- The document discusses the use of various media technologies during the research, planning, construction, and evaluation stages of a project to create a short film. - Moodle, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google, YouTube, and Dropbox were used for researching concepts, organizing documents and files, sharing work, and presenting ideas during early stages. - Equipment like DSLR cameras, tripods, dollies, and microphones along with software like Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and Adobe InDesign were used for filming, editing, and constructing print materials during production. - Skills like filming techniques, editing, and use of software improved through hands-on work on the project. Collaboration and sharing

1. HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES
IN THE CONSTRUCTION, RESEARCH
PLANNING & EVALUATION STAGES
EVALUATION QUESTION 4

2. RESEARCH & PLANNING
Moodle was our primary hub for resources during the research and planning phases of our project.
Moodle had been set up to contain all the relevant documentation we needed, assembled into organised
files and folders. One advantage of using Moodle, is that we could access the site whether we were at
home or at college. The documents contained in the Media Studies section were of great help and
importance as it outlined all the crucial information needed for advancing our work and organising
ourselves. One example is that when we started initial pre-production, Moodle had relevant worksheets
and templates needed for us to draft and document our initial ideas.
We were then able to download them when needed which helped both myself and my group members to
organise ourselves. Some of the templates we needed to use, included the risk assessment form, recess
form and production schedules. Having a predesigned template made everything much more convenient,
and as a result, we had more time to spend on developing our ideas.

3. Microsoft PowerPoint is another software that we made use of during the course of our project.
PowerPoint was primarily used to compile information and ideas we had developed during lessons, and
subsequently present them to the rest of the class. One of the main advantages of using PowerPoint is that
it allows information to be presented in a clear, concise way. Because of this, it allowed our audience to
know exactly where we were coming from and for us to receive accurate and relevant feedback.
We used PowerPoint when presenting our initial treatment to the class, along with our ideas for the print
products.

4. Google was one of the most important and crucial tools when it came to the research and planning stages
of our project. We first made use of google when we were trying to come up with concepts for our short
film. We later used Google in order to search for material that we would base our case studies upon. For
example movie posters and reviews. Google also owns the website YouTube. YouTube was also extremely
helpful as it allows us to access the vast quantity of short films that already exist on the internet, allowing
us to look for inspiration as to what we would create. I also searched for videos that would teach us how to
execute certain camera shots effectively. For example there were tutorials on how to use a homemade
dolly although we just ended up borrowing the college’s one. Finally, YouTube was used to search for
specific songs we wanted to use in the film. We browsed through several before coming to our final
conclusions.

5. Prezi was an extremely useful presentation tool that was used when presenting my evaluation question 1.
It is a web based software, so I could save my work at any time, easily allowing me to progress both at
college and at home. Due to its intuitive zoom based interface, I was able to fit a lot of information into
one presentation, without the use of repetitive slides.
One advantage that Prezi had over other presentation software is that I could make use of various
multimedia in my presentations. I made use of standard images along with flash based video clips that
showed excerpts of my short film next to the relevant piece of text analysis.

6. Outlook.com (Previously Hotmail) was used constantly throughout the development process of our films,
particularly during the development of our script and storyboard, as these needed to be shared between
the group for editing. WhatsApp was another important technology that allowed every person involved in
the production to communicate in one consolidated environment. WhatsApp is extremely helpful in
organizing of our filming days as everyone is updated instantly. We used it to discuss the timing and
schedules and also to discuss ideas away from class. Finally, Dropbox was another important website that
we made use of. We used Dropbox to share very large files in a quick and efficient manner. We shared raw
footage that we used for editing, in addition to images that we used for the production of our print
products.

7. FREE APPLICATIONS
Slideshare was a technology that allowed me to present this PowerPoint presentation through the
web. This allows me to embed it within my blog, allowing for a more streamlined viewing
experience. The site is free and easy to use and most importantly, renders the PowerPoint
accurately.
Blogger was the most crucial technology for my course as it allowed me to consolidate all of my
work and present it in a neat and ordered way. It is extremely flexible, with a variety of themes
to choose from and allows embedding of other presentation technologies.
PowToon was another presentation based software that I made use of when answering
Evaluation Question 2. It very innovative, allowing for a range of animations to be
implemented, and allows presentations to be rendered into YouTube Videos.

