HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

ResearchDuring the research and planning stage, a variety of media technologies were used. Firstly, to research documentary we used DVDs to watch ‘Supersize Me’, 4OD to watch ‘My Tattoo Addiction’ and YouTube to watch ‘Skin Deep’. We watched different types of documentaries using these technologies in order to gain an understanding of the codes and conventions and to also give us ideas of what we could put in our documentary. I conducted research into ‘My Tattoo Addiction’ at home where I used a Windows 8 laptop with Google Chrome.

Research

We also did research into different channels that we could air our documentary on. This meant visiting various channel websites such as ‘BBC Three’, ‘Channel 4’ and ‘Channel 5’. As well as this, we visited popular TV guide websites such as ‘TV Choice’ to help us find out what channel would be most suitable for our documentary. We visited these websites using Internet Explorer on the Windows 7 computers at college. These media technologies definitely helped us to decide what type of documentary we were going to create as we wanted to aim to cater the channel we chose.

PlanningWe didn’t use many media technologies when we planned our documentary. The main technologies we used were Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Prezi. This was because the planning contained a lot of work which was written by hand at first. The most efficient way to upload it to Blogger was to type it up in a Word or PowerPoint document. We used Microsoft Office 2010.

Research and PlanningTo display our research and planning we used Blogger. We used a variety of Word, PowerPoint and Prezi documents during the research and planning stage. This allowed us to upload all of the documents relating to our research and planning. However, you are unable to upload Word and PowerPoint documents from the document which means we have to use Scribd and SlideShare in order to publish our documents. To use Scribd and SlideShare you have to upload a document to the website and then embed it onto the blog.

The embed link from Scribd

Construction - FilmingIn the filming section of the construction of the documentary we used a variety of media technologies. We used a video camera, headphones, a microphone and a tripod when filming shots. This equipment was a vital part of creating the documentary because we wouldn’t have been able to film without them. When using the video recorder we focused on the different shot types that we could use and the mise en scene in the shots. The mise en scene of the shots was very important when we were filming as it was the basis for our documentary and what we produced when filming would be what we would have to use in the documentary.

Construction - DocumentaryAfter filming for the documentary we used Final Cut on the Apple Mac to log and transfer our footage and to edit it together afterwards. I had never used Final Cut before this project so it was a challenge when we first started to edit the documentary. However, after a while of editing it became easier. Before we could

edit the shots we had to log and transfer them. This is what it looked like after we had transferred all of our footage onto Final Cut.

Construction - DocumentaryThe editing section of the documentary was the biggest and most time consuming section. This was all done on Final Cut. There were several tools that we regularly used in this program.

The select tool enabled us to drag and drop shots onto the editing panel. It also allowed us to move things around.

The slice tool enabled us to cut shots quickly and easily. It created two separate clips which meant we could choose how we were putting together shots easily.

Construction - DocumentaryThe background music for the documentary was madein GarageBand. We browsed the selection of sounds that are available on this program by selecting an instrument such as guitars, drums, organs etc. Once we had picked an instrument we then chose sounds which fit into the ‘vibe’ of our documentary. We then put these together to create the backing track for the documentary.

Construction – Double Page SpreadWe created the double page spread on Adobe InDesign. We had used this program to create the double page spread and the contents page at AS level last year. This gave us a good idea of how to use this program.

We used the box tool to add images and text to the double page spread.

This is the colour palette. This allowed us to choose the colour we wanted for text, lines etc.

We used this tool to add text straight onto the double page spread. This was used for the masthead and the bi line.

Construction – Radio TrailThe majority of our radio trail was made on Final Cut. In order to do this we added the clips onto the program and deleted the images that accompany the sound. This gave us a quick and easy way to create the radio trail because we were already very familiar with how to use Final Cut as we had recently finished completing the documentary. We used the same background music from the documentary in order to ensure continuity.

Construction - PublishingWe published our products onto Blogger. In order to do this, we uploaded our documentary onto YouTube and our radio trail onto SoundCloud. We then embedded these onto the blog by copy and pasting the link into the HTML box on Blogger. We uploaded the double page spread straight onto the blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEipq52F3rY

https://soundcloud.com/a2columnd12/radio-trail-rachael-chelsea

EvaluationI used a range of media technologies in my conclusion. I completed Question one on Microsoft Word, Question two and four on Microsoft PowerPoint and Question three on Prezi. This variety of programs meant that I had to use Scribd and SlideShare in order to embed them onto Blogger. I feel that I have used a variety of media technologies whilst completing my evaluation.

Overall I believe that over the course of this project, we used a substantial amount of media technologies which have contributed to the positive outcome of our products.