Question 4

Question 4How did you use media technologies

in the construction and research,

planning and evaluation stages?

I was able to use the equipment for the production and ancillary task better as I understood how to use the camera better. This came across in my teaser trailer as I was able to use improved camera shots, for example the focus pull. This was easier to achieve as I was able to use the functions on the camera better and therefore could figure out how to do it.

As well as this, when filming my teaser trailer I used the boom microphone. This was something that I had not used before so I had to learn how to use it. One problem I had with using the boom microphone was making sure that it was not featured in the shot, however after practice shots I was able to figure out how high I needed to hold it for it to not ruin the shots. Using the boom microphone came with huge advantages because it increased the quality of the sound on the video.

Also, I used the lights for the photo shoot for the magazine front cover; this gave the photo a more professional look which helped me to conform to the conventions of a magazine front cover.

Using the internet for research allowed me to look at a variety of sources for information. To look into film trailers and the romantic tragedy genre I used YouTube to watch different examples.

To source more information about these trailers I used IMDB as it is a reliable website with useful information.

I also used a website called Videocopilot this helped me with using programmes such as After Effects that I had never used before. This website gives tutorials on how to make different titles for my teaser trailer which helped add the professional look of the trailer.

I used a variety of different software for these tasks that I had not previously used. The majority of

them I used during the production tasks. The first programme I used was Cubase, I used this to make the music for the teaser trailer however I ended up not using the music I made because it was not dramatic effect and it was difficult to use loud drums due to the drum machine within Cubase.

I also used Premiere to edit the teaser trailer together. This software

allowed me to add effects such as lighting change to the video and include transitions such as fade to black.

I also used After Effects for the titles which I was then able to

put into Premiere. After Effects allowed me to make professional looking titles, however at first I was unable to use the software as I had not used it before so I therefore used Youtube which gave me tutorials on how to use the different features in After Effects.

When it came to my ancillary tasks I used

Photoshop to manipulate my images. For example I brightened up the colour of the models dress on the magazine front cover, but I also darkened the colour of the sky on my film poster to give a stormy look.

Once I had manipulated the images in Photoshop, I put them into InDesign which allowed me to put all the features together for my ancillary such as images, titles and shapes, such as the stars for my critics review.

Lastly, I also used Picasa for my research and planning this software allows me to put photos together in a collage which was useful for when I had a lot of images and did not want to display them singly on my blog.

Throughout the different stages of my advanced portfolio, I used various online apps. As a media student, it is important to use different online apps to display my work in a suitable way to convey the information in an interactive way by using new online media. The three main online apps I included on my blog was Slideshare, Prezi and Powtoon.

Slideshare is a site that allows you to embed Powerpoints on a website and I used this to convey large amounts of information such as the institutional research that I carried out because the presentation is neat and easy to read.

Prezi is an Interactional spider diagram which you create through the website using a template which you adjust to make it the theme of your blog. It is an easy website to use as you can add text and shapes making it creative. As well as this you can change the path so that when you watch it, it guides you through the text boxes making it more interactive.

Powtoon is a useful app because you can create videos of text and animations so it is another interactive app. I used this online app for my research into methods of film promotion because it is a good app for a large amount of information however it breaks it down making it more engaging.

Overall, I used a variety of different online apps to display information on my blog so that it is more clear and engaging to read.