A2 Media Evaluation Question 4

1. How did you use Media
technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation
stages?.
By Lewis Rogers

2. • Without doubt, the most significant software used throughout this whole project was Adobe Premiere Pro CC. This
software we used to edit our footage, sequence it, add titles, adjust sound levels, and manipulate the footage we
had taken. Overall the software is easy to use once you work with it for a few hours. Initially, with the vast amount of
buttons, it is easy to change footage unintended, or in a serious case, delete footage by accident. Premiere Pro CC
allows you to do three vital things to your footage. Firstly cut it with the razor tool. This tool allows you to select any
part of your footage, unlink it with your sound, and delete or re-sequence your footage. For example, our interview
with Rebecca Browne was heavily manipulated thanks to the razor tool, we could make the interview non-
chronological to how we recorded it, however the zoom options, allow you to really focus on making it seamless, so
it appears natural. The second helpful element within this software is the effects page. Within the programme, you
have the option to add effects to your footage. Most commonly we used the ‘dip to black’, effect. Along with the
‘Addictive dissolve’ which allows the scenes to fade in and out to one another, so the cuts are not harsh, and more
importantly, not noticeable. This was another contributor to the seamless editing throughout the 5 minutes. The third
element is the volume adjustment. Throughout the whole documentary, we were taking a set of both professional
interviews, vox-pops and presenting scenes, which given the different locations, had different volumes levels
naturally. Premiere Pro allows you, frame by frame, to level out the sound, so that there are no dips.
• One issue I must raise with this software, is the corruption of footage. When saving vast amounts of footage, of
which a large amount will not be used, files can overwrite one another, corrupting the footage that you require. This
happened during filming and early editing, requiring us to re-film one scene.
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General editing screen, timeline at
the bottom enabling footage
sequencing.
Razor tool,
allowing you to cut
footage and
audio.
Effects Controls page, allowing effects to be
added and levels to be adjusted.

3. • The second piece of software, used essentially for the whole length of the project was Blogger. We use Blogger to
present our step-by-step journey from research down to evaluation. For example, we would post blogs with
‘Existing documentary research’, ‘Filming schedule’ and ‘Final product’. Overall the software was easy to use, it
allows you using programmes such as ‘SlideShare’ to import a different document presenting your information. It
was a fantastic way to keep up with what you are doing, as well as enabling you to keep a neat track of your work,
like an online folder. Not only this but I was able to use the sheet presented by Blogger itself, however this was very
rarely used as I used such a wide range of software's. It’s a good software as not only do you have your own
personal blog for your group, but anytime we were unsure about a post or area of the project, we could look at
other groups blog, and watch their videos, presentations and documents for example.
• Initially it was difficult getting documents and presentations created on other software's onto Blogger. You would
have to find the embed code and transfer it over, which at times I had problems with. One Prezi I created had a
broken embed code, which means it could not be viewed from the link, however Blogger is easy enough to use, and
this error was quickly amended.
Our own groups personal blog,
each post lined in time order.
Here is one of our posts, a Prezi created by myself on magazine
research, the embed code from the Prezi is copied over and
presented on the blog as seen above.
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4. • These three software's are arguable the most simplistic and easy software's to use when presenting information. I
would use Microsoft PowerPoint to deliver one of my evaluation questions. Initially my radio research was a
Microsoft PowerPoint, however I went back and changed it to a ‘Prezi’ PowerPoint as it offered a wider variety of
fonts and styles. However in this instance PowerPoint is a great tool to use. It is simple for presenting information,
for example radio research, each slide would present a different radio station, with an explanation as to why I
wanted to use that particular one, presented with images which are easily transferable to PowerPoint, as you will
notice from this one.
• In terms of Microsoft Word, we used that mainly for planning documents. For example ‘Radio Trailer Script Draft’.
Word is great for note taking, however when presenting a huge research task, it lacks style and aesthetics, a blank
white sheet can become boring and repetitive, however for planning, scripting and reading off it is very helpful.
• Finally, we used Excel to construct our filming schedule. The software again is not the most pleasing on the eye,
but you can organise information well, and we had our filming dates and locations organised into columns, so that
we could read off, and show to the examiner we had a planned out schedule for when we would be working.
• Overall, the only real issue with these software's, is the fact they become to repetitive, which is why we converted
to using other forms of presentations for more important areas of research, and used these three for planning and
drafting side of the project.
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5. • Through my research and planning, and my blogs production Prezi was the most common form of PowerPoint
presentation. I found it to be easy, simple and aesthetic, taking the designs a step further than a normal
PowerPoint. For my most significant research projects, such as the magazine and radio research, and for one
evaluation question, Prezi is a fantastic choice. I would choose a new style of PowerPoint for each topic, and with
ease could transfer links to videos, and insert images, to illustrate what I am talking about.
Here is my Prezi presenting what channel the documentary would
be on. The style is unique, and explorative, allowing the view to
move back and forth between the information rather than slide
after slide.
The other two are examples of Prezi’s which can be viewed on the
blog, with different styles, still presenting the information and
research in the similar neat and professional manor.
This tool box was very helpful. Once you have finished
your presentation, you can re-edit it, share and save or
most importantly embed, allowing me to post it on the
blog.
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6. • When creating our Audience Research, and talking about our brand identity, we decided to use YouTube. At this
point we had used most PowerPoint software's and similar documents, and wanted to change. Making a video is
much more engaging for an audience, seeing the person talking, and for example with the audience research, the
viewer will see the real reactions of the people in a video format.
• The uploading process was fairly time consuming, however once you have uploaded a video, it is easy to attach a
link or embed to Blogger for easy viewing. The reason we used YouTube for these two areas was they included a
range of people, and could be delivered verbally better than worded on a document. After making the first YouTube
video, we became much more familiar with the process, and including my evaluation, I will now have 4 videos on
the blog, uploaded to YouTube.
Here are the three videos on the
blog, as you can see two contain
many people, and are presented in
a engaging interview style, which is
great for reflecting on audience
research.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y
mT648mb3Gg&t=107s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrcM9hD
fhI8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D
bXdScdVMM

