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

• Throughout the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages, a variety of hardware and software was used. This variety of technology allowed us to carry out effective research and gave us an abundance of tools to create our products.

Hardware

MacBook Pro

Imac

Windows PC

Canon HD Camcorder

Hardware (continued)• MacBook Pro- This was used at home to continue work on the media products, to update the blog and to

also produce the evaluation work. It was a really effective piece of hardware to use as most of the production of our media products was carried out on an IMac, which allowed for easy file transfer between the two mac systems.

• IMac- The IMac was used throughout the entirety of the production of our products. It was extremely effective as it provided us with an array of media software to create the best possible product. However, to begin with, the mac was difficult to operate, but as time went by my skills developed and by the end of the production I am now confident in my abilities to use them

• Windows PC- A lot of the evaluation was carried out windows PC. This is because of the simple programs it provides, such as word/ PowerPoint etc. that made the evaluation easy to write. However it was not too effective for the production of the media products due to its lack of media design programs, and the design programs it does have are inferior to the ones on the IMac, so it was more beneficial to carry out the product creation on the IMac instead. Although compared to the IMac, it is a lot easier to navigate and use.

• Canon HD Camcorder- Possibly the most important piece of hardware that was used. The camcorder allowed to us to record our footage in HD quality. For our purpose it was highly effective and simple to use. It was easy to start/ stop recording and to also transfer any recorded footage from the camcorder to computer.

Software

Adode InDesign, Photoshop and Premier

Microsoft word and PowerPointGarageband

Safari

Google Chrome

Internet explorer

Software (continued)• Adobe Photoshop- Photoshop was used in small areas to manipulate images that were used in our

magazine. It was effective for the task we needed it for as it gave the manipulated image a professional look after being edited. (No rough corners etc.) It was confusing to begin with, but the more I used it, my skills developed and I began to use the program with ease.

• Google Chrome/ Safari/ Internet Explorer- These programs allowed me to browse the internet and use certain websites that were vital to all stages of the production. Including: Blogger, Slideshare, Prezi, YouTube, Iplayer, Meta-chart, Google, ITV player, Netflix and so on. The internet provided access to these sites which allowed documentaries which inspired and helped to produce our own.

• Word and PowerPoint- These two programs were used during the planning and evaluation stages of the production. They allowed me to collate different ideas and work together in an easy to read file. PowerPoint allowed for further creation of slideshows and to present work in a more organised and professional way. These were both effective programs to use for the task I needed them for.

• Garage band- Garage band was used to produce copyright free music that we could use within our radio trailer and documentary. It is an easy to use program, which allowed us to piece together a soundtrack by dragging and dropping samples together. This was for us as we could easily create a simple soundtrack without difficulty.

Adobe Premier (software)Adobe Premier was arguably the most used and important piece of software during the production of the Documentary. It was used to create both the radio trailer and the documentary itself. Although complicated, it has many tools and features that allowed us to create the documentary exactly how we wanted it, without having to use external software to edit certain sections. Premier gives the user lots of control over the editing of the movie. Examples of these features include: being able to overlap videos, slow motion, cutting individual clips, audio/video fade (pen tool to edit these more closely). The program also has a preview window, allowing us to watch what we had created so far, giving us an idea of what worked well or not.

Pen tool was used to edit the sound of the intro music, making it gradually louder

Screenshot of the preview window, that allowed us to watch our documentary pre production

Example of being able to overlap video clips within Premier

• After completing and reviewing our two products that we made using Premier, I believe that the program was extremely effective for the task we were set. It provided enough tools and functions to make a professional looking documentary, but it was still an easy program to use and navigate around

Adobe Premier (continued)

Adobe InDesign (software)• InDesign was used for the production of our magazine article. We chose to use InDesign as the

features it has allowed us to create a professional looking article. It was simple and effective to use. Some of the features included text morph tool, drop cap tool, the ability to create pull quotes and also came with a double page spread premade layout, which we took advantage of. We believed it was best to use this as the layout was conventional of most magazine double page spreads. Another tool that InDesign has is the ability to organise text into columns. This tool allowed us to follow another convention of magazines which is having text in 3 columns. The text colour tool also helped us to separate the text of the two presenters when they gave their reply, making it easy for the reader to distinguish between who was answering.

This tool allowed us to wrap text around an image( as shown below)

This tool allowed us to follow the convention of using 3 columns of text

Screenshot from our article showing the use of drop caps

Equipment

External microphone

Sennheiser headphones

Camera Tripod

Equipment (continued)• External Microphone- The microphone we used was extremely effective for the purposed we

needed. It provided a clear audio, not only this it was sensitive, allowing us to keep it out of shot for a more professional look whilst still maintaining loud/ good quality audio from the interviewees. It was extremely simple to use also, plugged into the side of the camera and then just required someone to hold it in a suitable position out of shot.

• Tripod- We used a tripod for all footage that we recorded. This is because it helped give us a steady shot, which in turn made it more professional as the shots were steady and in focus.

• Headphones- The use of headphones let the “soundman” hear exactly what was picked up by the microphone without being disturbed by external sounds. They were effective in doing this, as supported by our documentary where our sound is clear with no background noise disturbing the audio we were intending to record.