2. How did you use media technologies in the construction,
research and planning and evaluation stages?
I used a wide range of media technologies throughout the process from the re-
production to the post-production stage. The main tool in use was the internet and
specifically the search engine www.google.com as a starting point for me to progress
from. The reason why this search engine proved invaluable was that it allowed me to
efficiently search for specific items such as ‘Horror movie trailers’ or ‘Zombie movie
posters’. Without such a search engine, finding the individual websites that provided
assistance during the planning stage would’ve proved difficult. The technologies that
allowed me to research trailers can be linked to the emergence of media 2.0;
websites such as www.youtube.com and www.dailymotion.com allowed me to find
trailers related to my genre that had been uploaded either by companies, movie
institutions or individual users. This was all part of a rather easy process that allowed
me to search and view trailers relatively quickly.
I also used Google to find websites such as www.wikipedia.org and
www.monstermania.net that allowed me to see the kinds of conventions that were
typically found in a horror, zombie movie. I was able to find information about what
kind of shots, location and editing should be used in movies of the horror genre.
3. I have uploaded an
example of YouTube's
interface. As you can see,
the interface is extremely
easy to use and simple to
adapt to. Also, you can see
the large number of results
that I received during each
search highlighting the
reason why it was my main
source in researching
trailers.
4. One of the main programs I have used throughout the process has been
Microsoft PowerPoint. I have used the software to analyse and compare all
of the real media texts I have researched including 28 Days Later, Dead
Set, Total Film, Empire, The Expendables poster, Anonymous Poster and
the Thor poster. Microsoft PowerPoint was already a program that I felt at
ease with and having known the controls I was able to quickly to create
slideshows to upload to my blog.
The website that allowed me to incorporate all of the PowerPoint's into my
blog on www.blogger.com was www.slideshare.net . Uploading
presentations to slide share was, like the other websites used for research,
very easy and efficient. I preferred to use presentations on my blog to keep
the look professional and clean.
5. In the production process of my development cycle I used two programs; Adobe
Premiere Pro the video editing program and Adobe Photoshop CS3 a photo editing
program. In my AS production I had already used Photoshop and although not
proficient in its usage, I believe the products produced (Film magazine cover and
movie poster) are of a higher quality than my previous work which shows good signs
of progression.
Photoshop allowed me to manipulate the image I used for my movie poster in a
manner of ways. I used the contrast and brightness adjustment to edit the contrast
level of the original image as it was far too bright to be used as a convincing
representation of my genre. I also edited the picture using the paint tool, editing the
eyes of the actors playing the zombies to make the shot look convincing. I also
added the text that made up the rest of my movie poster in Photoshop and was able
to create tag lines and pull quotes. With the use of Photoshop, I was able to
transform an ordinary image into a hopefully convincing movie poster that represents
the horror genre.
In the construction of my magazine, I was able to use the internet once more and go
to the actual magazine website to find and compare past issue front covers. This
allowed me to see conventions used in magazine production and the variation shown
in producing a front page. This research would influence my design choices of my
final draft.
6. Adobe Premiere Pro was the main technology used in the post-production stage and
allowed me to construct my final trailer. As the editor, it was my task to select the
required clips from the raw footage we had earlier shot and organize them into a fully
complete trailer. The predominant feature, the timeline, allowed me to add the clips
from my raw footage that I had selected and was the main work area in Premiere. I
was able to see where I had positioned clips and could also overlap clips and
sounds. It was in the timeline was able to add effects and set their length. I was also
able to speed up or slow down clips. Premiere also featured different options that
allowed me to modify certain aspects of my trailer. These included adding video and
audio effects and video and audio transitions. A transition that I used, ‘Fade to Black’
faded the designated clip in and out of screen and could be shortened or elongated. I
also used a ‘greyscale’ and a darken video effect to edit certain clips. The darken
effect was used especially to give the trailer a scarier, darker, dangerous feel that
would induce feelings of fear in the audience. Examples can be seen above.
I believe that Premiere Pro was yet another program that I adapted to quickly thanks
to a quick tutorial from my tutor. The interface was simple to use and allowed me to
select the shots, clips and add sounds and effects to construct my completed trailer.
