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

2. Research and Planning
Blogger:
Initially we produced a blog that we could easily add
our work to and keep updated throughout each
stage of the production.
Benefits:
- Accessible from any internet enabled device
- HTML options allows us to embed any kind of
document into the blog posts
Google Drive:
As we were working in a group we needed to be able
to quickly share the work we were producing,
google drive allowed us to do so efficiently.
Benefits:
- Multiple contributors
- 30GB of free cloud storage
- Able to access on internet enabled devices

3. Research and Planning
Powerpoint:
During the genre analysis, documentary theory and
research stage I used powerpoint to clearly display
the information
Benefits:
- Clearly displays written information
- Photos and videos can be attached with ease to
improve how the audience takes in the information
- People recognise the format
Slideshare:
In order to embed powerpoints and other Microsoft
Office package documents onto our blogs we
needed a third-party hosting program. I used
slideshare throughout the process to overcome this
problem. the only negative effect of choosing this
option was that it removed the ability to add video
or transitions to the presentation, but this was fine
as I never needed to do so.
Benefits:
- Free
- Lots of hosting space available
- Can be accessed from multiple sources

4. Research and Planning
Compared to last year i think the thing I have most
improved on is my ability to present my research
and planning methods and the next few examples
of technologies display this growth
Prezi:
This is an online program used to produce alternate
presentations of information in an interactive way.
having never used it before I first used it for its
ability to create digital mind maps to display my
ideas for possible documentary subjects and genre
analysis.
Benefits:
- Free online software
- Many tools for creating interesting methods of
display
Tagul:
This software produces ‘tag clouds’ using a given
bank of words, this was useful for turning lists of
information such as my content ideas and codes &
conventions into much more dynamic graphic
Benefits:
- Free online software
- Complete customisation, we were able to create a
tag cloud in the shape of a coffee bean in keeping
with the subject of the documentary.

5. Research and Planning
Infogr.am:
This is a program used to produce infographics
based on given data. I used this to display my
questionnaire results in a much more engaging way
once they had be collated in Excel and the
percentages etc worked out.
Benefits:
- Extensive list of graphs and tables that can be
customised to suit the theme
- Free to use
- Some graphs breakdown informations into a more
understandable visual experience
Scanners:
It was much simpler to do hand drawn drafts of the
storyboard, the single frames for each interview
and the drafting of the print advert than to attempt
to use a drawing software to produce them.
Therefore we needed to digitise them by running
the sketches through a scanner and then uploading
them as JPEGs to the blog
Benefits:
- Easier to free hand sketch and transfer them into a
digital format

6. Construction
SONY HXR-MC2000 HD Video
Cameras:
In order to produce a professional-looking product we
needed to use quality equipment, our college was
able to provide us with top range camera
equipment which could be taken out as-and-when
needed. They recorded video in 1080p HD and so
gave us extremely well detailed footage
Benefits:
- Professional quality
- Portable, easy to take to various filming locations
- Ambient and pin mics for cutaways, interview, and
voxpops
- Ability to maneuver them well to produce eye-level
footage
DSLR Cameras:
We used digital SLR cameras to capture images for
our print advert. They provide a high quality image
than can be manipulated without loss of clarity
Benefits:
- High quality
- Ease of use

7. Construction
Premiere Pro:
This is the software I have used most through the
whole course, but never previous to that. Premiere
is an Adobe software used to create professional
content, specifically video-centric projects. We
imported our footage into the software and was
able to easily organise the clips into folders that
would help in choosing the correct sequence,
streamlining the editing process. The simple drag-
and-drop functions made this software easy to use,
and when finding anything I could not do, there
were many tutorials on the internet which explained
how to achieve the effect I wanted.
- I then went on the use ‘cutting tool’ to shorten
sections of footage to the required length removing
any unnecessary video, especially during the Bru
Station interview as there was a lot of mumbling
and stuttering
- I created the title card inside the program and then
applied ‘video effects’ to fade the title in and create
the ‘steam’ like effect we desired.
- When using the pin microphones the camera only
recorded in mono sound, this was easily rectified in
‘audio effects’ choosing “fill right’
- Some footage had much louder sound than others
and so had to be fixed using audio effects.
-By using the zoom feature and the arrow keys to
move between singular frames I was able to
accurately pinpoint the correct time to cut each clip.

8. Construction
- During the editing process we had a large number
of ‘flashes’ of black or frames from other clips,
especially between to pieces of footage or where
there had previously been a cutaway that had been
moved or deleted. After zooming into the timeline
as much as possible it showed that there were no
gaps in the footage. When consulting with my
tutors they said did not know the cause or the
solution.
- I attempted to replace each piece of footage
affected, but they persisted.
- I then used the frame snapshot tool to take the
corrupted frame from the original file and place it
over the top of the entire project. This method
worked for the most part however there is still one
noticeable flash in the documentary I was unable to
fix.
- When finalised I exported the file into a HD format
that was conveniently pre-programmed for
YouTube which was the destination for my film.
- When it came to producing the Radio Advert I also
used many of the same tools, except using purely
the audio tracks and effects, taking the title card
and placing it over the top.
Having never encountered the software before it was
hard to get used to, but after figuring out the basics
it soon became much easier for me to work with
effectively.

9. Construction
Radio Room:
Our college has an in-house radio station and a
professional recording booth, it was in here that I
recorded the voiceover for the documentary using
high definition microphones.
Benefits:
- Professional set-up
- Sound proofing and ‘Mic Live’ signe for better
production without interruptions
- Quality recordings
Audacity:
The software in the radio room for simple recordings
is audacity. I was able to record, play and made
minor edits to the raw voice recordings whilst all in
one program. Easily transferring the audio into
premier for further editing.
Benefits:
- Simple functional workflow
- Ability to save in multiple formats

10. Construction
Photoshop:
To produce the subtitles displaying the name of the
interviewee and the print advert we used Adobe’s
graphic software Photoshop. Being relatively
capable with the software myself I focussed more
on the radio advert production and editing of the
film as I felt strongest with this role in the group. I
was however aware of the processes involved
- Importing of photos for the print ad.
- Content aware-move tool and rectangular marquee
tool used to neaten edges into clean lines
- Shape tool used to create text boxes and the type
tool to add title, tagline, date and time, all
conventions of C4 documentaries.
- Placing of the C4 logo, and then use of the magic
wand tool to delete white from the outside and
inside of the image.
- Using the eyedropper tool to select a colour from an
imported page of the C4 style guide displaying the
specific colours they use.
- Applying this colour to the necessary objects.

11. Evaluation
YouTube and Social Media:
In order to share our documentary and gain feedback
from our audience we needed to upload it to
YouTube. Then using twitter and facebook we
shared our production with as many people we
could in order to gain a response.
I also created a video using Premiere to answer
some of my evaluation questions which I also
uploaded to YouTube
- Free to use
- Easy to share to many social media websites
- Easy for people to comment
- Ability to add relevant tags so our video will be
suggested to those watching similar videos
- Can embed videos to blogger

12. Evaluation
Piktochart:
This is another piece of infographis software which I
have recently discovered. The benefits to
Piktochart over Infogr.am are that is has much
better customization options, I was able to create a
takeaway coffee cup and a brown and cream
desing, with highlights of blue and yellow so that
certain points stood out.
Benefits:
- Much more interesting display of information
- Ability to customize every part
- Free graphics to add to infographic
- Link to videos
- Free to use
Prezi:
I used prezi again to display numerous parts of my
evaluation, however this time I looked more in
depth at the software creating more advanced
presentations than the typical mind map I had been
restricted to previously