Evaluation Question 4 By Tasnim Choudhury
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Transcript of Evaluation Question 4 By Tasnim Choudhury
4. How Did You Use Media Technologies In The
Construction And Research, Planning And Evaluation Stages?
By Tasnim Choudhury.
Docu
menta
ry
Research
And Planning
Research
Internet
The internet was one of the most
important technologies we used, It
helped us to access a range of different
information in regarding our
documentary topic and background
information
Without the internet a lot of the
research tasks could not have been
possible, having said that, the computer
itself was a very important technological
item, 95% of the coursework relies on
using the computer
Google is a search engine which directed us to a range of specific areas and information that were to do with our research topic.
Although Wikipedia is helpful, it is not as
reliable compared to other websites, as it is
produced by the public. It is however a free
internet encyclopaedia and contains
millions of information.
We used Wikipedia to research about
different documentaries, we used it to find
out the history of social networking and had
also used it to find out if it held any reliable
facts and statistics about social networking.
The B
rief
His
tory
of
Soci
al M
edia
I wanted to research some of the history behind social networks and social media and I finally came across this website that had a brief yet useful information all about the history of social media which allowed me to use and learn quite a lot about the topic.
Social Media Today
This was another website which I used to find out some of the good and bad effects of social media, I thought this could be quite essential towards our documentary to intrigue in our audience.
StatisticBrain.com
We used Statistic Brain as it is a very reliable website used by businesses, and the general public to get all the latest updates and can even hold old information if searched.
We used this because we wanted to find out the latest statistics gathered on social networking.
eMarketer
Then I came across another trustworthy
sight used by many people such as
businesses because it has many bar
charts, graphs and visuals about the
latest facts and statistics about the
number of people using social networks,
it’s quite detailed and broken into
sections to make it easier to read and
understand the information.
I thought that some of these information
were very useful and could be applied
into our documentary.
Researching about Documentaries
Before we decided what our
documentary topic will be about, we
researched into the type of
documentary modes they were. We
found this PDF on Google about Bill
Nichols documentary modes and
found it very helpful towards our
choice of mode, we had then
brainstormed some ideas on some
documentary topics we could do, to
do this we analysed many existing
documentaries and finally chose
social networking.
DVDs
To get access to existing
documentaries, we first
looked at some documentaries as a class
in our media lesson, these
were provided in DVDs
and played to the class for
inspiration, one of which
inspired us was Super Size
Me and we followed some
of their codes and conventions.
We had to analyse many more existing documentaries to ensure our
product can be proficient. To do this we initially used YouTube, which is
another search engine which navigates you to specific videos.
This allowed me to watch and analyse some documentaries that
were available on YouTube. However it wasn't always reliable as parts of
the documentaries were divided into sections and were not always easily
accessible.
For a further reliable source, I
used Netflix. It has a range of
different Films, Dramas,
Series and even Documentaries.
I used Netflix to look at a
number of relatable
documentaries that linked to
our topic such as documentaries about social
networking like Catfish, to
documentaries about
students as our documentary
was also focused on students.
Blogger was also very useful in terms of finding
previous A2 students who had created their own
documentaries. We also used blogger to upload all our
research and planning towards the production.
I had looked at some of the top documentaries created
by students and took some of their techniques and
skills into consideration for our documentary.
PR
ESEN
TATIO
N To make our blogs
look interesting, we presented our research and planning
using: Prezi Scribd Slideshare And even YouTube
Channels
Before we started the practical work to our production we had to decide on a channel that would best suit our documentary
The reason we chose to research on just three channels which were BBC One, ITV1 and Channel Four, was because we thought they would be the most effective in reaching our target audience. We had also done a focus group in which they also said that they mostly watch documentaries on these channels.
Finally from all the research and findings, the channel we thought best suited displaying our documentary style was channel Four, because of the fact that it shows similar documentaries to ours.
Another technology that was used while analysing existing documentaries was TV
and the Sky Box. Without these we
could not analyse many documentaries
that came on the channels we were gathering information
on.
TV
a
nd
sk
y B
ox
MOODLE AND THE MEDIA CENTRE
Moodle and the Media Centre were
also used, these are a college
facility intended to help us to
access things that are difficult to
find on the internet, these helped
us to get access to even more
examples of documentaries made
by students and helpful links to
other existing documentaries.
Planning
Microsoft
word
For our planning we used
Microsoft word to create our:
Article- we used Word to create
our written article so that all the
grammar and spelling and
punctuation was correct .
Voice over script for the
Documentary - so that the
speaker can be prepared for the
recording
Voice over script for the Radio Trail
– we had also used the same
technique for the Radio Trail
Preparing the written work and
voiceovers on Microsoft Word
helped to run the production
easily and smoothly.
Storyboard
Initially we took a few pictures of
items that applied well to the
documentary topic and added
them on a storyboard layout on
the computer. Although this gave us some ideas,
it wasn't’t enough for an over all
outlook of a five minute
documentary, I then created a more detailed
storyboard on the Ipad using Pro
Create and Strip Design .The
detailed storyboard helped us to
follow some of these scenes in a
specific way and made the filming
process a lot quicker to do.
