Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing this product?

Research and Planning
Technology has enabled us access to a wide range of media information, from websites such as IMDB for facts on films, to finding clips of Youtube, to peoples personal film blogs. This has made researching and planning our thriller easier, with the internet allowing us to have almost infinite access of resources for us to use to inspire us and influence our decision making.
For example, with the development of Youtube, when needing evidence of a genre which we were personally unfamiliar with, Youtube gave us suggestions to videos which may be of use, allowing us to find more relevant evidence quicker to support our research as well as introducing us to filming techniques, shot types, narrative or character portrayal that would influence our own media product. As well as this, it enabled us to watch previous students productions through the schools Youtube channel, as well as other small films, uploaded by any member of the general public that was relevant to the thriller genre, to influence our ideas and planning.

Another way in which technology has influenced our process of making our thriller, is through the use of Blogger itself. Blogger is a website which I was before unfamiliar with, and have over the course began to become more familiar and comfortable with using it to express my ideas. It is, in my opinion, an easier, more practical, more reliable way of displaying coursework, rather than the traditional method of writing coursework.
 This is because of many practical issues, such as there is not the problem of loosing the coursework, as all blog posts are kept separate, and so even if one post is accidently deleted, the others would remain secure. 
Also, by using blogger to present coursework,

A print Screen taken from my blog to show the variety
of Media forms I have been able to use on my blog.

 it allows me to use a variety of different visual forms that cannot be shown in other methods, such as simply written, for example, youtube videos can be embedded to support my point. It gave us as media students the ability to use our creativity and give us a free reign on how to express our ideas in a way that suited as individuals. For example, I often when draughting ideas use mind maps to organise concepts, and therefore was able to create and embed Prezi's to display my thought process, or when I wanted to organise my work in a visually different way, would sometimes create and upload slide shows.
As well as this, It gave all media students an opportunity to watch the process of other media students, as we all developed our thriller, meaning that we could use other peoples blogs as a source of guidance if in need.
By having a public blog, it also enabled others to leave feedback on our work so that we could improve it in an quick and easy way to strengthen our points. By having an online blog, it meant that it was easier for me as a student, as I could access it from a multitude of locations, from home, to school, to libraries, so that I had more time to work on my blog as I did not need to pre-plan having to do the work, like I would if I was doing it writtenly, by ensuring I had my notes, and physical coursework, but instead know my blog was readily available to me.

During this process, as well as being introduced to new websites such as Prezi and Scribd, I have learnt how to use HTML to embed other resources, or my own products onto my blog. Previously, this was something I had great difficulty understanding, but once I understood the basic concepts, am now comfortable and confident in using, which is a skill useful and relevant within the media industry.


Production
The progression of technology has changed the way in which we constructed the opening of our thriller. For example, we were able to record our thriller on a Canon HD camera which we borrowed from the school, which was light weight, and was of no expense to us, giving all potential film makers an opportunity to create and film a thriller,and at little expense to the school because of the reasonable price of digital cameras. Because of this, we were able to film our thriller in high quality, adding to the visual aesthetics and clarity of the picture improving our final product.

Because the camera itself was small and lightweight, it meant that it was easy to carry around, as we had to do lots of location scouting and filming in various locations, by having a light weight camera, it physically eased the process for us. As well as this, the digital video cameras we used also had a camera built in, so when we were location scouting, we could take photos on the same camera, which again eased our process as we did not have to carry around two cameras.
During the production stage, we learnt more about how to use the digital cameras from our preliminary task, learning how to angle different shots, to create a variety, such as the various tilt shots used.
Another benefit of using digital cameras in recording our footage, was that they were easy to use, so even those who struggle to get to grips with technology, were able to use them, simply pressing record, photo, or playback, or adjusting the shot itself via the zoom button, which were the only functions we needed to use and therefore made filming easier as everyone was able to film. 
The playback function was extremely useful when filming our thriller, as we learnt the importance of ensuring we had the right shots before finishing, which we learnt from our preliminary task, and therefore when we believed we had the right shots, before moving locations, we would watch some to ensure they were suitable. When shooting the dressing room scene, we watched our footage back, and realised that there was a difference in the colour of the shot, due to the lighting, and therefore had to re-shoot some shots. However, this was easier than not realising until viewing the footage on a computer, and then having to go back and re shoot and re-construct the dressing room again, whereby we would have to re-shoot the entire sequence as it is unlikely we'd be able to get exactly the same lighting again.
The final piece of technology which we used, was the SD card, to record our footage onto. By recording onto an SD card, it had many practical benefits, such as it is small, extremely light, and able to hold a large amount of files, as well as being waterproof and dust-proof  so that even if something happened to the camera, there was still a chance the footage we had we would be able to use. Because they were able to hold such a large capacity of storage, it didn't restrict us to the amount of footage we shot, unlike other previous more restricting methods, such as recording onto tapes did, although we still carried a spare SD card in case, which was not any extra burden because of its small nature, and effortless portability.
SD cards also conveniently slot directly into most computers, so that we were able to easily just transfer our files onto the main computer ready for editing.

Post Production





All of the stages above demonstrate the ways in which technology has influenced every process of film making, and how it has become more easy for the general public to create their own media products, empowering the democracy, as it is no longer only professional film makers, or those with substantial amounts of money who can make and distribute their films, but as the general public now generally carry media recording devices with them, and are able to easily upload them onto sites such as youtube, and then distribute them through social networking sites at no cost, it means that we are able to blur the boundaries between Professionals and Consumers, to become 'prosumers' as the audience are no longer generally passive figures who do not produce and contribute their own media products to the industry.