How did you use media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and evaluation

stages?

Planning and research phase

Many different types of technology played a great

part in all three stages of our work. Throughout the planning and research phase, research was key and to do this we needed constant access to the internet in order to look up other media products such as trailers (trailer addict), film posters (Google)

and magazine covers. Of course as well as needing the internet, we needed computers to enable us to gain this internet access and we also needed computers to

be able to store any information we found.

I found trailer addict a big advantage when doing research into film trailers as it gave me quick access to a huge variety of film trailers all in one place. They also provide the audience with links which I used to then embed trailers onto my blog. I found Google a good source of

information however at times I felt that it gave to much information which was then became time consuming.

When Planning for our construction phase we needed to organise how we wanted the trailer to look and one way we did this was by using movie maker to create a moving storyboard. We felt that by putting the drawings onto movie maker it would give us a more realistic perspective of how the real film trailer would look. In order to do this, we drew out the storyboard and then used a photocopier which emailed the drawings to us. We then cropped each photo and uploaded it onto movie maker where we created the moving storyboard.

We felt that this was effective as it did give us a more realistic view of what our film would look like which is what we intended for this to do. Moviemaker became easier to use once we knew what to do and we were pleased with the final result.

CONSTRUCTION PHASE (Film trailer)

The construction phase was perhaps when we used the most media technology. Most importantly, we required a camcorder to shoot the footage, and along with this, we needed a tripod in order to make sure our framing was effective.

I found the camcorders that we were given easy to use and transferring the footage from the cameras to the eMacs was also simple.

We needed to film some of our shots in night mode; we did this to create a ghostly effect. We felt that it would be more effective to do this in the construction phase on the camcorder rather than in the editing stage as playing with the lighting whilst editing can be tricky and less realistic.

Whilst filming, to ensure the actor/actresses voices could be heard we used a microphone which connected to the camcorder. We found this useful because it meant that we could focus on other aspects such as framing and the acting itself rather than the actors having to project their voices. However the microphone was extremely large and hard to handle so we had to take it in turns to hold it above the characters which was a little time consuming.

When it came to uploading our shots, we used an eMac. This gave us the opportunity to load our footage onto the program movie maker where we could then create our trailer by taking the shots from the side bar and dragging them down onto the timeline. We then began editing these shots by cutting them to the correct length and adding in transitions such as fades, and the titles. We used these different techniques to the best ability that we could in order to make our trailer as realistic as possible.

Movie maker is a complex program and at first I found it hard to create some of the effects that I had originally wanted to, however after fiddling around with some of the transitions and the titles, I found more effects that I felt would be effective and I became more at ease with the program.

Other programs on the eMac’s that we used included iTunes which we used to convert the copyright free music that we found on the internet onto our project. We also attempted to create some music on garage band however this was unsuccessful.

Due to the fact that I’m familiar with iTunes, I knew the process in which I needed to transfer the music from the internet, onto iTunes then onto the movie maker. However it was the first time that I had attempted to use garage band and unfortunately, I did not have enough time to completely understand the program which meant that I could not create the music that I would have liked to.

CONSTRUCTION PHASE (FILM POSTER)

In the construction phase of our film poster we used a still camera to produce the pictures of the key image we wanted to use. We then uploaded these images to

the computer which was a simple process of inserting the SD card into a memory stick and then into the computer.

Once we had uploaded the photos, we used Photoshop to edit the chosen image and we did this first by changing the lighting. We also used functions that allowed us to fade out the edges so that they weren’t as sharp. And we then used its tools to create the title and the tag line. We changed the fonts, font colour and font sizes around until we found a look that we thought would represent our film well. We then used Microsoft word to create the billing block that we then copied and pasted onto the poster.

This was my first time using Photoshop, so as expected, it was tricky. However once I got the hang of editing certain things such as the lighting and adding titles, it became easier which then gave me the confidence to then try out other tools such as fading.

Lighting

TitlingColour Fill

Magic Eraser Tool

ZoomBlur tool

CONSTRUCTION PHASE (MAGAZINE COVER)

Firstly, we used the still camera to take pictures of the model. We then transferred these onto the computer as we did before when creating our

film poster.

We then opened the chosen picture onto Photoshop where we then edited

the image to create a more realistic product.

We started out by editing layer one (the original image of model) and we did this by playing with the lighting. We

played around with different effects that could be used such as watercolour and

sketch. We did end up making the picture slightly darker as we felt that it made the contrast between the colours

more vast and therefore more eye-catching.

We used the spot eraser tool to correct any blemishes on the models face.

We then added in the title and the cover lines and formatted them to fit in

with the rest of the cover.

We used ‘paint’ to create a barcode which we then copied onto the cover.

EVALUATION

During the evaluation stage of our project, we tried to use as many different technologies as possible in order to present our questions in different and effective ways.For question 1 we decided to film ourselves in an interview style by using the camera and tri pod. We then asked each other questions on all of our media products and uploaded this footage onto the eMacs to edit into a ‘directors cut’. Because by now we knew how to use the cameras and eMacs well, we were able to do this quickly and efficiently and to and create a good quality piece of work.

For question 2, I decided to present my answer using a ‘Prezi’ (www.prezi.com) this is a new and modern version of a PowerPoint presentation that allows the viewer to zoom in on specific texts, you can also upload YouTube clips and images which adds variety that I found useful as it allowed me to show the pictures I was talking about without me having to describe them to much.

For question 3 I decided to use a Pod Cast. This involved me speaking into a microphone which we then imported onto our blogs. I felt that this was a unique and effective way to present the answer to the question as I felt that it would be interesting for the viewer however there were a few complications. Firstly, it took a while to realise that the cables needed to be put into the back of the computer rather than the front because this gave a clearer sound. And secondly, even when the cables were in the back, the sound was a little blurry at times and I had to re-record my clips a few times before they had a good sound quality.

Question 4 involved a lot of explaining and pictures, and therefore I thought that a PowerPoint presentation would be most appropriate in order to conserve space and also to keep the viewer interested. Due to the fact that I’m familiar with PowerPoint, I was able to use techniques such as animations to make it more interesting and also insert pictures to make the PowerPoint more visually attractive.