The software

The software we are using is Imovie06 and final cut express. I am familiar with Imovie06 from the AS coursework and enjoy working with it. In my opinion their are many advantages of Imovie 06, i like how you are able too see all the clips that you have imported all in one screen, it is therefore easy too re-arrange clips,put them in the right order and cut them down. I feel its basic layout is helpful too beginners too ease them into editing, the Imovie website (http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#imovie) is also very helpful with online tutorials and step by step guides which i followed. Adding sound too Imovie projects is easy too do and i liked how it was placed directly under the clips so it was simple too shorten too the length of the clip or making your own music in garageband is another possibility. This year with Imovie06 i particularly used the tool which splits the clip in half, this helped whilst editing when it was hard too judge how much of the clip needed too be cut out. I was also able too put transitions into the production with no problems and add such effects as 'flashes', which i have used in the last scene of the main protagonist and is very effective from audience feedback. I often created still frames which were then amended in iphoto and used for the teaser poster.To upload videos,presentations and documents onto my blog i also used scribd which is a publishing software that gives a URL code which can be entered into the blog which allows it to be displayed on blogger.

This is what the basic screen looked like whilst doing most of our edditing. The clips that were in the trailer were placed along the bottom along with the sound for those specific scenes underneath. Down the right handside is where we kept rough cuts incase we needed them and they were helpful for audience feedback. We also kept the clips that we 'split' incase we decided later after audience feedback that we wanted them back.

Throughout the editing process we added transitions too add variety too our production. I feel that the 'wash in' that we added when its the scene of someone cutting out a victim in a photograph gave extra suspense and atmosphere too the scene. With the transitions you can decide what speed you would like them too appear at and shows you a preview before you 'add' it too your production. They are easy too remove.

When adding sound on Imovie 06, you can choose the volume of each piece of music you add. Its simple too do and is useful as in certain scenes you may want too dip the sound so you can hear the characters speaking.

On the print screen I'm choosing the option too extract the audio from a particular scene. We applied this tool in the bar scenes when we couldn't control the external sound, we should used a boom mic here. Extracting the sound made it easy for music too be played over the top of the scene however if we were too do it again i would use a boom mic so i didn't have too extract the sound for certain clips. We also took the sound from one clip and placed it over a close up of the main protagonist too represent what she was thinking, this was very effective.

We added titles too our production, these included a rough date of release ('This Christmas' so therefore December time), the title of the film and short sentences too help the audience pick up the narrative. Imovie 06 provided a wide range of ways the title could be displayed. We were able too choose the colour of the background (we chose black and red as we thought it went in with the Christmas idea, red also signifies love and blood along with black signifying death; all of these emotions are trailer covers). We were able too choose how the writing of the title appeared on the screen, there were many different ideas for this such as the words 'flying' or 'spinning' onto the screen. How long the title stayed on the screen for was upto us aswell as the speed of the lettering going onto the screen, there was also a big box for us too write in what we wanted too appear on the screen.

However as this is the second year of using Imovie06 i found it was getting too simple and i wanted too add more effects and sound effects than what was on offer on this particular programme.With this feeling after the basic editing and effects were added by Imovie06 i felt it was time too try a new software which had a wider variety of effects that could help to raise my final mark.Final cut express is a videoing application created by Apple.Some of its features included are;

Ripple, roll, slip, slide and blade edits
Picture-in-picture and split-screen effects

Up to 99 audio tracks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Cut_Express

I found there was a huge difference between these two software's and found it was quite a large jump from Imovie too Final cut express. I went on the apple wesbite and watched tutorials which i did find useful but found i still needed assistance from other sources such as computer technicians. It has some good key features which enable you too add different effects too each slide,however I'm glad i didint my editing in Imovie was i found Final Express challenging too use although when you do know how too use it, you can produce a higher quality of work from Final cut express than Imovie as it is a more complex software. Whilst i attended the young makers film festival i participated in a final cut express masterclass, although it was a masterclass it went through basic procedures so when i went through the video tutorials online i found it re-jogging my memory.

Whilst doing the poster and magazine we initially imported them from a digital camera, which imported them too iphoto. In iphoto we did basic changes such as rotating the image if it was necessary and altering the brightness and sharpness of the photo. After we had saved these changes we then opened them up in Photoshop( https://www.photoshop.com/).Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop) I found photoshop easy too use as it had a toolbar on the left handside of the page that had little images as icons as too what they did. Whilst doing the poster we used the laso tool too cut around images we had already opened in photoshop and once we had a selected an area we clicked on the paint button and it automatically filled the area in black (this was our chosen colour). The laso tool is extremely helpful in cutting round images as you can select as big an area as you like, it is time efficient.However as it gets closer too the edges of the images we had too use the brush tool which is a softer tool for cutting round images that were precise too do such as hair. You could choose the width of your brush depending on how small the area was that you needed too colour around. For the poster the cast received the problem of red eye, this is easily solved in photoshop by clicking the 'red eye' tool and dotting the tool over each eye individually, you could then choose the colour that you wanted too replace it with. When we needed too keep the same colour for different features we used the magic wand tool, the magic wand tool helps pick out the colour pigment of the exact place you have picked, and then lets you put the same colour elsewhere.