The document summarizes the various new media technologies used at different stages of creating a documentary project. In the research stage, internet explorer and Google were used to research documentaries, YouTube to analyze examples, and Microsoft Word and Excel to create and analyze audience surveys. Adobe Premiere CS5 was the main video editing software used to assemble footage from a Canon video camera. Photoshop was used to create graphics and print ads. Evaluation was documented on a blog, with an iPhone used to record feedback.

1. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

2. Research and planningInternet explorer was the main source for the research for our documentary. By using Google as the search engine we could research the codes and conventions for documentaries and apply these to our own media product. We also used YouTube (www.youtube.com) to watch professional documentaries so we could analyse the content and use this information to create a questionnaire via Microsoft word to receive ideas from the target audience in what they would like to see in a documentary, an example question being ‘what type of documentaries do you enjoy watching?’ followed by six tick box responses. When the results were collected the Microsoft excel was used to produce different charts of the results for each question, each with annotations of what the results mean. When we decided upon our initial idea of phobias, we then used internet explorer to find out more information on phobias. An example could be Wikipedia which was used to define phobia and we used this to get some general information on phobias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia) . The internet was also used to create our blogs on www.blogger.com which is our initial blog for all our planning and evaluation for our media products. It is here where we transferred all our planning notes and presentations, and produced our documentary analyses etc...

3. Construction part 1Many media technologies were used for the construction of the media products. FilmingWhen it came to filming we used canon XM2 video camera for all the video footage which gave us high quality footage. To use this we had to place the included battery into the battery slot by pulling the lens outwards and upwards and sliding in the battery. We also had to place a mini DV tape into the camera. When it came to filming we had to make sure that all footage was captured in a widescreen setting (16:9). For all vox pop’s and interviews we used clipmics which we attach to the side of the camera, and the interviewee would clip the mic to their t shirt. This resulted in high quality sound for our documentary as all background noise could not be heard. To ensure that the sound quality was to a high standard, stereo headphones were also attached to the camera so the voice could be listened to. However on one occasion the mics unfortunately did not work so we had to rely on the mic from the camera to record the interview with DR. Elizabeth White, and fortunately we collected a high quality sound. When it came to filming the vox pop’s we set the camera on a tripod which enabled us to keep steady footage. The use of the tripod allowed us to move the camera form side to side, so we could frame the interviewee correctly. The framing of the interviewee followed the rule of thirds where they are positioned on either the left or right of the screen, talking into the open space besides the camera, looking at the interviewer.

4. Construction part 2Transferring tapesWhen we had filmed all of our footage, we then needed to transfer the footage from the tape onto Abobe premier cs5, a non-linear digital video editing package. To do this we used a DV capture deck which we would place the tapes in. The DV capture deck was connected to the window based computer (TFT Samsung monitors) via a fire wire lead which connects the pc to the deck, where we could control the tape via adobe premier cs5. Hardware The technology used in hardware was simply a DVD player where we watched different documentaries such as meth epidemic for us to analyse. We watched them via a over head projector which projected the screen on a blank white board.

5. Construction part 3Software The main software used for the project was Adobe premier- CS5, a non-linear video editing package. This package allowed us to capture footage from the tape and place this footage on a storyline. This is an example from our product of the story line. As you can see, the story line consists of different shots as it moves from one person to another. The main footage is placed in video 1, and cutaways are placed in video 2. Footage that is placed in video 2 overlaps any footage that is in video 1 for example when Dr. Elizabeth white talks about phobias being anything a cutaway of a cat appears etc.. We could also edit the voiceover which we also recorded on the canon video recorder, by capturing the shot and placing the video and audio on the story line when needed. As the video for the voiceover was not needed we had to unlink the video and audio and delete the video part which gave us the voiceover remaining.

6. Adobe premier CS5In general Adobe premier CS5 was quite simple to use when creating the documentary. It was easy to cut shots and add simple effects to them such as a cross dissolve. This is where any effects would be added to the video for example for cross dissolve we would type it into the text box, and drag cross dissolve into the shot at the beginning or end. Graphics were easily inserted into the shots. This was done by selecting ‘title’ and writing in the desired title e.g. ‘Dr. Elizabeth White’. This title would then be dragged into the main viewing screen and positioned.

7. Construction part 4Adobe premier CS5 was also used for the construction of our radio trailer. For the construction of the radio trailer Adobe premier CS5 was used similarly to the construction of the documentary however differed by only being an audio package. For the radio trailer we had to search for a suitable piece of music which related to the man theme being phobias and fear and so we searched via YouTube. We finally came across a perfect piece which had a creepy melody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABLcur-nS1I). To apply this to our product we had to download the video by converting it to an mp4. file by using the website http://kickyoutube.com/, and then import the video, unlinking the video and audio and deleting the video footage leaving only the audio. We were then able to apply our voice over in audio 2 when needed, and used archive material of a hissing cat, hissing snake and laughing clown. We also added vox pop’s from the documentary which creates consistency.

8. Construction part 5During the beginning of the radio trailer, a deep voice is heard quoting ‘fear’. This voice is from the original voice over, however we decided to lower the tone of the voice by adjusting the audio mixer which allowed us to change the girls voice to a lower/deeper voice. We also used Adobe Photoshop CS5 to create our print advert. This image shows our first initial idea, where we took print screens from shots in our documentary and applied them to Photoshop. We also searched for the channel 4 logo on Google images and imported the logo onto the print advert, however it is placed in the wrong position.

9. Construction part 6The first image shows our second print idea where we took a picture from a digital camera ourselves against a blank wall and imported the video onto a blank canvas. We then imported the channel 4 logo and positioned it in the correct position and inverted the logo colour. However it was decided that this print advert did not promote the idea of fear as the audience may be confused in the girls facial expression. This is our final print advert created in Adobe Photoshop, where we decided to create a black canvas, and take a picture of a girl holding a red blanket showing fear in her facial expressions. We then imported the channel 4 logo and inserted text box’s where we gave the production scheduling, and portrayed our slogan.

10. EvaluationFor the evaluation the www.blogger.com was needed to place the evaluation. For my evaluation I used an apple I phone 3GS to take a voice recording in response to one of the questions. This phone was also used to take videos of the audience feedback. Microsoft PowerPoint was used to create a power point in response to one of the questions and a Samsung NV9 digital camera was used to take three videos in response to one of the questions.