Evaluation - Question 4

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

Throughout the different stages of my A2 coursework I have involved many different types of media technologies to help create a high quality product. Without the use of many of the pieces of equipment and computer software’s I have used the end result would not be at the same standard.

When it came to researching trailers, it was important to get an accurate idea of what codes and conventions were used, so for this I used ‘YouTube’. This website is a popular site for people to share video clips, so this is where I choose to research horror        trailers. In the presentation of our ideas for ‘Evil Awaits’, we show the trailer of ‘The Blair Witch Project’. This was done in order to show our background research of the codes and conventions of a horror film. As well as that it gave us and the audience an insight in what to expect out of a horror trailer. We researched other trailers along with ‘The Blair Witch Project’, however we thought that this trailer best portrayed what we wanted to achieve, due to its low budget techniques as well as fast pace camera shots. ‘YouTube’ became a practical website for researching such trailers. As well as that we used this website to post our final trailer so that we could use this as a link to have a shared viewing of it.

When it came to the actual filming of the trailer we used the Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera. This is a high quality camera that allowed us to zoom in effectively to create extreme close up shot, whilst still maintaining a good standard. As well as that it was able to pick up sound whilst recording. This was useful for a couple of scenes, however sometimes we had to record sound over the top of the footage as it didn’t pick it up clearly enough. As well as that during filming we had to ensure that the shots were steady when needed, this was done through the use of a tripod. The stability of the camera enabled us to have effective footage.

When it came to presenting the beginning stages of our film trailer to an audience we used a projector screen. With both the screen and camera being of a good standard, the audience were impressed with the high quality of the footage.

When it came to editing we used the software called Adobe Premier Pro. This allowed us to edit each individual shot when necessary to ensure that it all came together well. As well as that we were able to add tints to the scenes. This convention was something that I found to be a familiar thing that occurred throughout the trailers I had researched. It allowed us to add a darker tint to the scene, this made the shot seem more gloomy and mysterious. On this software we also could have multiple sounds playing at the same time. Although this took some time to get correct, the end result can be seen to be quite effective. Overall this software was ideal for what we required for making our horror trailer.

This print screen shot of our trailer shows one of the techniques that we were able to use on our editing software.With Adobe Premier Pro were were able to use two shots on top of each other. This was done through making the top layer translusant. This helps to create a proffesional look to our trailer.

When it came to producing our ancillary texts to go along with our film trailer the media technology that we used was Adobe Photoshop Pro. This software, similarly to the editing the trailer, allowed us to edit the tint and contrast of the images. As well as that, the editing of the photo itself was easily done on this program due to the different techniques you could use. For instance, on the poster I edited such details as the persons eye to make it darker. This is so that it would make it stand out more substantially as well as making it contrast more with the rest of the image. This program also enabled me to add text in different fonts, sizes, and colours. This is a necessary quality needed for creating a magazine cover or a film poster.  Overall the variety of techniques that are on offer with this program allowed me to create professional looking ancillary texts.

The final main media technology that I used was ‘blogger.com’. This website has allowed me to effectively display my A2 coursework in an organised manor. The functions such as, being able to label my work, title it, keep track of the date posted etc... have all allowed me to ensure that my work is displayed in an organised format. Another thing that the website offers, that I have taken full advantage of, is how easily you can upload photos. This is a vital thing for showing the work I have achieved, as it allows me to give evidence of the research and planning I have done.

Overall I have used many different media technologies to help me to develop my research, planning and evaluation stages. All of the different software’s that I have used have been an essential part of created the professional finish to my products that I have been aiming for.