1. B Y L E I S H A B U R N E T T
Question four: How did you use media
technologies in the construction, research,
planning, and evaluation stage?
2. I used lots of different programs for
planning and research such as –
YouTube
WordPress
PowerPoint,
Slide share
Twitter
Tumblr
Facebook
Google
Photoshop
WhatsApp
3. Research
To help me research I mostly used the internet. By having
access to websites such as YouTube while using my laptop, it
enabled me to watch other short films to get a general idea of
what to expect and how they are presented. Google search
engine also helped with the research that I conducted. It
allowed me to undergo research throughout the whole
production. I was able to do a Google search for specific
images and was able to find appropriate information such as
typical horror conventions which allowed me to develop my
understanding of what to include within my own production.
My apple phone was also another helpful resource which
allowed me to use the internet when I was far from my laptop,
I was able to use YouTube and Google again to help me find
music to add to our short film and to find information about
our chosen genre.
4. Adobe Premier
Adobe Premier was a key software which we
needed to edit all the filming we had done.
The software is a timeline based video
editing software application. Adobe
Premiere allowed us to change to speed,
contrast, colour, and sound of our project.
We was able to cut out unneeded scenes and
put different pieces of film together to make
sense.
5. This part of Adobe Premier allowed us to upload all
our footage and all of our digetic and non-digetic
sounds. This was beneficial for us as we could store
all our footage onto one place knowing where to find
each piece of footage. We could then drag the chosen
footage onto our timeline and edit our footage to
make our production.
6. Using the software we could add all our footage on to
a time line and watch back our recordings. We could
clip and delete certain parts of the footage we did not
want and was able to add sound over the top of the
footage. This is shown by the green block underneath
our footage.
7. This feature allowed us to have a split screen, we
could put different videos on at the same time to
compare which video was better. This was helpful to
us as it made picking the right video easier as we
could compare every little aspect while both videos
where playing. We filmed multiple shots of the same
scenes to make sure we could pick the best possible
footage.
8. After putting all our footage together to create our
production, we were able to make our film more
professional by using effects. Adobe Premier
software allowed us to use features such as ‘Cross
Dissolve’ and ‘Dip to Black’ which we used to blend
different shots together to create a smooth
transition.
9. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop was used so that we could create
ancillary tasks to promote our production. Using
Photoshop I was able to create my own film poster
for ‘Oblivious’. The software was a good programme
to use as it allowed me to create a poster which
looked professional. Using the programme I could
merge pictures together, change the colour of
images, layer images, create text and edit pictures.
10. Tool Bar
Within Adobe Photoshop,
this tool bar is presented
which allows for multiple
purpose -
11. Editing
Adobe Premier also
features editing tools
which enable you to edit
images in specific ways.
For example you can
change the brightness,
add overlays, edit parts
of the image out ect.
13. Publisher
Our second ancillary task was to create a magazine
review which I created using Publisher. Using this
software it enabled me to create a review which looks
well crafted and professional. I was able to create a
double spread using a range of different photos and
was even able to use Publisher to create my own
‘predicted Interest Curve’ to add effective detail.
14. Publisher was as similar to use as Word, therefore I was
comfortable and confident using the programme. I was
able to use the ‘shapes’ bar to create my own boxes and
red detailing such as the stars the graph and the ‘movie of
the month’ symbol which was all created by myself.
15. Publisher Extended
Using the programme I decided it would be best to
keep the writing on the left page and use the second
page for visual effect. I used a title, tag line, quotes,
summary, star rating and page numbers to make my
review as realistic as possible.
17. WordPress
I used the blog site WordPress while working on our project which allowed me to
store all the research that I had conducted. WordPress was extremely easy to use
and it also allowed me to keep track of not only my recent posts but also the other
people in my group. We were able to see what each member wrote on their blogs
and could even interlink our blogs so we could see who had done what within the
project. WordPress enabled us to track our progress and allowed us to blog every
step of our product from introduction to evaluation.
WordPress was also an advantage to us as we could embed pictures and videos
which helped us to evaluate others work and to also embed our own pictures that we
had taken – for example I was able to post pictures of all the props that we used
within our production and the makeup that I wore that was needed for our
production
Using WordPress we could also embed all documents – I was able to include
attachments from word, Scribe, slide share and YouTube
We used WordPress as our own diary, constantly updating with ideas and progress
such as our film schedule and location scouting.
Additionally it allowed me to personalise my blog, and make my blog look
professional.
18. Prezi / PowerPoint / Slide share
Prezi was a software which enabled me to present my
research and work. With Prezi you are able to personalise
backgrounds and write about anything you want on
different pages. The transactions between each slide is
smooth and you are able to insert videos and pictures in
the presentation to elaborate your work. I also used
power point and slide share to help me present my
research and my ideas, I also used PowerPoint to
evaluate film posters as Power Point is a good way to use
visual presentation. After creating a power point I was
then able to convert the PowerPoint to slide share and
embed the code so that my power point appeared on my
blog. Slide share was effective as it allowed me to easily
post my presentations on my blog.
19. Computer
Using a computer for our production was a necessary
thing as it meant we was able to store and access
documents and files, use the different software's on the
computer, and use the internet for research, this was
extremely convenient for us as it meant all our
documents were stored on one document.
