A2 Media Studies

EvaluationSamena Khan 5255

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

A variety of media technologies were used in all stages of my coursework. For my research I mainly used the internet. One site which was in use was YouTube which enabled to look at existing documentaries and conduct textual analysis on these documentaries  Conducting textual analysis on these documentaries helped me to understand what the codes and conventions of documentaries are and helped me to decide on the content and gave me inspiration for my own documentary. My final product was also uploaded onto YouTube. Other sites which helped me conduct my textual analysis' were channel four on demand and five on demand. 

INTERNET

• For my construction I used Final Cut Express to edit and compile my documentary. Final cut allowed me to cut my footage, add titles and adjust colours of some shots where I didn't like the colour. For my AS work I used iMovie and did not want to use this for my A2 as I felt the editing options on this programme were very simplistic and there was a limit to the amount of things you can do. I was able to experiment with a range of different tools and try out different techniques e.g. I played around with the idea of whether the facts in my documentary should be on black or on an actual shot but decided on putting the text on black as it would have distracted the audience from the shot. Finally I personally wanted to adapt and learn new skills rather then rely on previous skills. Through the use of YouTube tutorials I was able to be independent and teach myself how to use final cut.

FINAL CUT EXPRESS

FRUITY LOOPS STUDIOSFruity Loops Studios were used in order to make the music for my documentary. I felt that this programme was easy to use and also helped us to make the music suited to our tastes. Initially I tried to make the music on Garage band but I found the programme hard to use and when I did learn how to produce music on Garage band through YouTube tutorials I was not happy with the quality of the music. The music created in Garage band did not seem suited to our documentary whereas the music I created on FL studies reflected our genre better.

• For the construction of my newspaper advert and the editing of the image on the double page ancillary I used the programme Photoshop CS6 to edit my pictures. Photoshop has a variety of techniques and in order to choose the techniques I wanted to use I watched YouTube tutorials on how to conduct certain effects. By watching these videos I was able to try out these techniques and decide if they were right for my media texts. Watching YouTube tutorials also helped me when I had some difficulty in using Photoshop. Through the use of YouTube tutorial we were able to try out certain techniques such as the Sketch Effect Technique and the Colour Splash technique.

PHOTOSHOP CS6

• For the production of my double page I used the programme In Design as I felt that it was easy to layout text in this programme compared to Photoshop which was more suited for editing photos. Although I had not used In Design previously  from the use of YouTube tutorials I was able to pick up the skills needed to make my ancillary double page.

• The fact that In Design also has layers helped me to understand the use of the programme better as I was able to apply my understanding of my use of Photoshop from previously. The fact that Photoshop also has layers helped me to use these skills in understanding and self learning the use of in design.

INDESIGN

• Finally through the use of my blog on BlogSpot I was able to keep track of my progress with my coursework as well as record every aspect of the three tasks. Information could also be easily transferred regardless of where I was working. Finally through the use of the blog other members of the group could also easily access content readily and it is easily available to one another.

BLOGSPOT

MAC AND HD DIGITAL CAMERAI used a Mac in order to upload and edit my footage on final cut. This was easy to use and very efficient. Time was not lost from turning on or off the computer.A HD digital camera was used in order to film our footage of my documentary. This was a great advantage as it took high quality footage giving my product a professional feel. We were also able to watch back our footage there and then due to the use of an SD card which helped to cut down editing time and preventing us from reshooting scenes as we knew that they were good shots. We also used this HD digital camera to take our pictures for our main task and ancillaries. Because we had already made use of it in our main task we were familiar with how to use it preventing any time from being wasted in trying to figure out how to take images.