1. How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stage?
Construction
Sound
I used YouTube mp3 converter to convert the mp3 files from the YouTube videos. As YouTube is a
form of new media technology (internet) I decided on getting the sound from there to show my
understanding and knowledge of new media technology, as this was a simple process it allowed
me to assimilate it into the construction of my media product easily. As the mp3 file was
downloaded in to my area it just meant that I just had to open it on final cut pro therefore not taking
up any of my time to edit the sound.
Camera
To shot for my trailer shots and take pictures for my magazine and poster front covers I used a
Cannon E05 600D camera with a Samyang 18-35mm wide angle lens. By using a high quality lens
it meant that my footage and images would be highly in focus and not pixilated, this lens would
focus on the main object/individual in the shot and blur out the background making the individual to
be in focus predominantly in focus. Making it so much easier for me to get good quality footage
without filming a number of times as I did not do hardly any re-shooting. When filming a still shot or
a pan I used a tripod to make sure that my footage was steady.
YouTube
I use YouTube a lot across my construction of the trailer and ancillary tasks. As I had no
knowledge of how to use after effects to create my tone cards I used YouTube and search through
YouTube to see how to use after effects giving me a basic knowledge of the features. I also used
YouTube when trying to edit my poster image as I did not know how to create a ghostly effect on
my image as well as making the image seems as if it was taken a while back before technology
has improved as much as it has now. Therefor YouTube was a very important part of my planning
and construction stage of my trailer and ancillary tasks as it allowed me to see visually ho to create
a production similar to what I wanted to create making the task be much easier for me.
Photoshop
Photoshop was the main software that I used on my ancillary tasks. The reason why I decided to
use this software for my poster and magazine was that I had previous experience using them
through my AS coursework to make my music magazine. Because I had previous knowledge about
how to use the software I didn’t have to spend a lot of time to research how to use it therefore
being an advantage to me. As I had knowledge about how to you Photoshop it lead be to be more
comfortable when creating my product making it be of higher quality that it was for my AS
coursework. I also used Photoshop to create my production companies tone card in my pre-
production stage of my horror trailer.
After Effects
I had no experience on how to use After Effects so I searched it on YouTube to have a visual
reference on how to use After Effects. After watching a variety of videos on how to create tone
cards for the title of trailers, it lead e to have a basic understanding on how to use it, leaving me to
be very happy with my end result, by doing this it allowed us to follow the conventions of existing
trailers.
Final Cut Pro
I used final cut pro to create my audience feedback interview and the horror trailer. Final cut pro is
a professional piece of editing software. My previous expiree of this software was when I created
my preliminary task in AS when we had to create a short film. By having this experience and
knowledge on how to use final cut pro came in useful during the construction stage of our trailer
when editing. The way in which I as able to get my footage on to the computer was that I had to
transfer the files from the cameras SD card on to the program. I preferred to use Final cut pro
2. rather that I movies as it had more feature within them that I could use for the construction of my
trailer.
Evaluation
I decided on using Prezi to produce my evaluation for my coursework as I also used it in my AS
coursework evaluation giving me the understanding of how to use it, it also me to show that I know
have the knowledge to use digital technology. To show my use of digital technology I have been
making blog post throughout my course year, letting me to have produced more posts than I did in
for my AS coursework. As I have produced a considerable amount of post this year it made the
process of creating my evaluation much easier as I was able to look back on my posts to making it
much more simple for me to write my evaluation, by using Prezi for my evaluation it shows my
creative side as you require an imagination to create a detailed construction.
Slideshare
During the planning stage of my coursework, I used slideshare to post the word documents on to
my blog. As I wonted my work to look organized because if I decided to just copy the work on to
the blog it would make my work look inconsistent and disorganized making me look as if I was
illiterate in my IT skills. I had understanding and good knowledge of slideshare previously as I used
this website during my AS coursework.
Word
At the start of my coursework I use Microsoft Word to write my essays on feminism,
postmodernism and structuralism I also word when creating my timeline using Todorova’s theory
and writing the treatment for both by trailers Foster me and Fostered. I and my group also used
word for a number of other works such as our shooting schedule, prop list, casting and script. The
reason for using word documents for our work is that it allows our work to look presentable. I found
it easy to uses these software as I have been using it for many years during whole duration that I
have been I school therefore making it very easy to use to produce my work on.
YouTube
During my research stage of seeing how existing trailers use Todorova’s narrative theory to follow
the conventions of horror films, lead me to use YouTube to watch the existing products so that I
could see how to recreate the features on to my own trailer. When looking at trailers to replicate on
to my trailer I looked four trailers ‘Before I wake’, ‘Unfriended’, ‘Insidious’ and ‘The boy’ looking at
theses trailers gave me a clear understanding of the sub-genre allowing be to use some aspects
from each of trailers on to the production of my own trailer. This allowed my group to follow and
develop the conventions of existing products as we had the general understanding of what made a
trailer show its sub-genre within the trailer and the ways in which we could use the resources we
had available to us to create a realistic horror trailer that has it sub-genre known to the audience at
the same time creating suspense within the trailer to get the audience wanting to watch the film
when it comes out.