New media technologies were essential for researching, planning, and producing a children's TV program. The group used the internet to research conventions of the genre on YouTube and BBC websites. They created title sequences and edited video clips using Final Cut Pro, learning how to use filters and adjust playback speed. Soundtrack Pro was used to compose an original soundtrack that fit the mysterious storyline. Photoshop allowed them to design magazine covers and DVD packaging by layering and manipulating photos. Overall, these technologies helped the group complete a professional-looking TV program and related materials.

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

2. Internet The internet was essential in research and planning, we viewed numerous children’s TV programmes videos on ‘YouTube’ to gain an overall understanding of the genre and its conventions, we used ‘BBC’ which connected us to the “CBBC” site to see if there were other TV programmes we could use in our questionnaire, to find out which is the popular TV programme for our demographic. We also used ‘Google’ to evaluate our ancillary products to other products already established products. And Ofcom website to understand the regulations of TV broadcasting. The internet was a key factor in the production of the product because without it we would of not been able to gain a good understanding of the main conventions and been able to plan our product with the knowledge of media conventions.

3. Final Cut We used the editing program ‘Final Cut’ to create our title sequence. None of us had used the program before so I played around with it and used the manual to figure out how to capture shots and to change the speed of the shots. We were shown by our teacher how to use the video filter, chroma key. This took a lot of time as the blue curtain wasn't just one colour and we needed to make sure it was all chroma keyed out. We also had to edit the saturation, edge thinness and the softness to make the edges around the actors smooth. It is a very user friendly program which made it easy for us to play around with filters and create the image we wanted to.

4. Final Cut We had to create three video lines to add the background scenes and the text to the whole sequence. The idea was to have the scenes behind the actors so we had to figure out what went on each line to create the order they appeared. Editing the speed of certain shots allowed us to create a slow tempo and also a fast tempo to complimented the beat of the music we produced. The video transitions made our video flow throughout and helped to jump from scene to scene. ‘Final Cut’ was essential in being able to use a blue screen effectively to create the style we wanted to achieve and also to change the tempo, which enabled us create a comical effect which would appeal to our demographic.

5. Sound Track Pro/Garage Band The other members of my group completed this part of the project as I was away. They initially used Garage Band to create our soundtrack however, they didn't like the style as they felt it didn't match the genre of our programme. So they switched to Soundtrack Pro to complete the final version. The soundtrack produced is upbeat and also has a mysterious tone as it used the minor key which fits into the storyline of mysterious crimes occurring in the school.

6. Photoshop We used the photo manipulating software ‘Photoshop’ to create our ancillary texts, magazine and DVD cover. We had to make sure that each section of the covers were on different layers so we could manipulate where they were placed and in what order. It also allowed us to manipulate the photos without affecting the other components. We had several photos we wanted to use to make the covers as effective and attractive as possible. We had to cut them out and delete the backgrounds so we could layer them onto another background. To cut them out we used the quick selection tool, this allowed us to cut out quickly and smoothly the area we wanted to use. We also used generic illustrations that came with the software to create the crest and the magnifying glass.

7. Overall, new media technologies were crucial in the completion of our product as it gave us the ability to complete a professional looking product. Through using the internet, ‘Final Cut’ and ‘Photoshop’ we created a title sequence and other related products that were in general successful.