How did you use new media technologies in the construction and

research, planning and evaluation stages?

Lee Turner

In this section my aim is to explain how I utilised different media technologies in the construction of my media product and also in the research, planning and evaluation processes. I will do this by defining the term media technologies and I will explain how I utilised them during the stages of; construction, research, planning and evaluative. 

The word 'media' simply defines as a means of communication, and the term 'technologies' generally refers to a physical object that has been engineered for a specific role. In reference to this, the technologies will include cameras, computer editing software and website building software.  

Research and Planning

Internet

To research for numerous trailers in my genre, I got most of my help from the internet and websites such as YouTube. I did this on the college’s iMac. Google was another useful search engine that I used while undergoing my research, I used Google to search for photos of professional posters and magazine covers from my genre, information about Total Film etc. My phone internet was also available for research. I used my phones internet when I wasn’t near a computer with internet access and if I needed to find out quick information to help my media project.

Blogger

I used Blogger a large amount in my project, so that I was able to record all of my research, development, my productions and my evaluation. Blogger was good as it was easy to use to keep track of my progress whilst working. I blogged every step that I went along with, from the introduction of my project to the evaluation at the end of my project. Blogger was useful as I could embed pictures and videos to show where I was getting my ideas and inspiration from. I could also embed all of my planning documents – such as my target audience questionnaire and shooting schedule therefore I used Blogger like a diary, constantly updating it with ideas and progress, after filming shoots and editing days

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office helped me a considerable amount during my project. It was very useful and it was easy to access and use as it is compatible across a wide range of technology. I used Microsoft Excel when I was constructing my questionnaire. It helped me convert my digit answers and responses to graphs, bar charts and pie charts. The graphs were easy to make and they were easy to understand. I used Microsoft Word to write up documents such as my risk assessment and to also produce my script. Word was also useful to construct my questionnaire and print it out to give to my audience to answer.

Production and Development

Cameras/Adobe Photoshop

In the production stage, the Apple iMac was used to operate the various software and technology. Panasonic camera (HD-V500) was the model of camera that I used to film my trailer video. In addition to this I used a Cannon still camera to capture my images of my model including her eye and her arm for my magazine and poster. Along with this camera I used a tripod to hold my camera still to achieve perfect clear footage. After filming and the photo shoot, I uploaded my footage onto the iMac with a firewire and uploaded it to Final Cut Express, here I chose the footage I wanted to include in the video, included it in my timeline, edited the video, added video transitions, and most importantly matched the footage to the sound track. I also used Adobe Photoshop to make my poster and my magazine cover.

Final Cut Express

To edit my video, I used Final Cut Express. Final Cut Express is a timeline-based video editing software application. Final Cut supports many video editing cards and plug-ins for accelerated processing, additional file format support, and video/audio effects. I was able to choose the type of effect I wanted to insert in my trailer. There was a variety of video/audio effects and transitions that were available for use. I used the best ones in my video that I thought will have the best result and make it look professional. It also allowed me to download additional effects and add-ons, for example I found a time counter online which I added to numerous video clips to give the illusion it was real CCTV footage, as well as the already available blue filter effect. This technology also enabled me to insert sound effects and unlink the video clip and its corresponding dialogue so I could work with them both separately.

Adobe After Effects.

Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems, used in the post-producing process of filmmaking and television producing. Its main uses are the origination of 2D and 2.5D animation, visual effects compositing and finishing (image adjustment, colour correction etc.). After Effects can also be used as a basic non-linear editor and a media transcoder. I used this for the post production of my trailer intertitles. This was where I developed all stages of production occurring after the actual end of shooting and/or recording the of our completed work. I carried out the following processes - adding visual special effects, transitions, blood effects and colour correction. All this was done to make my video look more professional and attractive.

Evaluation

Facebook and Twitter

To get feedback from my target audience I put my trailer onto social networking sites, sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook allowed me to share my video with my online friends and they could comment on my video and say what they thought about it, they could even ‘like’ my video. My online friends were also able to help me share my video so that others could view it. Because of Facebook, also I was able to share statuses about my video drawing peoples attention to it now and then so that people who did not see my video when I first posted it were aware that it was there. I hyped it up so that I could get as much feedback as possible. Friends also private messaged me instead of publicly commenting. I used twitter to ‘tweet’ about my video so my friends who did not have Facebook but had twitter could be aware of my video and they messaged me telling me their thoughts about my video. My target audience commonly uses these sites and my ‘friends’ are the age I am aiming to attract.

YouTube

My video was uploaded and shared on YouTube and it was therefore easy for everyone to watch it as videos on YouTube are easily accessible. It is a site which users can upload, view and share videos. I can gather the amount of times my video has been viewed and the number of ‘likes’ my video has gotten. YouTube being part of web 2.0, is user generated content so people can comment or like peoples videos. It also allowed me to easily embed my trailer into other technology and software, especially my blog.

PowerPoint/Prezi/SlideShare

For my evaluation I used PowerPoint and Prezi which is a web-based presentation application and storytelling tool that uses a single canvas instead of traditional slides. The zoom-able canvas makes it fun to explore ideas and create engaging presentations. I used Prezi to complete a couple of the evaluation questions to demonstrate a wide use of technology. Prezi enabled me to present information in a new, interesting way and I could easily post it on the blog, unlike PowerPoint which needed to be converted through SlideShare. They were both easy to use and converting the PowerPoint to SlideShare was not particularly hard.

Overall

Overall I believe my knowledge and understanding of media technologies has expanded throughout this course. Using programmes such as Final Cut Express gave me an insight as to how much work and effort goes into producing a trailer in the film industry. Without the use of these technologies, I would not be able to produce or market my final products.