4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Throughout my whole production I have adapted different technologies throughout to benefit and suit the needs of either the construction, research, planning and the overall evaluation stage.

The first main technology that I used was Blogger.

Blogger is a technology which is developed through Google, it allows people to create their own blog and add specific posts relevant to their blog. I have used blogger massively throughout my coursework as it has allowed me to document my work in this way, not only can I document my work through blogger on here but it also allows me to import other technologies on to it. This technology was used throughout the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages as it has allowed me to display all of this through this specific technology. As I used this particular technology in AS media I have excellent knowledge in using the technology and trust it. Due to already having an account from AS media it was quick and simple to create a new blog on there and begin posting my relevant posts to display my work on in relation to my whole research and production of my documentary. Blogger is quick, simple and easy to use and an effective use of technology.

“New Post” button allows to easily create a new post within the selected blog and then goes on to give you more options to make the post more personal, specific and give it a name. I used this button a lot to create the many specific posts on my blog.

When creating a new post blogger gives you the option to name the post title allowing you to keep in order your specific posts and what's in each post. So in my case it was writing the specific post type relevant to my work. On top of this it allows you to edit the text size, font, effects and colour using the text bar at the top – I used this when typing straight onto my blog.

Blogger also gives you the option to post images, video clips and links straight onto the blog. I posted a lot of archive images in here and my feedback in a lot of cases was through video clips and edited the sizing.

Blogger allows you to upload files such as photos from your own documents or even the website address of an image. It also allows you to upload as many files as you want and import them onto the blog all together. I used the from your phone option to speed up getting the image on there.

By clicking on your imported image blogger let me edit the size, positioning of the image or add any captions which you may want to import. I made all of my images large/x-large to ensure that they could be seen clearly.

Not only does blogger let you do simple things such as change text, insert images and clips but it also has an option to allow you to use other technologies in there through the HTML option which allows you to embed codes and links to insert things such as a slide share or a prezzie document. In most cases I used slide share through blogger.

HTML option here allows you to import clips from you tube through finding their embed code and also through other technologies which allow you to export it through an embed code. Once pasted into here and shared it will show up as it normally would as a clip once you press compose or view blog. This was important for me when inserting my work through slide share, prezzie and many other technologies I used.

Overall blogger is an easy and useful piece of technology which was a key aspect in my coursework as without this I wouldn’t be able to record and write down different aspects of the production and research of creating the overall documentary. It allowed me to present my work in which ever way I wanted through other technologies and it also allowed me to be creative with the text I used and how I set out the posts – it is easy for people to view and look at my work through blogger.

Another technology which I used a lot throughout

the overall coursework was You Tube this has played a big role in the production of the documentary. I used you tube to import my files that I have recorded myself such as audience research in order to import it back into blogger. On top of this, this is where I uploaded the documentary to so I could access it easily to show people for their feedback. You tube was used a lot in the research too as this is where I searched for a lot of archive footage and also where I searched for specific songs that I wanted to use and embed onto the documentary. You tube is a quick and easy technology to use and in most cases you can find what your looking for.

You tube has a quick and simple search bar where you can search what you want to watch or a key word such as songs, documentaries or silly funny videos. I used this search bar mainly to find songs which I could use as a part of my documentary.

You tube has a button called upload which allows you to import and upload your own videos on to there for free. I only used this once to upload my documentary so I could share it with others.

You tube also lets you decide the format and how your specific video will be shown whether you want it to be public or private depending on what you want and your video. I made mine public so that more people could view my documentary & it made doing the audience feedback easier.

You tube also gives you the option to download the specific video that you want and gives you specific options of what file you want to download it in whereby you can then save it into your own user area to use. I used this mainly to download archive footage that I used within my documentary and also I got my sound for my documentary through this and just unlinked the video & the sound through premiere.

Overall you tube was a key factor to the overall coursework as it allowed me to broaden my research into other documentaries and also search for good quality archive footage to use within my documentary. I researched into other types of documentaries to get a visual idea of the codes and conventions used, I also researched into artists which appeared on my documentary such as finding their archive footage and also their music they have made.

Another technology which I used was a technology I hadn't used before but it was key to putting the documentary together as a whole.

Premiere allowed all footage which had been recorded to be uploaded onto this software and then positioned on a timeline to start actually putting the footage together.

Premiere is simple and easy to use – to import files you just simply go to file & import where it then gives you an option to find the specific files you need and want to import. Here I imported every single file that had been recorded.

When you have put all the files in that you want to use they automatically are displayed on the left of the page where you can then drag it onto the time line. I dragged all the different files onto the timeline and cut and deleted them accordingly.

