EVALUATION QUESTION 4

HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH PLANNING AND EVALUATION

STAGES?

AND

• I have used Blogger this year to document my research, I have used two blogs; the first with the most posts has documented all of my research when making my main task the documentary. The second blog documents all of my research for my two ancillary tasks the banner advertisement and the double page spread advertisement. Both blogs can be looked at on my Wix website.

• After using blogger last year I was more comfortable using the blogger and found Wix rather temperamental especially as the site would crash rather a lot and you also had to keep updating the website whenever you did any new work in comparison to blogger which just updated itself. Therefore I choose to make a link to blogger of both blogs so that my Wix site automatically updated itself.

AND

• This year I have used slide share in my blog posts showing the developments specifically with typography and different colour schemes I have looked at when creating the advertisement banner.

• I used Prezi specifically last year when I presented to my media class our work as a group I also used Prezi for some of the evaluation questions.

• The advantages of using Prezi is that it is interactive and makes the presentation more interesting however Prezi is very complex and its animation can be difficult to control the presentation is also very time consuming as there are so many different types of motion you can apply to your PowerPoint.

• Prezi doesn’t always automatically save your work and is connected to your internet connection therefore if your internet connect cuts out part of your PowerPoint could be deleted.

• Slide share allows a user to upload the presentation by using word or PowerPoint and making the presentation interactive.

These slide share screen shot images show how I have used slide share this year for a variety of different research purposes; banner analysis, magazine page analysis, double page spread colour analysis and colour pallet comparisons of existing channel four advertisements.

• I have used Scribd to upload scanned Pdf files which I have hand written or drawn I have mostly used the site to upload my story boards

• The website allows me to embed the file onto my blog in a blog post. This programme also allows me to show my planning before doing a piece of work. For example before I recorded my voice over narration for the documentary I hand wrote two sides of A4 documenting the main points I wanted to talk about. After the voice over narration I then uploaded the sheet to show my planning as a blog post.

• I have also used scribd to upload the results of my questionnaire research.

These screen shot images show the different ways I have used the program to record my research; live type analysis, questionnaire record, storyboard explaining title animation and a page from one of my documentary storyboard.

• An advantage to using word is that I am able to edit a lot of my blog posts using words spell check. As bloggers spell check doesn't always pick up on all of the errors.

• I have also used word to write about my research and illustrate my points more clearly as I can use text boxes and arrows to link my written analysis to the images.

• When I insert images into blogger posts it makes the format of the text react weirdly and I am unable to shape the text around the images so I found the use of word more useful and reliable.

• I have used Microsoft Word in a variety of posts by uploading the document to slide share which then transforms the document into a presentation style post on my blog.

• I have also used word in my research to document my questionnaires results from my target group using excel charts and graphs.

• I have used Microsoft Excel throughout my research to record the results of my questionnaires . I used the programme on Microsoft word by inputting the numbers of each section into a small pop out window spread sheet. I am also able to choose the format of the data’s results in the form of charts and graphs. I believe that it is important to illustrate the results this way as it is easier to read and is more eye catching and interesting.

• Depending on the style of the question and the number of results I use different charts. When recording the data or a question with lots of different areas I believe using a pie chart is the most effective method of recording the information as it is more visually understandable which answer was the most effective due to the largest coloured portion. I also use arrows as sometimes the chart automatically uses the programme twice and it can be confusing to read the results.

• I use bar graphs when recording smaller data normally as I feel that the blocks and number of data vertically is easier to read.

APPLE MAC COMPUTERS

• I have used Apple Mac Computers throughout this year some disadvantages of using the Apple Mac Computers are that the computers are sometimes temperamental and half way through my project one of the computers wouldn’t let me edit my footage.

• I also found it difficult to use the computers as I am use to the regular school computers and only did media studies this year and last so the way that they work is rather new to me and I still get confused when I try to scroll up the mouse moves downwards.

• I also had a challenge finding some audio tracks which were compatible with the computers. The computers didn’t recognise an audio track unless it was MP3 therefore I had to change the downloadable setting of some audio tracks I found on the internet which were copyright and royalty free.

VIDEO CAMERA/CAMCORDER

• The use of a video Camera which I borrowed from the school has been fundamentally significant in the creation of the documentary.

• The use of digital camera has also allowed me to record my own voice over. I was able to record a specific spot while I spoke into the camera and while on final cut express I was able to delete the visual part of the clip by unlinking all of my footage once I had unlinked all of the clips I was then able to overlay the audio of existing footage.

• I also created a shooting schedule to document which key scenes I wanted to film and using storyboards I planned the scenes of my documentary. I also created and planned a scripted set of questions I would ask my mum and sister during the interview so that the documentary delved into key areas.

• I also used a tripod when interviewing my mum in our living room, the use of a tripod allowed me to use the 180 rule and I was also able to glide the camera using the tripods stick over some old photos of my mum on my family dinning room table.

PHONE

• Throughout my A2 Portfolio work I have used a variety of different technologies along with my phone.

