1. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research/planning and
evaluation stages?
Different technologies used, different softwares
used, different processes, how you developed the
use of technologies, photoshop, limitations,
camera, sound, dolly, tripod.

2. Planning
In regards to the planning stages of the conception of my documentary, the
main software in which I used most frequently would have to be Celtx. I used
Celtx frequent amounts of times to write many various drafts of scripts, and
also used it to convert my scripts to PDF pages to present and embed on my
blog.

3. Research
I used many different technologies in the research stages of creating my
documentary. In order to gain research into the kinds of documentary that
people watch, I used various different social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter, and various questionnaire-making websites, such as
surveymonkey.com, to collect a range of feedback. Using social networking
sites provided me with an opportunity to be able to collect a set of results in
a quick and efficient way, in which wasn't time consuming, for me to make
the questionnaire or for participants to fill out.
I was then able to look at the results in many different graphs, in varying
formats provided by the website, in which clearly showed the responses I
gained and many different statistics in relation to them. I was then able to
integrate these graphs into my wordpress blog to provide a clear explanation
of the results.

4. Research
By looking at my wordpress blog, it can be seen that I have used many
different forms of media to present my research through different mediums.
One of the main websites in which I utilised in order to showcase my
Powerpoint Presentations was slideshare.com. This website gave me the
ability to embed a small application into my blog, that could showcase my
research powerpoints in an efficient and simple way, instead of uploading
jpeg images of each individual slide.
Again, similarly to slideshare, I was also able to embed other applications
into my blog to give it more of a diverse range of technological mediums in
which to present my information. In order to provide the viewer of my blog
with easy access to any videos featured, I embedded many small youtube
players throughout, so that no links would have to be followed and the
viewer wouldn't have to divert away from the page, as it would be accessible
on the blog.

5. Construction
Throughout the construction of my documentary, there were many different
technologies in which I benefited from using in order to give my piece a high quality
and professional look. The main software in which I used to edit together my
documentary on the Mac was Final Cut Pro. Using this software gave me the ability to
provide my documentary with advanced tools to blend my footage together in a sleek
and smooth manner, in which helped to provide my target audience with a flowing
visual narrative structure.
There were many different tools and features of Final Cut Pro that I utilised in order to
create the documentary and apply the correct tone and feel in which I wanted it to
express.
Also because I was able to use a high quality camera in some parts of the
documentary, it gave it a very professional and slightly 'expensive' look, instead of
being a guerilla documentary, relying solely on the lowest budgets and a limited
number of crew members. Although this was the case, because the documentary was
filmed on a number of different camera's, the quality of the picture does change
dramatically in some parts and doesn't help the flow of the piece.

6. Final Cut Pro
One of the main aspects of Final Cut Pro in which I used throughout the
entirety of my documentary, was the use of visual effects on a selection of
the clips featured. I was able to utilise the 'tint' tool and apply it to many clips
of Ben, Darius and Koko, in order to obtain and express a very personal and
'close knit' feel to the documentary. By manipulating a few small clips of
each of the 'characters', turning them black and white, it gives a sense of
familiarity throughout the piece whenever each of the subjects is introduced
to the audience.

7. Final Cut Pro
Not only was I able to add visual effects to try and familiarise the 'characters'
to the audience, but because of the advanced tools available to me on Final
Cut Pro, I was also able to add legends throughout the documentary. I
added these as another visual aid to introduce each of the three subjects in
a simple and effective way. I was also able to add a small detail of
background information to these legends, in order to try and help the
audience to feel attached to each of the three men.

8. Construction
In regards to the construction of my radio trailer, there were many varying
technologies in which I took advantage of in order to create it. Firstly, I used the
Garageband software and recording equipment, such as the mic, to provide a high
quality and clear voice over to include in the trailer. I then used many different
websites in order to obtain the backing music and the audio extracts of Ben and
Darius, including an online youtube to mp3 converter, in which enabled me to extract
the audio I wanted to use from a video featured on youtube. In order to piece my
radio trailer together, I then used the Audacity software, to import each of the mp3
files into, and order and manipulate them until I was satisfied with the outcome.
I then used Soundcloud to integrate my finished radio trailer into my blog by
embedding the correct coding provided on the Soundcloud website.

9. Construction
In regards to the construction stage of creating my poster, I used various
software's and technologies in order to create the visual advertisement for
my documentary. The main software in which I used was Adobe Photoshop,
in which the entirety of the poster was created on. The main reasoning in
why I chose to use Photoshop instead of any other editing software is
because I feel it is simplistic and easy to use, and I have had experience in
using it before hand. Using Photoshop gave me the ability to add certain
effects to my poster, such as the outer glow featured around the picture of
Ben, and also the colour gradient in which I used for the background.

10. Evaluation
During the evaluation stage of my project, I used such technologies as camera's and
tripods, in order to film my focus group, and used editing software such as Cyberlink
Media Suite and Windows Movie Maker, to edit together the focus group and also the
evaluation question focusing on the conventions of my documentary versus real
media pieces. I then used youtube to upload my video so that I could then once again
embed it onto my blog page, to make it look professional and diverse. If I was to carry
out this evaluation stage again, I would have liked to be able to use a more advanced
editing software to create my videos, so that they would look more professional and
not so 'taccy'.
Much like in the research section, I also used surveymonkey.com to be able to
release questionnaire's onto social networking sites in order to gain feedback quickly
in a short space of time.