Question 4 for evaluation in A2 media

1. Evaluation question 4
How did you use new Technology in
the construction and reseach,
planning and evaluation stages?

2. Use of Technology so far
In my AS I was introduced to Blogger, Survey Monkey and Adobe Photoshop which
gave me an understand of what type of technology I was going to use for my media
portfolio. I also learned that in order for me to use technology correctly I had to plan
ahead by research to help me with my planning. Understand this in AS allowed me to
allowed me to be more prepared and learned to use more technology to make sure
that my final product is perfect. This is why use of technology is important and why I
have relied on it for my portfolio from my research to my Evaluation. Hence, why I
learned about different technology tools and equipment in order to create my final
product at effective standard.

3. Research and Planning:
Blogger
I used the Blogger during my whole portfolio in order for me to post my
Research and planning in a save website which my teacher had access to.
Another, why I used blogger is that it is online which means I have easy access to
my work and I could work on it from anywhere. This was benefit of using blogger
as it allowed me to stay up to date with my work since I could do it from any
platform I wanted to. In addition to this my teacher was able to give me
comments to help me improve my blogs if they had any mistakes or if I need to
add anything on top. Furthermore, I was also able to organise my post which
was helpful since navigate allowed me know what I was going to do for my
construction a lot more easier.
However, a drawback of using this website to do my work is that is was a difficult
for me to adjust from Word to Blogger since I was already used to using the
shortcuts from Microsoft Word. Another problem I encounter while using this
website is that the videos I embed kept on crashing which made it difficult for
me to keep search for the same videos to upload on the website time
consuming and irritating.
Overall I used blogger to keep my Research and Planning up to date since it was
very accessible for me and my teacher. In addition the comment section was
also very useful as it allowed me to read my teacher feedback and improve it.

4. Research and Planning:
YouTube
I used YouTube in research and planning to help me find similar
adverts. This was extremely helpful in helping provide evidence
for my research. In addition to this finding these adverts on
YouTube also allowed me in my planning as it allowed me to look
at similar product ideas helping to improve my understanding of
conventions of the similar videos. Furthermore, YouTube worked
well with blogger allowing me to upload my final product onto
blogger. This was useful as it even helped me with publishing my
final product.
However, finding the right videos to a lot of time to find on
YouTube since water adverts are rare. This made it difficult for me
to find appropriate water adverts which share the same
convention as my advert.
Overall I used YouTube to help me back my research with
evidence and help me find similar products to analyse in order to
create my advert.

5. Research and Planning:
Google
I used Google to gather all my research and used it help me find
images I need for my research and planning. An advantage of using
google was that it have you information instantly for you to read.
For example the theories where easy to find thank to google. This
was useful as it helped me safe time by not read through books
just to small information about the theories. Another advantage of
using google is that it allowed me to gather reliable research since
it gave me information from reliable recourses.
However, when researching through google you have to precise
with what you want as it could lead you to the wrong website if
you do not ask it the right questions.
Overall google was a useful tool to use when research and
planning because it made research a lot faster and smoother since
it had all the information I needed.

6. Research and Planning:
SlideShare and PowerPoint
I used Microsoft PowerPoint in my Planning in order for me to get a
better understand of my target audience I used it to analyse my results.
After analysing my results for the questionnaire I uploaded it to
SlideShare then embed it onto my blogger. I used PowerPoint as I used
it to present the analyse in a more professional way. An advantage of
using PowerPoint is that it was easy to work on hence saving me time.
Another benefit of using PowerPoint is that it is easy for people to read
from since it makes reading an analyse seem a lot more pleasant.
However by using PowerPoint it meant that I had to use another
technology just to put the presentation on my blogger. This was difficult
to figure out and it was also time consuming since you had to wait for
your presentation to upload to the SlideShare website first.
Overall I thought using this technology was extremely useful as it
helped me to make my work more presentable to the reader since it
kept the format professional.

7. Construction: Canon
Camera
For my construction I used a canon camera enabled me to record my adverts
while still catching the environment sounds. This camera contributed a lot to
my constructions as it allowed me to capture the footage I need by allowing
me to use the sizes, angles and movements I needed to make my advert more
lively. This meant that I was able to use the Canon camera to capture the
different emotions and facial expressions of the characters. Furthermore, I
used this camera since it did get effect by natural light as it still capture the
characters facial expression exceptionally well since it did not need extra
lighting when we were out doors. Therefore, I used this camera since it had
good features and caught sizes and angles well allowing me to use it just like a
professional would use their expensive cameras.
However, this camera was not powerful enough to zoom in to character faces
without me moving the camera right next to their faces. In addition to this
the focus on the camera was also poor since it was an older Canon camera.
This made it difficult for me to use some movement since the camera would
lose focus.
Overall I enjoyed using the Canon camera as it allowed me to capture the
different sizes, angles and movements from my storyboard. This was also
useful as it helped me to develop my camera skill a lot more then my AS
portfolio.

