The document discusses the use of various media technologies throughout the research, planning, production and evaluation stages of creating a documentary project. In the research phase, the group watched existing documentaries using DVDs, YouTube and online streaming. They took notes and wrote analyses using Microsoft Word. Throughout the project, they used a blog to document their process using Prezi, SoundCloud, and other tools. For filming, they used a video camera, microphone, headphones and tripod. They also recorded interviews for their radio trailer using an audio recorder.

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

2. Technologies we have used..
Research and
Presentation
-Microsoft Word
-Microsoft Powerpoint
-Emaze
-Prezi
-Powtoon
-Visme
-Youtube
-Soundcloud
-The Internet
-Slideshare
-Email
-Twitter
-Blogger
-Raw Shorts
Production/Editing
-In Design
-Premiere Pro
-Photoshop
Hardware
-Camera
-Audio Recorder
-Smart Phones
-Computer(Mac)

3. Research and Planning
 The first thing we did when it came to research and planning was watch the documentary ‘Super Size Me’. This was shown on a
DVD which our teacher put into the computer in class and we watched it through the projector. This was the first documentary
which we saw so helped us to establish the typical codes and conventions, and take on any ideas in which we thought would be
useful in a documentary. It was useful having it be played through the computer on to a big screen as we could really get a feel for
what a documentary looked like. When being played through classroom speakers and on a big screen- it really doesn't’t allow for
any faults. After watching Super Size Me, we then used Microsoft Word to write up a detailed essay analysing the documentary.
Also, we used google to search and save images from the documentary to use as evidence.
 After watching Super Size Me, we began to develop more knowledge on what is expected in a documentary. Our group then went
home and decided to watch ‘Educating Joey Essex’ using YouTube or the ITV hub. Being able to access and watch this
documentary was also an extremely effective stage in our research and planning as from this documentary is allowed us to adapt
and develop some techniques we saw being used throughout the documentary and incorporate them into ours- such as the time-
lapse. Similar to Super Size Me, we used Microsoft Word to write up another essay analysing this existing documentary also.
 For both of these documentaries, we found Microsoft Word an extremely quick and easy was of simply just getting all our initial
ideas down on paper about the documentaries in order to give our work a head start.

4. Research and Planning
 Throughout our whole making of media texts, we used the internet software Blogger. This enabled
us to keep a record of everything we produced when doing research and planning. An example of
some of the posts we made on blogger were: phone calls to shops for interviews, choosing a name
for the documentary and Bill Nichols Documentary modes. Throughout all of our research and
planning, the use of media technologies was shown extensively throughout our blog. We produced
some of our things on: Prezi, Sound cloud, Emaze, Raw Shorts, Microsoft Word, Microsoft
PowerPoint, YouTube and many more. The extensive use of different media technologies allowed
us to show are findings in many different forms, rather than just a word document. My group and
I, made sure we took advantage of all the different software available to us during the research
and planning stage. Every programme we used throughout research and planning was never too
complex and allowed us to present our work in a clear but also enticing manner.
Powerpoint
Prezi
RawShorts

5. Research and Planning
 When doing our questionnaire for audience planning and research we simply
wrote questions out on a word document and handed it to people around the
college as they were a large majority of our target audience, 16-21s. The pro
of this was that it was quick and easy. It allowed us to effectively gather the
information we needed in order to know what to produce on our documentary.
After all the questionnaires were completed we also used word to summarise
our results into charts; this just made our collecting's look much more
professional and a lot easier to summarise. However, whilst reflecting on this
element of our research and planning, I think it would’ve been much more
effective to use an online survey such as survey monkey. This is because our
target audience are in the younger age bracket who frequently use social
media. Therefore, creating a questionnaire which could be completed online
would be ideal. However, we decided to go with the more traditional way of
writing one up on word, printing it out then handing it around college and this
seemed to work just fine for us.

6. Research and Planning
 Throughout research and planning
we decided not to use media
technologies in all aspects. In some
areas we decided to hand-draw
things or use a pen and paper to
write down ideas. We decided that
not every aspect of research and
planning needed to use a media
technology. By simply using pen and
paper it allowed us to write
down/draw ideas as the sprung to
mind, rather than overthinking
things using a software such as
word. We did this to produce our
storyboard for the documentary,
and also did a hand written mind
map when deciding which publisher
was best for our listings magazine.

7. Communications
 As well as the programs which we used to present information on blogger such as
Prezi. We also used hardware and software in order to communicate with people.
 Firstly, whilst finding experts to interview we used our smartphones in order to ring
companies such as: Benefit, Mac, Hollister, etc in order to see if we could arrange to
have an interview with one of their makeup artists. We also decided to record these
conversations as more proof to put on our blog with an audio recorder. The audio
recorder is a very good way of picking up clear sound especially when recording a
phone conversation which can come across bad signal occasionally. We then put
these recordings onto our blog using sound cloud. Using sound cloud was very
effective as its an extremely straight forward way to put a sound byte of
information straight onto the blog.

