1. EVALUATION
QUESTION 4
HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH PLANNING AND
EVALUATION STAGES?
2. AND
• I have used Blogger this year to document my research, I
have used two blogs; the first with the most posts has
documented all of my research when making my main
task the documentary. The second blog documents all of
my research for my two ancillary tasks the banner
advertisement and the double page spread
advertisement. Both blogs can be looked at on my Wix
website.
• After using blogger last year I was more comfortable
using the blogger and found Wix rather temperamental
especially as the site would crash rather a lot and you
also had to keep updating the website whenever you did
any new work in comparison to blogger which just
updated itself. Therefore I choose to make a link to
blogger of both blogs so that my Wix site automatically
updated itself.
3. AND
• This year I have used slide share in my blog posts showing the
developments specifically with typography and different colour
schemes I have looked at when creating the advertisement
banner.
• I used Prezi specifically last year when I presented to my media
class our work as a group I also used Prezi for some of the
evaluation questions.
• The advantages of using Prezi is that it is interactive and makes
the presentation more interesting however Prezi is very complex
and its animation can be difficult to control the presentation is
also very time consuming as there are so many different types
of motion you can apply to your PowerPoint.
• Prezi doesn’t always automatically save your work and is
connected to your internet connection therefore if your
internet connect cuts out part of your PowerPoint could be
deleted.
• Slide share allows a user to upload the presentation by using
word or PowerPoint and making the presentation interactive.
4. These slide share screen shot images show how I have used slide share this year for
a variety of different research purposes; banner analysis, magazine page analysis,
double page spread colour analysis and colour pallet comparisons of existing
channel four advertisements.
5. • I have used Scribd to upload scanned Pdf files which I
have hand written or drawn I have mostly used the
site to upload my story boards
• The website allows me to embed the file onto my blog
in a blog post. This programme also allows me to show
my planning before doing a piece of work. For
example before I recorded my voice over narration
for the documentary I hand wrote two sides of A4
documenting the main points I wanted to talk about.
After the voice over narration I then uploaded the
sheet to show my planning as a blog post.
• I have also used scribd to upload the results of my
questionnaire research.
6. These screen shot images show the different ways I have used the program to
record my research; live type analysis, questionnaire record, storyboard explaining
title animation and a page from one of my documentary storyboard.
7. • An advantage to using word is that I am able to edit a lot of
my blog posts using words spell check. As bloggers spell check
doesn't always pick up on all of the errors.
• I have also used word to write about my research and
illustrate my points more clearly as I can use text boxes and
arrows to link my written analysis to the images.
• When I insert images into blogger posts it makes the format of
the text react weirdly and I am unable to shape the text
around the images so I found the use of word more useful and
reliable.
• I have used Microsoft Word in a variety of posts by uploading
the document to slide share which then transforms the
document into a presentation style post on my blog.
• I have also used word in my research to document my
questionnaires results from my target group using excel charts
and graphs.
8. • I have used Microsoft Excel throughout my research
to record the results of my questionnaires . I used the
programme on Microsoft word by inputting the
numbers of each section into a small pop out
window spread sheet. I am also able to choose the
format of the data’s results in the form of charts and
graphs. I believe that it is important to illustrate the
results this way as it is easier to read and is more eye
catching and interesting.
• Depending on the style of the question and the
number of results I use different charts. When
recording the data or a question with lots of
different areas I believe using a pie chart is the most
effective method of recording the information as it
is more visually understandable which answer was
the most effective due to the largest coloured
portion. I also use arrows as sometimes the chart
automatically uses the programme twice and it can
be confusing to read the results.
• I use bar graphs when recording smaller data
normally as I feel that the blocks and number of
data vertically is easier to read.
9. APPLE MAC COMPUTERS
• I have used Apple Mac Computers throughout this year
some disadvantages of using the Apple Mac Computers
are that the computers are sometimes temperamental
and half way through my project one of the computers
wouldn’t let me edit my footage.
• I also found it difficult to use the computers as I am use to
the regular school computers and only did media studies
this year and last so the way that they work is rather new
to me and I still get confused when I try to scroll up the
mouse moves downwards.
• I also had a challenge finding some audio tracks which
were compatible with the computers. The computers
didn’t recognise an audio track unless it was MP3
therefore I had to change the downloadable setting of
some audio tracks I found on the internet which were
copyright and royalty free.
10. VIDEO CAMERA/CAMCORDER
• The use of a video Camera which I borrowed from the school has
been fundamentally significant in the creation of the documentary.
• The use of digital camera has also allowed me to record my own
voice over. I was able to record a specific spot while I spoke into the
camera and while on final cut express I was able to delete the visual
part of the clip by unlinking all of my footage once I had unlinked all
of the clips I was then able to overlay the audio of existing footage.
• I also created a shooting schedule to document which key scenes I
wanted to film and using storyboards I planned the scenes of my
documentary. I also created and planned a scripted set of questions
I would ask my mum and sister during the interview so that the
documentary delved into key areas.
• I also used a tripod when interviewing my mum in our living room, the
use of a tripod allowed me to use the 180 rule and I was also able to
glide the camera using the tripods stick over some old photos of my
mum on my family dinning room table.
11. PHONE
• Throughout my A2 Portfolio work I have used a variety of different
technologies along with my phone.
• I have taken location shots for my research and I have also been able to
establish key camera angles and shots as well as key lighting sources in the
filming environment by documenting photos.
