How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation?

Pre-productionFor my foundation media studies, in order to get a greater idea of thriller conventions, I researched several different thriller genre film openings. To complete my research I used a computer with access to the internet because this opened up several opportunities to view a worldwide range of thriller film openings. I used the popular website Youtube as my main area of research for the film openings because it contains a huge database of different videos that span across the whole world. I applied this methodology of research for advanced portfolio because I believe it was very effective, easy to use and access. Alternatively, I had to research different real media texts in relation to the pop genre and I researched other A-Level music videos in order to gain inspiration for my production. Additionally, I used a website used ‘Art of the Title’ for my research of thriller film openings. I gained a greater understanding of generic conventions of film openings and thriller genres. With this access to case studies, I could make an analysis of real media texts to help improve my production.

Pre-productionFor my advanced portfolio I have used the same method of research, however I used a larger variety of websites to develop my understanding of digipaks and magazine posters. One of the most common websites that I used for my research was Google images, this provided with lots of real media texts in relation to my work. Therefore, this helped me in the analysis of real media texts and gave me an easy way to show visual examples. For my audience research , I used 2 different methods to conduct an effective survey of the audience. The first method I used was a Vox pop, which is a short interview with a person answering short questions. This allowed me collect qualitative data, which is useful because it doesn’t limit the interviewee to a specific answer and instead allows a free flowing speech. For this I used a simple Sony HD Camcorder to create the video because I didn’t need any professional equipment to create a simple visual capture of an interview. Also, to merge all the footage together into a video, I used the software ‘iMovie’ because it's easy to use and merge this footage, I didn’t require any advanced software. I used this method for my foundation year and advanced portfolio, however for the advanced portfolio, I used a secondary form of audience research. This time I used a simple questionnaire with an average sample because this allowed me to collect quantitative data, which allowed me to form different charts and diagrams to visually demonstrate my research and this helped me recognise different trends and patterns. I created the questionnaire on Microsoft Word because it is very easy to use, which helped me use my time more efficiently and it helped me create a clear and professional document. Also, I used Microsoft Excel to form the diagrams I needed to demonstrate my results from the questionnaire because the diagrams created are clear, accurate and fulfill my needs. Finally, to conduct the research I needed a physical copy of the questionnaire, therefore I used a printer because it allowed me to easily create several copies of the questionnaire, so I can give it out to a larger sample. Overall, I used all these different resources because I wanted to use whatever is available to me in order to create a clear and professional piece of work.

ProductionFor the production of my foundation media studies course, I had to create a film opening and an institution logo as the main projects of the course. For the production of the institution logo, I used the iOS operating systems on the Apple iMacs. I have used this system before, therefore I was aware of all the functions and how to operate it effectively. Despite the iMacs being slower and having lowers specifications compared to Windows operating system. I used the iMacs because I’m more familiar with them, therefore I could use my time more efficiently and productively when working on a project with a specific time period. Additionally, for the production of my logo, I used the software Adobe Photoshop CS6, which is an advanced editing software for graphic design. This enabled me to precisely develop my logo because I had control of the smallest details that needed changing. Also, I used the internet to explore ideas for my logo, as well as using it to develop my skills in Photoshop. I browsed several ideas on Google images and used ‘Copy and Paste’ to collect all my ideas, before creating my final logo, which I created using different tools on Photoshop. Similarly, for the production of my ancillary tasks for my advanced portfolio I used Adobe Photoshop. This is due to the fact that it's one the of the best softwares to use on the market and after several years of using the software, I became more familiar and advanced with the use of it. For the ancillary task, I had to learn how to remove green screen backgrounds because majority of the pictures from my photoshoot were done on a green screen. Inevitably, I used the color range and replace tools in order to cleanly remove any signs of the green screen. Also, I used certain effects that allowed me to create a black and white effect on a picture, whilst keeping a desired colour from the image. Additionally, I used an iPhone 6 camera for my photoshoot because at the time no professional cameras were available. However, I believe we utilised the iPhone’s camera well because I managed to get the desired image for my ancillary task. Despite this, I believe that with an even better camera, we could experiment more and use the functions on the camera.

ProductionFor the production of my film opening for the foundation portfolio, I used a Sony HD Camcorder to capture my footage because it provided decent quality of footage and the transportation of the footage is very convenient because all the footage is stored on an SD card, which can export footage onto a computer with ease. In regards to our video, I believe the camera was good enough to capture the footage that we wanted because we didn’t need any complex shots that required advanced settings to be used. The biggest issue with the camera was the poor quality of the microphone because it was very weak and struggled to capture a clear sound without coming close to the source of the sound. Alternatively, our music video for the advanced portfolio, we initially started with the same camera, however when we discovered that we could use a Nikon D3200, we changed our plan and decided to take a more professional piece of equipment. The cameras general quality is much better and clear because it’s purpose is for photography. However, we used certain function that allowed us to film with it. This was very beneficial to our production because this gave us control over the lighting by changing the aperture. Also, we were able to have greater quality and focus when we were filming because the lens we used had great capabilities. The use of the camera allowed us to have different camera focuses, such as the rack focus, which helped create emphasis and effects in certain scenes. For example, we were able to give a perspective of the artist when he was at the embankment, where he was focusing on himself. However, when he noticed something that came to his attention, we were able to demonstrate this by changing the rack focus on another location. Furthermore, we used a tripod to film certain sections which required the camera to stay in one position, this gave us control over the stability and positioning of the camera, which was useful for the type of effect we wanted to create. The only issue with the camera was the handling because it was very difficult to maneuver the camera without disturbing the footage quality when filming certain shots such as the bird’s eye view. Therefore, in the future I could use a certain attachment to the camera, which will provide men comfort and stability when I film a piece of footage. Overall, I believe that the changes in technology in the foundation portfolio to the advanced portfolio are very significant because we were able to utilise greater quality and effect by using more advanced and professional equipment. This allowed us to get the exact images that we desired from our production because we were able use more complex camera shots and functions from the camera

