Evaluation Question 6 for AS media Foundation Portfolio.

2. FINAL CUT EXPRESS
Firstly, I used Final Cut Express to edit my rough cut and final product, as it is easy to use
after familiarization with the software, and it is used in the Media Industry professionally.
The video editing software enables the user to trim raw footage, colour correct (using the
RGB balance tool), add titles, add movement to media elements- and most significantly,
add music tracks and sound effects to the project- making it extremely useful in making
the product. I have also used the product in my Research and Planning for editing my
Preliminary film and the Skills and Development “Juno” opening, of which I learned how to
efficiently use the software before the editing stage of my rough and final cuts of “The
Network”.

3. CAMERA / TRIPOD
The hardware pieces I used to film my product with were a Tripod with
adjustable height settings (useful for low/high angle shots) and a 1080p
HD JVC pocket camera, with 4GB SD card memory and the capacity of
41 minutes of HD footage. They were both useful in filming the entirety
of my project, and were also readily available for reshoots and shots I
needed to add for the Final Product.

4. AVS VIDEO EDITOR
AVS Video Editor is an editor I have access to at home, and I used this for correcting
some grainy shots, and colour correcting special effect shots prior to being processed
in Adobe After Effects, as it’s colour correct window is easy to use. It is also very easy
to export footage into many different formats, which is useful for multiple program use
between Mac and PC devices.

5. ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS
I used Adobe After Effects for all of my Special Effect shots, as it is an extremely
versatile tool which is often used for Visual Effects in the Professional Industry. The
software layout is easy to use, and you can add and edit effect, mask, or null object
layers individually, while adding effects to each to increase realism. The most
frequent effect I created with it was the “electrical” effect which I created by key
framing a strike graphic between the actor’s fingers, then masking his hand over (with
a feather) to create the illusion of the lightning being generated by his hand. Blurred
out duplicated layers of said lightning created the illusion that his hand is a light
source. I also used the null object layer to track the “firewall” actor’s face so the
screen graphics could be attached to it (the parent element) and would move with his
face.

6. BLOGGER
I have used Blogger since the start of the project as a way of displaying multimedia
elements in one place to show the progression of my product research, production and
then to display my evaluation. Youtube videos, Prezis, Powerpoints and various image
types can be embedded into a post, along with explanatory text- which makes it an
incredibly useful platform for displaying the various methods I used in creating the
elements of the product, and explaining conventions in Professional product research.

7. YOUTUBE
Youtube is also extremely useful as I was able to quickly find videos of professional
products of which I could analyse and take inspiration from. It also allows you to
upload your own video products which makes it easier to display shot tests and the
final product on Blogger, as well as Evaluation questions in Video format.

8. PREZI.COM
Prezi is an online presentation software (in some aspects, similar to PowerPoint)
which I have used to display analysis of professional products and other means of
presenting analyses or pieces of text in an interesting way. In addition, background
music can also be added to presentations, further engaging the reader. The
presentation is set out in a virtual space in which the presentation moves through, so
movement paths can be set- guiding the reader through the subject in discussion.

9. POWERPOINT
PowerPoint is a Microsoft Office tool which enables the user to create professional
looking presentations easily, through a sequence of slides which Videos, audio,
images and text can be added to, aiding the discussion piece in hand.
It has been especially helpful in my textual analysis as I was able to easily and
quickly add screen shots of the professional products and narrate the mise-en-
scene, cinematography and other elements with the text box tool, making the
inclusion of images and text easy. A “Master slide” feature can also be used to
establish a consistent colour, graphic and layout for the PowerPoint- making the
presentation look more professional (as seen in this PowerPoint).

10. FREESFX.COM
“www.freeSFX.com” was really useful for collecting copyright free sound effects I
could use in my final product. Examples of these sounds include the phone “buzz”
near the start and the electric glove sounds (three were used overall to convey
increasing power and intensity), and it was an easy source to download material
from in a format which is compatible with most editing software (particularly Final
Cut Express, which is the software I used to edit my Final Product).

11. GOOGLE DOCS
Google Docs has been incredibly useful in conducting surveys which is a
direct way of addressing my target audience. I used this in my fifth
evaluation question, and a page can be set up which displays the
results visually (text responses and graphs for age, gender and activity
of the survey).