Media blog work

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

2. Research and Planning
The research and planning of our documentary 'Social
Stereotypes' was vital in the production and creation of
it. In order to do successful planning, we used a range
of technologies and non technological methods.

3. In the brief, we were to get into groups and create a 5 minute documentary
introduction , on a topic of our choosing, a magazine double page spread
listings page and a radio trailer. Due to the fact we were working in groups,
we used technology to our benefit by using the power of social network as a
way of contacting each other outside of college hours in order to make
decisions based on the coursework and arrange times to meet. The tree
main social medias we used were Watsapp, Facebook and Skype. These all
played a role in the planning of the documentary. Both Watsapp and
Facebook gave us a direct link to each other's mobile phones in order to
contact everyone in the group at the same time whenever we needed to.
This became very useful in the production and planning part of the
documentary. Towards the beginning of the planning, we would send links to
articles and images to support what ideas we had based on the topic of the
documentary. Skype allowed use to have video chats. In these video calls, we
would talk about our planning schedules and talk about what stages we were
at with the uploads onto the blog. Using these technologies not only kept the
group organised throughout the creations of the documentary, magazine and
radio, but also enabled to make decisions as a team.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING

4. In the research stage of our documentary, we used various websites
for the research in to the topic of stereotypical social stereotypes. As
a part of our documentary looked at the medias impact on the
labels associated with social groups, we looks at news sites for the
latest and most shocking stories on this topic. To do this, we googled
websites such as the BBC and The Guardian. From doing this, we
were able to find facts and statistic that we could use in our
documentary. To create a more dramatic effect in our documentary,
we decided to get a camera and film the computer screen with the
newspaper articles on. This became a great segway into the media's
influence section of our documentary. In addition, the channel
research included looking at the websites of BBC, iTV, Channel 4 and
Channel 5. By looking at their website, and Wikipedia pages, it gave
an insight into the types of documentaries they air and the types of
audience they appealed to the most. Doing this, allowed us to come
to the decision on Channel 4.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING

5. YouTube played an important role in the planning and research of
the documentary. Youtube allowed us to publish videos of our
practice run of a interview and also it provided us with a great tool
for research. We filmed footage from YouTube of films and archive
footage that would provide evidence in our documentary. Also, we
used it a way of researching the codes and conventions of
documentaries. This allowed us to identify what was needed to be
done in order to create and effective and authentic documentary.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING

6. FILMING We used a canon HD camera to film all of our footage. The
camera was easy to use and paired with the tripod meant
we could get some great footage. The zoom in and out tool
at the top of the camera, meant we could achieve some
effective close up shots, but also long shots. For our expert
interviews, vox pops and establishing shots we used a
tripod, but for some of the clips we used handheld. The
effect of this was it made the footage a little edger and
upbeat. This fit in with the 'teenage' image of being quite
fast pace and edgy themselves. Handheld camera footage
tends to go against the main conventions of a documentary,
as another documentary we looked at, 'one born every
minute' used the same shot positions, however zoomed in
if necessary. However, an exception of this which we
decided to mirror, was 'supersize me'. In this the personal
video diaries and car scene of him being sick, would use
handheld. Thus making it more person and authentic for
the audience.

7. In our documentary, we wanted to do a before and after shot.
By using Adobe Premier, we used the ‘Cut’ tool, in order to
gain two parts of the ‘Beth makeup clip’. First we ‘Cut’ a shot
from the very beginning and then ‘cut’ a part from the end.
We put the clips on top of each other in the sequence. We
could then change the percentage of how much each clip took
of the screen. However, the only problem we then had, was
the fact that the right side of the clips back ground was very
yellow. In order to fix this I was able to use a ‘Video effect’
where I changed the colour of the clip. I used the colour wheel
to choose a colour which contrast with the yellow in order to
correct it. Although it isn't perfect, it still look a lot better than
it originally did, showing how much technology has helped in
the creation of the documentary.
EDITING
‘Razor’ tool. This
allowed me to cut
the clips.
This is the colour
wheel. It helps to
balance the colour
using opposite
colour
On video one sequence line, the
left clip is showing. On top, on
video line 2, is the clip on the
right.

8. In our documentary, we wanted to follow the
conventions of a documentary, by having captions on
the screen. To do this, I created a default still which
then brought up an image which we could then create
an overlay of text for. For the caption, we decided to
have an opaque white box with black serif font. The
caption has been created large and bold so that the
audience can clearly see that this is an expert talking
and his/her opinion is very important.
EDITING
Here we have purposely put
Nick Waring in a much larger
font so that it is the first thing
you see. Underneath in a
slightly smaller font is his job
description.
Here is where you can make a
change in the font size, colour
and style.

9. In our documentary, we used quite a lot of archive footage. In
order to get that footage, we had to film, using the cannon,
the computer screen. However, the consequence of this, was
that everything filmed had an orange/ red tinge to the colour
scheme. In order to fix this I was able to use a ‘Video effect’
where I changed the colour of the clip. I used the colour wheel
to choose a greenish blue colour , as it was the opposite of the
orange tinge in the colour wheel, which stabilised the colour
of the clips giving it a more white balance look. Although it
isn't perfect, it still look a lot better than it originally did,
showing how much technology has helped in the creation of
the documentary.
EDITING
This is the colour
wheel. It helps to
balance the colour
using opposite
colour
Before
After

10. In our documentary, we wanted to do a before and after shot.
By using Adobe Premier, we used the ‘Cut’ tool, in order to
gain two parts of the ‘Beth makeup clip’. First we ‘Cut’ a shot
from the very beginning and then ‘cut’ a part from the end.
We put the clips on top of each other in the sequence. We
could then change the percentage of how much each clip took
of the screen. However, the only problem we then had, was
the fact that the right side of the clips back ground was very
yellow. In order to fix this I was able to use a ‘Video effect’
where I changed the colour of the clip. I used the colour wheel
to choose a colour which contrast with the yellow in order to
correct it. Although it isn't perfect, it still look a lot better than
it originally did, showing how much technology has helped in
the creation of the documentary.
EDITING
‘Razor’ tool. This
allowed me to cut
the clips.
This is the colour
wheel. It helps to
balance the colour
using opposite
colour
On video one sequence line, the
left clip is showing. On top, on
video line 2, is the clip on the
right.

11. Throughout our documentary process, all research and planning has been
uploaded to a website called ‘Blogger’. This has enabled us to access the blog
anywhere, but also to effectively work well together as a group since we could
all work on the blog at the same time.
BLOGGER