1. Question 4
How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research,
planning & evaluation stages?
Throughout the project and all the stages which included pre production, production
and post production I have used various new media technologies. I used online
software, original software and also hardware to help me to complete my
coursework.
When completing the research tasks I used a number of various types of technology
some of the technology that I used as simple as Microsoft Word and Microsoft
PowerPoint. In Microsoft Word I was able to type out big sections of text, I was able
to change the font type, size and colour I did this to make the text look more
interesting and presentable. On Microsoft PowerPoint I was a create
presentations to make it look more attractive than a huge piece of text. On Microsoft
PowerPoint I was able to use tools like insert textboxes and place them where ever
that I wanted to on the page. I could also insert WordArt and images to make the
presentation to look more attractive.
From using this simple software I was then went onto use online programs and
software to upload my work for it then being able to put on to my blog. One software
that I used was on the website www.slidehare.net. On this website I was able to
upload my work and turn them in to slide show type documents.
I used the website www.youtube.com when doing research this was to look for
relevant videos that matched the theme of my film. Also to general research on short
films and directors this is so that I could increase my knowledge of filming these can
be found on the FutureShorts. You are able to write what you want in the
Youtube search bar then hundreds of clips will appear on the website, after choosing
the one that you want you are able to watch the clip as many times as you want and
also you can get the clip embed code. I did this and was able to put video clips on to
my blog. Below is an example of a general search of ‘Short Films’ and how many
results have shown up:
When conducting research on films that have already been made I looked at the
website www.imdb.com for example ‘Ray’. On this website I used the features
that allow me to look at the director, cast, production companies, genres, tagline and
story lines. Here is an example of the tagline for the film ‘Ray’. This assisted me
with my research and I was able to use this information and put it on my blog. :

2. I used a used a number of new technologies within the planning stages of the project,
most of them were internet based. I used the website www.prezi.com this
website allows you create zooming presentations to share ideas. I used this software
when presenting the pitches it was a easy way to show the audience my also it looks
creative on my blog it is a change from just text.
For the casting stage I used the internet to search for a suitable actor as we could not
take any students off timetable at school. I used the website www.starnow.com
on this website I had to sign up and put up a advert asking for some to play a part in
the short film. On this website I searched for actors, I looked at their profiles to see if
they had potential. After a couple of days I received many replies was the able to
contact them and as for more information if I needed to. When me and my group got
together, on Starnow we was able to shortlist 3 actors and mark the rest
unsuccessful.
I used the website www.kizoa.com to create my mood boards also on this
website you can create slide shows as well. After uploading the images that I wanted
on this software I used the template feature so that it would save me time putting on
pictures, I also modified the size of the images and layered them. I used this online
software to make the mood boards as I feel that it looks more attractive on my blog.
The hardware that I used as media technology were the still images taken for the
photo story board this was by using a 8 mega pixel digital still camera. On the
camera we used the ZOOM feature an example of this is of the shot where
the we done a close o. Auto- focus was used on most of the shots for example the
medium close up of the boys face auto focus was needed here as the facial
expression needed to clear .The different scene modes was used for example we
used the sports mode we used this when taking the long shot of the car ,which
was ideal for capturing sports or quickly moving objects, it enhances the detail and
sharpness of the object. We decided to use a digital camera as we needed high
quality images which could not be achieved on a low quality mobile phone camera.
When filming the poster important technology that I used was the camera the camera
that I used was the Canon XAH I used this to create the short film I progressed
many new skills when using this camera, I found out how different ways to zoom in
and out shots for example where the camera is a long shot of the car and it
zooms in closer as the car moves towards the camera. Also I used the camera
to focus in on certain objects out, on certain objects for example the long shot of
the girl walking towards the camera in this shot the background is focused out
and the girl is focused in. I also used the manual function on the camera which
helped enhanced when zooming and focusing. I used the white balance feature on
the camera this was to help with the colouring in all the shots. I used a tripod called
the Libec L82000 The tripod is needed to hold and keep the camera steady
without it the camera would become unsteady and shaky I used the sprit level feature
on the tripod. I also used the tracks when filming this was used in the shot of the
close up of the girls shoes when she was walking down the street using the
tracks helped produce creative shots within the film.

3. In the first ancillary task 1 I used Microsoft Publisher to create the magazine
film review. The features that I used on Microsoft Publisher were Word Art, text
boxes and shapes. I also added text on the film review I was able to edit the font
style, size and colour. I used this software as it is the best way to present a film
review.
For the second ancillary task 2 which was the film posters I used the software called
Adobe Photoshop Elements. There are many features on this software, I
used different tools on the this program like layers, flattening, filters for example fade
to black, the lasso, the magic wand, I changed the canvas size and layout, and I also
was able to change the hue and saturation levels. I used Adobe Photoshop Elements
as it is the best software to use when editing photos.
In the editing software we used was Adobe Premiere CS4 it was used to help
put the short film together. The features that I used on Adobe Premiere was
transitions effects like the ghosting effect, dissolve effect I used this in the
flashback shots between the character and the car crash. These effects allow the
audience to recognise when it is a flashback or present day. I was able to edit the
sound levels I did this at the end of the film where the music is low and speech
is high, the music then builds up. I did this as the dialogue was important as first
the music built up to create emotion and to match with the recent events. I also
added text, imported files, rendered files and I converted files so that I can put it on
the blog. This software helped put the recorded film together it also allowed me make
the film flow and to make sense. Alongside photo shop I also use the online software
on the website www.picnik.com on this software I can edit images then
insert them onto Adobe Photoshop Elements. I can auto fix the images, crop and
rotate the image, change the colour effect for example to black and white, and I can
add text.
When completing this evaluation have used a combination of screen grabs which I
was able to crop in the software called Paint and I have also used the search
engine www.Google.com I used this to gather images to place onto my
blog. I have used images on mu evaluation to make it look more interesting and
make it look more attractive.
In conclusion I have used various types of new media technologies in the
construction, research, planning & evaluation stages to present my work in the best
way as possible