1. Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
1. Research & Planning
Smartphone
I was able to use my Samsung Galaxy S3 to take photos of research and
planning that I had undertaken by hand and email them to myself to upload to my
blog for evidence. This included mindmaps for ideas, primary research
questionnaires, logo drawings and my storyboard because I didn’t have access to a
graphic tablet to carry these tasks out.
Furthermore, its smartphone capabilities allowed me to take photos when we
were out location scouting because of its ease in use and accessibility, in comparison
to save having to take out the Fuji Film Finepix S9600 digital camera from its bag.
Adobe After Effects
Using Adobe After Effects, I experimented with manipulating footage I’d taken
by adding a vignette using the opacity and transform tools.
I was also able to add titling using the Century typeface that I used in my final
ancillary products and Trailer intertitles. I experimented with adding text that
appeared/ overlapped with other text on the screen.
Lastly, I was able to import a photo from my location scouting, and used the
Position tool to add keyframes that rendered data so that the photo moved from one
place to another on the screen.
Final Cut Pro
In the beginning of the year, we started using Final Cut Pro to edit our video
footage before we discovered Premiere Pro. This provided a basis to start learning
how to edit clips together, cut them to make sufficient editing and add text to overlap
the video along with singular titles. Using Final Cut Pro, I was able to edit together

2. two attempts of filming a conversation, a ‘journey’ through college and someone
walking through a door. This added to my technical practise and I got to experiment
on effectively piecing together a combination of shots.
LiveType
Using LiveType allowed me to experiment with the typefaces and backgrounds
for my intertitles. This allowed me to start planning the colour scheme for my film
trailer, so I used the preset backgrounds that gave an eery and rustic feel that I
wanted to portray in my final film. Furthermore, I was able to manipulate each letter
individually and stretch it out vertically to give an uneasy ‘feel’ to it.
LiveType was also the software we used to create our production company
logo for ‘Rhiya Productions’ because of the presets and effects that were similar to
production company logos we had already analysed in our research and planning.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word was a very useful media technology predominantly during the
research and planning process for my film trailer. This is because it allowed me to
create professional looking documents, such as a Sample Script, Production Schedule,
Treatment and Shot List. Furthermore, when creating our Talent and Location Release
Forms we were able to insert our production company still image logo at the top
right-hand corner, to meet conventions in other professional documents.
Other uses was typing up the research that Rhiannon had found, so that I had it
for reference when we filmed ourselves discussing/ collaborating for our film genre
during our production meeting.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Similarly to Word, Microsoft Powerpoint allowed me to effectively display my
research and planning using media technology. By uploading powerpoints and word
documents to SlideShare, I was able to embed them onto my blog. This allowed me to
have an access to my ideas and research on the Internet and allowed me to look back

3. at them when working from home. Moreover, I was able to embed YouTube videos to
use as examples and further illustrate my point once downloaded onto SlideShare.
The PowerPoints I made during the research and planning process was film
trailer research and planning, my Obsurvey primary research questionnaire results,
detailed research of 3 real trailers, a codal analysis of the same trailers, my main
influences, my film trailer storyboard, planning for ancillary task/ filming shoots and
site plans for my main task. Using this media technology I was able to insert
screenshots, images of inspiration from the Internet, while being able to add my own
comments/ ideas and how I wanted to develop them. Furthermore, I decided to
create my site plans on this instead of Adobe Photoshop because of the amount I had
to make, and I found the preset symbols and shapes easy to manipulate and copy and
paste, instead of the use of layers.
I only presented two of the PowerPoints I made to the class; these were my
initial ideas at the start of the research and planning process and an overview of what
our Film Trailer would involve after a few months since the initial ideas. Both gave me
the chance to ask my peers for their thoughts, any difficulties they thought I would
face and their advice on how to tackle them. This was especially helpful in the latter
presentation, as we had the chance to solve the challenges we had to face once we
started filming, such as lighting and the weather.
Prezi
Prezi allowed me to showcase my research in a more presentational format
once uploaded onto the blog to reflect on. This is because of how it is able to frame
and zoom into different sections of the prezi, unlike powerpoint, which once
uploaded, you can only flickinbetween slides and read the content. Therefore, I used
this media technology to display my research on the ‘History of Film Posters’ and the
‘History of the Thriller Genre’, along with the ‘Elements of a Film Trailer’. The latter
was the most effective use of Prezi, as it’s technology allowed me to zoom into each
of the different elements at ease for when I needed to reflect back on myresearch.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
My ability with Premiere Pro was limited during this process, but I used this
programme instead of Final Cut Pro so that I would be a bit more familiar with it
when it came to the construction process. I only used it once during the research and

