by Chris Paton

2. In this presentation I am going to be
reviewing how I have used various new
media technologies throughout the
research, planning, production, and
evaluation processes of my coursework.
For each technology, I will explain how it
was used, whether it was beneficial to me,
what skills I have learnt by using it, and
what the impact was on the final
productions.

3. Computers
Computers were used throughout the various
processes as they allowed me to create the
content required. The three products were
all digital media products, which can only be
created using computers. The computers were
also used for research purposes as we could
easily access information on the internet.
The computer was very beneficial to me, as
without it, I would not have been able to
create digital media products, and my
research and planning would have taken much
longer. It has for this reason, impacted
greatly upon my productions, as they would
not exist if not for the computer.
The skills that I have learnt while using
computers have mostly been on the software I
used, which I will analyse later in the
presentation.

4. The Internet
The internet was used heavily throughout the
research process, and also used to present
my work and evaluation. Search engines like
Google helped me to research all of the
topics that I needed to in order to understand
new media products. Other websites, including
YouTube, Blogger, and FreeplayMusic were
also used throughout the four processes, and
will be explained later in the presentation.
The internet was extremely beneficial to me
as it gave me access to information and other
media products that I needed to research. It
also gave me a virtual area to present my
work, which can then be seen anywhere by
anyone. The internet has made my work
possible and much easier to create.
I have learnt research skills, and skills with
various websites that I have used.

5. Texting & Email
Texts and emails were used to organise film
sessions with actors for the filming process.
Both technologies allowed me to talk to my
actors without having to meet them, and also
gave them a method of contacting me in the
case that they couldn’t make it to the film
sessions. I used these processes to give the
actors dates, costume requirements, and
information on their role.
Texting and emailing was very helpful as it
saved a lot of time and hassle in organising
actors and film sessions. Without them, the
filming process may have taken much longer.

6. Blogger
Blogger is a free blog creation and hosting
website that I used to present my work. I
created posts for each topic of the four
processes, and embedded images and videos,
including my final productions. I also sent out
the URL of my blog to some peers, so they
could provide feedback on my creations.
Blogger was helpful for presenting my work.
It is a very easy to use website with lots of
functionality. It can also be viewed by anyone,
from anywhere which was useful for audience
feedback. Although I could have used another
blog website, Blogger was chosen because of
it’s accessibility and popularity.
I have learnt how to use the website well, and
tried to present my work in a creative way,
which has got better with more practise with
the website.

7. YouTube
YouTube is a website where people can upload
their videos for free. I used this website to
upload my final teaser trailer, and also,
part two of my evaluation. YouTube is very
easy to use, and can be easily embedded into a
Blogger post. This was the reason why I used
it to host my videos.
YouTube was beneficial to me as it gave me
somewhere to upload and host my trailer
and evaluation pt.2 for free. I was able to
send out the link to my trailer to peers for
feedback, and able to embed the video into
my blog.
From using YouTube, I have learnt how to
upload videos, which is something I haven’t
done before.

8. Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word was used for many parts of
my research and planning processes. It is a
very simple program used for writing text
documents. It can also be used to create
tables, which is what I mostly used it for. The
reason I didn’t use it to type up all of my
work is because Blogger already has a post
creator with all the functionality that I
needed apart from table design.
Tables like my Shot List and Actor Call Sheet
were created using Word so it was useful in
my planning processes. I could have used
other programs like excel to create tables,
but they tend to take more time.
I already knew how to use Word, so I haven’t
learnt any new skills during the course of
using it.

9. Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel was used to create graphs
and tables that I could not create in word. It
is a spreadsheet program that also has a
table design function to create different
types of table easily. I used Excel to create
my pie charts from my audience questionnaire
feedback. The graphs look great and are easy
to interpret.
Excel didn’t have much of an impact on my
overall productions as it only was used to
create the audience questionnaire feedback
graphs. However I wouldn’t have known what
else to use to create these graphs so it was
still useful and had a small impact on my
work.
I also didn’t learn anything new while using
Excel as I already know how to use it.

10. Digital/Film Cameras
I used two cameras to film my productions
and take pictures for my magazine cover
and poster. My filming camera was a small
digital camera. It had a good quality
image, and was portable and easy to use.
The camera used to take the pictures was a
larger camera with a better quality image
but no video functionality. The cameras
were used, along with a tripod, to film and
photograph some great quality footage
for my productions.
The cameras have impacted greatly upon
my productions as without the use of them,
I would have no footage for my teaser
trailer and no images for my poster or
magazine cover.
I have learnt many skills while using these
cameras. These skills are mainly filming
skills but also skills with the individual
cameras, meaning that I can now be more
creative when taking videos or pictures as I
know what the cameras can do.

11. Adobe Photoshop
CS5
Photoshop was used to create my poster and
magazine cover. It is a program that takes a
while to get used to, but can be used to create
amazing products. The text on my magazine
cover and poster was all created in
photoshop with the default fonts and plug-
ins. I also used photoshop to edit my images,
by making the colours look better, and
removing any unwanted marks or objects.
Photoshop was beneficial in creating my
products as it gave me a way to create
advanced, professional looking, attractive
creations. If I had used a different program,
like paint, my products would have looked
boring or unprofessional.
Although I already had basic knowledge of
how to use photoshop, I have learnt many
more skills while creating my poster and
magazine cover, like how to remove marks
and correct colours. I can now be much more
creative when using photoshop.

12. Adobe Premiere
CS5
Premiere is a video editing software used to
edit footage for videos. I used it to transform
my raw footage into my final trailer. To do
this, I imported all of my footage into the
program and then started to edit the clips
together and cut them down to the right
length. After I had edited the raw footage, I
added transitions, and titles, which are
created within the program. I also imported
music and edited it with Premiere.
Premiere was very helpful for creating my
trailer as it is quite a simple editing program
yet can still be used to create professional
looking, great videos. I could have used other
video editing programs like Sony Vegas or
Final Cut, but they were not available and are
more advanced and harder to learn.
I had no knowledge of Premiere before
creating my trailer so everything I did was a
new skill that I learnt. I can now edit footage
and create good products, so have become

13. Music Downloads
The music used for my trailer was
downloaded from a website called
FreePlayMusic. I was able to use this site to
download the music that I wanted to use
quickly, and for free instead of having to get
a physical copy of it on disc. The music was
then imported into my Adobe Premiere
trailer file, and edited to fit the footage.
This was very helpful as I had to find
copyright free music, which is very hard to
find on disc. Therefore, downloading it from
the internet was the only viable option.
Without music, my trailer wouldn’t have been
very good.
I haven’t really learnt many skills from
downloading music as there aren’t many to
learn from the specific task. I have however
learnt some royalty free music download
websites which I can use for future creations.