7. • InDesign was used to create our listings magazine. Although I did not create this mainly, I found overall the
software to be fairly difficult. Unlike Adobe Premiere Pro CC, the tools seem to be a little more complex to use. For
example, during the early stages of our magazines production, I was attempting to zoom out, but found it difficult to
do so, and spent a while having to amend the work afterwards. Premiere Pro CC seems to be much more
simplistic.
• However the software was used to create our great magazine, which we are very happy with. It allowed us to
create and design our own text, and position it to conform to the conventions of a Radio Times magazine article.
Not only this but we were able to perform neat effects such as wrapping the text around the image of one of our
interviewers. The small effects were fairly simple to perform, and the wide range of texts, fonts and colours were
very helpful.
• We did not use InDesign for any other area of the project, but found it was great for out magazine, and we would
certainly use this again.
Tool box used to construct the
article. Some of the tools here
are the same as in Premiere Pro,
for example the select and text.
However many of them I was
unable to understand quickly.
Options to alter the style, font
and shape of the article.
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8. • To physically create our project, we used two different cameras, two different microphones and a tripod.
• Firstly looking at the camera, overall this hardware was simple to use. Right at the start of the project as a group we
took test videos, to familiarise ourselves with the camera’s settings. Those settings were the lighting, what we were
shooting in and so on. By the end of the project, we were setting up for filming naturally. The cameras were also
great in terms of quality, the footage was filmed well, and came out great when uploading it to Premiere Pro. One
issue we did find with the cameras was the steadiness, when we were filming a scene where we could not use a
tripod, the hand-held camera effect became to shaky, and some scenes which re now deleted, looked
unprofessional.
• To help with the audio, we used Microphones, both boom and clip to enhance the sound. The boom mic was great,
it allowed the presenter and interviewee’s audio to be clear and audible, and we experienced no technical issues.
We used the boom mic for the more formal interviews. We had to be innovative however, having one member of
our group physically lying underneath tables, making sure the mic was out of shot, but still so we could hear the
person speaking. During other scenes we used the clip mics. They are great also, they are much smaller so can be
hidden underneath a coat for example. During my presenting scenes, I was wearing clip mics just below my jacket,
and the sound came out great. The only issue with the clip mics was that the were attached to a long wire, so
keeping that completely out of shot was difficult.
• Finally the Tripod. This was a huge aid to us, allowing us to conform to conventions by performing nice panning and
tilting shots, especially outside Birmingham City University. It is a great piece of hardware, which we used virtually
in all scenes, to help maintain a steady camera, which again when editing the final copy, we noticed was a success.
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