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

2. RESEARCH AND PLANNING - Edublogs.org
In order to present my work I used a site called Edublogs.org, in comparison to other
sites I could have used I found that Edublogs was very simple and easy to use. It
allowed me to post my research and planning stages in a matter of a few clicks so
that I didn’t waste time, this benefitted me when adding to my blog as I was able to
post my work at anytime of the day and from anywhere, this then does not limit my
access when posting.
I found no issues when using Edublogs, as it was created for education purposes I
found that it really catered to my needs such as allowing me to upload from different
devices other than my computer; such as my laptop, iPad and iPhone, also giving me
the ability to change the theme of my blog so that I am able to make it look more
interesting. I have chosen a simple theme so that it is simple to navigate around and
watch my research, planning and construction progress.

3. Another element that I took advantage of was that I could upload images and
include links that can navigate you away from the page such as Vimeo where I
was able to show my videos. I used this whenever possible so that I can clearly
show the stages I went through clearly.
I also used Edublogs to track my progress so that I was able to clearly see the
stages I was at and whether I needed to research more into my ideas to make
sure that everything I was producing was at a professional level.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING - Edublogs.org

4. RESEARCH AND PLANNING – Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer played a huge part in my
research and planning as it helped develop my
ideas. I used the internet when learning more
about my initial pitch that I wrote about my
film to do with the miscarriage which helped
to verify my change of narrative. If I hadn’t had
had the internet to research in to this, then I
would not have had any idea to the stages and
emotions a miscarriage consist of.
I also used the internet then once my decision on the narrative had
changed to reproach in to symbolic codes for what roses represent to an
audience. After looking on to several websites it soon became clear what
colour rose symbolised what, I was then able to use this information and
progress on to using it in my film.

5. RESEARCH AND PLANNING – YouTube
I relied on YouTube a lot in my research and planning stages. YouTube is a video
sharing website that allows people from all over the world to upload their videos on
to the web. YouTube gave me great access to watch other short films that I was able
to use and get inspired by. I found that YouTube was very simple to use and find lots
of results that varied from professional productions to amateur. This is due to the
simple search bar that I was clearly able to type in what I specifically wanted to
watch.
Once I had discovered that I wanted to produce a romance drama for my main
product when researching into romance drama short films there were related links
to similar films found at the side of the page, this was very useful and helped to
narrow down my search.

6. I also found when asking my
potential audience about
particular codes and
conventions that it was very
easy access, as I was able to use
YouTube from my iPhone and
show the video that I wanted to
hear their feedback from. I was
able to use this feedback then
to improve my film.
An important feature that
YouTube has is that it has very
fast buffering speeds so that I
am able to see the critical detail
that the director has purposely
created for the audience to see.
This allowed me to be inspired
and use such little detail such
as the lighting in my film.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING – YouTube

7. YouTube was a also a good source when
researching to find music for my short film.
When constructing my film I found a piece of
music on YouTube that I thought was very
suitable for the narrative. I was then able to
download this using an app I downloaded on
my phone called ‘Tdownloader’. This app I used
I was able to clearly find the piece I wanted
from YouTube and then click download as an
mp3 file. Using this app made the process be
quick and easy, and didn’t falter with the quality
of the music, which was an important issue that
I had hoped not to happen.
CONSTRUCTION – YouTube

8. RESEARCH AND PLANNING – Vimeo
Vimeo is a very similar to YouTube and has all the
same features which I found very beneficial; such as
the related links, the high definition and the easy
navigation. However I used Video to post my videos
on of my final main product and also my focus
groups too so that it is quick and easy for when
navigating away from my blog.
Vimeo allowed me to upload my videos with no
issues and accepts a wide range of formats. This is a
very good aspect as then it doesn’t limit me to what I
am able to upload.

9. Slideshare is website that allows people to upload their power points they have
created onto the web so that they can be publicly viewed. You are able to upload
power points that match a certain topic and from that you are able to see related
power points so that your research can progress.
I used Slideshare to upload my power points to clearly state my progress and research
from my blog. This makes it a more interesting technique to present my work.
I also used Slideshare to present the pictures for my location recce for Fewsten
Resevoir as an alternative way to view every specific picture in a particular order; such
as the images i took, the map and the google maps view.
Slideshare allows you to gain feedback as there is a feature where you as a user can
comment on it. Another feature is that you are able to see the amount of views the
PowerPoint has had. This is effective as then you can see how popular the PowerPoint
is on the site.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING – Slideshare