Premiere lets you create different timelines – this is good for when your cutting long footage as you can move it onto a different timeline such as “keep timeline”. It also puts the audio onto a different timeline automatically so you can edit that separately. In my case I made separate tracks for each interview and camera position (roamer, interviews and long shot) this made it easier to keep them all organised and edit them separately.

This is the video tracks in which the video clips sit on – this is where you can cut clips and delete what you don’t want – this is where the overall sequence sits. This is where my overall documentary is where I have cut sections out.

The tool bar lets you do many different things, the main tool which I used throughout my production was the cut tool which allowed me to crop and cut out different parts of the recordings that I had recorded to get the good bits out of it to use within my documentary.

I added effects onto my sequence through the effect tools which lets you search through different types in audio and video effects and drag them onto the sequence. I mainly used cross dissolve between my clips to make the documentary flow.

This allows me to watch the development of my sequence.

This is where I can edit the audio levels of clips in the documentary and the overall sound quality to make it even and professional. I used this so that the levels of audio was even and was all at the same sound balance to ensure that the sound throughout the documentary all sounded the same.

Throughout my coursework process it was important that I used different methods to display my work to show understanding. One of the main technologies I used to

display my work was Slide Share – this allowed me to do my work on a PowerPoint or word then display it in a better way in a form of a presentation where you could use the buttons to flick from slide to slide. Slide share was quick and simple to use all I had to do was create an account and it was self explanatory from there.

To start off making my slide share piece id just simply press upload at the top of the page.

Once clicking on the upload button it gives me an option to go through my documents and pick which one I want to use.

It then gives me an option to name the document, give a description about it and also the category it falls into.

It then allows me to share it how I want to such as face book or twitter. In my case I would just use the embed code it provides me with and put it straight onto my blogger.

Another technology which I briefly used for the

production work was Audacity. This technology allowed me to record and put together my radio advert for my documentary. At first this technology wasn’t easy to use however after practice I found it was simple to use and effective.

I simply started by pressing the record button which will bring up an audio timeline and sound waves will form as I speak, I can pause at any time and continue again by pressing record without there being some form of cut.

The play button lets me listen to what has been recorded.

I can also import things back into audacity if I wanted to add more or even just change the balance of sound.

You can also generate sounds through audacity and change the tone of stuff you have recorded yourself.

Audacity was key and the most important factor when it came to the production of the radio ad as it was fun and easy to record my own voice and easy to export it back into premiere.

The main piece of technology that I used which I wouldn’t have been able to make my documentary

without was the SONY HXR/MC200E high definition 1080p solid state camcorder. This particular camera is a camera which can be used on a tripod or handheld – it is a high definition professional camera which I captured all of my own footage on. It has an input to insert a sound recorder on such as a boom mic or a clip mic for interviews. It has a preview screen on where I can see exactly what I am recording and how it will look when it has been uploaded.

This is what picks up and records sounds – it can be changed to suit the needs of what your recording. When I was recording the basement jaxx interview I used the boom mike as in the image and when I did the interview with them I took this out and used a clip mic to make the sound clearer.

This allows me to see what I’m actually recording and what it will look like. It also allows me to add effects onto there such as a grid so my interviews shot in a rule of thirds will be perfect.

This is where it picks up what I am recording I must always insure that when I am recording the lens cap isn't on and when I am not recording it is put back on to ensure that it is protected.

On the top of the camera there is a record and pause button so it is easy for me to allocate these buttons if I am holding the camera as the other record button is at the bottom of the camera. Also there is a zoom in and out button on the top of here which came in handy when recording basement jaxx as it allowed me to zoom in on shots when they were moving away from the camera or to capture facial expressions.

Underneath the camera there is an option to slide a base plate onto it which means that I can mount it onto a tripod and it will sit steady or I can remove this if I want to mount the camera on my shoulder for quicker movement known as a shoulder shot which isn't as effective as using a tripod.

At the back of the camera there is an input where you can plug headphones in which was important for me to see if the sound was working and whether it was clear.

There is also a section at the back to plug it into the computer to transfer clips using a cable.

Another piece of technology I used was Prezi – this technology is good for displaying work in a more fun way & was quick and easy to use.

Prezi gives you an option to chose a relevant template for the work. In my case I picked a simple one as I just wanted to use this as a form of research – which was a brainstorm.

Once I had chosen which template I wanted to use it let me decide the titles I wanted to use as a part of the document. It also lets you move around the template if you want to make it more specific or different such as text size, where the text is, colour of text and fonts.

All the different slides are displayed at the side of the screen where you can edit what you have already done and zooms in on the different sections. So I can see what I have wrote without having to zoom on the initial slide.

By pressing present it allowed me to see my whole document as its final piece and what it will look like when I save it and lets me flick through the different slides to get a clear idea and to see whether I need to make any changes before I save it.

After completing the Prezi document I was given the option to share it to my peers, share it through Facebook or just save it as a pdf.