4. planning, to create a video to showcase my location scouting at different locations
that we had filmed through panning and 360 degree view of the location.
Furthermore, I provided a voiceover by recording myself saying different
phrases using a Zoom H1 recorder to better explain our thoughts at the time.
Moreover, I was able to use titling to overlap our footage to differentiate what
location we were at and when I was showing scenes from a separate location. I was
able to experiment with Premiere Pro by including still pictures I had taken either
with the video camera or my own smartphone, but instead of just placing them in the
video subsequently, I used the scale and motion tools to zoom into the photos to
create a better viewing experience.
2. Construction
Microsoft Word
As a class we decided to create a general questionnaire with just three
questions asking: 1) what they liked 2) what could be improved and 3) whether it
conformed to genre conventions. We got everyone to fill them out for each video, as
everyone was at the final stages of editing for their final trailer. Furthermore, I used
Microsoft Word to create my Edit Decision List, to make note of all of the different
clips along with which ones we used and the problems with others.
Photoshop (Software)
Firstly, I used Photoshop to create Contact Sheets to evidence the photos I had
taken for both ancillary tasks, which I wouldn’t have been able to create without the
software. Furthermore, I was able to create my ancillary products through creating
several overlapping layers along with its colour correction editing. This tool allowed
me to recreate the facial lighting I’d been influenced by in the House At The End of
the Street poster, along with manipulate the lighting to create a darker setting.
I also utilized Photoshop to edit a green classification screen I had taken from
the Internet, and removed the information and changed it to include my Production
Company and age rating, which we made a 12A, to then import into the editing of my
trailer for Premiere Pro.

5. Premiere Pro
This allowed me to edit my footage in a number of different ways. I could use
the razor tool to cut down an individual clip in a separate window to then watch how
it played in a second window within the whole sequence. Premiere Pro allowed me to
use different tracks and control whether you could see the visual or accompanying
sound easily, as I initially experimented with video recorded voiceovers. Another
effect I carried over from After Effects was adding vignettes to the clips, to create an
eerie setting.
Furthermore, I was able to use colour correction to make the lighting in clips
match, from internal and external shots, through changing the midtones and
highlights of specific colours. Moreover, I was able to use the opacity tool to make
each clip fade in and fade out to conform to genre conventions, and signify the
passing of time due to its non-linear narrative. Lastly, the programme allowed me to
create several edits after getting feedback, as I could make the changes easily.
Adobe After Effects
I didn’t expect to use After Effects because I found it difficult to use after
becoming familiar with LiveType, however I found its software easier to use when
creating animated intertitles. For example, it allowed me to use the same ‘Century’
typeface that I had developed with the branding of my products.
It was also very simple to create keyframes when manipulating the Opacity tool
to create a fade in, in combination with the Position tool to make it slide across the
screen simultaneously. Moreover, I could import photos such as the logo for our own
production company that we had created and the logo for Relativity Media
Productions at the bottom of the billing block that I placed at the end of the trailer.
Hardware
In terms of hardware, I used a Sony HDR SR8 video camera to record our shots
and footage, which helped us a lot during the construction process. When filming the
cult leering over scene towards the end of the trailer, in which we needed to make it
pitch black apart from their faces to create a creepy mise-en-scene, we were able to
move the lighting to face upwards and catch the light on the model’s faces, but it still
wasn’t dark enough on camera when we initially uploaded our practise shots.
In combination, we also used a Video Tripod Velborn DV-7000, which aided us
in shooting steady pans without shakiness during the running scenes along with still
frames.
We didn’t film any of the shots with sound that we intended to use, so used
voiceovers that we recorded separately on a Zoom H1 sound recorder. This gave us

6. the freedom to record what we wanted, but hindered our videos to an extent, as it’s
slightly unconventional for trailers to not use any synchronous dialogue.
Internet
In terms of the Internet, I used it to digitally download free sound effects and
different soundtracks. For example, I came across ‘Incompetech’ who provided free
royalty free music soundtracks which were free to download as long as I credited
them on YouTube etc which I have since done. This was easy to just download as an
mp3 file and then import into Premiere Pro on a sound track. Another website I used
was ‘sfx’, which allowed me to download free sound effects such as heavy breathing,
knocking and footsteps in my final trailer. Similarly, these could be downloaded for
free as long as you provided some accreditation.
Lastly, I used the Internet to simply download the Sepia effect someone else
had already created, and then added it to the custom presets in Premiere Pro.
3. Evaluation
For my four evaluation questions, I utilized media technologies to gain valuable
feedback and to present my findings. For example, I used Facebook and Twitter to
post my finished and initial trailer edits to in order to gain opinions on my final trailer
because it would make it accessible to both genders and across a wide-ranging
demographic.
I also used Prezi as I had used it before, however I added in background sound
as another way to enhance the presentation experience and utilize the media
technology.
I used Premiere Pro because I was familiar with it after editing my video, but
instead of recording myself I used the website ‘naturalreaders.com’ to download
sound clips I could make just by typing in what I want the voice to say. I was then able
to import the mp3 clips into the project, and let it overlap where I showed scenes of
my own trailer and compared it to where I’d been influenced by scenes in real media
products.
I similarly used Microsoft Powerpoint and Word, however combined the latter
with an interactive mindmap by using the website examtime.com, which I hadn’t
used before but found it easier to use than Prezi. However, because it was for more
of a revision format, I decided to additionally type up how I used all of the various
media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation processes.