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

Sam Stapleton

Research Planning

Construction Evaluation

• During my research phase, I opted to use the website surveymonkey.com in order to obtain quantative research about what individuals think about documentary in general. I advertised the survey on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in order to get a wider range of results. I took screenshots of the provided charts that show the information and placed them into my blog.

• Another important aspect was the use of the software Microsoft Powerpoint. A large amount of the research was obtained through reading information found on the internet, however Powerpoint acted as the medium for presenting this information. I then uploaded my presentations to Google Drive and used the embed code in order to place them onto my website.

• I also placed a couple of images onto my research page in order to provide a wider range of media forms rather than make it predominantly text-based.This allows readers to view the information in a more eye-pleasing manner.

Research

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Planning

• An important software that I used during my planning stages was Microsoft Excel, which allowed me to conduct research into what my target audience would like from my product.

• Another was Celtx, which I used in order to write my scripts (with the exception of my final script, where I used Movie Magic Screenwriter). This is efficient scriptwriting software that allows you to develop the narrative with relative ease, as well as allowing conversation to PDF, making it simple to embed into my website.

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Construction

• The first important aspect in the construction of my main product was the equipment. I used an SLR camera to film the interviews and large amounts of other footage, which ensured a high-quality, professional look, as well as allowing for use of manual focus. The camera was predominantly placed on a tripod and for some shots a dolly was also used to ensure shots involving movement were more steady. However, this did not always work due to the rough ground at my filming location.

• A key use of technology that I used when designing and creating my newspaper advert was Adobe Photoshop, where I used many different techniques to ensure a high-quality production. This included use of clipping masks, lowering of opacity/changing to soft light filters, gradient maps/photo filters to change lighting and the blur tool on the background so that the badge became the focal point.

• Other important equipment was the use of the professional set-up used to record voice-overs for my radio trailer and documentary in the Leaf Campus Radio Room, notably the microphone which allowed for clear and concise recording. This worked in conjunction with the use of Garageband, which I used to construct my radio trailer together. This software allowed me to split and place audio clips as I wished them, as well as change and normalise audio levels.

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Construction

• The most important software used in constructing my main piece is Final Cut Pro. While the basics of this software were learned during the creation of my foundation portfolio, my ability has improved over time. Examples of this include the super-imposing of the AFC Bournemouth badge onto the jumper of Craig Dennett (this was achieved by obtaining an image of the Bournemouth badge with a transparent background, placing it into Final Cut, placing it above the video clip and lowering the opacity of the image). Another was the change of lighting in some shots in order to reflect the mood of the piece at that time, such as when administration is the topic.

• Another technique used was the creation of the legends as interviews with experts are used, which introduces the interviewee to the audience who may not know who the person is without this. I also opted to place the AFC Bournemouth badge on the legend to ensure continuity.

• YouTube was also important as it allowed me to upload my video clips and place the video onto my website rather than using text-based links to other video providers.

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Evaluation

• I also used Final Cut Pro during the creation of my evaluation. For example, during the first question I opted to record a video of myself answering the question and place it in the corner of my documentary.

• Popplet was also optimised when answering my evaluation questions, as I decided to create a mind-map rather than large amounts of my evaluation being text-based. This more pictorial approach removes any 'walls of text' that look unsavoury on my website.

• The decision to use HTML and CSS language codes in order to design a website rather than use a generated blog site is something that I believe shows diversity in my ability with media technologies. This was particularly effective during my evaluation stage as it meant that I had no issues in placing everything together and ensuring my evaluation showed many different forms of media overall.

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