media studies evaluation question 4 A2

1. QUESTION 4
HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND
EVALUATION STAGES?
BY VICTORIA

2. FILM/POSTER/MAGAZINE,
RESEARCH AND PLANNING
MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES HAVE PLAYED A LARGE ROLE IN ALL STAGES TO PROVIDE MY
WORK ONLINE. I HAVE USED TECHNOLOGIES IN THE RESEARCH AND PLANNING STAGE,
THE CONSTRUCTION STAGE AND EVALUATION STAGE FOR ALL THREE PRODUCTS.
FOR THE RESEARCH AND PLANNING STAGE THE FIRST TECHNOLOGIC THING THAT
CAME ACROSS WAS SETTING UP OUR OWN BLOG USING WORDPRESS. THIS WAS
BECAUSE THERE WAS A PROBLEM THAT OCCURRED IN WORDPRESS WHICH DID NOT
ALLOW MULTIPLE PEOPLE TO WORK ON THE SAME BLOG. THEREFORE, WE ALL MADE
INDIVIDUAL ONES, THIS WAS REALLY STRAIGHTFORWARD AS IT GAVE US TEMPLATES
TO WORK WITH AND THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN WERE REALLY CLEAR. FIRST OF ALL, I
PERSONALIZED MY BLOG AND CREATED A MENU WITH THE DIFFERENT PARTS
REQUIRED. THIS MAKES IT EASY FOR THE AUDIENCE AND MYSELF TO QUICKLY FIND
TOPIC AREAS.

3. AFTER THE BLOG WAS ALL DONE TO IMPORT MY WORK IN, I STARTED TO DO
RESEARCH INTO DIFFERENT GENRES FOR FILM, DIFFERENT KINDS OF POSTERS AND
MAGAZINES TO GET A GIST OF WHAT I WAS MEANT TO CREATE. I HAVE LOOKED
UP EXAMPLES OF SHORT FILMS USING THE WEBSITE CALLED ‘SHORT OF THE WEEK’.
THIS WEBSITE WAS REALLY USEFUL FOR ME AS THERE ARE ONLY SHORT FILMS
POSTED, IN MANY GENRES. NEXT TO THAT I HAVE LOOKED UP SPECIFIC EXAMPLES
OF SURREAL SHORT FILMS SUCH AS ‘GORDON’ ON YOUTUBE. THIS SHORT FILM
WAS ONE OF MANY THAT INSPIRED ME TO USE THE SUBCONSCIOUS. IT WAS A
USEFUL EXAMPLE BECAUSE OF THE EFFECTS THAT WERE USED SUCH AS
SUPPORTING SOMEONE IS DREAMING BY PLAYING MUSIC WHILE SOMEONE IS
TALKING, BUT YOU CAN’T HEAR IT. FOR MY OWN FILM I DID NOT EXACTLY USE
THAT IDEA BUT I DID USE MUSIC TO SHOW AND SUPPORT LONELINESS.

4. FOR ALL THREE AREAS; FILM, POSTER AND MAGAZINE, I RESEARCHED THE
DIFFERENT CODES AND CONVENTIONS USING GOOGLE. GOOGLE WAS REALLY
USEFUL BECAUSE I COULD JUST ENTER A PHRASE AND IT WOULD SHOW ME
INFORMATION THAT RELATES TO IT, IN THIS CASE CODES AND CONVENTIONS.
THESE CODES AND CONVENTIONS I HAVE THEN EXPLAINED USING PRESENTATION
WEBSITES LIKE WIX AND PREZI. A LINK FROM THESE PRESENTATIONS WERE THEN
EMBEDDED TO MY OWN BLOG. BEFORE ANYTHING WAS POSTED ON THE BLOG I
HAVE CREATED THE WORK ON WORD FIRST BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO WORK WITH,
AND I DON’T HAVE THE RISK OF LOSING THE WORK AS MUCH AS ONLINE.