Filming And The Construction
Canon
Camera
When Filming; The canon allowed us to
use the Manual and auto focus which was
very effective as we used these in some of
our close-ups and over the shoulder shots.
We had also used White balance on some
of our shots to balance out some of the
colours that we were getting in our
footage for example, blues and yellows.
TRIPOD The Tripod was also used with the canon camera From looking at a few documentaries, we knew that a tripod was essential for interviews and vox pops, we made sure we used the tripod for almost every occasion so that all our videos could be
level and still It allowed us to do a variety of shots such as; panning, tracking, tilts, low angles, and high angles all in a steady motion.
Sound Sound is very important in documentaries, we made sure we used a Shotgun microphone , with a directional cardioid polarity pattern which is inserted into the canon. This Can directly point at the speaker with good clear sound without much background noise. With the microphone we had also used Sennheiser headphones which you attach to the camera, allowing you to hear if it is working, as well as if the sound is clearly being received well into the microphone.
Digital Recording Device
we used this for our
voiceover. This enabled us
to have a very clearly
expressed voiceover to help
the audience understand
our documentary in further
detail.
We had the voiceover in
one continuous recording
and had also had some in
different parts so that the
editing process could be
easier in terms of cut and
editing the sound.
Edit
ing
Before the editing started we
uploaded all our footage, audio
and sound onto the Apple Mac
where we had our own files we
could access, this made it easier
for us to find all our documents
for the production in an
organised system. We had also used a sight in
which helped us customise and
make our own animation which
was called Wideo, we made
drafts on the website and then
the final version was then
downloaded and transferred into
final cut which we used as our
title sequence.
Final cut express
We opened final cut express and log and transferred all our footages and only kept the ones we wanted and labelled them all individually, we did this so when editing we could easily find a particular footage and use it for our documentary. After that we then added the clips in the log and transfer queue making it easier to quickly access and define our clips.
Editing pro
cess
After we had planned out our
editing process, we just
dragged and dropped all of
our footage and cut and
edited them by using the
razor tool We had also used cross
dissolves on the visuals and
cross fades to the audio so it
applies a softer flow to the
documentary. I had also used
the pointer tool to lower
certain parts of the volume
in the audio .
Blur and Speed Effects
We used some effects on our documentary for example we used speed, to speed up the first opening scene. We also added a blur effect to which was an establishing shot of Solihull Town Centre, we did this to make our audience know where it is set and get them curious and intrigued to watch our documentary.
We had also used speed in the last scene, where we slowed down the speed of the shot to tell the audience that the first five minutes is coming to an end.
Text
In final cut express we had
inserted a text overlay with a drop
shadow and applied white formal
texts over it, we used this to
introduce our professional
interviews, the overlay, helped the
text to stand out and get the
viewers attention. We had also used simple, white
plain texts in some of our stock
footage and cut away shots to
display some of our facts and
statistics which we had gathered
from our research.
• To make sure th
at all our fo
otage
were level and perfectly fra
med
in the corre
ct proportio
ns, we
had used the Wire Fra
me to do
this, it h
elped us to portra
y some
of the im
portant im
ages
displayed within th
e frame.
• It had also
helped us to make
sure nothing would be cut out
when exporting th
e video.
Wire Frame
Voiceover
After all our audio and visuals
were in place, we added our
voiceover using the razor tool
to cut out long pauses and to
also cut the voiceover into
sections so we could apply
parts of them to where they
were necessary We did this to create a better
flow and consistency.
BACKGROUND MUSIC
We got our non- copy right background music from a website called Vimeo And Applied it into sections using the razor cut into final cut express Before we used Vimeo, we were using Garage Band, however the music we had in mind weren't fitting our needs on Garage Band. We wanted a music style that conveyed a happy atmosphere, so we went on Vimeo and searched for the perfect instrumental music that gave a calm yet content atmosphere to our documentary.
Sound levels
After we had added all our
voiceovers and background
music we had to make sure all
the sound levels were in a
consistent flow, to do so we
used the pink velocity line to
increase or decrease the level
of the sound, as we did this, the
decimals would be displayed,
so you can get it as accurate as
possible every time. We had also used cross fade
effects to add a smooth
transition of sound as well as
the pointer tool which we
applied to get specific parts
lowered or raised.
Double
page
spre
ad
Research and Planning
Research
Before we constructed and
created our double page
page spread, we analysed
some existing Articles.
I gathered some reliable
double page spreads from
Google images to which I
analysed and presented
on PowerPoint. I had also
uploaded my findings on
blogger to show all my
research and planning
skills.
Raw
Mate
rials
of
Art
icle
s fr
om
Radio
Ti
mes
Although this isn't a
technological item, I had
also used some raw
materials such as double
page spreads that were
tangible products such as
tangible newspapers and
magazines.
We had particularly
analysed the Radio Times
article and from this we
followed a lot of the codes
and conventions from
Radio Times.
Guard
ian O
nlin
e I had also read articles
online such as the guardian. This was very helpful because I
wanted to get into the
style of a journalist, in
order to create our written article for our
double page spread.
Planning
Draft Layout
After the research we did a draft layout of our double page spread.
