The document discusses the various media technologies used at different stages of creating media texts, including software like Blogger, YouTube, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere Pro. It also discusses hardware like the Canon 600D camera. Blogger was used to organize documents and gather feedback. YouTube allowed research and sharing of the film trailer. Excel helped with planning. Photoshop and Premiere Pro were used for image and video editing. The camera was used to film. Other technologies mentioned include Wix, royalty free music sites, font sites, and PowerPoint for evaluations.

1. Evaluation Question 4 - How did
you use media technologies in the
construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?

2. Introduction
When creating the media texts and completing the various stages of production
(Research, Planning, construction and editing) I used a range of media technologies
to further employ my skills when creating a professional product. The media
technologies that I used can also be categorised into two types, Software (the
programs and other operating information used by a computer) and hardware (tools,
machinery, and other durable equipment). A vast majority, if not all, the software that
was used was contained on one piece of hardware, the apple mac. I chose to use
the Mac in particular as it would cater to all of my needs. Of course I came across
negatives and positives with each device or programme and had to work with each
in particular to overcome them, however I believe that I managed to do so and have
improved upon my skills since creating my first media product during my A Level
course.

3. Blogger
Firstly, Blogger can be considered as the
most valuable piece of software. It was key
that throughout the process all of my
documents were stored in an organised
location. Blogger allows me to easily sort
through and organise data, using its
simple labeling system, and find un labeled
documents or 'posts' as all work is date
stamped upon publishing, allowing easy
access. Blogger also allows others with
access to a blogger account to comment on
my posts, allowing audience feedback to be
gathered in this manner also. Additionally to
this, Blogger also allows its users to embed
clips, online PowerPoints and various other
documents to a post, meaning that I was able
to display a range of media created
elsewhere to blogger in one location still.
However, most importantly, it allowed me to
embed the YouTube video of my film trailer in
my blog.

4. YouTube
YouTube was also significant as it allowed my to conduct valuable research
into existing products on the market, such as film trailers for other films in
my chosen genre. YouTube itself is a fairly new website, and has increased
in popularity since its creation in 2005. YouTube, alongside many other
websites similar, has only been able to work since Web 2.0, which meant
that data could be shared and uploaded rather than just looked at, allowing
audience participation to be a huge aspect. YouTube also allowed me to
upload my film trailer upon its completion. Other users can then view my
product, like, comment and subscribe in order to see my future content.

5. Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel proved useful during the planning and research stage
as it allowed me to adapt my data in to visual information in the form
of charts and graphs. I was then able to get a clearer understanding
of what I had found out during the research stage, further allowing me
to target my product the correct target audience.

6. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop was extremely significant
when creating the various products, such as
the magazine cover, posters, magazine
template, production logo and many other
elements of the process. I chose to use this
piece of software in particular as I felt that it
offered the most in terms of creation yet also
tones and colour correction for the photos.
The tools used in particular were: the
cropping tool, selection tool,
brightness/contrast tool, pipette tool in
order to match the exact colours,
sharpening tool and magic wand tool
in order to remove backgrounds from
images. It also allowed me to reduce
the opacity of images and create
images, such as on my poster, easily.

7. Canon 600D
When choosing a camera I chose to use the Canon 600D as it offers a variety of valuable features to use during the filming
process. The Canon 600D has
 18-megapixel CMOS sensor
 Scene Intelligent Auto mode
 Full-HD EOS Movie
 On-screen Feature Guide
 Up to 3.7fps continuous shooting
 Wide-area 9-point AF
 1,040k-dot vari-angle 7.7cm (3.0”) screen
 Basic+ and Creative Filters
 Built-in wireless flash control
When Filming the most important feature was the ability to shoot in manual mode, giving me control over the aperture,
shutter speed, ISO and white balance, allowing me to film successfully in more low light conditions.

8. Adobe Premiere Pro
In terms of editing I chose to use Adobe Premiere Pro as I felt that it was the best Video
editing software available. I not only felt most comfortable using this piece of software, but
also felt that it offered a much greater variety of video editing tools. Also, I felt that it was far
superior to the previously used iMovie, which only offers a limited range of editing tools.
Adobe premiere Pro offers:
 advanced colour grading tools
 a stabilisation tool
 an in built vignette tool (using masks)
 an intricate text design system
 the ability to speed, reverse and slow clips and audio
The ability to complete all tasks within one piece of software was extremely useful as it
meant that I needed no third party plugins or devices, and gave me full creative freedom.

9. Prezi and Microsoft PowerPoint
When conducting the evaluation section I chose to use a variety of media devices, such as
Prezi and Microsoft Powerpoint, made accessible by Web 2.0. Press is a 'cloud-based
presentation software based on a software as a service model', allowing information to be
presented through a more animated and involving way, through the use of a Parallax 3D
space.
Powerpoint, a Microsoft Office application, allows information to be shared in a formal and
organised manner through the use of its 'slides'. The slides can also have transitions and
create a more animated display. However, there is no embedding system built in to the
software, and in order to upload them to the internet a third party website called
'slideshare.net' can be used. Slideshare is 'a Web 2.0 based slide hosting service. Users
can upload files privately or publicly in the following file formats: PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote
or OpenDocument presentations' showing its versatility and usefulness.
By using both methods this allows me to then embed both Prezi's and Powerpoints onto
my blog where it can be stored and organised with other information.

10. Wix
Also, when it came to the evaluation process of my products, as
mentioned, I chose to use a variety of media types and sources in order to
express my skill and highlight what my media knowledge in general.
Therefore, for the second evaluation question I created a HTML5 website
using the website Wix.com. Wix allows users to create a simple website
using their drag and drop functions, yet also allowing clips and documents
to be embedded into the website itself, uploaded under the 'Wix.com'
domain. This therefore allowed me to embed my film trailer into the
website, alongside my poster designs and magazine cover.

11. Royalty Free Music
Similarly, when finding a sound track
for my film I chose to use a Royalty
free soundtrack found on
PurplePlanet Royalty free Music.
Royalty free music refers to 'a type
of music licensing that allows the
purchaser to pay for
the music license only once and to
use the music for as long as desired',
however by using free royalty free
music there was no fee. This allowed
me to choose between various music
genres and find a soundtrack that
supported the themes and content of
my film and genre overall.

12. DaFont
When choosing what Fonts to use for my products I chose to
use DaFont.com, an online website that allows creators to
upload their own fonts for others to download and use for
commercial use mainly. These fonts allow more creativity
and the website offers more advanced fonts than the in built
fonts in the adobe software. I chose to use the 'Tomb Raider'
Font, originally used for the video game series Tomb Raider,
and the Trench font. I felt that both of these fonts reflect the
tone and feel of my products and will allow them to look
more unique and professional, yet also supporting the
overall theme of all products.