How did you use technologies in the
research and planning stages?
Evaluation question 4

Before I created any of my own media products I had to conduct
research on similar products. To do this I used to
research information on soap operas their different genres. As
well as this I also used to watch videos of other soaps,
such as Eastenders and Made in Chelsea to get a good
understanding of the different genres. When I had decided to
produce a melodrama, I used the channel 4 website to watch
trailers of Hollyoaks for inspiration.

When researching and planning
my production I used Microsoft
word to create documents on the
background of melodramas in order
to help me get a better
understanding of their
conventions before I attempted to
make my own. I used Microsoft word
for a number of things during my
planning, such as for writing the
script and creating costume lists
which I then uploaded to my blog.

I also used PowerPoint to create character profiles on my
characters that I created for my production, the profiles helped
me to figure out the characters personalities and what the best
way to portray this in my trailer was. I used PowerPoint to create
slideshows about the conventions of soap trailers and when
analysing the main basis of the genres.

I used Microsoft excel when developing a
shot list. The shot list helped us to plan
what shots we would be shooting in what
location, what equipment was needed for
the shot and what actors. It also included
information on the angle of the shot, as well
as the shot type and the dialogue included.
The shot list was extremely helpful when
shooting as it made it easy to see which
location we needed to go to film particular
shots

I used the website to
create my blog. This helped me
upload planning work and
research such as background
information on different soaps,
and detailed analysis on other
soap trailers and real
examples of media products
such as magazines and billboard
posters so I could research their
conventions. This site played a
big part in my planning as it is
where i uploaded all of my
planning and research findings
which i used to both guide me
and influence me.

I also used Google when researching about
other billboard posters and magazine covers. It
helped me look and analyse other products so
I could understand what I needed to include on
my own products to make them as realistic
and as effective as possible.

How did you use technologies in the
production stages?

One of the main forms of technology I used for the
construction of my soap trailer was a digital video
camera and a tripod. This was a vital part of construction
as it is what I used to film all my footage for my trailer. We
filmed the footage with a normal digital camera, taking it out
to different locations and placing it on a tripod so we could
change the height of the camera and make panning easier.
We needed to shoot a number of long shots so having the
camera high was essential, we also needed a panning shot
for our final scene and having a tripod really helped to pan
the camera easily and smoothly.

After filming the footage, I uploaded it onto an Apple Mac
computer which had all the technology needed to allow me to
create a soap trailer.
I uploaded the footage onto a software called iMovie. Once I
had successfully uploaded all of the footage to iMovie I was able
to watch all my footage back and decide which clips would be the
most suitable. Below is a print screen of all of my footage after I
had uploaded it to iMovie, from here I could watch and select the
relevant clips and drag the clips I wanted into my project.

When using iMovie I had to crop the clip to the length I wanted
it, making sure I cropped out any laughter and getting the length
of the clip right so it wasn’t too long. Once I had cropped the clip
I dragged it into my project.
Once I had cut all the relevant clips and dragged them into my
project in the right order I could then begin editing them..

After inserting all the clips I then inserted
backgrounds in between certain clips. By
inserting a black background it allowed
me to add a text over it which allowed
me to create an enigma code for the
audience. I used a text title called lens
flare, I thought this was an effective text
that suited my trailer as the way the text
emerges has connotations of the way the
lies and secrets within the groups
friendship emerges.

As well as text, I inserted transitions
in between every clip and every bit of
text. I chose to use the ‘fade to black’
transition. This was effective because
it made the clips fade out and back in
again giving a feel that something bad
was going to happen and fitting in
with the text I had inserted and the
main story within the trailer.

After I had all of the trailer in the correct order I
could then start editing the clips I was using. On
the clip you can see below, I changed the
exposure; dimming the brightness levels gave
the image a more sinister feel, drawing attention
to the betrayal felt by the character. Changing
the contrast again had the same effect of
making the image darker, therefore giving
connotations of jealousy.

In the clip below one of the actors we used started laughing before the dialogue of the
clip had finished, however because the clip was very effective for the trailer we wanted
to use it. We cropped the clip so that the smile on the actors face wasn’t visible,
however we also cut the sound from the clip and made it separate; this made it
possible for us to continue the sound into the next clip so it overlapped the following
text. This was very effective as it meant we still got the full effect of the clip without
ruining the feel of the trailer by having to include the actor laughing.

The technology of iMovie meant I was
able to add images over the blank clips I
had inserted. For example, on my last
clip, I inserted the e4 logo that I had
made, this is because including the logo
in the trailer is a typical convention.

I inserted sound into my trailer by
downloading an appropriate track from a site
called sound cloud. After downloading it we
were able to drag it onto our trailer and adjust
the sound levels and where we wanted the song
to stop and start. I was also able to fade out
the music during this final clip to add to the
dramatic effect of the trailer and show it was
the end. I did this by lowering the sound levels
gradually.

After creating my video I was able to use to upload my video.
This made sharing my video very simple, quick and easy. After uploading
the video it meant other people could see it and I could then insert the url
of my video onto my weebly blog.

This is my soap magazine. To create
this, I used a number of technologies.
The main programme I used to make it
was Microsoft publisher. This helped
me to do a number of things on my front
cover.

Using publisher made it easy to insert shapes that I could use on my
magazine. For example, the button in the top right hand corner was
made using shapes from publisher and so were the shapes around the
side of the page that I used for sub-stories. I then used word art and
text boxes to add the headings and subheadings.

To make the magazine effective. First I
had to take the photographs. To do
this I had to take the pictures, to ensure
they were good quality I took them
using a good quality photography
camera on a tripod. I had the characters
stand against a green screen, this
technology made the photographs
much easier to edit in the editing
process.

I used a technology called Photoshop. This software allowed me to remove
the background easily. Using a tool called the magic eraser tool it allowed
me to click away the green back ground simply. If there was still some green
screen left visible I used the eraser to get rid of any remaining background.
This was a very useful technology to have as it meant my images would have
no background and could fit onto my magazine and billboard poster
effectively.

Using Photoshop allowed me to change
my image from this… To this!

Once I had removed the main part of
the background. I could use this
technology to crop my image to the
size I wanted it. This also helped me to
easily cut out the remaining
background that the magic eraser
hadn’t got rid of.

After I had removed all of the background, I was able to use the
technology of Photoshop to edit my photos. The photo below is one of
the main protagonist in my programme. The main character is upset
throughout the trailer and the main narrative story in the show, by
adjusting the contrast to make the image darker it highlighted the
depression the character is feeling.

This is my billboard poster. To create this I used Photoshop and Publisher a lot in
order to make the poster look effective. Using these technologies was very useful in
helping me create my final product.

I wanted to change the colour of my
images in order to make them effective. I
used Photoshop to do this as it gave me the
technology to easily adjust the image
colour. First I had to take out the
background making sure the green screen
wasn’t visible. I then changed the saturation
of the image, making it black and white. This
made it easier to change the colour. Using
the colour balance tool I changed the
different colour levels until I found a colour I
was happy with. I then dragged the image
onto a black background which I also made
on Photoshop using the brush tool and then
cropped the image to the size I wanted it.

I did this for every image until they were all different colours

I then added all the edited images onto Microsoft publisher. This
technology then allowed me to move the images about to the order I
wanted them in. I then had to insert the logo and the name of the show
which I also created separately on Photoshop. I then inserted text
above the images, I made sure I got the same text as I had used for the
name of the show and in the trailer which is a simple, easy to read text.