Evaluation Question 4

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

planning and evaluation stages?

By Elliot Wheeler

Analogue Vs DigitalAnalogue

Analogue technology was common and successful in the late 60's until the 2000's. Analogue technology laed to the development of cassette tapes for music and streamed films onto video tapes. Films would be recorded onto bulky reels, sizes normally ranging from 8mm to 35mm followed by the footage being edited by hand on a 'Moviola'. However analogue technology was exceedingly expensive and time consuming,

unlike the modern technology we possess currently.

Digital

Digital technology is often referred to as the 'new technology', being introduced in the early years of the 2000's. Digital technology can translate codes and numbers into smaller products i.e. DVDs, CDs and digital files for example iTunes. Unlike Analogue technology,

Digital allows you to film onto hard drives directly making the process faster and more accessible.

Advantages and disadvantagesAdvantages:

Easy portability / Large storage capacity (iPod, Smart Phones)/ Sound quality higher and consistent

/Accessibility to Internet i.e. quicker research /wider audience (marketing), free, online streaming/Downloading and uploading files (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter)

/ Increased verisimilitude

Disadvantages:

Relatively expensive / Piracy issues (streaming online, illegal downloads)/ Negative attitude towards new 3D technology/films / Research/Pre-Production

The research and pre-production stages of my project were made a lot quicker and easier thanks to digital technology.

It provided me with different websites to use, giving me intricate knowledge about trailers and their ancillary products (posters and magazines) and provided me with different ways to present

the information obtained.

YouTube

YouTube is an incredibly popular video sharing website which I used to research various trailers to inspire myself and create effective film ideas. YouTube helped me figure

out what genre and style I wanted the trailer to adopt, understanding the conventions of a trailer and identifying the narrative structures, depending on the genre. YouTube

was also used in the production stage of my project I watched numerous tutorials to increase my ICT skills in

various software's. Furthermore I used YouTube to upload my own videos as well as annotate and analyse my own

work to improve the final product.

Google

I used this search engine consistently throughout the process of the making of my trailer. I used it to help me find various information about trailers, posters and magazines and the many conventions used to create a trailer, poster

and magazine. I used images on google to display my research or compare my work with previous versions in order to improve. Google helped me complete various

tasks i.e magazine conventions, genre research, costume ideas and poster design conventions, etc.

BloggerBlogger is an online network where you can display, store and share

images, videos, music and research to people via timeline. I have used Blogger throughout my project, it reveals the journey through my

project, from starting research to the shiny final products. Additionally Blogger also allows people from around the world to view my work and

learn things from what I’ve experienced i.e. ICT skills. Moreover, I can receive comments about my blog, so I’m always gaining audience

feedback from people around the globe.

SlideShareSlide share is a user friendly website which allows me to import

PowerPoint's onto the internet and share them with different websites. I have used SlideShare numerous times to embed PowerPoint's into my

blog i.e. Age certificate info, this evaluation Question, etc.

PreziPrezi is a website that allows for the creating and sharing of creative

presentations, which I used to show another alternative of displaying research I found. Prezi is an interesting, unique and simple way to create slide shows and mind maps. Prezi helped me display the research I did on trailers genre/themes

etc.Word

A word processor, developed by Microsoft. Which I used to display the research I found when getting to grips with the different narrative structure's of a trailer

and doing a timeline analysis. Word allows you to produce very detailed pieces of research, along with the ability to upload the document into 'Scribd' so I can

easily embed the documents onto my blog.PowerPoint

PowerPoint was a convenient software which I chose to display some of my research onto. Because conveniently my PC at home had the software, I could

produce blog posts in this fashion whenever needed. It's a fast and easy way to display your work in an interactive way. It also allows you to insert images and

music for example I’ve made use of it in this presentation.

iMac/ Toshiba Satellite ProThe iMac was the most important piece of hardware I used throughout the project. It enabled me to access the adobe suite of operations that allowed

me to create my film trailer, magazine and poster. The base of operations for all my media work in short. My secondary alternative was of course my

personal laptop at home which though still well equipped doesn’t possess all the high end software I.e. movie editing software like Imovie and FinalCutPro

Memory StickThroughout my project I alternated between two different computers and used a memory stick to transfer and save documents and images between

them, hence speeding up the time it takes for me to finish my tasks.Canon IXUS

A high resolution camera, which I used to take location shots, costume shots, back stage footage and the magazine shoot. The camera has over 12 MP, it

produced very good quality images for my project.