8. Construction: Tripod
I had to use a tripod in order to make my footage as
steady as possible and ensure my movement shots were
also smooth. This meant that the tripod was very useful in
helping me to use panning and tilt shot much efficiently.
This also meant that my size shots and angle shot were
incredible still which is good since it allowed me to pick up
facial expression in better detail because they wasn’t any
shaking or sudden flinch's. I did not use a tripod in AS
portfolio meaning I had to learn how to use a tripod
effectively in Advanced portfolio which is why I took
practise shots to help me learn how to use it. By taking
practise shots my knowledge of a Tripods has increase
since I learned how to adjust the height of the camera,
make the movement stiffer or looser, this was useful as it
improved the quality of my shots.

9. Construction: Memory(SD) Card
For my construction I used 32GB SD card to make
sure that I had enough space for all my footage
and to make sure that I could take spare footage a
scene was not good enough. In addition I used an
SD card because it was a safe way for me to keep
footage and it helped to prevent it from getting
lost and deleted on desktop. My SD card was also
higher class available which allowed me to record
with a much better quality. Furthermore, I used
another SD card for ancillaries to make sure they
do not get mixed up my main products. In order to
keep both of my SD cards data safe I made sure I
had it backed up every couple day just in case I
lost the SD cards.

10. Construction: Final Cut Pro X
I have not used Final cut before meaning I had to learn how to
use this editing platform for the construction of my product. I
watched YouTube videos to learn how to use this editing
platform which was helpful since it taught me how to use Final
cut more effectively for my coursework. I used Final Cut to edit
because it allowed me to use a lot of tools to edit with which
was good sine it meant that I could edit my work in they way I
planned to. For example, I was able to bring my idea of making
the product disappear of the screen to life. This mean Final Cut
pro x was very useful in helping me to create an advert they
way I wanted it to be portrayed to my audience. Using Final
/cut enabled me to learn different editing effects and
transition which allowed me to make my water advert more
natural when I used surrealism.
Overall, I used Final Cut because it allowed me to edit my
Advert in detail.

11. Construction: Adobe Photoshop
I used Photoshop for my advanced portfolio to create my
brands logo. I used Photoshop because I had experience
using it in my previous portfolio meaning I could use my
knowledge of Photoshop when creating my logo. In
addition to this I used Photoshop because it is known to be
a professional tool for editing images. I learned how to use
new tool in Photoshop this portfolio such as I learned how
to use the magic wand tool which allowed me to selects
areas that I wanted to delete. This helped me to create a
better logo making my advert look more professional.

12. When my final products were finished I used
YouTube to upload my work online. I used
YouTube because a simply way to upload my
work safely on the internet, its is also accessible
for my audience to look at since they are likely to
use this website. In addition, YouTube has a
comment section which effective in helping me
get feedback which helped me to improve my
work. In addition, YouTube allows you to embed
your videos on websites such as blogger which
was beneficial for me since it made posting my
final product much easier.
YouTube

13. I used Prezi to answer my second evaluation question. I used
this website for presenting my question 2 because it allowed
me to present my work in a creative way. Another reason I
used Prezi is that the sharing process was easier then using
Slide Share since I had to upload my work twice. Furthermore,
using this platform allowed me to make my presentation
more appealing read making it more entertaining for readers.
Overall, I used Prezi because it was simple and convenient to
use as well as making my presentation look more creative.
This was beneficial for me to use because it allowed me to
keep my work appealing and fun to read.
Evaluation: Prezi

14. Evaluation: Slide Share
I used slide share in evaluation so I could
upload the questions I answered on power
point. I used slide share since it taught me
how to embed presentations on to my
blogger. This was beneficial to me because I
learned how to use a new website ad how
to embed my PowerPoint slides online.

15. Conclusion
In conclusion the use of technology has enable me to improve my skills
as a media student by learning how use new technologies and develop
the knowledge I already had from them. Learning how to use final cut
has help me to get a better overview of editing. Furthermore, learning
how to use these new technology has improve my knowledge of
technology in media helping to improve overall as a student since I
developed variety of existing skills such as using a camera. Therefore, I
used technology in my advanced portfolio to get a better understanding
of technology in media and how to use them to create a conventional
media product.