Interactive Powerpoint_How to Master effective communication
Evaluation question 4
1. Evaluation question 4: How did you use
media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
2. iMac
This technological device has been the main workhorse throughout
my media course and has completed many, if not all, my media
tasks. Whether that be related to research, planning, editing or
evaluation, the iMac has been responsible for providing everything
needed to produce effective and efficient work. It has given me
access to new and innovative software to help increase the
performance and overall quality of my work.
3. Final Cut Pro
This editing software allowed me to edit efficiently and more
professionally when constructing different tasks. In the AS media
course, the only software that was available was iMovie which was
very limiting in terms of creativity and functionality. Furthermore,
being given the opportunity to edit using Final Cut Pro throughout
the A2 media course allowed for a more professional edit into
projects. For example, being able to use a variety of transitions and
texts to suit different tones for different tasks, thus to create the
most effective piece of media for the recipient.
4. Recording Studio (Rode NT1-A condenser
microphone)
This piece of technology helped when constructing and evaluating
different media tasks. With regards to some media tasks, the ability
to record a vocal presentation or podcast style conversation helped
to explain certain tasks which were hard to express through writing
or a presentation. It also helped to construct my main media task
which was five minutes of a documentary television programme,
this helped with regards to voice overs and interviews.
5. GarageBand
This software helped alongside the microphone recording as this
software was used to record, change and save the vocal podcasts or
presentations. This software was used around the production and
evaluation stages, mainly being used for my main media task (which
was the documentary piece) but at times it was used for smaller
media tasks. As vocalising and recording a task made it easier to
explain - such tasks were mainly included within the planning
stages.
6. Adobe Photoshop CS3
Photoshop was an important software with regards to the
construction stages of my A2 media course as it helped produce such
things as my print advertisement and edit photos and certain logos
for different, smaller media tasks. When using this software I found
it easy to comprehend as I had used it in the previous year of my
media course. However, there were some tools which I did not know
how to use and had to teach myself or look for tutorials on the
internet in order to have the ability to use the tool effectively.
7. Panasonic HDC-SD60
This device proved useful for constructing my five minutes of a
documentary television programme and other smaller media tasks
because it was easy to manipulate and portable, therefore allowing
me to film in a diverse range of environments in order to capture
the best mise-en-scene for my task. Also, the option of being able
to rotate the screen around to see what was in the shot whilst being
in the shot allowed for better cinematography as the subject was
able to adjust their position or the mise-en-scene unnoticeably
without disrupting the recording.
8. Blogger
This web application proved very useful when planning, evaluating
and organising the different media tasks I had to produce. It
allowed me to update projects using many different programs and
software, therefore allowing me to produce a more diverse range of
media. Most importantly, it was extremely helpful in documenting
my media tasks chronologically with simply a few clicks. It was very
easy to access and use, whilst remaining diverse, it was never
complicated.
9. Prezi
This web application helped considerably with presenting and
researching certain media tasks and revision materials with a
professional degree of presentation. Its array of opportunity in
terms of how to present different ideas: having a selection of
different backgrounds and fonts for different types of work, allowed
for a more constructive performance when producing certain media
tasks. Prezi helped when needing to provide large quantities of
information in a intricate and entertaining way, it did this through
its diversity and innovation.
10. SlideShare
SlideShare was not a revolutionary web application to work with,
although it proved helpful in creating or displaying PowerPoint
presentations, it is in no way equal to Prezi. Personally when using
it, it seemed that SlideShare was a lot more simplistic and lacked a
lot of variety and creativity options. This stunted my progression
slightly as I did not want to use Prezi for every task, therefore when
it came to using SlideShare some tasks appeared lower in quality
than others because of the software used.
11. Conclusion
In summary, these media technologies were very useful when
researching, constructing and evaluating the media tasks I had to
complete to the best of my ability. When confronted with
challenges from certain technologies I solved this by fixing the
problem with different technology or by looking online to solve the
issue with the specific technology being used. Overall, the
software, web applications and programs used were a necessity for
what I needed to achieve.