5. BEFORE I CREATED ANY PLOT LINE FOR MY FILM I HAD THE IDEA OF WHAT GENRE I WANTED TO
USE BUT I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE AUDIENCE WOULD LIKE TO SEE. THEREFORE, I HAVE MADE
QUESTIONNAIRES USING SURVEY MONKEY. THIS PROGRAM WAS REALLY USEFUL BECAUSE IT
ALLOWED ME TO COLLECT RESPONSES BUT ALSO ANALYZE THEM DIRECTLY BY GRAPHS THAT
THEY HAVE CREATED. THE FIRST QUESTIONNAIRE ASKED GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT SHORT
FILMS AND SURREALISM TO SEE WHETHER THE AUDIENCE I CHOSE WAS THE RIGHT ONE. THE
SECOND QUESTIONNAIRE WAS TO GET IDEAS FOR MY PLOT LINE, SO I ASKED WHAT THE
AUDIENCE WOULD LIKE TO SEE WITHIN A SURREAL SHORT FILM. AFTER I FINISHED MY
QUESTIONNAIRES I POSTED IT ON FACEBOOK AND TAGGED PEOPLE WHO ARE OF MY TARGET
AUDIENCE TO ASK WHETHER THEY WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER THE SURVEY. FACEBOOK IS REALLY
USEFUL TO GET INTO CONTACT WITH PEOPLE QUICKLY, YOU CAN SEE WHO IS YOUR TARGET
AUDIENCE BECAUSE THEY NORMALLY STATE HOW OLD THEY ARE AND SOME PERSONAL
INFORMATION. BESIDES THIS I HAVE ALSO EMAILED RELATIVES WHO ARE IN THE WORKING
GENERATION, AND DO NOT HAVE FACEBOOK, TO GET RESPONSES FROM THEM. EMAILING IS
USEFUL BECAUSE THE WORKING GENERATION USUALLY USE THIS TO COMMUNICATE WITH
COLLEAGUES OR PEOPLE FAR AWAY, I COULD THEREFORE CONTACT THEM EASILY BECAUSE THEY
REGULARLY CHECK THEIR EMAILS.

6. AFTER ALL OF THE RESULTS WERE ANALYZED I COULD START TO DRAFT MY PLOT
AND DRAW MY STORY BOARDS AND CREATE A SHOOTING SCRIPT. THESE I HAVE
SCANNED IN TO BE ABLE TO UPLOAD THEM TO WIX AND THAT TO MY BLOG. THE
BLOG IS REALLY USEFUL BECAUSE IT IS ALL COMPACT IN ONE PLACE AND EASILY
ACCESSIBLE ON MULTIPLE DEVICES.

7. CONSTRUCTION FILM
MOVING ON TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF MY FILM, I HAD TO USE MULTIPLE
TECHNOLOGIES AS WELL. IN ORDER TO GET MY FOOTAGE FOR THE FILM I USED A
PANASONIC HDC-TM900 CAMCORDER WHICH SCHOOL PROVIDED. NEXT TO
BORROWING A CAMCORDER I BORROWED A TRIPOD FROM SCHOOL. A CHANGE TO
LAST YEAR WAS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO USE THE LIGHTING KIT. THIS ENABLED ME TO
IMITATE DAY LIGHT OR IMPROVE AVAILABLE LIGHT. THIS WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE
WHERE I FILMED, THE AVAILABLE LIGHT WAS REALLY POOR. THIS AIDED MY FILM
BECAUSE I WANTED TO ENHANCE THE EFFECT OF LONELINESS. I HAD SOME
ADVANTAGE TO KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY LIGHT A PLACE AND PERSON BECAUSE I
STUDIED PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGHOUT A LEVELS. NEXT TO THIS WE HAD AN
INTRODUCTION ON HOW TO USE THE MICROPHONE KIT, HOWEVER I DID NOT USE IT
BECAUSE THERE IS NO DIALOGUE IN MY SHORT FILM. IF I WERE TO USE IT, IT WOULD
MAKE THE SOUND MORE FOCUSED ON THE VOICE RATHER THAN ALL SURROUNDING
NOISES INCLUDED, THE EFFECT OF THIS IS THAT MORE FOCUS FROM THE AUDIENCE IS

8. DEVICE
FOR WORKING ON OUR BLOGS AND EDITING OUR PRODUCTS WE USED APPLE MAC
COMPUTERS. I HAD A LOT OF BENEFIT USING THESE SINCE I HAVE A MACBOOK
PRO MYSELF AND I HAVE USED THE COMPUTERS LAST YEAR TOO. SPECIFIC
BENEFITS OF USING APPLE COMPUTERS IS THAT IT IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD IN
MOST COMPANIES. NEXT TO THAT THE LAYOUT IS REALLY EASY TO UNDERSTAND,
EVEN FOR A BEGINNER. THE APPS ARE ALL IN THE TOOLBAR AND THE HELP TOOL
AT THE TOP OF THE MAC WOULD GUIDE YOU TO WHEREVER YOU CANNOT FIND.
AFTER ALL OF MY FOOTAGE WAS SHOT, I UPLOADED IT TO A PROGRAM CALLED
FINAL CUT PRO. WITHIN THIS PROGRAM THERE ARE FEATURES TO EDIT, INSERT
PHOTOS OR FOOTAGE, AND MUSIC.

