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

2. Technologies used in Construction
During the construction of my products I used a digital video camera to record the
trailer. After my first time shooting I uploaded my shots onto
imovie which is film editing software on an imac computer. This
allowed me to create rushes which I then showed to my media
studies class to gain some feedback. This let me know what people
thought of my shots and if they thought they worked well together. I felt this gave me
a detailed understanding of what was done well and what could be changed. Using
imovie also allowed me to edit my clips and play around with the colour and gradient
of the shots. I used this throughout my trailer and particularly in the shots where the
character ‘Gretel’ was in. You can also see I used this in both my ancillary texts which I
think helped link all 3 of the products together.

3. Construction continued…
As well as my film trailer I also had to create a magazine cover and film poster relating to the
horror genre. I made a draft of both my magazine cover and film poster and uploaded them to
my blog so that I could show my progress when developing them.
For the first draft of both ancillary texts I found an image on ‘Google’ and used that for the main
image, but when I developed the products I realised it was important to have an original image
that I had taken myself. I used a digital camera to take pictures of the main character ‘Gretel’. I
then uploaded these photos to iphoto on the imac computer which allowed me to edit them. For
the magazine cover I edited the photo to fit in with the clips of Gretel in the trailer making it grey
and a grainy looking texture. I felt that this would make the audience associate Gretel as being a
dark and grey character.
For the film poster I exaggerated the brightness of the photo by again editing it using iphoto. I
was also able to crop the image and make it a close up image which I think worked very well for
my final horror poster product.

4. Technologies used in Research
During my research I used a variety of web 2.0 sites. In order to find out the typical codes and
conventions of the horror genre I researched horror films on IMDB and Wikipedia which allowed
me to have a greater understanding of what is typical of this genre. For example a deserted house
and vulnerable female character. I also watched trailers of popular horror films on Youtube. This
gave me an Idea of what is given away to the audience in a horror trailer and how clips are
shown in a non linear order.
When I had a clear understanding of what horror films entail I was then able to carry out my
audience research. I did this by creating questionnaires and posting them on social networking
sites such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ This allowed me to get a mass number and
variety of people to see and complete my questionnaire in a short space of time. When I had
finished gathering information I presented the results in an excell spreadsheet and then used that
to make a pie chart which is shown on my blog.
I also used ‘Google’ to view images of media products such as horror film posters and magazine
covers. This helped me establish how professionals use layout, images and text to create enigmas
in their products.

5. Technologies used in Planning
An important part of my planning was health and safety. To make sure the locations I planned on
using to film in were safe I made a location recce. To do this I went to the location of filming and
took pictures of any potential hazards or things that I thought may interfere with filming. This
allowed me to prepare better for filming and be ready to deal with any problems that may have
arisen. I put the pictures into a ‘Powerpoint’ presentation and analysed them. I then posted this
on my blog so that I could refer back to them in the future. They were also on ‘Slideshare’ which
is another type of social networking site which allowed me to share my work with people all over
the world.
I created a storyboard which had a picture of what would be in each camera shot, what type of angle
shot it would be and how long each shot would last for. This gave me a structure to follow in order to
create my film trailer. I took photos of my storyboard and uploaded them to my blog and kept the
original copy with me when going to film.

6. Planning continued…
To make sure I used my time effectively I created a shooting schedule and planned in advance
what days I would film, the cast and props I would need and costume that would need to be worn
by the cast. I uploaded this onto ‘Blogger’ so that the cast could look at it with ease and know
when they would be needed and therefore would come to the location prepared.
I used ‘Youtube’ to listen to different types of music that would be suitable for the trailer. I
favoured songs with stringed instruments as I felt this built a feeling of tension and the high
pitched notes were harsh to listen to and emphasised the pleasures of viewing. This helped to
create a more emotive product. However, a problem with this was that the music was not an
original piece and I would be using someone else's work which was something I wanted to avoid.

7. Technologies used in Evaluation
In my evaluation I have used a variety of media technologies to display my work, this makes it
more enjoyable and less tedious to read or listen to.