How did you use technologies in the research and planning stages?

Evaluation question 4

Before I created any of my own media products I had to conduct research on similar products. To do this I used to research information on soap operas their different genres. As well as this I also used to watch videos of other soaps, such as Eastenders and Made in Chelsea to get a good understanding of the different genres. When I had decided to produce a melodrama, I used the channel 4 website to watch trailers of Hollyoaks for inspiration.

When researching and planning my production I used Microsoft word to create documents on the background of melodramas in order to help me get a better understanding of their conventions before I attempted to make my own. I used Microsoft word for a number of things during my planning, such as for writing the script and creating costume lists which I then uploaded to my blog.

I also used PowerPoint to create character profiles on my characters that I created for my production, the profiles helped me to figure out the characters personalities and what the best way to portray this in my trailer was. I used PowerPoint to create slideshows about the conventions of soap trailers and when analysing the main basis of the genres.

I used Microsoft excel when developing a shot list. The shot list helped us to plan what shots we would be shooting in what location, what equipment was needed for the shot and what actors. It also included information on the angle of the shot, as well as the shot type and the dialogue included. The shot list was extremely helpful when shooting as it made it easy to see which location we needed to go to film particular shots

I used the website to create my blog. This helped me upload planning work and research such as background information on different soaps, and detailed analysis on other soap trailers and real examples of media products such as magazines and billboard posters so I could research their conventions. This site played a big part in my planning as it is where i uploaded all of my planning and research findings which i used to both guide me and influence me.

I also used Google when researching about other billboard posters and magazine covers. It helped me look and analyse other products so I could understand what I needed to include on my own products to make them as realistic and as effective as possible.

How did you use technologies in the production stages?

One of the main forms of technology I used for the construction of my soap trailer was a digital video camera and a tripod. This was a vital part of construction as it is what I used to film all my footage for my trailer. We filmed the footage with a normal digital camera, taking it out to different locations and placing it on a tripod so we could change the height of the camera and make panning easier. We needed to shoot a number of long shots so having the camera high was essential, we also needed a panning shot for our final scene and having a tripod really helped to pan the camera easily and smoothly.

After filming the footage, I uploaded it onto an Apple Mac computer which had all the technology needed to allow me to create a soap trailer.

I uploaded the footage onto a software called iMovie. Once I had successfully uploaded all of the footage to iMovie I was able to watch all my footage back and decide which clips would be the most suitable. Below is a print screen of all of my footage after I had uploaded it to iMovie, from here I could watch and select the relevant clips and drag the clips I wanted into my project.

When using iMovie I had to crop the clip to the length I wanted it, making sure I cropped out any laughter and getting the length of the clip right so it wasn’t too long. Once I had cropped the clip I dragged it into my project.

Once I had cut all the relevant clips and dragged them into my project in the right order I could then begin editing them..

After inserting all the clips I then inserted backgrounds in between certain clips. By inserting a black background it allowed me to add a text over it which allowed me to create an enigma code for the audience. I used a text title called lens flare, I thought this was an effective text that suited my trailer as the way the text emerges has connotations of the way the lies and secrets within the groups friendship emerges.

As well as text, I inserted transitions in between every clip and every bit of text. I chose to use the ‘fade to black’ transition. This was effective because it made the clips fade out and back in again giving a feel that something bad was going to happen and fitting in with the text I had inserted and the main story within the trailer.

After I had all of the trailer in the correct order I could then start editing the clips I was using. On the clip you can see below, I changed the exposure; dimming the brightness levels gave the image a more sinister feel, drawing attention to the betrayal felt by the character. Changing the contrast again had the same effect of making the image darker, therefore giving connotations of jealousy.

In the clip below one of the actors we used started laughing before the dialogue of the clip had finished, however because the clip was very effective for the trailer we wanted to use it. We cropped the clip so that the smile on the actors face wasn’t visible, however we also cut the sound from the clip and made it separate; this made it possible for us to continue the sound into the next clip so it overlapped the following text. This was very effective as it meant we still got the full effect of the clip without ruining the feel of the trailer by having to include the actor laughing.

The technology of iMovie meant I was able to add images over the blank clips I had inserted. For example, on my last clip, I inserted the e4 logo that I had made, this is because including the logo in the trailer is a typical convention.

I inserted sound into my trailer by downloading an appropriate track from a site called sound cloud. After downloading it we were able to drag it onto our trailer and adjust the sound levels and where we wanted the song to stop and start. I was also able to fade out the music during this final clip to add to the dramatic effect of the trailer and show it was the end. I did this by lowering the sound levels gradually.

After creating my video I was able to use to upload my video. This made sharing my video very simple, quick and easy. After uploading the video it meant other people could see it and I could then insert the url of my video onto my weebly blog.

This is my soap magazine. To create this, I used a number of technologies. The main programme I used to make it was Microsoft publisher. This helped me to do a number of things on my front cover.

Using publisher made it easy to insert shapes that I could use on my magazine. For example, the button in the top right hand corner was made using shapes from publisher and so were the shapes around the side of the page that I used for sub-stories. I then used word art and text boxes to add the headings and subheadings.

To make the magazine effective. First I had to take the photographs. To do this I had to take the pictures, to ensure they were good quality I took them using a good quality photography camera on a tripod. I had the characters stand against a green screen, this technology made the photographs much easier to edit in the editing process.

I used a technology called Photoshop. This software allowed me to remove the background easily. Using a tool called the magic eraser tool it allowed me to click away the green back ground simply. If there was still some green screen left visible I used the eraser to get rid of any remaining background. This was a very useful technology to have as it meant my images would have no background and could fit onto my magazine and billboard poster effectively.

Using Photoshop allowed me to change my image from this… To this!

Once I had removed the main part of the background. I could use this technology to crop my image to the size I wanted it. This also helped me to easily cut out the remaining background that the magic eraser hadn’t got rid of.

After I had removed all of the background, I was able to use the technology of Photoshop to edit my photos. The photo below is one of the main protagonist in my programme. The main character is upset throughout the trailer and the main narrative story in the show, by adjusting the contrast to make the image darker it highlighted the depression the character is feeling.

This is my billboard poster. To create this I used Photoshop and Publisher a lot in order to make the poster look effective. Using these technologies was very useful in helping me create my final product.

I wanted to change the colour of my images in order to make them effective. I used Photoshop to do this as it gave me the technology to easily adjust the image colour. First I had to take out the background making sure the green screen wasn’t visible. I then changed the saturation of the image, making it black and white. This made it easier to change the colour. Using the colour balance tool I changed the different colour levels until I found a colour I was happy with. I then dragged the image onto a black background which I also made on Photoshop using the brush tool and then cropped the image to the size I wanted it.

I did this for every image until they were all different colours

I then added all the edited images onto Microsoft publisher. This technology then allowed me to move the images about to the order I wanted them in. I then had to insert the logo and the name of the show which I also created separately on Photoshop. I then inserted text above the images, I made sure I got the same text as I had used for the name of the show and in the trailer which is a simple, easy to read text.