Media Evaluation question 4

1. Evaluation Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?

2. Introduction
Technology is an extremely important resource it has enabled me to perform many tasks and was extremely useful for my
media coursework. It has enabled me to create, organise and develop my media coursework presenting my knowledge of
media terms and texts in a variety of ways.

3. Research
The first way that technology was useful during the research
stage of creating my own media product was through the
collection of secondary research. Using the internet I was able
to search for existing media texts performing a textual analysis
of these in order to understand the conventions of each
product whether it be film posters, magazine articles or films.
Watching the way others constructed their media products to
gain ideas, new knowledge and understand what is typically
included so that my products are more professional and
realistic. Viewing other short films and analysing them in terms
of the different camera work, editing techniques, sound and
their choice of mise-en-scene allowed me to determine what
genre and type of film it was. If I knew this then it showed that
the film was direct with its techniques getting messages to its
audience effectively. Search engines allow me to find a range
of information about media terms and texts providing
necessary details about theorists and theories which could be
applied or that my products challenged. Researching anything I
didn’t fully understand or terms that I needed to define was
easy and fast as searching for this information through books
would have wasted time.

4. Planning
Another way that technology has really aided me this time in
the planning stage of the creation of my media texts. Using
programs and software on the computers I was able to create a
written storyboard of what I wanted to include in my short film.
I was able to create drafts of my work planning out how I
wanted them to look with the layout, colours or fonts I wanted
to use in order to stay consistent and have my media products
relate directly to one another. Plans abled me to effectively set
out what I needed to do for each task ensuring that I stuck to
the right conventions or challenged some of them. I created a
filming schedule on Word which enabled me to determine who
was available when and what I should film so I knew when I
had done each scene for my short film. It kept me organised
and allowed me to ensure that all filming had been completed
so when it came to editing I did not have to go back and re-film
anything.

5. Construction
Creation of my product. First of all I used technological devices to create my own media product using cameras to take
photos and record scenes before transferring the work onto a computer. My short film could be uploaded onto the editing
program and then onto YouTube before moving including it in my blog where my work is presented to a range of audiences.
I could move photos to different computers depending on the location where I was working through a memory stick and
email so that I could edit my work anywhere. I used the computers to organise my work into folders so that it was easily
accessible and I didn’t have to search through every different piece of work to find what I needed. I created drafts on the
computer using publisher, final cut pro and the online editing websites to produce first copies of my work so that I could
then decide what to add or change in order to make my product more realistic and professional so that it would be more
popular. I also used technology to write down and upload audience feedback onto my blog. I showed my target audience
the different products I created on the devices asking them their thoughts and opinions before taking these into account
when I re-edited the photos. Editing was a key process that I was able to perform through the use of technology because it
gave me access to different software’s and websites to adjust my images turning them into film posters or creating a
magazine article but also producing a short film. I could create my film poster by using Pixlr a free online website which
allowed me to edit my photos adding on effects such as Carl and Indigo, inserting text in different fonts, cropping the
picture and also changing the contrast or brightness of the image. The website has a variety of different editing tools to
change the appearance of my film poster so that it could represent my genre. Also on Pixlr I edited my magazine article
adding images and text cropping it into the layout of a conventional magazine article. When it came to my short film which
was moving image I edited my clips together on Final cut Pro a program on the macs which had a range of different tools to
make my short film scarier or more thrilling including the blur, distort, cutting tool for fast changes between scenes and a
reflective font with a red glow.

6. Evaluation
Lastly I was also able to discover other peoples work and opinions through technology in order to make my own
opinion more prominent in the evaluation stages. By watching/reading others work and reading their analysis I was
able to become more comfortable with creating my own and using media terms. I could use different ways of
presenting my work so that it was easy to read. In the evaluation I could upload all of my work together in order to
show how they corresponded together and also to allow my audience to make a comparison between existing
products and my creations.