10. Adobe Premiere Pro is a software that specialises
in editing footage. I used Premiere Pro through the
whole construction of my main product as it
involves a wide range of features that include being
able to cut and place the footage in different
orders. Since my film is a non-linear narrative it
allowed me to vary my pieces of footage in the
narrative i want it to play. This makes my film more
effective and to more a professional standard.
In Premiere Pro you can also add titles so that it is
an easier way to include codes and conventions of
a short film rather than having to go on a different
software. It allows you really take advantage of
where you would like to position the title so that it
is placed appropriately with the footage. I also
adjusted sound levels off the footage and music on
Premiere Pro by using key frames. This helped to
achieve the mood of the film I was intending to
create.
CONSTRUCTION – Premiere Pro

11. I used Premiere Pro for my research stages also when filming my focus group
answering questions. This helped to achieve the outcome to be edited neatly so
that it was easy to understand what question they were answering.
Connected to Premiere Pro is Adobe Media Encoder. I used this so that I was
able to export my film into a format that Vimeo will definitely recognise so that I
can easily upload it with no problems.
I also used Adobe Media Encoder to change the format of footage I had filmed of
my focus group using my iPhone camera so that I am able to import it to
Premiere Pro and edit the footage.
CONSTRUCTION – Premiere Pro

12. CONSTRUCTION – Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher is a software that is very basic to use in
consideration to software's such as Photoshop. You are able to
produce text boxes and shapes and purely rely on the
presentations of the content such as the placements rather than
editing.
I used Publisher to design my layouts for both my ancillary tasks
as it is simple to add shapes and display them exactly where you
want them to be and then add text so that you can clearly label
then. I found this very useful to use and was very beneficial
when it came to actually designing the tasks.
I proceeded to use Publisher to create my first draft of my initial
poster. This is due to my confidence on using Publisher so
therefore was very simple and quick to make. Due to no editing
needing to be done to the main image I felt that Publisher was a
suitable software to use.

13. CONSTRUCTION – Adobe Photoshop
I relied on Photoshop huge amounts in being able to create my final poster idea
and magazine review. This is due to the wide range of tools that you are able to
choose from to edit the images.
I used Photoshop for my poser to create the title and the text that is also
included so that it meets the audiences expectations to how these codes and
conventions should be presented. I also used a tool to be able to separate the
foreground from the background, in my case the protagonist. I also used the
clone tool and the blur tool so that it helped merge the images together into the
poster so that it looks more continuous and professional looking.

14. I used Photoshop also when creating my magazine
review as it was best suitable to use when
considering all the content that needs to be
involved. I created the magazine ’New Films’ and
the colour scheme and layout that abides by that
so that it helps upkeep the professional media
convergences I am trying to create.
I designed my production company logo on
Photoshop ‘CYP Productions’ as again it offers a
wide range of fonts and creativeness in order to
produce a professional piece. I decided to stay
basic as little is more i feel especially in
consideration to my film genre, i need to think
what will be suitable and appropriate. I was able to
save my logo as a PNG file format so that the
background is transparent and wouldn’t affect the
rest of the products when I inserted the logo in to
it.
CONSTRUCTION – Adobe Photoshop

15. EVALUATION
For my final evaluation I firstly wrote out all of my answers of the four questions on to
Microsoft Word so that I then could go on to proceed and edit them using a range of
technologies.
I used Slideshare to upload my the PowerPoint presentations I created, I did this exactly
the same way that I have mentioned previously when talking about my research and
planning stages. This way it helps to make my work look more interesting whilst also being
a simple strategy to navigate away from my blog to view further work.
I used Prezi as a way to present my work also so that it makes it look more interesting
when going from slide to slide. Prezi like Slideshare is an educational website where you
are able to upload your own work so the public can view.
I also used Premiere Pro to edit my evaluations so that I am able to portray my answers
clearly and in a creative way using the tools to cut and adjust my answer if necessary. I will
then use Media Encoder to export it in to a format that Vimeo will recognise and upload it
to Vimeo and share the link on my blog, like I have mentioned previously.

16. To conclude I feel how I have used media technologies in the research
and planning, construction and evaluation stages has been very
effective in order for me to produce successful products that are
targeted well to my target audience. Obeying codes and conventions
and creating them using these technologies helped to enhance the
genre of my film and the promotion of it. This has helped hugely on the
media convergence I have created that have been specified tasks I chose
for this course.
Conclusion