our points a lot clearer and easier to understand.

• iPhone/iMovie - We also used our iPhones to video our initial ideas and interview our target audience. Then iMovie to edit and piece together our vlogs and interviews that we conducted. Overall it really helped us present some of our research and ideas in a more interesting way.

• PowerPoint/Word/Prezi - We also used these three programs as other alternatives to convey and present our findings and overall ideas for our film. PowerPoint and Prezi were especially useful as they really allowed us to present our work in a more simple yet still aesthetically pleasing way as it moved and transitioned between slides showing pieces of info one at a time.

• Paint - We also used the software ‘Paint’ to draw out our very rough story board. Paint allowed us to directly draw our ideas onto a computer which overall made the process a whole lot quicker and allowed us to easily save and post it at high quality straight to our blogs.

• YouTube - We also used YouTube to post our initial vlogs of our ideas, and interviews with our target audience. This made it a lot easier to post the videos on the blog by using the embedded code and placing it in our blog to show the videos.

Pre-Production

Production

ProductionDuring our the actual production of our opening sequence we again used quite a few pieces of hardware and technology to both film the opening itself but to also film the sort of behind the scenes to show what was happening behind the camera but also just before and after we pressed record.

• Panasonic AC90 – This was the camera that we decided to use to film our opening sequence. It really allowed us to shoot each shot that we took in really high quality and at the same time in a really easy and fluid motion. It was generally very light which made it easier for our camera person to hold and record certain shots that we wanted to record.

• Tripod - Another piece of equipment that we used was a tripod for the Panasonic Camera. The tripod really helped us to film certain shots that required the camera to pan left and right at a steady speed and in a straight motion. It also really helped in some shots to keep the camera still as we had it zoom in and out.

• iPhone 6s - During our production we also used an iPhone to film the sort of behind the scene vlogs to show the overall location and general things that were going on just before and after we started recording. Things like the make up process and how the make up department made the two main characters look a lot more believable. We decided to use an iPhone over the Panasonic as the phone was much smaller and lighter while still having a decent amount of video and sound quality to it.

• iMovie - Again like in Pre-Production we used iMovie to edit the vlogs that we did during the production. There we cut and pieced together the vlog to a decent quality. We felt that it would be better to edit on iMovie as we could access it directly on the phone that we used to record, which would overall make the process a whole lot easier and quicker.

• YouTube - Finally we then posted the vlog on YouTube to get the embedded code of the video to easily post on our blog.

Post-Production

Post-ProductionIn Post-Production we used quite a large variety of software's to edit our film, as well as to increase the overall quality of the opening sequence with some special effects with the title and title credits. These programs include:

• Final Cut Pro – The main software that we used to edit and piece together our opening sequence was Final Cut Pro. This program allowed us to cut and join several shots that we wanted to include in our film. With the program we were also able to add a score to the background to really add to the overall ambience and atmosphere of the scene.

• After Effects – Another major software that I used was Adobe After Effects. We decided to used After Effects firstly to make our opening a lot more aesthetically pleasing but to also increase the overall quality of our title sequence. We used After Effects for several things, firstly I used it to make our production company ident as I really wanted to have a sort of animated logo/ident for our groups company. Another thing we used it for was for the actual title, the way the light pans across the 3D title was done on After Effects, same can be said for the title credits that appears throughout the overall opening scene. In fact we used a very appropriate template that fit perfectly with the theme of our film to further increase the level of quality of our opening. Overall I think my skills in editing in general have improved throughout this project as I’ve learned to use both After Effects and Final Cut Pro and am now able to use both programs with a certain degree of confidence for future projects.

• 4D Cinema – Another software that I used in Post-Production was 4D Cinema and even though it played quite a small role it did have quite a big impact, specially for our company ident and overall title. I used 4D Cinema to primarily make the text in both cases 3D and have a certain amount of depth to it. Specially in the ident I also made the 3D text quite reflective so it reflected the colour of the lighting that it would be placed with, overall making the text sort of blend better with the background instead of severely sticking out.

• USB/SD Card – We also used USB stick and an SD Card to transfer the videos, After Effects clips and audio files from the camera and my laptop to the school computers, where we then integrated/edited it into our opening sequence.