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

evaluation stages?

Bridget Cardenas Pazmiño

Research and Planning

This website was used so I could review what type of conventions and actions would be categories as either U, 12 or 15. This is why I did in-depth research on the BBFC.This would be based on what I had planned to do which is a Supernatural Psychological horror film which would consist on various jump scares and even gore that can be unpleasant and quite scary for children under 15.After having researched I planned and verified if the sub genre I was doing would either fit in the 12 or 15 rating.At this point I knew that with all of the inspirational features and conventions that I used it would fit in a 15+ rated movie rating.

BBFC – Research and Planning

Wikipedia – Research and PlanningFrom here I saw how much was the budget for a certain film either indie or a blockbuster. Apart from that it helped summaries what were the ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomato and Metacritic.It provided information about the actors and directors, which was useful when wanting to know the popularity of a certain actor or director.Mentions what genre or sub genre a certain film is.Provide in depth research over a certain genre only negative is that it doesn’t really explain about hybrid genres such as Zombie romantic horror or what I am doing a supernatural psychological horror.Also shows how a film was marketed

Previously I had already researched on the horror genre which allowed me to have a more clear idea of what people would expect there to be:

ConventionsInspirational FeaturesTheir personal opinion over the horror genre as a generalisation.

Was useful since I was able to gain information from my target audience (15+) of what they would expect there to be.The people interviewed were fanatics about the horror genre, this is why they expect certain types of conventions and certain features (Links to first point).However, even though they liked horror each one liked a specific type of horror (Slasher, Supernatural, Psychological, Comedy etc.).

Personal Interviews – Research and Planning

I researched videos in order to gain inspiration from trailers and to see what common features and conventions each genre/ sub genre has. YouTube has been a very productive tool when wanting to even explore to see previous students coursework.YouTube is one of the main sources were students place their work online, rather than other video uploading sites such as Vimeo.YouTube is also the place were I planned to upload my video since the uploading method is very easy to use.

YouTube – Research and Planning

PowerPoint/ Word/ Slide Share - Research and Planning

PowerPoint is one of the main technologies I used for the majority of my presentations. After finishing my presentation I posted them on slide share which allowed me to have easy access by posting the presentations in order as I went.Microsoft word was one of things I used during the planning and research stages as it is were I made drafts of things before putting them up in to the blogs and on PowerPoint. I also used word to write up a shooting schedule to make it more presentable and easier to understand. Word was also used when I needed to type the script and treatment, and certain ideas I had for the trailer and even were I wrote questions that I was going to ask my target audience for the interviews and evaluation question 3.Slide Share then formatted word and presented in a neat and clear manner to it could be understandable.

Facebook/ Google/ Blogger – Research and Planning

Facebook wasn’t that useful to me during the research and planning process since I only used it to ask my target audience what they expect out of the horror genre, however the responses were similar to the ones I asked on the Personal Interviews.Google was just used as a search engine to find images for my mood board or images to find an inspiration. Also it was used to find information over a specific subject such as a sub genre or conventions of a subgenre. But was really useful to find posters, magazine covers and companies which helped influence me on the idea of my trailer, magazine cover, and poster.Blogger was very useful since I used it to post my work on it. I was allowed to modify the design and update my blog on a regular basis every time I had a presentation to post or even a certain movie that I watched. But over all it laid out my work very organised.

Construction

Final Cut Pro - ConstructionFinal Cut pro X is what I used to edit my trailer. It allowed for anybody to be able to edit quickly and easy without having the worry that it would be complicated to us. When comparing with other editing software's such as Windows movie maker or even iMovie, the quality and features that are available are much more complex like being able to do split screen or even adding more effects and making a certain clip or image move across the screen. Final Cut Pro is the only editing program for footage I used. Even apart from just going my trailer on it, I created on it my Production company called ‘Immortal Cat Productions’. I even added sounds to my title animation in this software.

Blender - ConstructionBlender is were I created my animated/ animation of Destiny’s End Title. It was easy to use and created however, when I wanted to render just a picture it took about 15 to 30 minutes, this is why when I finished and then exported the animation to save on the Mac it took 3 days in order to complete the rendering of the animation. Over all I am happy with the final result of the Title animation. Especially creating the Gemstone, on the software there came already created gemstone which you could customise in shape colour and size even how many faces you wanted on it.

