4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction

and research, planning and evaluation stages?

By Mourad H EL-Ghazili

I used various media technologies when it came to the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages of my advanced media portfolio.

The ways in how I used media technologies and how they impacted by product can be seen on the following slides.

Introduction

To record my research, planning and evaluations I used Blogger, a free internet service where you can create your own blog and write your own posts.

I believed that using Blogger was really effective during the course of my production for many reasons.

It was more economical to use compared to writing down my research, planning and final evaluation by hand. By using blogger, it meant that I wouldn’t waste pieces of paper writing up evidence etc.

Firstly…

It was more practical because if I had recorded my research, planning and evaluation by hand, I would have to store it in a folder which is likely to get damaged or lost.

Using Blogger meant that information could be stored safely without the risk of losing any valuable pieces of my research, planning and research.

Secondly…

Sometimes that an eternal error in the system would occur, meaning that your work would not be able to be saved. To tackle this problem when it occurred, I would copy my work into a Microsoft Word document and save it so I would not lose it.

A Limitation

Blogger had a massive positive impact upon my project as it helped me to use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of my advanced portfolio effectively as without it, I would have had to do this research and planning all by hand, meaning that I was at risk of possibly losing research.

Impact?

To film my short film, I used a Panasonic camcorder.

I believe that this camcorder had a massive impact upon my project for the following reasons.

Panasonic Camcorder

The image quality was also good and was able to pick up the scenery without any problems.

This meant that I was able to capture sufficient images that would enhance my final product.

Firstly…

However the camcorder was not High Definition, meaning that my final product would not look crisp. I believe that this was a limitation because if I was able to film my short film in HD, I believe that the image quality would have been 10x times better, enhancing it.

A Limitation

Despite this limitation, the Panasonic camcorder had a massive impact upon my project as it was effective in achieving my aim of capturing my short film and creating a professional product.

Without it, I won’t have been able to go out and create my short film.

Impact?

To edit my short film, I used editing software called iMovie, made available via Mac technology.

I believe that iMovie had an impact upon my project for the following reasons.

It is a very basic piece of software that I found incredibly easy to use as it enabled me to trim and place clips simply yet effectively.

Because it was so easy to use, I was able to piece together my short film in less than 2 days, with an extra 3 days used to add in sound effects which would enhance my final product.

Firstly…

The only limitation of using iMovie is that because of its simplicity, you’re limited on the kinds of special effects that you’re able to use within your product, such as you cannot film edit in an explosion or use any CGI.

However, I was affected by these limitations as the genre of my short film was an urban drama, which relies on realism rather than fantasy effects. The only effects that I used in my short film was slow motion to emphasize danger and create tension.

A Limitation

In conclusion, I believe that iMovie had a massive impact upon my project as it was an effective piece of software to use as it provided the basic tools that would enable me to piece together my filmed footage and create a professional product.

I believe that if I had no access to iMovie, I wouldn’t have been able to create a sophiscated and professional short film

Impact?

To trim my recorded sound for my short film, I used RealPlayer Trimmer on my laptop.

I believe that Realplayer Trimmer had an impact on my project for the following reasons.

Trimmer

It was a very simplistic programme to use as all you had to do was import the track into the programme which brought up the audio file enabling me to trim down the clip. It was a very effective programme to use because it enabled me to alter my audio files simply.

Why?

However, there were some limitations of using this programme was due to its simplicity, as it does let you trim the middle of an audio file.

This brought complications as I wanted to trim the middle selection of an audio file.

A Limitation

Despite that limitation, RealPlayer Trimmer had a massive impact upon my project because if I didn’t use this software, then I wouldn’t have been able to edit audio files for my short film.

Impact?

To create my film poster, I used Microsoft PowerPoint. Usually PowerPoint is used to create presentations so it was an unusual choice to use to create my film poster.

I believe that this piece of software had an impact upon my project in the following ways.

The programme had some useful tools that come in handy when it comes to photo manipulation.

For example, it allows you to remove the background off a photo.

This was very simple yet effective as it enabled to construct a professional film poster that would help to sell and enhance the codes and conventions of my short film.

Why?

A limitation of using this program was that it is not designed to edit and manipulate photographs, so the tools are very simplistic, so you can’t do excessive editing.

However, I personally did not need to do any excessive editing as I only removed the background that the characters featured on so that I could put them onto the poster background that I had.

A Limitation

I believed that PowerPoint had an impact upon my project as it was a very effective program to use as it enabled me to create a professional looking poster that applied to the codes and conventions of a traditional urban drama film.

Impact?

To upload my short films and other forms of research videos, I used the website YouTube, which was linked to my Blogger account.

I believe that this service had a massive impact upon my project for the following reasons.

This was very effective as when I uploaded my videos to YouTube, I was then able to go to my Blogger account and then select a video form my YouTube channel to insert into a post.

This proved to be very efficient as uploading a video to Blogger would take a couple of hours whereas this took literally a couple of seconds.

Firstly…

There were no limitations that had an immediate impact upon my portfolio as all I had to do was insert my video from YouTube onto to Blogger.

Secondly…

YouTube had an effect on my project because if I had no access to it, I would not have been able to transfer my videos across to my Blogger account, meaning that I’d have to upload them manually, which would have taken several hours, so effectively, YouTube saved me a lot of time.

Impact?

I believe my use of new media technologies helped with the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of my project.

They all had a massive impact upon my project because if I did not use these new media technologies, then I would not have been able to create a professional advanced portfolio.

Similarly, if I had the resources, I’d have loved to use more sophiscated editing software’s such as Final Cut Pro for editing, Logic for Sound and Photoshop for photo editing as I believe that these software’s would have enhanced my project even more.

CONCLUSION