8. Communications
 We also used Twitter in order to contact a YouTuber. It was very easier to get hold of the YouTuber, all we had to do
was include her ‘@’ in a tweet kindly asking her for help. Along with twitter, we also emailed various YouTube and
makeup artists. Using email was much more professional than twitter. However, as we wanted experts who knew
about the topic issue in our documentary- Twitter was the ideal place to look as this is where many young people
will voice their opinions about the matter. To contact another one of our experts we used a college emailing system
named ‘Tyber’. As we knew we wanted to speak to a student development officer in the college it was fairly
straightforward to kindly message her, and arrange a time to meet within the college.
 Along with all of this, we also tried to use the ‘Mac’ makeup, live chat. We thought we would try and take
advantage of this live chat and get a professionals view on our topic of people feeling pressured to look ‘beautiful’.
However, although we tried they unfortunately were not allowed to give advice about anything other than makeup
recommendations.

9. Filming- Documentary
 Before we began using software to put our documentary together- we used a range of
different hardware in order to produce the actual footage. When we went out filming we
mainly used a Canon video camera, headphones, a shotgun microphone and a tripod.
Evidently, our most important piece of equipment was the video camera. The video camera
was very high quality which was a pro as it meant our footage would come out the best
quality possible. As it was high quality we would always have the brightness, exposure and
focus we wanted, which made it much more easier when it came to editing because we did
not have to mess around with the quality of the footage as much. To ensure the sound quality
was perfect we used a shotgun microphone. At first for presenter footage, we tried to use a
clip on microphone. However, we soon discovered that using a shotgun microphone produced
much higher sound quality… especially in interviews and vox pops. It was also extremely
important to ensure that the sound quality was consistent throughout and the microphone was
working, as sound levels have a huge impact on the overall documentary. In order to make
sure that everything looked and also sounded good, we used HD20 headphones. These were
essential in making sure that the sound was where it should be. It prevented us from wasting
time as if there was a problem with the sound, we could fix it there and then as the high
quality headphones could pick it up straight away. Along with all this, we also decided to use
a tripod at all times. This enabled us to have smooth, still clips- especially in interviews
where this is extremely important. All of these high quality pieces of hardware worked
together in order for us to create the best documentary possible. They were all also very easy
to travel with which is a huge pro when we were having to travel back and forth. Although the
tripod was very big and heavy, proving difficult to travel with, it was vital when making our
footage as professional as possible.

10. Filming- Radio Trailer
 We also used hardware when ‘filming’ our radio trailer.
Although we knew a lot of the sound clips we were going
to use were going to be extracted from our documentary-
we still had to record a few sound clips to bring the whole
thing together. To do this we used a small audio recorded.
For the size of the recorder, the sound quality came out
amazing in our radio trailer. You could hear the presenter's
voice loud and clear and it didn’t pick up any unnecessary
background noise- this also may be down to the fact we
did it in a quiet and secluded room. It was also very easy
to plug it into a USB and transfer the sound clips onto the
Mac.

11. Photographs- Magazine
 Although we didn't have to film anything for our listings
magazine, we still had to use hardware in order to take our
main image. For this we used an ordinary high quality camera
given to us by college. It was also a huge advantage taking this
photograph during college time as we were able to use the
photography studio. This meant that we were able to take
advantage of the plain white background and studio lights-
while using other props which we had brought from home. This
helped to make the main image on our magazine stand out, and
look very professional.

12. Production and Editing- Documentary
 To produce our documentary we use Adobe Premiere
Pro. Most of our group had never used this before so
we had to watch things such as YouTube tutorials to
help us navigate. What we first noticed is that on the
left hand side of this soft ware, it allows you to access
all your documents(media browser) and drag and drop
whatever you want onto the timeline. This was very
straightforward and clear. It allowed us to drag
whichever clips we needed from our documents on the
Mac, and simply drop them onto the timeline. If they
needed to be cut in certain places instead of dragging
and dropping them straight on the timeline, we could
double click the clip and edit it in Premiere Pro to start
and finish it where we wanted or we could use the
razor tool to cut a clip wherever we wanted whilst it
was on the timeline. This enabled us to get started
with our documentary extremely quickly, as all we had
to do is find the clips we wanted and add them onto
our timeline.

13. Production and Editing- Documentary
 An important feature of Premiere Pro is the timeline. One extreme pro of this
timeline, is that it allows you to layer sound, clips and pictures over each other.
This was useful for our group as I came up with the decision to pop several pictures
up on screen whilst the presenter was talking in order to add an almost ‘fun’
element to our documentary and entice the audience. To do this, we first searched
the internet for relevant pictures- luckily we already had some pictures saved
through research and planning. We then added them one at a time each on
different layer, selecting what time we wanted them to come in at. The timeline
allowing you to add layer on Premiere Pro made this process extremely straight
forward and simple, yet made our documentary look that bit more professional.

14. Production and Editing- Documentary
 Through Premiere Pro we were also able to change the size of an image, making sure we always hold
down shift to keep it in scale. This was effective when adding all the pop up images to the screen as
we wanted to make them different sizes so some stood out more than others.
 We also added the title screens for our expert interviews through Premiere Pro. To do this we simply
just clicked the drop down title menu and chose ‘Default Still’. From there all we had to do was chose
our font, size and colour of the text then drag it onto the frame wherever we wanted it- we typically
put it at the bottom left as that is where most titles go introducing experts. This is a important code
and convention in documentaries so it was good that Premiere Pro made this step so straight forward
to achieve.

