Hannah Stubbs A2 Media Coursework - Evaluation, question 4

1. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Hannah Stubbs

2. Throughout each stage of production, pre-production, production and post-production, of my trailer and ancillary products I used a wide variety of different types of technologies. These technologies have been crucial in the designing and developing of my project. Whilst at college I used an Apple Mac computer, which was mainly for the more creative tasks, such as editing, and at home I used Windows, which was mainly for research and blogging. However, the use of two different operating systems did have it’s flaws as I was unable to take work home with me etc...

3. Pre-production: For the pre-production I mainly used the world wide web in order to research various topics, on the Mac this was through Safari and on Windows through Internet Explorer. In order to research existing media film trailers I used YouTube, this allowed me to watch a large selection of real videos, and to analyse these for similar features. I also used the internet to research other elements such as a definition of a teaser trailer, through websites such as Wikipedia and Free Dictionary. Probably the most useful tool in the pre-production research was the search-engine, Google, this allowed me to access a huge amount of websites. The web page IMDB allowed access to details on films and also posters which I was then able to analyse for the pre-production of the film poster. Similarly I used the ‘Total Film’ and ‘Empire’ websites in order to view their cover archives in order to analyse existing products.

4. Pre-production: I created a blog in order to upload my progress and final products. Blogger allowed me to share different forms of multimedia, such as images and videos. This meant my progress throughout the task could be monitored and then viewed at a later date. The ‘link’ button allows me to upload a link to a different website, which will automatically become a hyperlink. This button allows me to upload images either from my blog or from my own images The option to ‘follow’ other blogs meant I was able to view what my partner was uploading, this meant that if she uploaded an image from her computer I would be able to access this. The ‘Edit HTML’ option allowed me to embed YouTube videos within my blog, this was better and easier for the readers than clicking on a link which would lead to an external site. The insert a video button is another way of adding a video into my blog. The ability to add text means I was able to create a mixture of images, videos and text explaining and evaluating the significance of these.

5. Production – Trailer. In order to obtain the footage for the film trailer it was necessary to use a video camera. This was essentially the most crucial tool used in our trailer, as without the camera there would have been no footage to edit and create a trailer with, and without a trailer there would have been no ancillary tasks. With the camera we used a tripod to keep the camera still and improve the quality of the footage. These buttons allow me to edit the footage, for example transitions Once we had the footage we had to edit this in order to create the trailer itself. We did so on iMovie. This allowed me to crop the footage, edit audio over the top, take audio off, add credits, add still images, edit the transitions, watch the footage back, then upload the final product straight online, for example, once I had edited the footage I would upload it straight to YouTube. Video sits here Edit footage here

6. Production – Ancillary tasks I began the ancillary tasks by editing an image, which I would use for both the poster and magazine cover. I edited this image on Adobe Photoshop, a print screen of which is in the bottom left hand corner. I began by cropping out the background so I was left with the girl alone. I then ‘featured’ the edges of this to decrease the harshness against the black backdrop. I then edited her eyes to make them red, as this emphasises the genre. This image was then put onto a black background. To improve this I would have liked to create a red splatter effect in the background. I then saved this image as a JPEG. To create the magazine and poster I then opened this image in Adobe Indesign (print screen in right hand corner). I then added text over the top to create titles etc... In the poster I added another image over the top, the 15 certificate, as this is a convention of film posters. I changed the colours of the fonts to connotate different ideas, e.g. Red connotates blood and death. The use of different fonts makes the products look more professional. I downloaded different fonts from ‘Dafont.com’, which helped the production of both trailer and ancillary tasks as it helps fit the genre. The ‘swatches’ allow me to pick whatever colour, which allows me to match my colours exactly. This helps as it looks very professional. The variety of buttons in the tool bar allow me to edit the image in many different ways.

7. Production - In order to present my the projects I have created in production it was necessary for me to create accounts on various sites. To upload the finalized trailer and trailer in different stages of production it was necessary for me to create a YouTube account – this allows me to upload videos which are then available for anyone to see. This account helped in the production of our trailer as it provided a platform for viewing. Secondly I decided to create a Flickr account, Flickr is similar to blogging, however with images rather than text. Therefore I decided to create an account as it provides a large amount of space to upload images, which I had a lot of. By uploading the images to Flickr this also provides a platform for viewing, which was also useful for my partner to access the images which I took, as she could also use these.

8. Production – Audience Research In order to receive audience feedback it was necessary to use new technologies; to begin we did very simple audience research, through the use of paper – we printed surveys off using the printer, then handed these surveys out and once completed we analysed the data. When conducting more important audience research we did so through the use of social networking sites; the benefits of this is that it is done through the internet which therefore saves paper and ink, but more importantly reaches a huge amount of people which are more willing to leave feedback through the internet as it is much more anonymous and therefore the data collected is less likely to be biased. Therefore we used new technology in order to collect audience feedback, we did so in the form of the internet, printers and word processors in order to type up the surveys.

9. Evaluation – Q1 & Q3 I completed questions one and three using a virtual presentation editor, in which you can ‘Create astonishing presentations live and on the web’. I chose to use Prezi as it enables the user to display many different forms of media on one site, similarly to Blogger, however the Prezi is much more flexible. Both these sites are example of Web 2.0 and how the user has more power than in comparison to past decades in which the internet has been introduced. On Prezi I uploaded images from the internet and images taken from our location, I also uploaded videos from our location and videos of existing products – this is done through YouTube. I was also able to write about these. The ability to create ‘paths’ means that the user can be very creative, and make the view go wherever they wanted. Prezi’s are then viewable by a web link.

10. Question 2 For question two I used a site called ‘Wikispaces’, on which I wrote an essay type response. This is similar to a blog, but more informative and allows for more types of multimedia to be included. The image in the right hand corner shows the ‘Widgets’ which can be uploaded onto a page. The definition of a widget from Wikipedia is ‘a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship (e.g. a webpage, blog, or profile on a social media site). Widgets allow users to turn personal content into dynamic web apps that can be shared on websites where the code can be installed.’

11. Question 4 For this question I have obviously created a Powerpoint Presentation; this is a Windows software, which does not require the internet. On Powerpoint you can upload images, which can then be made as background or simply an image. In order to get this PowerPoint onto the internet I am going to use an external site, called SlideShare, which will upload the completed Powerpoint onto their website, creating link and therefore being accessible for anyone. This shows how technology has adapted to different operating systems, and in order to overcome difficulties in uploading, e.g. If not for sites such as SlideShare I would have been unable to upload my powerpoint to the internet.

12. Throughout my coursework the whole project has been done through the use of the computer – we have not once used paper to present work. This shows how the we have used technologies in every stage of construction. This ability to have such ability to new technology has been very beneficial in creating my project. I feel that the use of technology has had a positive effect on the quality of my coursework – the new technology which allows close detail, such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign. It could be said that Adobe products, such as Photoshop, Indesign and Apple products such as iMovie, are focussed towards more creative media whereas Windows products are less visually focussed and generally used more for presenting the finished product. Which is what I have done in my coursework – the creative products such as footage and images have been edited on a Apple Mac, using Apple and Adobe technology and I have then presented this work using a Windows software. In conclusion I used a large variety of new technologies throughout the construction of my media product, which have been very beneficial.