Post productionThe post production for the foundation portfolio required me to edit the footage that I have acquired for my film opening. To edit my film opening, I used a Windows operating system because it has higher specification in comparison to the iMacs. Therefore, whilst editing precise and complicated footage that required several effects and titles, I didn’t experience any lags or crashes in the system. This helped me utilise my time well and perform my editing process smoothly without having to restart the iMac because it couldn’t handle the size of the project. We used the editing software Premiere Pro, this is a very precise and advanced video editing software, which specialises in editing the smallest details in the footage and provides several different effects. Alternatively, we didn’t use the software to its full extent because we didn’t know how to effectively use the tools provided. Therefore, we kept the footage simple, whilst only eliminating any sound, camera and lighting issues. Additionally, in order to acquire non-royalty music(non-diegetic), we used the website Youtube to find the appropriate music to implement into our film opening. Once we found the desired piece of music, we used a website that allowed us to export the whole video from Youtube, before editing out the footage from the video and that allowed us to only use the music. The software we used gave us a simple method to export our final piece with all the footage and music, finally enabling for it to be viewed by our audience.

Post productionFor the advanced portfolio I used the same software because I’m very familiar with it and aware of the capabilities it has for editing the footage. However, on this occasion we decided we needed a more professional look to make it look more like the videos we researched that inspired us. Therefore, in order to make our video in a similar style to Coldplay, we used cinematic effects that we learned from tutorials on Youtube. This helped us change the image so it looks more professional and sharp, which would make the visuals more pleasing to the audience(Blumer and Katz). Also, we added cinematic bars into our video in order to make it more like Coldplay videos, which take a cinematic/movie-like style. Moreover, we kept our transitions similar to those in the foundation portfolio because they allowed the video to flow and they created a good effect. The main transitions that we used were straight cuts, cross to dissolve and fade. Furthermore, we used the same websites like Youtube to acquire the music that we needed for our video because we found that in our foundation portfolio, using Youtube and video converters was the best and easiest way to export music. The only issue we rarely suffered were crashes in the software, however this was due to the fact that we used a lot of different effects in our video, which highly affected the RAM. Overall, I believe we showed progression from the foundation portfolio to the advanced portfolio because we started to use our resources to their full potential in order to create the most professional video we possibly could to our ability.

PresentationIn regards to presentation, I used the social media website ‘Blogger’ to upload all of my finished products and the work that took place before the final products were released. I used this method of uploading my work for both of my portfolios because ‘blogger’ is very formal in its presentation, which helps support the information that I have provided for people to view. The structure of the blog allows the whole process to be clear because it places the uploads in the order of time(when uploaded). One of the key features is that it allows a diverse group of people to view the blog from around the world where people have the internet and devices to access it. Furthermore, to upload my research, planning, production and post production tasks, I used stored files on my computer and used the vast capabilities of blogger to do so. As a result, the website allows easy access to uploading information in any type of form, whether it's a video, picture, presentation or Prezi. This is done by embedding the access code provided from those sources of information and adding it to the HTML section. For majority of my work, I used 2 different methods of presenting my work in order to make it interesting, interactive and easy to interpret. One of those methods is using the website Prezi, which offers an interactive form of presentation, where I can embed videos, images and demonstrations to put the relevant information across. Secondly, I used a basic presentation that I formed on Microsoft Presentation, this allowed me to perform similar tasks to Prezi but less fancy and elegant because the transitions and appearance are much less pleasing compared to Prezi. However, in order to upload a presentation from Microsoft Presentation, I had to use the website called Slideshare. This allowed me to transport my presentation into a format which I can embed into my blog. Therefore, once I completed everything on Slideshare and Prezi, I used the function ‘Copy and Paste’ to take the embed link and apply it to my blog. These presentations would appear on ‘Blogger’ by sending just the relevant presentation to the viewer, whilst staying on the blog. The only issue that I experienced with ‘Blogger’ is the interactive section when creating a blog post. This is due to the fact that sometimes the way I created the post would change when it's viewed by the public. For example, when I uploaded an image the size and positioning changed, therefore I had to edit the post and make sure it's in a position where it won't change.

PresentationFor the presentation of video-based production, I used the website Youtube to upload my videos. This was the easiest and most convenient way to upload my videos because all it requires to upload a video is to insert the file containing the video. The video is presented through dynamic imagery and the tools available allow the viewer to change the view, volume and add captions(unless unavailable). I have used this website for my foundation portfolio, so I’m familiar with it and it's very popular with my target audience, therefore it's the best place for the video to attract views. Also, it allows the video to be embedded into my blog in the same way that the presentations are embedded.