2. Primarily, I used WordPress to host all my work.
Once I had used it to make an account, I created a menu and pages, then I would
upload images, embed videos and paste my documents onto my site over the course of
the project. Before giving assess for an examiner to moderate, I have also used the site
to show my teacher work for marking and feedback. This is convenient as it requires
less printing and paper. On the subject of convenience, this software has been more so,
compared to IWeb, which we used last year. This is because then we couldn’t access
our site at home, or test it out on the internet ourselves. It also meant there was a rush
to finish and export our sites, and then they had to be hosted. Now we can update our
websites at anytime during the course from home, and they are already hosted by
WordPress. Consequently, I would say the improvement in this area of my project has
been very significant.
Editing a page
Managing Pages
Uploading Media
3. I used Word mostly to type up text before pasting it to my blog. I also used
it a lot to resize or crop images, such as those featured in my research into
similar media texts, as it is quicker than doing it on Photoshop, unless I am
completely editing the picture already. The programme was also of use
throughout my project to copy and paste pages from WordPress to serve as
back-ups for just in case something went wrong with the site.
Part of my Planning page to be uploaded to
WordPress and serve as a back-up in case.
4. Paint was useful to get print screens of horror trailer shots, and then crop
and save them individually as image files, before uploading to my web site
for analysis. My audience profile mood board and storyboards where edited
in Paint due to the ease of inserting images by copy and pasting, moving
them around and cropping. The programme is convenient for just cropping
various images I used throughout the project, like those in my character
profile. After scanning work, I did open the files in Paint to crop/resize them
too, just because it is quicker than Photoshop unless you are already
heavily editing them, like for my ancillary images.
Pasting a screen print to Paint, before
cropping, resizing, saving and uploading.
5. Naturally we used browsers to access the internet. This included iWeb
when at school on Macs and otherwise Google Chrome. I have used web
browsers to view websites like SurveyMonkey when producing
questionnaires plus Google Images and individual film sites to find posters
and horror magazine covers. It was also used to access WordPress and
horror film trailers on YouTube, etc.
Using Google Chrome
Using Safari
6. SurveyMonkey was useful in my project because I made questionnaires on
it. After logging in, I made a survey including lots of questions to provided
responses that would come to help me in the rest of my project. I used it to
get insight into the preferences and expectations of the target audience
when it comes to horror genre media texts. After creating the survey, I
distributed it through social networks to get responses, before making
graphs of the resulting data in Excel.
Using SurveyMonkey to
produce questionnaires.
7. I used Microsoft Excel to store the data from my questionnaire. This also
acted as a backup in case anything went wrong with my results on
SurveyMonkey. Once I had added all the responses, I used Excel to
produce a several different types of graphs, so I could display the results in
formats that are easy to interpret at a glance. Once created, I would then
import them and their results tables into Word, and add the questions.
Lastly, I would screen print the questions, results table and question in word
to copy them into Paint, save them individually as image files then upload
them to Word Press.
Using Excel to manage data and produce
a variety of graphs based on my
questionnaire results.
8. I used social media such as Facebook and Twitter to promote my surveys
and acquire responses. Once logged in, I would use these to post the link
through a status update or tweet, to gain results from people who mostly, I
trust to provide decent answers.
9. I used Google Images to find five magazine covers and five posters. They
had to be related to the horror genre and I wanted to have one of each form
that follows, subverts or challenges their conventions. Firstly I used it
research different types of horror magazines and then search for this brand.
Once I had one to analyse, I went to the website and copied the image into
paint, before saving and uploading it to my blog. From there I analysed it.
Using Google images to find
appropriate media texts to analyse.
10. I used iMovie to construct my horror trailer. This included importing my footage,
then selecting the parts I want to use and putting them in order on the video
tracks. I also cut clips to remove unneeded parts and to change pace, plus I used
effects like TV static and film grain to convey certain meanings. Furthermore,
IMovie was useful to edit the brightness/contrast of my clips. I also made
transitions like fade to black and fade-ins. In terms of audio, I did the same for
some sounds, and added non diegetic ones like a phone call, jump scare noises
and the score.
11. I used YouTube to view similar media texts for the research part of my
project. Of course I used the search function to find the official trailers of
horror movies, and then play and pause options to watch and stop the
video for taking screenshots. Once I used the screenshot shortcut, I copied
the images into Paint for cropping, saving uploading for my site. Later in the
project, I used YouTube to look up some tutorials on how to use small
aspects of the editing software, as I was new to the programme. Further on,
I used it to host my videos, so I could imbed or link to them on WordPress.
Using YouTube to view horror trailers
in preparation to analyse them.
12. I used this website to create an animation. This was so I could show before and
after shots of my dominant images in a format by which you can clearly see the
changes I made through editing. I used it to upload the photos, edit the speed,
order, etc, before downloading the .gif to put on my site.
Uploading the photos and
editing the gif’s attributes.
13. Over the project, I used my scanner to scan in several documents that I had drawn
on paper. These included my storyboard/shot list drawings and the map of the
filming location. In doing this, I put the paper in the scanner, used the
accompanying software to begin a scan, saved the picture and then cropped and
edited it in Paint if necessary.
The programme i use for scanning.
14. I used my camera to produce the results of my photo shoots, with just the standard
photo setting, but several camera angles, and posses in the case of my models.
Afterwards I used the video settings of my camera for recording the trailer, on location
in the alleyways near my house. Once again I used many shot types to achieve
different effects and connote/denote certain meanings. In the process the play back
function was used to review my photos/footage and check it looks good and there are
no faults, like a person in background or a loud vehicle going past to break
emersion/authenticity. This piece of technology was also employed to record the other
footage on my website, like the location organising, prop organising and unused
footage videos. At the point where I had collected all the necessary material, I would
use the camera to remove the SD card and import the files to my computer for
reviewing, to make sure it all still looks okay on bigger screens, and then editing.
Just one folder of footage
taken from my camera.
15. I used Photoshop extensively to edit all my dominant and insert images. Once I had some
from my photo shoots, I would use the programme to import them, and then I sometimes
rotated or crop shots using the crop and rotate tools. For the more complex editing of my
dominant images, I used Photoshop for tools like brightness/contrast to brighten images and
specific parts like the eyes. I used the colour balance tool to recolour parts like the wood
backdrop for my magazine masthead, to give it a red tint, symbolic of blood. Additionally, the
blur and smudge tools where of use to remove skin imperfections, like spots, shadows and
lines plus generally smoothening the skin/clothing to make the image look of a higher quality.
I also omitted marks on tops, the divide between the antagonist’s jumper and trousers, date
watermarks and some blemishes in the photo caused by the camera. I also brightened and
opened the eyes a bit with these functions. Moreover, the quick selection tool was useful to
define areas to recolour/brighten, as well as those to cut out from the background, like my
model from the wall behind him, or the fence panel I used on my magazine cover. Cuts on the
model’s face where produced with several tools. This included the pencil, to draw basic lines,
then the smudge and blur tools to add the lighter areas of skin around them and flesh the
cuts out. In the process the burn tool was useful to darken the cuts and make them more
authentic.