However obviously computers can carry some cons, such
as the computers were slow at times, programmes often
crashed which was frustrating, and obviously we could
not carry a computer around which meant we was not
able to access our files exactly when we wanted
20. Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr – Evaluation
To get feedback from our target audience we put our film onto social
networking sites such as Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.
This was helpful as the social networking sites allowed me to share
my video with people online an with sites such as Facebook, to
people who could watch my video and leave feedback, or were able
to ‘like’ my video. People were also able to ‘share’ my video so that
more people were likely to view it. Facebook also enable me share
statuses about my film. I was able to update audiences about my
film progress which allowed me to create a ‘buzz’ about it so that I
could get as much feedback as possible.
I also used twitter to ‘tweet’ about my upcoming film and put my
video on Twitter to get feedback from a broader audience.
Audiences could message me about my video telling me there
thoughts. This was the same case as Tumblr, my followers could
give me feedback and give me their own opinions and thoughts on
my film.
21.
22. Whatsapp
WhatsApp helped us as a group as it allowed us to
communicate to each other when we wasn’t with
each other. We created a media group chat on
WhatsApp which we have been using since
November to present all our findings to each other
and to help us find days which we were all able to
film on. We all put our ideas on the chat of what we
should do and we also used the WhatsApp group
chat to help us when we were filming as we created a
plan of what to film for certain days.
23.
24. Microsoft office – research and planning
Microsoft was essential to my project; it was easy to use and
accessible. I was able to store all my digitally work in different
folders which helped me to plan pieces of my work. For example I
used Microsoft Excel when constructing my questionnaire analysis.
Excel helped me to convert the research that I had conducted into
different types of graphs such as bar graphs and pie charts. It made
working more efficient as I was able to just write in the number of
people who had voted for each answer and Excel automatically
converted it into a more visual format.
I also used Microsoft Word a lot within my production. Word
allowed me to plan each task - for example within the preparation
for our recreation task I used Word to write out a script of each
character so I could duplicate print outs for all our film, and cast
members, I also used Word to create our questionnaire which
allowed me to make my work look professional in its layout. After,
the function of printing allowed me to produce multiple
questionnaires for my audience feedback.
25. About the Nikon D5100:
Why was it used?
We used the Nikon D5100 as it allowed us to film footage that was of a high quality – this was
beneficial for us as it made our film look more professional instead of filming on a bloggie
which would have been of a low quality and would have made our footage look a low standard.
The Nikon also allowed us to store all our recordings and watch back the footage immediately.
This was beneficial as we could see what parts of the film we had to re-film and see where our
filming had gone wrong. The camera also allowed us to focus in and out focus which was an
effective, creative tool, the camera could also zoom in and out which we used a lot to focus on a
particular object or prop. In our case we used this to focus on our props such as the laptop
screen, the shoes and the iPhone.
Image quality: 16.2 MP
Image sensor and 150,00 -6400 expandable to 25,600
Flexible shooting with the 3.0921K
Full HP 1080p (24/35/30 fps) Video recording
Class leading 11 – point auto
7 unique special effects modes can be applied
Cons
Quite big and bulky to hold
So many buttons can be quite tricky to use at first
battery dies quickly
26. Olympus VN-733PC Digital Note Taker
Why was it used?
We used the digital note taker to record background sounds such
as the TV background noise within our production. Without the
note taker our film would have been filmed in complete silence as
we did not have any speech within the production.
About the Olympus VN-733PC Digital Note Taker:
High speed USB connection
4GB built in memory and micro SD slot
Low cut filter for noise reduction while recording
ME -52 plugs directly into your digital records 3.5mm
microphone jack for uni-directional recording in high-noise
environments
Runs out of battery quite quickly
Easy to erase recording by accident
27. Manfrotto MM294A4 294 Aluminium
Monopod
Why was it used?
We decided to use the monopod as we felt it would help us
create more effective camera angles. We used the monopod to
film shots such as action tracking shots and high angle shots
as we could lean the monopod to the direction we wanted.
About the Manfrotto MM294A4 294 Aluminium Monopod :
Light weight aluminium monopod
Only has 1 leg
Enables you to capture unique camera shots
Cons
Have to hold the monopod at all times
The camera feels heavy at the top of the pole
28. Hama Star 61 Tripod
Why was it used?
We also used the Hama star 61 tripod for all of our other filming as it allowed
us to create scenes which flowed and allowed us to keep the camera dead still so
that our footage was not jagged. The tripod also allowed us to film from
different camera angles as we could move the handle up or down which moved
the camera. We could also alter the length of the tripod which allowed us to
create low and high angled shots.
About the Hama Star 61 Tripod:
Cheap
Light weight
Steady camera shots
Adjustable
Holds camera in place
Cons
Sometimes the handle was stiff which created awkward movement at times
The piece where you attach the camera comes off so can be lost easily
The brackets on the legs are easily breakable
29. Bloggie VS Nikon
We used the Nikon camera instead of the bloggie as we
found the Nikon had better quality. We found it could
catch action scenes better. It has an optional auto focus
which made filming a lot easier and we could change
the settings on the camera too which was helpful.
However the bloggie was relevant as it was easy to use,
light and convenient to carry and we could get the right
angles as it was portable and we could also put it on the
tripod. We used the bloggie to film our recreation of
‘Get Off My Land’ which in comparison it is clear to see
the differences in the quality of the footage in our final
production.