Photoshop - ConstructionPhotoshop is were I edited all the pictures that I wanted to go on poster and magazine cover. I also edited the picture for the production company here, by doing this it allowed me to make the image any colour I wanted. At the beginning of my trailer there is the BBFC rating I managed to write the name of my trailer on it. I personally found Photoshop easy to use since I already practiced remaking a magazine cover and poster before.

Poster Remake Magazine Remake

Sony Camcorder hdr cx260/ Canon VIXIA HF R500 Digital Camcorder

– Construction

The Sony Camcorder I used to recorded every scene after the plane crash, and the Canon camcorder I used to film all the aerial shots and the POV shots at the beginning of the trailer including the Christmas Tree. When I wanted to do a POV shot I just handheld the camera and if I needed a steady shot I just used a tripod. Both cameras however were similar but the Canon Camcorder managed to record just 2 hours max of footage mean while the Sony Camcorder recorded hours of footage with out having to worry about the memory.

iMac/ Pc - ConstructionThe iMac was one of the fundamental objects apart from the cameras. The iMac allowed us to edit on it on final cut pro and to use the internet. However, software such as Photoshop wasn’t available on the iMac so I had to use a we Pc were I did all the presentations as well as the posting, uploading and printing process. In conclusion, both were effective but was time consuming since anything we wanted to send over to any of the two computers you would have to switch in-between both, but was okay in the end. The iMac also were useful since they had back up so if any work had gotten deleted then it would be possible to gain back the delete or lost document, presentation or project during editing.

YouTube/ Blogger - ConstructionI used YouTube during the construction stage since I needed to upload my draft one an draft two of my trailer. By doing this I was then able to embed it on my blog (Blogger) and analysis the video. Apart from that I posted certain scenes of the trailer on YouTube to show the process of the montage style, but that clip I speeded it up to make the Demon look like it can teleport anywhere it wants. Also I uploaded the Production company which is Immortal Cat Productions’. Finally what I used YouTube for at this stage is to import a clip from there by using YouTube Converter, the clip was the Blumhouse productions animation - which is a production which basis it self on producing Supernatural Horror films, even though I found this production company because of James Wan who directs supernatural films such as ‘The Conjuring and Insidious’.

Incompetech - ConstructionIncompetech is were I got the royalty free music for my trailer, from artists such as Kevin MacLeod. This website allowed me be able to use a wide range of music to match with my trailer genre of supernatural psychological horror. https://incompetech.com/music/

Evaluations

Prezi - Question 1 - EvaluationFor evaluation question 1 I used Prezi. Prezi was very useful, easy, and quick to use plus it allowed you to add as many slides you wanted and use an unlimited amount of templates to design your presentation. However, in order to not get lost with the slides the most recommended would be to just use the arrows but is fun and interactive even though text quantity is limited. Links on the presentations on Prezi will take you to were the link is address to just like in Slide Share. Question 1, just needed basic explanation of what conventions were used in my trailer, poster, and magazine cover.

Question 2- EvaluationFor my Question 2 I used Slides which was beneficial since it’s a more distinct way rather than just keep using PowerPoint. Although the navigation buttons makes it simple to go along the slides the downside is that it limits you sometimes with text as well just like in Prezi and doesn’t have lots of features such as PowerPoint. Question two was just based on how does the trailer, poster, and magazine cover all link in together (Media product and Ancillary tasks).

Question 3 - EvaluationFor Question 3 I used PowToon which is a more creative and exiting way to make presentations. On PowToon what you can use is a range of animations, music, pop-up animations and logos, you can even import lots of photos to add and the presentation will do all by itself making the animations move and placing the music on time no matter how long your video animation is. Question 3 is based on what my target audience think about my media product and ancillary tasks, and what better way to present the changes in a fun and interesting way to engage the audience.

Question 4 - EvaluationFinally, question 4 the technology that I used was PowerPoint. By using PowerPoint I was able to introduce more writing to the slides without any problem. PowerPoint even allows me add an unlimited range of pictures, text boxes and slides. Apart from that its easy and simple to use. After this I will send the PowerPoint for question 4 to Slide Share so I can embed it on my blog. In conclusion, question 4 is about all the technologies I used and everything is in order from ‘Research and Planning’, ‘Construction’, and ‘Evaluation’.