Evaluation Question 4

H O W D I D Y O U U S E M E D I A T E C H N O L O G I E S I N T H E C O N S T R U C T I O N , R E S E A R C H , P L A N N I N G A N D E V A L U AT I O N

S TA G E S ? B y M a r g a r e t A n s u

Construction

As I was the camera person I worked with a video camera in order to capture the footage for our film. The video camera I used was a: Sony HVR-A1E Digital HD Video Camera RecorderThe camera was easy and simple to use. As the camera was small in size transporting it was simple. When trying to execute tight shots I also found the small size very convenient. The quality of the camera was to a high standard and our film was recorded in HD so the small size did not mean that it wasn’t as good as the other larger models which and our film’s quality was not compromised.

New Media Technologies

New media technologies are mediums that enable the transfer of information in a digital format. An example of new media technology is the internet 2.0 it allows interaction and file transfer so that people are more connected and information is more accessible than it’s ever been in history. This new media has given rise to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook which are their own new media technologies. Other examples are CDs, USBs and Smart Phones as they all enable the transfer of information in digital form.

Blogger

Our group blog was created on blogger a blogging site. Therefore blogger has been used through all phases of unit G324. Blogger was mainly used to embed our work and present it all in one place but I did use the actual site to write up our weekly updates as it was quick and added to our technologies used. I also created my personal blog on blogger as I found it easy to organise my work on the site even though I could’ve used other blogging sites as tumblr and wordpress for my personal blog.

You-Tube

You-tube was one of the most important interfaces that I and the team used throughout the whole process. Within construction we used You-Tube to present our film and make it available to other to view. Within planning, You-Tube was mainly used to look at other relatable media products, creative camera shots and filming techniques. It was a great source when looking into ways that we could incorporate in out filming process enhance the all around creativity we put into our film. Then within evaluation the annotation features came in handy as I was able to annotate the film to answer questions .

Final Cut ProFinal Cut Pro was used by me as the camera

person to log and capture footage during the production phase, for it was my responsibility as would have had the best idea of how much was captured was actually needed. I found using the software easy as I had already gained experience from the previous year, however I did have to refresh how to use certain features as logging and capturing and how to save it so that I would be able to find the films clips in quicktime format after as the editor needed the clips and he was using a different programme that he was more familiar with.

Digital SLR CameraI used a DSLR as I needed to take

pictures for my ancillary task which was to create a film review and a poster for our film. I also used the DSLR to take some pictures for location notes. Using the DSLR was not difficult as the technology was rather simple if you just wanted to achieve a simple picture however as I have had previous experience using DSLR and how to use it to manipulate imagery I did play around with it a bit more. My camera person skills also came in handy.

Photoshop CS5 & CS6Photoshop was a new software to me as I hadn't used it prior to

unit G324. The programme was an image editing software and even though I had no knowledge how to use it I eventually learnt how to use it by watching tutorials on You-Tube and asking those within my media class who'd been using the software for a long time and were known novices of the software.

Learning how to use the programme was challenging and it took me about 3 months to master it at a basic level to create both of my ancillary tasks; poster and film review. However once my confidence in the programme was attained I started to appreciate the true value of the software as it enabled me as a student to produce a pieces of work that had a sense of professionalism to them which wouldn't of been achieved if I used such a programme as publisher. I was able to enhance photos and manipulate the presentation of texts and other aspects that were featured within my works to the finest detail.

Photoshop Products

Photobucket & Flickr

We needed a way to present recee pictures on the blog and we decided to use photobucket as it allowed us to present the pictures we'd taken in the form of a slide show. It was only used in the planning phase by the group and I personally used it to present proof of signed location release and actor release forms. Flickr was a site used at first to upload the original filming location. However I found flickr to fiddly and decided to just use photobucket.