8. CONSTRUCTION
We made use of various equipment and technology during the construction of
our short film and accompanying print products. Equipment we had during the
filming days were the DSLR Camera, Tripod, Dolly, Shoulder Mount and the Zoom
microphone. With this equipment, we were able to capture high quality,
professional footage that was then later edited to make our film. When operating
the equipment, we actually carried out a range of techniques that we had
learned in theory.
We found that using the shoulder mount was ineffective and the shots came out
too shaky for our liking, continuing the shoot using only either the camera dolly
or the tripod. This allowed the shots to look professional due to the smooth
panning and tracking that was now at our disposal.
Whilst filming, our group came more to terms with the technology and we were
able to discern what shots were suitable for any given scene. We wanted to make
the advanced equipment we were given so we attempted a multitude of
advanced shots that we hoped would add to the professionalism of the finished
product. Examples were the tracking shot used in the opening scenes, along with
the worm eye view shot during the opening of the board game.

9. The lighting was one particular problem we had during the filming stage.
Due to us filming in the winter time, the days were very short, with sun
setting at around 4PM. This was a problem because, the lighting needed to
be consistent throughout the whole film, and due to the environment in
which we were filming, any change was fairly noticeable. We thought that
using the artificial lighting in the house would remedy the problem, but the
light was a different tone compared the bright sunlight. In order to work
around this, we set the film shoots to start at an earlier time, and we colour
corrected existing footage. This made the problem largely unnoticeable for
the most part. In terms of sound, this was mainly handled by group member
sibel, as I was operating the camera. We used the zoom due to its high
quality audio recording and its easy access to recorder files. However we did
experience technical difficulties with it, as we lost some sound recordings
that were taken in mayfair.

10. EDITING
We used Adobe Photoshop when constructing and editing images used in
our movie poster. The package contains a wide range of tools that allowed us
to make the poster as bespoke as it needed to be. The layering aspect of the
software is excellent, as it allows you to understand the different elements
that make up the poster. Although for the most part, we achieved what we
wanted with this software, our initial idea would’ve been very difficult to
achieve considering our groups level of skill and experience in the software,
along with the resources required for capturing the right imagery. We
abandoned this idea and went for a new approach whereby all the
characters will have mug shots the feature on the poster. This had its
advantages as it allowed the characters personalities to come through. I
used Photoshop when altering the brightness/contrast and saturation of
each characters photo, so they all look evenly lit when they are in the poster.

11. For the editing of the short film itself, we used Final Cut Pro X. I was fairly
confident with using the software as I had prior experience from AS during
some test footage. I found using the software to be very easy once we got to
grips with it, and once you get into the flow of things, editing footage
together becomes a seamless process. The difficult part would be visualising
in your mind how the edited footage should look and then going on to
recreate it. This is what would set apart the talented editors from the rest.
The main tasks carried out in final cut pro including trimming video clips and
then joining them together. We also used it to create some fades in the
romance scenes. Editing was carried out by myself and Solomon and we
each worked on different scenes, but also advising each other at the same
time. This allowed us to get more work done as we were never short on
ideas as to how the film should be edited.

12. We also used Adobe InDesign for the construction of our magazine review.
This piece of software was similar to Adobe Photoshop in its user interface,
so I was already familiar with some of the tools. In addition, I had experience
from using the software to create my magazine in my AS year. I felt very
comfortable using this software due to my past experience and this allowed
me to focus on the magazine itself rather than getting my head around the
means to make it.
Layering is one of the most important aspects, as there are many different
layers that were in our review. The text facilities were also excellent, allowing
for Dropcaps to be implemented.

13. WHAT TECHNICAL SKILLS DID YOU DEVELOP AS A
GROUP AND INDIVIDUALLY?
Compared to before we started this project, I feel my technical skills have been developed in a variety of areas. For
one, my ability to film good shots using a camera have developed, and I enjoyed filming for our short film
immensely. I was already familiar with my camera, but mainly used it for photography. Using it to film scenes in the
film allowed me to develop a sense of how I should frame each shot, and when a shot is suitable for a specific
scene.
My editing skills have also developed with experience. Using final cut pro allowed my intuition for a flow of scenes
to develop. This is markedly different from a year ago where I only knew the basic principles of each software. At
the start of the course, we had a tutorial on how to use Final Cut Pro and whilst initially, it seemed confusing, both
myself and my group members got to grips with it.
One aspect of the whole process that I enjoyed, was the fact that all of our group members taught each other
some things. The fact that we each excelled in our respective fields allowed us to combine our strengths and
produce a film that hopefully reflected upon that fact.