The document discusses the various technologies used by the author at different stages of a media production project. At the planning stage, the author researched using websites like IMDb, Prezi, YouTube, and Blogger. Prezi, Powtoon and Slideshare were new presentation software that the author found difficult to use initially due to learning curves and technical issues but felt they improved the presentations. A video camera, microphone, lighting and Movie Studio Platinum software were used for filming and editing. While challenging at first, the author became comfortable with these tools. Photoshop was useful for creating logos and titles but required patience. Overall, the author felt they gained valuable experience with different software and technologies through completing this project.
2. What technologies did you use throughout the
three stages of this production?
◦ Hardware:
◦ Panasonic Video Camera
◦ Computer
◦ Pistol microphone
◦ Lighting
◦ Software:
◦ Movie Studio Platinum
◦ Photoshop
◦ Prezi
◦ YouTube
◦ Powtoon
◦ Blogger
◦ Slideshare
◦ IMDb
◦ UK Film Council
◦ BBFC
3. Planning & Research
◦ Slideshare
◦ IMDb
◦ Prezi
◦ Camera
◦ YouTube
◦ Blogger
◦ UK Film Council
◦ BBFC
4. Computer
The computer was obviously easy to use, since I know my way around
using it, having numerous experiences of working with computers.
The only new thing I learned about using the computers, was working
with the new software introduced to me, i.e. Movie Studio Platinum
(MSP). Other than this, I was not new to much, and did not need to
be taught much.
The only difficulty I had using this technology was when my school’s
IT technicians changed the school software from Windows 8 to
Windows 7, so things such as MSP were no longer available for use.
Another challenge was when the school’s filtering system blocked
some presentation sites such as Prezi, so I was unable to do my
research work and my evaluations at some given points in time. Other
presentation sites were also blocked, so my posts on my blog lacked
some diversity in presentation.
5. Prezi, Powtoon & Slideshare
I had never used Prezi, Powtoon and Slideshare before, and it was by far the
most stressful software used during this experience. Powtoon was very time
consuming and I did not like the fact that the videos cannot go over 5
minutes, so I had to make a part 2 video to add to the first unfinished one. It
also gave me only limited templates because I was avoiding paying for fancy
ones. Prezi became really frustrating because sometimes I would be unable to
zoom into some areas, it was time consuming, and my school’s filtering
system managed to block it at the time I needed it most. Slidshare was the
easiest method of presentation and it made it easy for me to post word
documents and PowerPoint presentations onto my blog. Aside from all these
issues, I would not mind using these methods of presentation software again
for other things outside this project because I learned quite a lot from it and
took notice of its usefulness. Prezi’s templates allowed me create interesting
slides in zoom effect, Powtoon and Prezi made my presentations look more
attractive, and I was able to insert YouTube videos using Prezi. Regardless of
it’s faults, Prezi was my favourite presentation software because I was always
pleased with the outcome.
6. YouTube & Blogger
YouTube was easy to use, it was self explanatory and the fact that I am no newcomer
to watching and uploading videos on this website, made it easier. I had absolutely no
complications using it, aside from the times a video would not load or if a video I was
looking for was not there. The only time my feelings changed towards YouTube was
when I became impatient waiting for my video to upload.
Blogger was simple and straightforward to use. Having never used it before, because I
am more familiar with Tumblr, it was quite easy and I hardly needed any instructions
for it. I learned how to make posts and insert embedded HTMLs. I had absolutely no
problems while using it – it was probably the easiest software I used in this experience.
7. IMDb, BBFC & UK Film Council
These were really helpful sources of information during my planning and research
stage of production. They provided information on my target audience and the
films I had studied.
I had never used BBFC and UK Film Council, because I never really needed to
use the information, but I had used IMBd, making research easier on that front.
All of them were easy to extract information from, and I had no frustrations
towards it.
9. Camera & Pistol Microphone
I had never used a recording camera before. So having used the camera for tasks prior to my
production, such as my preliminary task and my target audience interviews, made it much easier
for me to use it.
At first it was difficult to use, because the tripod made it difficult to place the camera in the best
place possible. The camera itself was not difficult to use because the way to record was rather
simple, however, when recording the establishing shot of my production, it cleared from the
memory card before I could save it onto the computer.
Another challenge while using the camera, was when the SD card in the camera used for saving
work broke.
Although, it was easy to carry around, this was probably one of the
most confusing technological items I used during my production. It
has a complicated way of recording sound, because it has to be
switched on at the mic and the recording device, if not I would have
either collected a recording with no sound or I would have gotten
nothing recorded. Although, I did not have this problem, I did
worry about it occurring during the construction of my production
I also got annoyed when I replayed the recording because I realised
it was either too loud or too muffled, and sounds as if the recording
was taken from a speaker. Another problem was when I tried getting
my recording, I forgot how to pause it. So, I just let it run, and I
later switched it off completely when I reached my classroom.
Even though I had to remember many instructions in order to use
it, having never used this before, I would say used this quite well.
10. Lighting
Using the lighting while filming my production was easy, even though this media project was the first time I had ever used
this equipment – there were no confusing buttons or switches, all I had to do was plug it in. However, finding places to put
them in was difficult, because sometimes one might be visible in the shot or one side of the frame would be more illuminated
than the other. Another difficulty, was when I needed light for the outdoors scene, but there were no plugs, so I could not use
lighting outside. I would say using this technology made me rather temperamental because I could never find the right filter to
place over it, it was annoying and heavy to carry around, there were hardly any safe places to keep the equipment and the
wires and heat it gave off, was a safety hazard.
11. Movie Studio Platinum
This area told me the rows in which the
frames are to be organised. The volume
area allowed me to reduce the volume for
some tracks of music.
The area in which frames are
placed. Here I could also fade in
and fade out, I could reduce the
opacity of the frame, add in
transitions, etc.
Displays the video all together.
Shows the time at
which each frame is at.
The shots I intended on
including in my production
are placed there to make it
easier for me to drag frames
to the rows.
Helped me move to the area I
wanted to view.
12. Trimmer – used to trim frames
– assistance to delete unwanted
areas
Before this coursework, I had never used MSP before because I had never really needed to. Initially, When I was introduced to it during my preliminary
task, I got very frustrated because I didn’t know what to do and everything required so many instructions, but I got used to it quite quickly.
When my school’s IT technicians changed the school’s software from Windows 8 to Windows 7, some computers were unable to use MSP, so I had to
wait to get to class to use it. At one point in time, MSP would close and delete my previous work while I was using it, and it also had other problems like
being slow, etc. MSP had the tendency to use up a lot of my time
Rendering my film took a very long time and was very difficult to do right, so I needed assistance on that front. The first time I rendered it, in order to
put it on YouTube, it did not finish rendering, so the full video was not uploaded. The other times I tried the video would refuse to even render, however
the last time I tried, it rendered perfectly.
Moreover, using MSP was tasking, although it was a very useful way to edit my video.
In order to insert special effects
and change the brightness, I used
Video FX.
13. Photoshop
Photoshop was very useful to me. It not quite time consuming, but it was boring. I will definitely use Photoshop again because it allowed me
make logos to my taste and make stylish titles even with simplistic writing. It was not easy to use because there were too many instructions to
take before getting to do what you want. It also required carefulness while using it, because if not handled with care, I would have had to
frequently use the undo button or cancel the whole image, and this would have wasted time.
This was used for
moving things such as
text, in order to place
them in my preferred
location.
Used for making text,
i.e. the Palace
Productions Presents
title
Colours and
gradients, I often used
them to change my
background colour
To change the
colour of things
such as background
and text.
Used to insert pictures
The layers of used to
create my title