Survey MonkeySurvey Monkey is an online software that allows you to

create a survey that could be shared digitally so I was able to put it on our blog and it was easier to publicise the questionnaires that I had made. The programme was great as I was able to make my surveys quite quickly as there were template options available to use. Using survey monkey saved me a lot of time as it was a straight forward method in creating questionnaires for audience feedback and pre-production. The only thing I would say about Survey Monkey is the restriction of service unless you had a premium account was annoying at times that I would've like to use certain services, however reasons as to why they were not available is understandable

Scribd & DocstocUnlike last year in Unit G321 Scribd was not

used a lot. The online interface allowed us to upload word documents and embed them onto our blog. However it wasn't very interactive so as a group we agreed to keep it's use to a minimum. I personally did not use Scribd once as I opted for other similar programmes however it was used within pre and post productions at a total of 5 times.

I used Docstoc within the planning stage as it contained a lot of written work and Docstoc like Scribd allowed me to embed word documents onto the blog. It was a simple and quick option but it wasn't really interactive so again I tried keeping it's use a minimum.

ISSUU

“Issuu is a free digital publishing site that attempts to simulate the experience of reading a print publication online.” - Wikipedia

I used this site within my planning phase again to upload documents. I came across the site after looking for alternatives to Scribd. I decided to use the site as it was well presented and I liked the way it presented my work. I also found it more interactive than the other publishing sites.

Prezi

Prezi is the most interactive site I have used throughout the whole of Unit G324. I came across it in Unit G321 and thought it was a great way to present my work so I continued to use it. The online presentation site was used in planning to present some pieces of work as I liked a variety of how my work was presented. The site offers templates to individuals for them to use when creating a Prezi presentation. The large selection of templates that were created for many purposes meant that I was able to use the site very often. The site also allows you to include musical feautures into your Prezi as well as videos and images from the internet.

Slideshare

I used slideshare to embed my PowerPoints onto my blogs. It was straight forward and all I really had to do was upload my presentation onto their site then copy the embed code. However it was really simple in terms of interactivity and I would've preferred to use Sliderocket a more interactive site. Unfortunately I was unable to use the Sliderocket site as it was closing down.

Bubbl.usThis site allowed me to create a digital version of our

groups brainstorm for our film. The brainstorm consisted of discussed proposals as to how much we are to spend on the film, who is to carry out what role, what each role entails, relatable products, locations needed, characters and who are target audience was to be. After completing the group brainstorm this website was of no use to me as it’s only feature was to create brainstorms.

MacBook Pro

When in class we used MacBook Pros to complete our work written work. The features of the MacBook made it easy for me to take screen shots for such task as film analysis and questionnaire analysis'. The MacBook wasn’t easy to use for all things as I found it difficult to use Microsoft word as it was different from the usual programme found on windows computers. Therefore when it came to typing up work on word for coursework I usually didn’t use the MacBook . On the other hand, using the MacBook was better for programmes like Photoshop at school. Reason being is that they were the only computers at school that I was given permission by the server to download and save fonts on for my ancillary task.

USB

Without the use of a USB things would've been more complicated. The USB allowed us as a group to transfer files between each other quickly as we all had our own personal USB. All of my work is saved on my USB as it is an easy and convenient option to transport digital files and it means that my files are always accessible to me wherever there is a computer as long as I have my USB. As Daniel and I both had 32GB USB we were able to save copies of captured raw footage of the film between us.

Whatsapp

A downloadable app that is available on android, apple and blackberry phones was the main way of communication within our group. When setting filming dates and meetings we discussed it in our whatsapp group. The app was also used to discuss ideas and our film day schedules. It was a great way to communicate and it meant we were always kept updated when something went wrong or plans had been changed.

Facebook & Twitter

The use of these social networking sites were mainly due to promotion of our film. We didn't use it much apart from the state reason mainly because the use of social networking sites are mainly to get word around about a film but we depended more on word of mouth. In addition to that I also used Twitter to contact actors and other members of the group as I personally do not have Facebook.

Conclusion

To conclude, it’s clear that new media technologies have played a major part in my ability to complete units G321 and G324 throughout the stages of construction and planning. Without such technologies, I do not believe I would have been able to complete my work to such a standard of interactivity, presentation and quality. I have learned how to use these new technologies better over the two year period and it shows in unit G324, as my gained confidence allowed me to tackle new software that enabled me to create a better product than I did in unit G321. In addition, I was able to be a better cameraperson as I understood more how to I could use a video camera creatively e.g using manual focus.