9. SOUND
THE MUSIC YOU COULD EITHER CHOOSE FROM THE SOUND EFFECT LIBRARY OR
YOU CAN CHOOSE ANY ROYALTY FREE MUSIC YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED FROM
YOUTUBE OR ANY OTHER ROYALTY FREE MUSIC WEBSITES FOR EXAMPLE
FREESOUND.ORG. USING ALL OF THESE FEATURES IT IS VERY EASY TO COMPLETE A
FILM. THE EFFECT IT HAD ON MY FILM WAS GOOD BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO
MUCH EASIER TO USE ANY SONGS OR SOUNDS, THIS IS NOT ALLOWED FOLLOWING
THE LAW UNFORTUNATELY. IF I WOULD HAVE WORKED WITH THE INDUSTRY
THERE WOULD BE PROFESSIONALS THAT WORK TOGETHER, ALSO SOMEONE
WORKING FOR SOUNDS, THAT WOULD HAVE IMPROVED THE QUALITY OF MY FILM.
HOWEVER, I THINK I DID PRETTY WELL ON MY OWN WITHOUT PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE.

10. THERE WAS ONE REAL DISADVANTAGE I HAD AND THAT WAS THAT I COULD ONLY
EDIT MY MOVIES ON SCHOOL SINCE FINAL CUT PRO IS ONLY DOWNLOADED ON THE
COMPUTERS IN THE MEDIA DEPARTMENT. ALSO I COULD ONLY USE IT ON THE
COMPUTER WHERE I HAD MY ACCOUNT ON, BECAUSE THE WORK IS ONLY SAVED TO
THIS COMPUTER AND IS NOT ACCESSIBLE ON THE OTHER COMPUTERS. THE MOST
IMPORTANT FEATURES I HAVE USED AND FOUND MORE ABOUT IS HOW TO LAYER
SHOTS, HOW TO USE LIGHTING EFFECTS, HOW TO MAKE TRANSITIONS CLEAR, HOW TO
CREATE FLUENT SOUND BRIDGES AND ABOVE ALL HOW TO FLICKER A PERSON INTO A
SPACE. THIS REQUIRED ME TO USE PHOTOSHOP AS WELL AS FINAL CUT PRO. THIS IS
BECAUSE THE SETTING IN THE RECORD SHOP HAD CHANGED AND I COULD NOT DO
ANY RE-FILMING. THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY FOR ME TO MAKE THE CHANGES AND
ENHANCE THE IDEA OF SCHIZOPHRENIA, WAS TO TAKE A STILL FROM THE FILM AND
EDIT THIS IN PHOTOSHOP. I TOOK OUT THE GIRL IN THE SHOT AND CLONED THE
BACKGROUND SO IT LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS NOT THERE. THIS STILL WAS THEN
INSERTED IN EVERY MILLISECOND OF THE ORIGINAL FOOTAGE. THIS AFFECTED MY
FILM POSITIVELY BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS FLICKERING INTO THE SCREEN.

11. CONSTRUCTION POSTER
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF MY POSTER, I HAVE USED MY OWN PENTAX K-50
16.3 MP DSLR CAMERA TO DO A PHOTO-SHOOT OF MY CHARACTERS AND OF A
GLASS. I HAVE KINDLY ASKED THE PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT IF I COULD USE
THE PHOTOGRAPHY ROOM AND USE THEIR LIGHTING, BACKDROP AND TRIPOD.
SINCE I AM A PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT TOO, THIS WAS NOT A MASSIVE PROBLEM
AND I DID NOT REQUIRE ANY HELP FROM THE TEACHER TO SET EVERYTHING UP
ACCORDINGLY. THESE TOOLS HELPED ME REALLY WELL TO PUZZLE TOGETHER AN
IMAGE. PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY REQUIRES DIFFERENT LIGHTING TO
PHOTOGRAPHING A GLASS, AS YOU CAN SEE BELOW, THE LEFT ONE IS FOR
PORTRAITS AND THE RIGHT ONE IS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING A GLASS.

