Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and evaluation

stages?

IntroductionWhen creating the media texts and completing the various stages of production (Research, Planning, construction and editing) I used a range of media technologies to further employ my skills when creating a professional product. The media technologies that I used can also be categorised into two types, Software (the programs and other operating information used by a computer) and hardware (tools, machinery, and other durable equipment). A vast majority, if not all, the software that was used was contained on one piece of hardware, the apple mac. I chose to use the Mac in particular as it would cater to all of my needs. Of course I came across negatives and positives with each device or programme and had to work with each in particular to overcome them, however I believe that I managed to do so and have improved upon my skills since creating my first media product during my A Level course. 

BloggerFirstly, Blogger can be considered as the most valuable piece of software. It was key that throughout the process all of my documents were stored in an organised location. Blogger allows me to easily sort through and organise data, using its simple labeling system, and find un labeled documents or 'posts' as all work is date stamped upon publishing, allowing easy access. Blogger also allows others with access to a blogger account to comment on my posts, allowing audience feedback to be gathered in this manner also. Additionally to this, Blogger also allows its users to embed clips, online PowerPoints and various other documents to a post, meaning that I was able to display a range of media created elsewhere to blogger in one location still. However, most importantly, it allowed me to embed the YouTube video of my film trailer in my blog. 

YouTubeYouTube was also significant as it allowed my to conduct valuable research into existing products on the market, such as film trailers for other films in my chosen genre. YouTube itself is a fairly new website, and has increased in popularity since its creation in 2005. YouTube, alongside many other websites similar, has only been able to work since Web 2.0, which meant that data could be shared and uploaded rather than just looked at, allowing audience participation to be a huge aspect. YouTube also allowed me to upload my film trailer upon its completion. Other users can then view my product, like, comment and subscribe in order to see my future content. 

Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Excel proved useful during the planning and research stage as it allowed me to adapt my data in to visual information in the form of charts and graphs. I was then able to get a clearer understanding of what I had found out during the research stage, further allowing me to target my product the correct target audience. 

Adobe PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop was extremely significant when creating the various products, such as the magazine cover, posters, magazine template, production logo and many other elements of the process. I chose to use this piece of software in particular as I felt that it offered the most in terms of creation yet also tones and colour correction for the photos.

The tools used in particular were: the cropping tool, selection tool, brightness/contrast tool, pipette tool in order to match the exact colours, sharpening tool and magic wand tool in order to remove backgrounds from images. It also allowed me to reduce the opacity of images and create images, such as on my poster, easily. 

Canon 600DWhen choosing a camera I chose to use the Canon 600D as it offers a variety of valuable features to use during the filming process. The Canon 600D has  18-megapixel CMOS sensor  Scene Intelligent Auto mode  Full-HD EOS Movie  On-screen Feature Guide  Up to 3.7fps continuous shooting  Wide-area 9-point AF  1,040k-dot vari-angle 7.7cm (3.0”) screen  Basic+ and Creative Filters  Built-in wireless flash control

When Filming the most important feature was the ability to shoot in manual mode, giving me control over the aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance, allowing me to film successfully in more low light conditions.

Adobe Premiere ProIn terms of editing I chose to use Adobe Premiere Pro as I felt that it was the best Video editing software available. I not only felt most comfortable using this piece of software, but also felt that it offered a much greater variety of video editing tools. Also, I felt that it was far superior to the previously used iMovie, which only offers a limited range of editing tools. Adobe premiere Pro offers: advanced colour grading tools a stabilisation tool an in built vignette tool (using masks) an intricate text design system the ability to speed, reverse and slow clips and audioThe ability to complete all tasks within one piece of software was extremely useful as it meant that I needed no third party plugins or devices, and gave me full creative freedom. 

Prezi and Microsoft PowerPointWhen  conducting the evaluation section I chose to use a variety of media devices, such as Prezi and Microsoft Powerpoint, made accessible by Web 2.0. Press is a 'cloud-based presentation software based on a software as a service model', allowing information to be presented through a more animated and involving way, through the use of a Parallax 3D space.

Powerpoint, a Microsoft Office application, allows information to be shared in a formal and organised manner through the use of its 'slides'. The slides can also have transitions and create a more animated display. However, there is no embedding system built in to the software, and in order to upload them to the internet a third party website called 'slideshare.net' can be used. Slideshare is 'a Web 2.0 based slide hosting service. Users can upload files privately or publicly in the following file formats: PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote or OpenDocument presentations' showing its versatility and usefulness.

By using both methods this allows me to then embed both Prezi's and Powerpoints onto my blog where it can be stored and organised with other information.

WixAlso, when it came to the evaluation process of my products, as mentioned, I chose to use a variety of media types and sources in order to express my skill and highlight what my media knowledge in general. Therefore, for the second evaluation question I created a HTML5 website using the website Wix.com. Wix allows users to create a simple website using their drag and drop functions, yet also allowing clips and documents to be embedded into the website itself, uploaded under the 'Wix.com' domain. This therefore allowed me to embed my film trailer into the website, alongside my poster designs and magazine cover. 

DaFont and Royalty Free Music

When choosing what Fonts to use for my products I chose to use DaFont.com, an online website that allows creators to upload their own fonts for others to download and use for commercial use mainly. These fonts allow more creativity and the website offers more advanced fonts than the in built fonts in the adobe software. I chose to use the 'Tomb Raider' Font, originally used for the video game series Tomb Raider, and the Trench font. I felt that both of these fonts reflect the tone and feel of my products and will allow them to look more unique and professional, yet also supporting the overall theme of all products. 

Similarly, when finding a sound track for my film I chose to use a Royalty free soundtrack found on PurplePlanet Royalty free Music. Royalty free music refers to 'a type of music licensing that allows the purchaser to pay for the music license only once and to use the music for as long as desired', however by using free royalty free music there was no fee. This allowed me to choose between various music genres and find a soundtrack that supported the themes and content of my film and genre overall.