• I have used editing filters on my phone to experiment with black and white
filters before I added a black and white filters to my footage on final cut
express.
• I have also taken photos of my mum for the banner advertisement and
double page spread. I used different colour effects apps on my Samsung
phone such as; ‘photos’ and ‘paper artist’ for the advertisement banner.
12. APPLE ITUNES LIBRARY
• I used this website; http://www.youtube-mp3.org/
to convert the audio tracks.
• I used apple iTunes when I converted the audio
tracks from YouTube so that they could be used on
the apple Mac Computers at school. I tested that
the downloaded Mp3 tracks were compatible with
the Apple Mac computers before I brought them
into school on a memory stick by uploading them to
my iPod library.
13. FINAL CUT EXPRESS
• I used final Cut Express to edit the footage I filmed. The programme on
the apple mac computers allowed me to edit the footage clips
together on a timeline and edit the clips by adding effects which are
consistent with conventional representations of documentaries.
• The advantage of using so many different types of editing techniques
allows you to experiment and alter all of your footage and then
remove or save the footage.
• I particularly liked the use of the wand on the timeline I was able to
edit the pitch and sound of the audio non-diegetic sound clips I
added onto the footage. I was also able to remove some diegetic
sound which was in one of the earlier slow motion shots. You could
hear me step on something as I panned around my mums face.
• When using visual effects I took into consideration the type of
techniques my audience stated they liked in a documentary. By
referring to my target audience feedback I feel that I have created a
product which is effective and successful.
14. LIVE TYPE
• I used Live type when I was experimenting with text styles for my
documentaries title. Live type allowed me to animate and
experiment with different backgrounds however I felt that the most
effective effect was a shadowing effect however I felt that the style
would have been more effective with a banner.
• Therefore I experimented with Final Cut Expresses text styles and
techniques. My Media Teacher helped me create a sliding banner
for the title to reflect and link to Channel fours style and my two
ancillary texts.
• In a blog post I also created a storyboard explaining the process of
the sliding banner title. The letters of the title also typed across the
page as I used the ‘typewriter’ effect. However the letters glided
across the screen instead of being punched like an actual typewriter
would type. I edited the text speed and the banner speed so that
they were consistent, I felt that this style was more effective.
15. • I used Vimeo to upload my footage at different intervals
during my research.
• Vimeo is a website like YouTube in which you are able to
upload clips, the advantage of using Vimeo is that it is
not as widely known as YouTube therefore the uploading
time is shorter.
• Vimeo's website in comparison to YouTube is specifically
tailored for people who enjoy making video and short
films therefore vimeo is more suitable for uploading my
documentary.
• However a disadvantage of using Vimeo is that my
target audience are more unlikely to see the
documentary as they may not be aware of the website.
16. • This year I have used YouTube throughout the project. I have
used YouTube in my written analysing to illustrate my point by
using clips.
• YouTube has also help me develop my voice over as I was able
to analyse a variety of clips.
• I was also able to find royalty and copyright free music tracks for
my documentary.
• I was originally going to use some songs which weren't royalty or
copyright free which I owned on CD. However due to the OCR
specification I was not able to use my original audio tracks.
• However I believe that it is more effective that the audio tracks I
eventually used don't have words, if the songs had words it may
have taken away from my mum talking in the documentary. The
instrumental soundtracks I believe enhance the mood and
atmosphere of the footage and makes the documentary more
effective.
17. WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT
TECHNOLOGY YOU USED?
• I believe that the Apple Mac computers and the
cameras along with the programme Final Cut
Express were the most important aspects of
technology I used to create the documentary.
• However from a research perspective I believe that
slide share was the most important program I used
as it allowed me to experiment with text and colour
schemes in an interactive way. I found using slide
share a big help as I found myself doing more
research and writing more blog posts in comparison
to last years blog.
18. WHAT PROBLEMS DID TECHNOLOGY
CAUSE?
• I found it difficult to upload and edit the footage on final Cut
express due to the Apple Mac computers at school ever since
last year the computers have been temperamental and do
not always save your work so at one point I had to back up
the documentary footage I had edited so far to a hard drive.
• Due to the computers becoming temperamental it also
resulted in me uploading my documentaries footage more
frequently I uploaded my documentary to my blog three or
four times I believe in comparison to last year I only uploaded
the final version of the documentary.
• Uploading the footage has benefitted my coursework
however it was also very time consuming and resulted in me
not doing as much editing as I planned to do throughout the
project as the work I had done on the computers kept being
lost.
19. WHAT DID YOU LEARN THIS YEAR? HOW DID
THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY ENABLE YOU TO
BE BETTER IN YOUR TASKS?
• This year I have concentrated on my research and the use of
the programme slide share has enabled me to do a lot of
research is a simplistic way. It was easier to upload my
experiments and write directly next to the images in word in
comparison to last year when I would upload an image and
write a large paragraph which may have not been next to the
image due to the layout of the blogger programme.
• I also believe that I have improved the detail of how much I
have analysed aspects of research and I feel that I have used
theorists in my work more.
• I have became more confident when using Final Cut Express
as I created an animated banner and manipulated some
sound bites in the timeline. I used a technique of overlaying
two clips so that they fade into one another I believe this
technique was very effective and represented the past and
present as my mum reflects on her childhood in the
documentary.