12. AFTER THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN, I HAVE USED PHOTOSHOP TO
EDIT THE IMAGE TOGETHER. THERE WERE TWO IMAGES TO WORK
WITH AND THEREFORE I NEEDED TO CREATE MULTIPLE LAYERS TO
CREATE ONE IMAGE. FIRSTLY, I EDITED THE PORTRAIT IMAGE. FOR
SAFETY, I ALWAYS DUPLICATE THE ORIGINAL FILE SO I CAN ALWAYS
GO BACK. IN ORDER TO GET A CLEAR SELECTION WHERE EVEN THE
DETAIL OF THE HAIR IS VISIBLE I HAD TO USE REFINE EDGE. FOR
THIS TO WORK IN EASE I HAVE ADDED A NEW LAYER AND FILLED
THIS WITH A MID GREY COLOR AND PLACED IT UNDER THE LAYER
THAT I AM WORKING WITH. AFTER THIS, USING THE QUICK
SELECTION TOOL I HAVE ROUGHLY SELECTED THE MODEL. NEXT, I
OPENED THE REFINE EDGE MENU AND SELECTED SMART RADIUS,
DECONTAMINATE COLORS AND OUTPUT TO NEW LAYER. AFTER
THAT I DREW AROUND THE MODEL’S HAIR TO DETECT DETAILS
AND THEN I HAVE CHANGED THE PERCENTAGE BETWEEN 80/90%
TO MAKE THE FRINGE APPEAR. ONES THAT WAS DONE, IT
APPEARED IN THE SIDEBAR AS NEW LAYER, WHEN THIS WAS
SELECTED I COULD USE THE QUICK SELECTION TOOL TO COPY THE
IMAGE. THE REFINE EDGE TOOL ALLOWED ME TO CREATE A MORE
PROFESSIONAL LOOK TO THE POSTER, IT IS ALL ABOUT DETAILS
OTHERWISE THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT EVEN BOTHER TO PAY

13. AFTER THIS I EDITED THE IMAGE OF THE GLASS, WHICH WAS TRICKIER. WHEN I HAVE INSERTED
THE GLASS, I FLIPPED THE IMAGE TO CREATE AN IDEA OF THE GIRL HAVING A WHOLE FACE. THIS
ENHANCED THE SURREALISTIC ASPECT TO REFRACTION. THIS WAS THEN FOLLOWED BY
DRAWING A SHADOW AROUND THE BASE OF THE GLASS USING THE BRUSH TOOL. THE TRICKY
BIT WAS TO GET THE OPACITY OF THE GLASS RIGHT TO MAKE HALF OF THE FACE LOOK
REALISTIC COMPARED TO THE NORMAL SIDE OF THE FACE. THE FINAL IMAGE WAS ALMOST
THERE AND ALREADY HAD A POWERFUL MESSAGE WHICH THE AUDIENCE COULD INTERPRET,
NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS. AFTER THIS, I HAVE INSERTED AN IMAGE OF A WOODEN TABLE TO
CREATE THE SENSE THAT THE GIRL IS BEHIND THE TABLE AND THAT THE GLASS IS STANDING ON
TOP OF THE TABLE. ALSO, I HAVE CREATED A SLIGHTLY YELLOW/BROWN TEXTURED
BACKGROUND TO ENHANCE FOCUS ON THE IMAGE. THE LAST STEP FOR PHOTOSHOP WAS TO
ADD THE CREDITS TO THE POSTER. SINCE THE FONT FOR A CREDIT BLOCK IS NOT INSTALLED ON
THE MACS, I SEARCHED ONLINE FOR A TEMPLATE, OR FONT. HOWEVER, I COULD NOT USE THIS
FONT ON INDESIGN OR WORD SO I HAD TO CREATE THE CREDIT BOX USING PHOTOSHOP.
WITHIN INDESIGN I HAVE ADDED THE TITLE, TAGLINE, RELEASE DATE, CHARACTER NAMES AND
THE AGE CERTIFICATE. I HAD NEVER USED INDESIGN BEFORE, HOWEVER WITH SOME OF MY
PHOTOSHOP KNOWLEDGE, I KNEW SOME OF THE ICONS WHICH WERE ALSO USED IN INDESIGN.
THE BASICS WERE VERY EASY TO LEARN, LIKE MAKING TEXT BOXES AND INSERTING IMAGES. I
WILL EXPLAIN MORE OF THE BASICS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAGAZINE.