• I have taken location shots for my research and I have also been able to establish key camera angles and shots as well as key lighting sources in the filming environment by documenting photos.

• I have used editing filters on my phone to experiment with black and white filters before I added a black and white filters to my footage on final cut express.

• I have also taken photos of my mum for the banner advertisement and double page spread. I used different colour effects apps on my Samsung phone such as; ‘photos’ and ‘paper artist’ for the advertisement banner.

APPLE ITUNES LIBRARY

• I used this website; http://www.youtube-mp3.org/ to convert the audio tracks.• I used apple iTunes when I converted the audio

tracks from YouTube so that they could be used on the apple Mac Computers at school. I tested that the downloaded Mp3 tracks were compatible with the Apple Mac computers before I brought them into school on a memory stick by uploading them to my iPod library.

FINAL CUT EXPRESS

• I used final Cut Express to edit the footage I filmed. The programme on the apple mac computers allowed me to edit the footage clips together on a timeline and edit the clips by adding effects which are consistent with conventional representations of documentaries.

• The advantage of using so many different types of editing techniques allows you to experiment and alter all of your footage and then remove or save the footage.

• I particularly liked the use of the wand on the timeline I was able to edit the pitch and sound of the audio non-diegetic sound clips I added onto the footage. I was also able to remove some diegetic sound which was in one of the earlier slow motion shots. You could hear me step on something as I panned around my mums face.

• When using visual effects I took into consideration the type of techniques my audience stated they liked in a documentary. By referring to my target audience feedback I feel that I have created a product which is effective and successful.

LIVE TYPE

• I used Live type when I was experimenting with text styles for my documentaries title. Live type allowed me to animate and experiment with different backgrounds however I felt that the most effective effect was a shadowing effect however I felt that the style would have been more effective with a banner.

• Therefore I experimented with Final Cut Expresses text styles and techniques. My Media Teacher helped me create a sliding banner for the title to reflect and link to Channel fours style and my two ancillary texts.

• In a blog post I also created a storyboard explaining the process of the sliding banner title. The letters of the title also typed across the page as I used the ‘typewriter’ effect. However the letters glided across the screen instead of being punched like an actual typewriter would type. I edited the text speed and the banner speed so that they were consistent, I felt that this style was more effective.

• I used Vimeo to upload my footage at different intervals during my research.

• Vimeo is a website like YouTube in which you are able to upload clips, the advantage of using Vimeo is that it is not as widely known as YouTube therefore the uploading time is shorter.

• Vimeo's website in comparison to YouTube is specifically tailored for people who enjoy making video and short films therefore vimeo is more suitable for uploading my documentary.

• However a disadvantage of using Vimeo is that my target audience are more unlikely to see the documentary as they may not be aware of the website.

• This year I have used YouTube throughout the project. I have used YouTube in my written analysing to illustrate my point by using clips.

• YouTube has also help me develop my voice over as I was able to analyse a variety of clips.

• I was also able to find royalty and copyright free music tracks for my documentary.

• I was originally going to use some songs which weren't royalty or copyright free which I owned on CD. However due to the OCR specification I was not able to use my original audio tracks.

• However I believe that it is more effective that the audio tracks I eventually used don't have words, if the songs had words it may have taken away from my mum talking in the documentary. The instrumental soundtracks I believe enhance the mood and atmosphere of the footage and makes the documentary more effective.

WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY YOU USED?

• I believe that the Apple Mac computers and the cameras along with the programme Final Cut Express were the most important aspects of technology I used to create the documentary.• However from a research perspective I believe

that slide share was the most important program I used as it allowed me to experiment with text and colour schemes in an interactive way. I found using slide share a big help as I found myself doing more research and writing more blog posts in comparison to last years blog.

WHAT PROBLEMS DID TECHNOLOGY CAUSE?

• I found it difficult to upload and edit the footage on final Cut express due to the Apple Mac computers at school ever since last year the computers have been temperamental and do not always save your work so at one point I had to back up the documentary footage I had edited so far to a hard drive.

• Due to the computers becoming temperamental it also resulted in me uploading my documentaries footage more frequently I uploaded my documentary to my blog three or four times I believe in comparison to last year I only uploaded the final version of the documentary.

• Uploading the footage has benefitted my coursework however it was also very time consuming and resulted in me not doing as much editing as I planned to do throughout the project as the work I had done on the computers kept being lost.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN THIS YEAR? HOW DID THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY ENABLE YOU TO

BE BETTER IN YOUR TASKS?

• This year I have concentrated on my research and the use of the programme slide share has enabled me to do a lot of research is a simplistic way. It was easier to upload my experiments and write directly next to the images in word in comparison to last year when I would upload an image and write a large paragraph which may have not been next to the image due to the layout of the blogger programme.

• I also believe that I have improved the detail of how much I have analysed aspects of research and I feel that I have used theorists in my work more.

• I have became more confident when using Final Cut Express as I created an animated banner and manipulated some sound bites in the timeline. I used a technique of overlaying two clips so that they fade into one another I believe this technique was very effective and represented the past and present as my mum reflects on her childhood in the documentary.