How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
1. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
2. I have used: Weebly
I decided to use this blogging platform over the previous platform I used in AS, (Blogger), as this
media platform was more professional due to the functionality and capability of what the blog
page allowed me to do. This clean looking professional website style mirrors me as a person as it
fits my sleek and simple style. A feature that I found most useful was the drag and drop feature
which Weebly smartly inputted into the design, this made sure that any computer user with any
skill set are able to create a interestingly designed and fun website in a matter of less than an
hour! During the creation of your new website you are able to pick the format/layout. Weebly
allowed me to post, add pictures, insert links and so much more including things such as
inserting polls and allowing adverts to be shown in the blog. You are also able to blog on the
move with their mobile app! The features of Weebly are approached very differently to the
previous blogging website that I used. I found it was much harder to navigate through and very
hard to get used to. Blogger, unlike Weebly was more of a continuous page, which didn’t really
appeal to me, as I didn’t think it looked as neat and tidy, however, Blogger allowed me to post,
add pictures, links, similarly to Weebly. Blogger too allows you to blog on the go however I
thought with the simple design, easy navigation and the overall functionality… Weebly was for
me.
3. I used this to update different stages
throughout the course including:
Research:
• Genre analysis
• Textual analysis
• Secondary production
research - Double page
spread analysis, newspaper
advertisement analysis
• Historical background
• Quantitative audience
research
• Qualitative audience
research
• Target audience profile
• Institution research
• Regulations research
Planning:
• Treatment sheet
• Mood board
• Script
• Story board
• Test equipment and camera angles
• Brainstorm and poll on name of documentary
• Mock ups
• Photography
• Setting/Location
• Colour/ Typography
• Soundtrack
• Mis-en-scene sketches
• Shooting schedule
• Layout designs for double page spread and advert
4. I used this to update different stages
throughout the course including: (cont.)
Production:
• Filming days
• Photoshoot
• Manipulation of
photographs
• Montage of car clips
• Adjust layout designs
accordingly with photos
• Edit documentary -
Including voiceover
• Multiple drafts of
documentary, double page
spread and advertisement
Post-production:
• Evaluation
• Sign off
6. I have used: YouTube
YouTube is a very accessible, user friendly,
mass-media online video sharing website
which has a great variety of content. The
range of videos available made it easy to find
documentaries including ‘Megafactories’ and
‘Super Cars Vs Used Cars: The Trade Off’
(which were automotive based.) These videos
made the textural analysis process simple as
there were a great variety to choose from.
The freedom of choice of the available videos
allowed me to gather lots of inspiration for the
creation of my documentary and helped me to
identify and expand my knowledge on
conventions of automotive documentaries.
7. I have used: Final Cut Pro X
I used Final Cut Pro X (FCP) to edit my
documentary. This editing application allowed
me to input film, pictures, music and text and
the clips that I used were subtlety edited to
the background music. I was able to figure out
timings of when to edit using the beat, which
was indicated on the application.
Some clips were shaky when being recorded,
however FCP has an ability to stabilise clips. I
used this feature and gained a significant
amount of stability on footage which I would
have been unable to use with FCP, there was
however some warping of the clips. FCP also
allowed me to add a vignette effect, creating a
more intense atmosphere in the video. It also
allowed me to use black bar overlays
(letterbox) that gave the documentary a
cinematic feel, as this is what they typically
use in high-end movies.
8. My use of Photoshop is advanced compared
to other members of my course due to having
previous experience from using this
application out of my own interest.
When using Photoshop for both the advert
and the double page spread, the uses of
folders within the project file enabled me to
keep organised, i.e. when doing the double
page spread, I was able to categorise the
layers on the left hand side and right hand
side, with subfolders within these main
folders. I also used the guidelines feature to
help me with accuracy in regard to the layers
and to keep the continuity. I use the stroke
layout on the ‘UK’ text to make this prominent
I have used: Photoshop
on the page, I also used a feature on this text
that was new to me. The feature is called
‘clipping mask’ and allowed me to use the UK
flag within the ‘UK’ text.
9. I have used: Afterlight
Afterlight is a simple phone application that I used to edit all of the photographs for my advert
and double page spread. This phone app has the functions to adjust, use filters, add texture,
crop and rotate and add frames. The functions I used when editing were picture adjusting tools
(saturation, contrast, brightness etc), filters and crop and rotation tools.
Before After
