EVALUATION QUESTION 4

How did you use new media technologies in the

construction and research and planning and evaluation

stages?

Philip Costin

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

I used many new technologies in my research and planning

stages. These included:

Blogger

Scribd

Slide share

Powtoon

Prezi

YouTube

SCRIBD , SLIDE SHARE &

BLOGGER

I used scribd and slide share to present my research throughout the course. These are used to present work that I have put on basic Microsoft software such as word and slideshare, these tools were useful to have to keep the same structure of presentation as on word and PowerPoint but be able to upload it to blogger. I learnt a lot of skills from using scribd and slideshare on Blogger where I learned how to use HTML code. This helped further my IT skills later in the research and planning. I used scribd for analysis of documentaries and storyboards as it was only a simple software and did not allow me to be creative.

POWTOON AND PREZI

Further into my A2 course, I gained confidence in my IT skills and

found new softwares such as prezi and powtoon. I had used prezi

before but only felt confident using text tools, however with more

confidence I learned skills such as creating new paths using the

path tool and embedding images.

Powtoon was a software I had never used before. I found it useful to

be creative in recording research and planning ahead. I found it to

be a user friendly software where there were many easy templates

to follow, and an easy to use timeline. I think it was important to use

these softwares to be creative in my work and looking back I think I

used it effectively in my research and planning although I did not

enjoy using software like PowToon as it was hard to get a lot of

information across with only limited time frames to do so.

YOUTUBE

At the start I already knew the basics of YouTube and had ideas of

how to present information creatively through it. I found it to be

useful when filming diaries/ updates, using video diaries allowed us

to demonstrate our progress better. I found it to be an easy to use

software as you only need to click upload on a video; the only

difficulty was having to export the videos to a format that was

suitable such as an mpeg4 video. This was because I had to learn

which files to export to. Reflecting back, I'm glad I used it and I think

it was important to use for the creativity of the research and planning

of the documentary.

CONSTRUCTION STAGES

Technologies I used in the construction stages include:

Adobe Premiere

Garage Band

Photoshop

InDesign

HD camera

Apple Mac

Microphone and tripod

HARDWARES

I was unfamiliar with any of the hardwares I had to use such as the Camera, tripod and microphone. I learned it from the college technician and trial and error. Once learned it made it easier to get good shots and control the feel of documentary.

Shotgun microphone- I learned it was important to test the mic and trial and error allowed me to know where to put the mic in relation to what I was recording. I used it to record the voice over and record all the interviews.

Cannon HG20 HD – I had not very often used a video recorder and was unaware of how it works. I found that I was fast to learn the basics of setting up a shot and recording, I felt it was important to learn quickly with this so that I could encode what I wanted in shots. I also learnt important features such as playback to see a shot back and how to upload the footage to the computer. I found it was easy to use after a while and became quite a natural habit, therefore I think I used it effectively and wouldn’t change how I used it.

Tripod – The tripod was an element of filming that I did have problems with, especially with making sure the shot was at a straight angle and not canted. So reflecting back on this element of filming and using hardware, I think it was a weak point.

Reflecting back I think I was less efficient with new hardwares and slower at learning how to use them compared to softwares.

ADOBE PREMIERE

It was a different new software which I had learnt some tools in class and those were aided by working in the groups when editing on the software. I quickly got used to independently using tools such as slice and effects tab. This was useful for editing but I had little knowledge of other tools such as the Title tool and sound levels; my group helped me with this and in learning other editing tools such as auto-adjust which reflecting back would’ve been useful for myself to figure out earlier so I could edit to levels of better consistency. It was also important for me to understand how to edit because I need to consider Gatekeeping as a director in order to think about what scenes to edit to make a meaning of. I think that I was able to do this through the use of shot emphasis and including more shots of mobile phones being a distraction.

ADOBE PREMIERE

Title feature for

adding captions for

expert interviews

The effects menu that

was used to add

transitions and change

light levels of shots to

improve overall

quality.

This is the timeline of shots where we can

order shots and cut them using the splice

tool. It is also where the audio levels can be

changed.

GARAGE BAND

Garage band is a software that we had to use to create the radio

trailer. I was unsure of the software initially and made mistakes in

the creation process such as overlapping audios and not knowing

how to splice audio. However after trial and error as well as

research, I became much more proficient in the use of garage band

and learnt how to better edit audio together and change the sound

levels of clips. The tools I could access were very useful in the

creation process and made it easier. Reflecting on the use of garage

band I think it took me a while to get to grips with but I’m happy with

my new found skills in the end and happy that it was effective

enough to allow a professional look.

GARAGE BANDThis is what the timeline looks like

on garage band and how the

sounds can be adjusted at the

bottom, as well as the splice tool.

After importing

audio I found it was

important to have

every piece of audio

on a separate layer,

so the sounds can

be adjusted

independently.

PHOTOSHOP AND INDESIGN

These were softwares that I had to use for the creation of the magazine spread. Photoshop was an important software that I was already proficient with and that made it easy when using tools such as the magic wand tool and polygon lasso tool to cut out the background of images such as the expert interviewee Julie(below).

InDesign was used mainly to edit and compose the TV Listings. I had already drawn up initial drafts with pencil on paper so I was already sure of the layout and could draw boxes using shapes tool to place hold pictures and text when planning. I used tools such as the place tool to insert images and the text tool to make drop caps which helped improve the look of the magazine and this is something I would not have been able to do on other softwares, so I found that this was effective in the creation of the TV listings. Reflecting back these softwares were an essential to use and I’m glad that I was proficient in them.

PHOTOSHOP AND INDESIGNOn the right is how I cut the background from an

image using the polygon lasso tool whilst at the

bottom is showing the place tool which is how I

placed the images onto the TV listing after editing

them. I also used the paragraph styles tool to give

the three column layout and drop caps.

EVALUATION STAGES

Movie Maker

PowerPoint

Slideshare

YouTube

Prezi

MOVIE MAKER

I used movie maker as it was a software easy to edit with and

upload videos with, as well as the fact that I had used it before so I

knew the tools to use. I used it when creating my evaluation

questions and found that it was useful because I had experience in it

and this meant I edited the videos quicker and more effectively.

Another useful tool was the ‘record voiceover’ tool where I could

easily add a track directly onto video whilst watching the video play

so I could perfectly time my words, this was very useful for analysing

the documentary footage. It was also effective when trying to vary

my creativity in software usage.

CONCLUSION

Reflecting back over all my IT skills, I would say that I have improved massively over the course and it has been hugely helpful when filming shots and editing them together using software. I was definitely weaker using new hardwares than with new software and I learnt slower, but I feel that I still managed to use them effectively when creating my products as well as when planning and performing research tasks.

I also feel that gaining new knowledge of software such as PowToon and the html code of blogger has helped me be more creative in my approach to work. I wouldn’t have thought to use moviemaker or YouTube to present research or evaluation but through trial and error as well as research I can look back feeling content at my work.

On the other hand I feel that I maybe could have used even more software and allow myself to be more creative.