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

During the creation of our main piece, we used alot of different technological devices some of us haven't used before, meaning it was a learning curve for us, such as some hadn't used a video camera properly, or tripods, and none of us had use the imacs which we used to non linear edit our main task. We used our preliminary task as a basis and we learnt from this how to use alot of the devices, or at least practise, by the time we come to our main task, we were arguably fairly well prepared and decent with the equipment.

Obviously, some were easier by far, such as how to mount a camera to a tripod, to adjust it, to create shots, such as pan, zoom etc. Some were far harder, such as the cameras themselves, they were hard to use in terms of settings, such as daylight, night, zoom, focus etc, this created minor setbacks, but were overcome in the short run, and these problems enabled us to know what to do if it did arise again.

Arguably the most useful and important piece of technology we used in the entire process was the imacs, as these enabled us to insert titles, credits, music, voiceovers, and to non - linear edit, so we didn't need all our footage at once before we could edit. Overall i believe our group picked up on how to use all the equipment quickly, although some options couldn't be taught in the time frame available. And some arguably minor equipment, such as the tripod, helped us to maintain steady shots, to use the camera's to their full advantage, and give us the best possible footage, and the night vision setting on the camera allowed us to keep filming, even later in the evenings, which we used several times due to necessity.

Also some features on the imacs came into play, such as the imovie (which we edited all our footage on and made our final version, and our preliminary task) and garage band, the latter allowing us to make radio effects for HQ.

Unfortunately, the imacs did have some limitations, which we don't think prohibited our film, but if possible, would have made it a better film. Such as when we wanted to use a split screen shot for our film, as it would have made the film better, as it would have been more into the conventions, been different from many others and added a slick feel to it. This may have enabled different feedback. A further limitation was poor sound quality on the part of the cameras. We recieved feedback from our audience suggesting it would have been better if sound quality was increased. This was because the cameras we video recorded onto have built in microphones that aren't the best available, and somewhat hindered us, as sound clarity is arguably a must in any film. An example of this is when the junkie myself says "Have you got the stuff to the drug dealer (Josh)" but these simply cannot be heard well/at all, also the short battery life cut filming for the task down on several occassions, as we could not obviously film with a camera with a dead battery.

Furthermore, more advanced editing software, capable of the details stated above, like the software FinalCut would have allowed us to create a split screen which we wanted.

Overall, we encountered several limitations, but I feel we overcome these to the best of our ability's and made a good film with the equipment provided nonetheless.