We included where everything will be in terms of where the images will be, how big each image would be and where the written article and heading would go.
Once we did this, we scanned it in and added it to our blogs to show the idea and plan of the double page spread before it was constructed, the draft helped us to remember and follow the layout of the page which made it a lot quicker in creating the product.
Mic
roso
ft W
ord
I had also used Microsoft Word to
create the article for the double
page spread. I used Word so that all the grammar, spelling and punctuality was correct before it
was inserted into InDesign. Writing the draft before hand
made the process of creating the
double page spread a lot faster.
Construction
After we had thoroughly researched double page
spreads and analysed them and drafted a plan of our
article we started the double page spread
To make the double page spread, we made some of
the footage in the documentary, into stills, which
were then used for our double page spread
Photoshop
We uploaded the still images into
Photoshop and edited them.
We used the crop tool to crop
some of the image to a preferred
size and because some of the
images were quite dark, we
increased the exposure and
saturation so the picture could be
more visible and clear.
InDesign –
Images We then exported and uploaded our edited stills, into InDesign, but before we could apply it into InDesign we had already crafted the layout for our double page spread, which was easy and quick to do as we had planned and done a draft.
In Creating the layout on InDesign we used the rectangle frame tool on specific areas of the page, which we then just uploaded our images in.
Article Then we used the column layout in InDesign and
uploaded our written text in there.
We had also used the technique of using a drop
cap to copy the codes and conventions of a
double page spread.
Our heading was also created and
customised from the text box to
our desire, we wanted white formal
text. We had also used a blue
boarder around the double page
spread, however we had removed
this in our final version as it does
not really follow the conventions of
a Radio Times Article
We had also used other text boxes
and added black fonts for the stand
first and page numbering and even
for the publication details of the
article. We used black font as it
stands out from the white
background
RA
DIO
TR
AIL
Research And Planning
Research
Before we constructed our Radio Trail, I didn't’t really know how to create one, I
didn't’t even know what some of the main codes and conventions were.
YouTube was quite useful in helping me to understand
the codes and conventions. I had analysed a few
existing Radio Trails that were found on YouTube and
started getting a rough idea on how to create one.
Radio channels
However just in
case some
of the Radio Tra
ils on
YouTube weren’t reliable I
did further research by
listening and analysing
Radio Trails that I h
eard on
the Radio and on Radio
channels on TV.
This enabled me to really
analyse all the codes and
conventions of a Radio Trail
and take note of all the
similarities as well as
contrasts they shared.
Media
Centr
e
- C
olle
ge F
aci
lity
On top of all the research I had found
myself, the college was
also very helpful in enabling us to access
things that were hard to
reach over the internet,
the Media centre, which
was a college site had a
few existing Radio Trails
which we could use to
analyse towards our
research.
Existing Blogs
Although we use blogger to update and upload all our
research, plans and creations, students from previous
years that did A2 media and created similar tasks were
also on the internet
This was quite useful as I analysed some students work
who had achieved high grades, enabling me to also get
a good grade by taking into consideration some of their
skills and techniques they used.
Planning
When I researched examples of
Radio Trails I picked a few to
analyse and did this on a table
using Microsoft Word which I got
from Moodle which is another
college website, this helped me to
learn the codes and conventions of
a Radio Trail and what I had to do
in order to make the Radio Trail
sound professional. I had also created the voice over
script for the Radio Trail on
Microsoft Word, and because of the
research I knew to include all the
music, extracts and speakers into
the script.
Construction
Final Cut Express
I used Final Cut Express to
create my Radio Trail, I
thought it would be easier
and quicker to make it on
final cut express as I had all
the extracts and
background music already
up on the software I then
just copied and pasted all
the main audio recordings I
wanted and applied it into
my Radio Trail.
This structure helped to
finish and finalise our
product a lot sooner.
I had also included another voice in the Radio Trail who was the Radio presenter.
This was recorded on a recording device which I then transferred with an USB port and finally dragged onto Final Cut Express where I cut and edited some of the parts into sections to apply in different parts of the Radio Trail.
DIGITAL
RECORDER
Once the Radio Trail was
complete, We then
uploaded our Radio Trail
into Soundcloud which
was then embedded into
our blogs.
Evalu
ati
ons
I used Premiere Pro for evaluation 1 to edit my video’s together and used a recording device to record my voiceover.I uploaded evaluation 1 on to Vimeo in order for my video to be available on Blogger, I had also used my IPhone and recorded a Focus Group Feedback for Evaluation 3 and used YouTube to upload this.To present what I had learned from evaluation 3 I used Prezi to do this where I also inserted my focus group video into Prezi.
For Evaluation 2 and 4 I had used PowerPoint to present my work, which was then uploaded onto Slideshare .
I felt like the presentations I used were different and
used appropriately in presenting my answers in the
best way.
Overa
ll
In order to make our production
proficient and interesting, we
had to use a range of Media
Technologies to gather
information before the
production started and then use
the right technologies to present
our ideas and products. The
production allowed me to use a
variety of Media Technologies I
had not used before. Some of
the Technologies were not easy
to use at first but after some
practice, the overall outcome
was successful and enjoyable .