Use of technology during research:
- I used the internet to research documentaries surrounding the genre. I used YouTube to research specific Dubstep documentaries, also made by students. I was able to observe the issues and themes they explored and focused on; particularly which questions they were asking and the sequencing.
Use of technology during construction:
- I used a Sony Handicam to shoot my film; the size of the camera meant that it was easily transportable, making it easier for me to travel and shoot in busy clubs. Whilst filming indoors or in poor lighting, I could manipulate the settings to achieve the best quality film possible. However, given the pixel quality of the camera, my documentary doesn't appear to be of professional quality, more of a home video; this issue comes from the production value and considering I have no funding it is inevitable and can't be helped.
- Alongside the Handicam, I also used a tripod; This was essential during interviews. The set up had to be precise, as it is a common convention of documentary interview to have a side on shot of the interviewee. Moreover the eye line had to be precise as well as avoiding the movement of a hand-held camera which distracts the audience from the interviewee.
- Whilst filming in clubs, I used a fish eye lens to enhance and create the urban feel of my documentary. The fish eye lens gives the illusion of there being more people in a club as well as allowing me to bring the camera as close a possible to my subject whilst capturing the context. For example, I recorded a DJ through a fish eye lens- whilst I waned the focus to be on him, I also wanted to include the club atmosphere, in order to put the DJ into context.
- For my print-based production; newspaper advert and magazine article, I used a digital SLR camera. I needed to use a high quality camera so that I could easily edit it on the computer without it becoming pixelated. I was also able to manipulate the shutter speed, creating 'trippy', colorful pictures which created a sense of excitement as well as accurately portraying the clubbing culture.
Use of technology during Editing:
- To edit my footage I used iMovie HD. Although it was fairly simple and straightforward to cut and sequence my footage, iMovie is a simple and basic software. Due to the nature of my documentary, I found it extremely annoying that there were only two audio layers available. Final cut Pro is a professional software, much more advanced; it would have been easier to manipulate and layer sound on this software. The fact that my documentary was is focused on realism, I avoid 'fancy' transitions, meaning that I stuck to simple cuts, in this sense iMovie HD was more or less adequate for my production.
- To edit the ancillary projects I used Adobe photoshop CS3. Having never used photoshop before, it was extremely complicated for me to get my head around it. However, I was able to produce professional looking ancillary texts as this software is widely used in the production of commercial magazines and posters. In the example screen shot, I demonstrate the way in which you can adjust the picture in numerous ways.
Use of technologies during evaluation:
- I used social networking site, facebook to get audience feedback from my target audience. There is a very very big dubstep, file sharing community online, for example: http://www.dubstepforum.com/. Therefore, understandably there is a large presence of people who like Dubstep on facebook. Additionally, I was able to show my documentary to people who didn't listen or know about the genre. Moreover, it wasn't time consuming and extremely straight forward as well as ecological!
- I uploaded my video on to Youtube, in order to be able to share it on facebook. In order to do this, I had to convert my video so it could be played in quick time.
- The concept of post-modernism can be applied here as YouTube turns the "audience" into "producers" merging the two, the audience become active.
