Evaluation Question 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction, research,

planning and evaluation stages?

Early stages / Research

• I used media technologies right from the very start of A2 all the way through to the end. Its

use at the very start of the year was mainly for researching short films of my genre, thriller

and the conventions associated with it.

Used technologies

• During the research stage, I used the following technologies:

• Google chrome• Google• Blogger• YouTube• Mobile phone• Imac• Toshiba laptop

Google Chrome / Google

• I used Google chrome as a web browser as it tends to be quite fast in terms of loading times. I used Google search engine within Google Chrome to search for and view websites that held different information on short films and films with a thriller genre. I used this information to better understand my brief and increase the quality of my short film.

Blogger

• i used blogger in order to record research and events through the planning, construction and post production. Blogger was useful as it allowed me to access my blog from anywhere with an internet connection meaning i was able to keep my blog up to date

YouTube

• I used YouTube to look at videos, such as other short films or thriller films. I also used it to look at videos to do with planning, filming and editing techniques to make my production better.

Mobile Phone

• I used my phone, a Samsung galaxy mini, to keep in touch with people who were helping me with research. I also used it to ask people questions, post questions online and check on any information I received in response to these requests.

Imac / Toshiba laptop

• I used my Toshiba laptop and the school media department’s Imac’s in cooperation with the other technologies mentioned to carry out the research and keep a track of it.

Planning Stage

• During the planning stage, I used some of the same technologies that I used for research, such as Blogger, Mobile phone and the computers. However I also used some other technologies. These included:

• Wacom bamboo pen tablet• MSN• Gmail• Paint.net• Microsoft Word

Wacom bamboo pen tablet

• I used my pen tablet with paint.net in order to draw some designs for my poster and magazine review. I drew out a design the used the tablet and paint.net to alter it rather than having to redo it for each change.

MSN (messenger)

• I used MSN Messenger in order to keep in contact with people who, despite not being in my group, offered me help. By using MSN and keeping in touch we could help improve each others work, even outside of school.

Gmail

• I used Gmail in a similar way to MSN. I used it to keep in touch with people, specifically those who didn’t have MSN. I also used it to send concept images to people for them to give me feedback on.

Paint.net

• Paint.net is an art program that is a lot more professional than MS paint but is a lot easier to use then photoshop. I used Paint.net a lot as I am not very good with photoshop and didn’t want my work to suffer as a result so I used Paint.net instead.

Microsoft Word

• I used Microsoft word in order to create planning documents such as a shooting schedule, a shot list and a risk assessment.

Construction stage

• A lot of the technologies used in this stage of my production were different from the ones used so far. Also, due to the nature of the stage in question, quite a few technologies were used.

Construction stage 2

• The technologies used in construction were:• Imac• Laptop• Paint.net• Wacom pen tablet• Adobe premiere pro• Audacity• Digital audio recorder• SD card• Digital camera

Already used

• The Imac, laptop, pen tablet and paint.net were all used in similar ways as before. The computers were used with the programs o them. The pan tablet and paint.net were used for the creation of the poster for my film along with the magazine review.

Premiere Pro

• Premiere pro is the program I used to edit all of the footage I collected. I used the built in tools premiere pro has to offer to alter each piece of footage individually and put it together along with adding in the music and altering the footage’s audio.

Audacity

• Audacity is the program I used to separate the voice over audio I recorded, into separate voice clips to place over the video I had edited in premiere pro.

Digital audio recorder

• I used a digital audio recorder to record the voice over audio I needed for the video. I wrote a script and had one of my actors read it into the recorder. The voice over audio was then stored onto the SD card inside the recorder.

SD card

• I used an SD card inside the Digital audio recorder in order to store the audio file onto. Once the audio had been recorded and stored onto the card, I then removed the SD card from the device and put it into my laptop in order to copy the audio files onto it for later use.

Digital camera

• I used a digital camera to take still images for my film, poster and magazine review. I took images of just the landscape without any of my actors for the poster and a still image of my actors walking through the woods for the magazine review.

Evaluation Stage

• During the evaluation stage, I continued to use blogger but I used other technologies as well, such as:

• Microsoft excel• Microsoft Powerpoint• Slide share• Logitech microphone

Microsoft excel

• I used excel to create graphs and charts that displayed the results of my evaluation questionnaires. I did this as it meant the information was easier and faster to process and make use of

Microsoft powerpoint/slideshare

• I used powerpoint to make a presentation as a method to evaluate the technology used over the course of my production.

Logitech usb microphone

• Since I didn’t have access to the schools audio recording booth, I used my own microphone connected to my laptop in order to record audio, for the voice over to my film and for use with my blog.

conclusion

• The media technologies I used allowed me to improve the quality of my media production and improve my ability to use them effectively.