Hardware

Kodak Hero 5.1 PrinterThe printer I use at home was useful for scanning in images, printing out pictures and research that I needed in order to

produce my ancillary products (poster and magazine cover) .Panasonic HDC LEICA HD camcorder

My HD camcorder for personal use at home was used to film the footage for my project. Its HD resolution was invaluable for getting good quality footage. I used this camcorder for the

convenience, because I could use and access it at any time.

SoftwareFinalCutPro

This was the first editing software I attempted to use to edit and finalize my film trailer. As I had no prior experience with the program, I struggled with the tricky new interface for quite a while. Last year I attempted to learn how to use

FinalCutPro and resolved to use Imovie instead and the same is true for this project. I also stopped using the software because FinalCutPro’s rendering

causes a lot of time loss.

ImovieSince last year my knowledge and understanding of the Imovie software has

grown by leaps and bounds. The interface is friendly and easy to use especially when compared to FinalCutPro. With a simple click and drag action I could

select and arrange my clips whichever way I wanted. Rendering was over in a matter of minutes, importing files was a simple and quick task and Imovie also

provides a huge easy to find host of filters, transitions and effects.

Adobe PhotoshopI used this software when producing my ancillary products (poster and magazine). To fit

my design ideas a lot of designing work on Photoshop was required i.e. manipulating and changing pictures‘; I was completely new to the software, therefore when doing all the

editing, I watched YouTube tutorial videos on how to get the basics of the program, which improved my skills greatly. Below are links to the tutorial videos used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJFFmqaPdMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EBwwXTURxc

SoundTrack ProSoundTrack Pro is the software I used when producing my trailers first score. The result

was not up to my ordinary standards because I was inexperienced with the software. Last year I attempted to use soundtrack Pro and had the same problem so I resolved to use

Audiotool in its place.

AudiotoolAudiotool is a free google app that provides the user with a unique music studio with

thousands of varying sound samples and tools to warp, stretch and cut them into whatever you choose. I chose to use this software because I am already a member and an

experienced track maker on the site (Username: Red Gate). Also because its easily accessible from home, allowing me to complete tracks as soon as possible.

http://www.audiotool.com/user/elliot_wheeler

Distribution

If I were to distribute my trailer, I would display it through the internet/social media sites. Because currently the huge 'craze' the internet has developed has made it the hub of global activity. My target audience are teenagers between the ages of 15-18 therefore distributing

on the Internet would directly address my target audience, as teenagers are the most common age group on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Technically, I've already done so by uploading draft edits of the trailer onto YouTube and Blogger, letting people view it globally.

Additionally, this way of distributing is extremely cost efficient when compared to distributing using heritage marketing (poster, magazine, billboard, premieres) highly expensive.

Social networking sites are useful as it allows people from all over the world to comment, share and view the same things – useful feedback for the creator. If I distributed my film on

the Internet, this could potentially allow me to create my own website, Twitter and Facebook page creating a 'buzz' and therefore a wider target audience/fan base.

Having a website for the film would give the audience multiple opportunities to take part in interactive games, quizzes , find out additional information about the film i.e. the actors, set locations, story lore, etc. It would create a form of long tail marketing. Additionally using the

Internet would create 'pull media‘ - the audience could take part in the marketing and distribution through by contributing themselves i.e. interactive sites.

I’d also involve the UK Film Council with distributing my films because they work on making non-mainstream films widely available they’d be willing to help.

ExhibitionIn short time, the development of the Internet, along with 'Web 2.0' has allowed the easy, cheap uploading of videos, images and music

for a tent pole audience to view at leisure. This has helped the exhibition of my trailer and my ancillary products greatly. It means I can receive feedback and other comments about my work in a very

short period of time, allowing me to make any necessary improvements I can make.

I have used my own YouTube channel, and posted my rough-cut and feedback video along with an annotated behind the scenes video looking at the making of my final film trailer and the development

process behind it. This also allowed me to embed the clips onto my blog in Blogger for yet another audience to view my work.