Evaluation question 4

Question 4How did you use media technologies in the construction

and research, planning and evaluation stages

Research and planningThe first step when creating our documentary and ancillary products was research and planning. To do this we relied heavily on the internet using both Mac computers and its search engine Safari along with Microsoft Computers and Internet Explorer. Using the search engine Google we where able to find an abundance of information on documentaries, magazines and radio trailers. Another crucial resource we relied heavily on when researching and planning was the popular video sharing site YouTube. This site allowed us to watch similar documentaries to the one we wanted to create such as episodes of Panorama (BBC’s Panorama – Video game addiction). It also let us further research into the topic of anti-socialness caused by video games.

The streaming service Netflix also proved useful when researching into other documentaries. I was able to access this service both on my mobile phone and my video game console. The streaming service has a whole section on documentaries and allowed me to watch films such as Michael Moore’s ‘Bowling for Columbine’ and the 2014 documentary ‘Video Games – The Movie’ this proved extremely helpful when researching. Of course not every documentary can be watched through Netflix, luckily I was able to watch Morgan Spurlock’s ‘Super Size Me’ on DVD which provided inspiration for our documentary.

Production

FilmingWhen filming the documentary we used a range of a equipment to produce a professional looking film. Probably the most crucial piece of hardware to the production of the documentary was the camera. We used the Sony HDR-PJ810 Handycam Camcorder to shoot our piece in high definition. I had a general knowledge of filming before hand so found the camera easy to use and export from. Another integral part of kit we used was a tripod. The tripod was used in most shots to steady the camera and keep in one position, we used the tripod for all our interviews and to do panning shots as well as zoom shots.

Microphones where another piece of hardware we used as the built in microphone wouldbe to quiet when recording interviews. We used both a handheld shotgun microphone and clip on microphones. The handheld mic was mostly used when recording our vox pop andexpert interviews however when recording the presenter segments we had to use clip on microphones in order to keep the wire hidden. We also used a Sony recording device torecord the narration, this was also used to record the narration in our radio trailer. We used Sennheiser headphones to listen to our documentary during the editing stage and to listen to our microphones during filming to ensure the sound levels where right.

Editing

When editing our documentary we used Adobe Premier. I was new to this software however with my knowledge from other editing programmes such as Final Cut Pro and Windows Movie Maker I found it easy to use and figure out. The first step when editing was to log and transfer our clips, from there we could begin cutting and editing them and placing them into our timeline.

The logged clips where found here and could be dragged and dropped into the timeline

The clips would be dragged into the timeline, from there they could be cut down or edited. At the upper left of the timeline the length of the film so far is displayed this helped us keep it down to 5 minutes

On this screen we could watch the product as we created it

Probably the most important tool in Premier was the cut tool, we used this to trim down interviews, shorten clips and for effect. For example we used stop motion for our intro, this created a interesting and dynamic opening to our documentary however took quite some time to create. We used the cutting tool to cut the clips of games being placed on a table together to give the impression they where quickly appearing and forming shapes.

Cutting the long take of games being laid out on a table into small half second clips created a stop motion effect and gave our documentary a interesting opening.

Another tool we used was the pen tool, this allowed us to raise and lower the audio. By making certain points we could gradually raise the audio like a slope, this could also be used to gradually lower the audio too. We used this technique in the opening to so that the music gradually fades in rather than just loudly starting and startling the spectator. On the image above you can see the 3 white dots on the audio file, these where points we added with the pen tool which we gradually raised the audio with. I also used the pen tool to fade text in and out by changing the opacity, this technique was used when introducing an expert by fading their title in and then fading it out gradually

Pen ToolCut Tool

Another thing Premier let me do was to overlap videos. We used this multiple times in our documentary, for example during the coming up next segment we placed a clip of a video game in the top corner of a clip of the presenters playing the game. Another way we used this was to hide jump cuts. During the interview with Nick Waring we cut out several minutes of the interview however when watched through you noticed there was a cut, to avoid this jump cut we placed a clip of the video game Fifa, this both hid the jump cut making the interview seem like it was continuously flowing but also linking in with what Nick was saying.

Video over Nick Waring’s interview to hide jump cut

Example of Video Overlapping

We also used Premier to produce our radio trailer. Originally we where going to produce the trailer on Garage Band however found Premier to be much easier to use. It was also useful that all the video clips had been logged and as an added bonus Premier allows the user to export their product as an MP3. When creating the trailer we simply added in our narration, using the cut tool to edit out the silences, then adding in small extracts from our documentary and finally concluding it with another segment of narration.

We did however use Garage Band to created a piece of music that would open the documentary. Garage Band gives the user access to multiple instruments, with these we created a track. Pressing the keys on the keyboard produced different notes on theInstrument, using this knowledge we produced a fast paced energetic track and looped It. The track was 14 notes in total however with the track looped it lasted the durationOf the opening. We used a mixture of Synthesizers and Electro sounding instruments To created a track that sounds similar to what you might here in classic 16-bit videogames, this helped the opening resonate the topic the documentary was on

Personally I found this programme difficult to use however Dan, a Member of the group was familiar with the programme, with his insight we createda fitting track for the opening of a documentary

The Timeline on Garage Band, The track loops where the green colour fades.

The sidebar showcasing all the Instruments available to use.

To create the magazine we used the software In Design. Having used this last year to create a double page spread for a magazine I was familiar with its layout and found it quite easy to use.

The programme uses coloured lines to give the user guidelines, these helped when following the rule of thirds and can be seen in the image to the right. The software was pretty straight forward to use, we copy and pasted the article over from Microsoft Word, the software I used to type the article up on and pasted it within In Design. Using the Column tool we where able to create three columns for the text to sit in, this made the magazine look professional as three is the classic convention in magazines. We where able to make the text wrap around our pull quotes to using the wrap tool, this made sure the pull quotes stood out and the text wasn’t hidden behind them. We also used this tool on the images aswell again for the same effect. Using the text colour tool we were able to clearly distinguish who was speaking during the Q&A article, which was crucial to the magazines success. Overall I found this software rather easy to use and think it proved a useful tool in creating a professional looking magazine.

The wrap tool, this let me wrap text around objects and other text