14. CONSTRUCTION
MAGAZINE
FOR MY MAGAZINE FILM REVIEW I USED THE PROGRAM INDESIGN TO CREATE THE
REVIEW PAGE. I HAVE TAKEN PHOTOS IN THE RECORD SHOP FROM THE TWINS
BECAUSE THIS LOCATION IS KEY IN THE FILM AND THIS PHOTO WOULD NOT SPOIL
ANYTHING ABOUT THE FILM. NEXT TO THIS I HAVE ALSO USED A CAPTURED STILL
FROM THE FILM, THE REFLECTION OF THE RED TWIN. THIS GIVES US A HINT OF
THE FILM BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT IT SPOILS THE FILM. IT HAS AN EFFECT TO
INTRIGUE THE AUDIENCE RATHER THAN TELLING THEM THE STORY. USING
PHOTOSHOP, I HAVE EDITED THE IMAGES BY MAINLY CROPPING, CHANGING THE
BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST AND THE VIBRANCY. THESE TOOLS HELPED TO GIVE
THE IMAGE A PUNCH, IT MADE THE AUDIENCE LOOK AT THE IMAGES FIRST
RATHER THAN READING THE REVIEW.

15. USING INDESIGN, I USED THE RECTANGLE TOOL ALLOWED ME TO INSERT THE IMAGES. THIS
ALLOWED ME TO CREATE STRUCTURE TO THE OVERALL REVIEW. THROUGHOUT THE REVIEW I
TALKED ABOUT HOW THE DIRECTOR HAS CREATED THIS FILM, AND MY OPINION ABOUT THE
FILM. I TRIED TO INCLUDE PUNS, HOWEVER BECAUSE ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE, I
STRUGGLED ENORMOUSLY WITH THIS. THE PUNS WOULD HAVE HELPED ME TO ENGAGE THE
AUDIENCE AND KEEP THEM AMUSED.
I INCLUDED OTHER RELEVANT BOXES WITH KEY INFORMATION USING THE RECTANGLE TOOL
AND FILLING THESE BOXES WITH A YELLOWISH COLOUR WITH ON TOP OF THIS, THE INTERESTING
FACTS, DETAILS, AND VERDICT TEXTS WERE PLACED ON TOP. THIS ALLOWED ME TO ORGANISE
WHAT IS WHAT AND GAVE THE AUDIENCE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
RELEVANT MATTERS.

16. INDESIGN WAS TRICKIER TO USE FOR THIS TASK BECAUSE IT REQUIRED ME TO WORK
WITH MORE TEXT. THIS REQUIRED ME TO FIT THE TEXT BOXES ACCORDINGLY AND
MAKING THEM IN LINE WITH EACH OTHER AND THEN CONTINUE THE WORK WITH THE
TYPE TOOL. HOWEVER, THESE TOOLS WERE KEY TO CREATING MY PRODUCT.
THE OTHER TRICKY THING WAS TO CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE BIGGER TEXTS AND
COLOURED TEXTS. TO CHANGE THE LAYOUT, I HAD TO MAKE USE OF SWATCHES,
STROKES, AND EFFECTS. THESE TOOLS HELPED ME TO MAKE CERTAIN PARTS OF THE
MAGAZINE PAGE STAND OUT, INCLUDING THE HOUSE STYLE.

17. AFTER I WAS HAPPY WITH MY SECOND EDIT, I HAD NO SPACE ANYMORE FOR
WRITTEN TEXT SO THIS REQUIRED ME TO MOVE AROUND ALL OF MY WORK AND
DECREASING FONT SIZES, A REAL FIDDLE. NEXT TO THIS I ALWAYS GOT CONFUSED
WITH THE SELECTION TOOL AND THE DIRECT SELECTION TOOL, THEY BOTH ARE
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TOOLS, YET THEY LOOK BASICALLY THE SAME. THE
SELECTION TOOL GIVES THE OPPORTUNITY TO DRAG AND DECREASE THE SIZE OF
AN OBJECT. THE DIRECT SELECTION TOOL GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO
CHANGE THE SIZE AND DRAG THE BOXES WE CREATED. VERY CONFUSING
HOWEVER, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO USE THESE IN ORDER TO FINISH MY PRODUCT.
OVERALL, I HAVE LEARNED MORE ABOUT INDESIGN THAN I LEARNED FROM
PHOTOSHOP BECAUSE I ALREADY KNEW A LOT FROM THIS PROGRAM. I LEARNED
MORE FROM INDESIGN BY PLAYING AROUND WITH MULTIPLE TOOLS RATHER THAN
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION THAT WE HAD.