15. Production and Editing- Documentary
 A main problem which we had once we had finished the basis of our documentary was the sound levels. We
wanted to ensure the sound levels were consistent throughout. After exporting our documentary and watching
it in the classroom on a big screen with speakers- we knew that we needed to make changes to the sound
levels. In order to do this, we used the ‘Audio Gain’ tool. To do this, all we had to do was simply right clip on
the sound clip we wanted to change, select ‘audio gain’ and then either plus or minus the db, depending on
how much louder or quieter we wanted it.

16. Production and Editing- Documentary
 Another significant thing when editing our documentary was adding effects in order to
make the music fade, or flow. In some parts of or documentary we noticed some pieces of
sound almost jumped from one to another. When anyone was speaking we had to lower
the background music in order for the audience to be able to hear them. However, when
the background music got louder we noticed it didn’t sound right. In order to get around
this we went into the ‘effects’ box on the left hand side of the screen and searched for
‘constant power’. We simply dragged and dropped constant power to wherever it was
needed in our documentary, and by doing this the whole thing came together and
sounded right again.

17. Production and Editing- Documentary
 We also did not want our documentary to end abruptly. Typically, in
documentaries they tend to fade out at the end. The presenter will
finish speaking then the background music slowly fades out. We
wanted to do this with our documentary so searched into affects fade-
and this is where we found the ‘experimental fade’. We simply
dragged and dropped this onto the end of our background music layer,
and our documentary slowly gets quieter then fades out.

18. Production and Editing- Radio Trailer
 To produce our radio trailer we had the option to either use Adobe Premiere Pro or Garage Band. We
decided to use Premiere Pro just because we had used it throughout producing our whole
documentary and felt fairly comfortable in using it for our radio trailer. It was quite straight forward
as we used a lot of sound clips from the documentary, meaning all we had to do was drag and drop
them into the right order.
 However, throughout making the radio trailer, the razor tool was extremely effective as it allowed us
to ensure that the sound was clear and professional. As there was no footage going with this sound to
distract the viewer, it needed to be perfect.
 Along with sound clips from our documentary, we also recorded certain parts of the radio trailer and
simply dragged and dropped them onto the timeline. These clips needed a bit of editing with sound
levels mostly, to get them to match the pre recorded documentary sound clips. To tackle this
problem, similar to the documentary, we used the audio gain tool in order to lower the sound to
match the others.

19. Production and Editing- Listings Magazine
 We decided to use InDesign to create our final listings magazine. We believed that this would
be the perfect software to use because many professional companies use it. Also, we used it
during AS coursework which meant we were familiar with how it worked. However, we did use
other software in order to create the overall double page spread:
 We used word to create the article. We thought it would be easiest to type up the article
which we wanted to feature on our double page spread in word then simply transfer it over to
InDesign. This was a very effective technique as it allowed half the group to continue
producing the basis of the magazine, while the other half could type up an article to fit.
 Another software we used was called ‘DaFont’. This enabled us to pick the perfect font for
our masthead. Although InDesign offered a range of different fonts, none of them stood out to
our group enough to use as our main heading. Therefore, after extensive searching through
‘DaFont’ we found the perfect font we wanted to use. All we had to do was download this
font off their website, type in the word we wanted which was ‘BEAUTY’, we then screen
shotted this and added it in as a picture onto our Double Page Spread. We then later on
changed the colour to pink in InDesign using ‘swatches’.

20. Production and Editing- Listings Magazine
 We also used Photoshop in order to edit our main image. We noticed that the colour seemed a bit too
dark for our colour scheme. In order to combat this, we opened our photograph up in Photoshop.
Whilst in Photoshop all we had to do was change the contrast and brightness of the picture. We also
decided to use the ‘Spot Healing Brush’ tool to clear up some imperfections. We then saved the
picture and uploaded it into InDesign.

21. Evaluation
 Lastly, I decided to use different types of media technologies to present my
evaluation questions.
 For question 1 I decided to use Emaze, as it was quite a long question with a lot of
explanation needed. Emaze is perfect for this as it is very similar to PowerPoint and
allows you to write huge blocks of texts easily, offering lots of space.
 For question 2 I decided Prezi would be best. Unlike question1, not a lot of
explanation was needed. Pezi gives a fun layout and is easy to navigate around. I
thought this would be perfect for question 2 as it would allow me to summarise my
information in the small circle spaces which its layout provides.
 For question3 I decided to use Visme. I decided to use this simply because we had
not used it much on our blog and wanted to see how it works. It was very suitable for
a question about the audience feedback as Visme is very fun and entertaining which
almost reflect my target audience.
 Lastly for question 4, I have evidently used PowerPoint. This is because I find
PowerPoint the easiest software to navigate around. Therefore, for the hardest
question, in my opinion, I thought it would be best to use this software as I felt
comfortable that I would be able to produce and extremely detailed answer through
this.