Evaluation Q4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction

and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Kamran Ali

Research and PlanningDuring my research and planning I used a variety of different technologies to conduct it. I used many different websites on Safari and Internet Explorer such as Wikipedia, Google, ChildLine and more for use during our documentary. We used these websites to conduct the initial research into the topic itself and then into other information such as the channel we would air it on, the radio station and magazine we would use. We looked at their websites and used other sources on the internet to find out their viewership, average audience and the types of shows that they air.

When deciding upon the initial topic of the documentary we created a mind map to effectively show our different ideas. We used storyboards to plan out the first shots of the documentary and the entire opening sequence.

We then uploaded all of this research to the group blog on Blogger so that we had a record of all the research we had conducted, and we could all access it from at home or college. Blogger allowed us to combine all of data together and be able to view it anytime.

FilmingTo film our documentary we used various types of equipment. We used a Canon HD Camera to capture all of our footage and take any stills we needed. This camera was very useful as it allowed us to do various camera features such as zoom, change brightness and modify the focus. These features let us change the way the video was recorded to suit our needs so that we could get the correct footage.

To take professional shots we used a Tripod so that the camera would be still and straight, we were then able to do many more shots such as pans as we did not have to worry about the camera shaking. Using the tripod during our expert interviews made it look much more professional and increased the quality of the footage.

To record audio at a professional standard we used a directional microphone. This microphone was designed so that it would only pick up the audio of the whatever it was pointed at. This allowed us to eliminate majority of the background noise when filming and help make the audio much clearer and of a higher quality.

To check the sound levels we used over ear headphones in conjunction with the microphone. This allowed us to monitor the sound levels and make sure we were recording the right thing and not picking up any other sounds.

EditingThe software we used to edit the footage was Final Cut Express. We developed many skills while using this software such as cutting, syncing, transitions, special effects, logging an transferring.

Before we could start editing we had to log and transfer all of our raw footage into final cut express.

The footage would then appear in this box and we would then select which videos we wanted to keep and import in.We then had the option to

rename each clip and create comments.

EditingClips were then added to the main windows where we could add them to the timeline and edit them.

Once they had been added in we could preview them in the players and then move them onto the timeline for editing.

EditingOnce the clips were on the timeline we could edit them and add different effects.

Audio that has been added in separately

Titles were added above the clips so they would appear over the images

Cut

The audio has been edited to be louder and then lower in volume

Editing

We used fades to transition between clips, by reducing the opacity at the end of one clip and then increasing at the beginning of another.

EditingWe used these tools to perform various cuts and effects.

This is used select different points on the timeline and then modify them e.g. create a fade on clips or audio

This allowed us to select items and move them around without cutting them.

This tool allowed us to cut clips and audio at any point we liked either separately or together.

This tool let us zoom in on the time line so we could perform more precise cuts and edits.

Editing

During editing we could view clips or the entire video in the separate window to see what the video looked like so far e.g. to pick up any errors or mistakes.

Magazine

For the editing of the double page spread I used Adobe InDesign. This allowed me to many different things to the magazine so that I could make it look more professional.

Magazine

The page was split up into 3 separate columns so that we could adhere to the rule of thirds, we then formatted our article and design around this.

The masthead stretched across all three columns so it would catch the attention of the reader. Because of the columns we can see this.

The article also placed into columns neatly with the same amount of spacing between them. InDesign has a feature which enables you to move all the text from one textbox and then move the part that doesn’t fit on screen into another text box.

MagazineEach image was placed into a separate column to help separate them and prevent overlap.

We added in a drop shadow so that the images would stand out and not simply cover each other

Radio TrailerTo create the radio trailer we used a program called Garageband. With garage band we were able to use pre loaded music to create our own music without the risk of copyright infringement. We could then place each different instrument onto the timeline and modify it so that it sounded the way we wanted it to.

We could change whether it was muted at one point, playing separately or together and then blend the sounds together.

Each different instrument used appears on this line along with any audio that appears

The different songs that we could choose from appeared in categories

We could then choose specific songs to add to the timeline and use in our own personal song