Q4. How did you use new media technologies in the constructions and research planning and evaluation stages?
Throughout the course of producing a short film we had to carry out individual and group tasks to link to the genre convention of our movie. However, in order to do this I had to use new media technologies in which has helped us to gather information to guide us through producing a film. Furthermore, we used new media technologies through the construction of the film, research planning and the evaluation stages upon different sources.
In the research and planning stage towards the construction of our film we used many online websites in which are reliable sources to find out about thriller films to identify certain aspects of conventions of the sub genre of our film (crime thriller), iconography, characters, story lines, settings, sounds, titles, cinematography and editing all to reflect the genre research of our movie. Google is easily accessible and informative therefore, it is a reliable source to contain a wide range of different information. For example, as I needed to research similar crime thriller films to our movie such as, 'The Gift' it offered me a variety of films in conjunction to this it gave me information upon each of the films as well as consisting to this particular genre. Through using google I could contribute information from this into my work to reflect that this film was similar to ours through the narrative as it depicts the character playing the role of the husband is receiving cryptic and mysterious gifts as he is being stalked. Although, this closely links to the plot of our film as the narrative manipulates the viewers mind to believe the protagonist is being followed by an unknown identity. I believe that Google is the best resource for information as it provides the correct information that is needed throughout my work additionally, the website has widened my knowledge upon thriller films and conventions needed to be a successful film therefore, as it has educated me in certain areas I have adapted aspects of this information into my own work. However, as this website source has been useful it enabled myself and the rest of my group to construct a narrative that linked to the genre of crime thriller. Furthermore, another website source I used to research information about similar films was IMDb and Wikipedia as they both provided a thorough description of the story line for the film as well as giving other suggestions for thriller films. These websites discovered was useful because it concluded different reviews from the film that people had given therefore, this was beneficial for myself and my group as it reveals how we could adapt upon different elements to improve our film. Although, Wikipedia is useful as it illustrates good notes through an easy layout for the conventions of genre however, a disadvantage for this source would be that it isn't always reliable due to the fact that, sometimes the information provided is not always up to date.
On the other hand, I had to use different new media technologies to write and present my research on. I used Microsoft Word to write essays and dissertations therefore, I could follow a word count and precisely know how much work I had produced. I found Microsoft Word useful due to the fact that, the software is easy and simple to use especially when using it for the evaluation stage of my work. This software was also used for the construction of the shot list as we changed our narrative therefore, I believe word is useful as it makes it easy and accessible to edit work where needed. In addition, we also used word to produce the questionnaires for audience feedback therefore, it could be written up accurately to make sure everything was spell checked and punctual. Although, I used word individually for my own work for example, the explanation into what is a short film. However, after the results from the questionnaires was calculated as a group task we all participated into making pie charts through a professional and smart approach through the software excel. Additionally, I also used other media technologies to develop the representation of my individual research through software's such as powerpoint and prezi to display my work in a more interesting and effective way as it adds colour. However, a disadvantage of powerpoint would be that it was time consuming as the powerpoint that was created and developed had to be inputted onto slideshare then a link had to be copied onto Blogger to present the finished work. Although, prezi another layout to present my own individual work in an interactive approach which was useful as it allows you to add images and youtube videos easily as well as already giving a set out which is beneficial as it is already provided. Another advantage whilst using prezi would be that it is set out like a mind map and each main bubble adapts extra spaces for sub topics in order to link to the main focus. A limitation whilst using prezi would be that the source would crash and start acting slow therefore, this would add on time to complete this as I would have to restart the computer back up or close down the internet and load it all back up. All these software's that I have used portray that I can develop my skills as well as being able to work these contrasting media technologies.
Although all this information that I have successfully gathered and uploaded upon these different technologies had to be presented upon Blogger. Blogger was the first form of media technology that I was introduced to throughout the whole two years of this media course. Blogger is a blog publishing media source that is significant as it allows myself to display all my work in conjunction with the group tasks towards the construction of our movie. The blog is set out to represent each bloggers names as opposed to how many blogs they have produced individually as well as the shared group projects each blogger is labelled within. To make the page more effective and to create a pleasurable appeal to the viewers to relate to the crime thriller genre of our film, we changed the layout of the blog by adding a gun animation to create a violent and mysterious atmosphere to link to the narrative of our movie. Although, we changed the background colour to grey as it signifies a neutral and sophisticated way to associate a sense of loss to connect with the death which is presented throughout our film. Although, to juxtapose with the colour motif of grey the typography used is presented as red to follow the conventions of the thriller genre. Furthermore, the colour motif of red suggests a sense of danger to annotate towards violence and death therefore, this is significant as this also links with our film. I believe these colours link together well as they are both compatible. Throughout our production of the film we changed the layout of the blog multiple times until we felt it fit with our film conventions of a thriller.
Another reliable resource that was used towards the production stage of developing the film was freesound in which it is a legal website to download non copyright free music to use within our movie. The free music website has multiple advantages as it enables us to improve our media product by adding special sound effects to create an atmosphere. Also, the music we used adds to the movie as it makes it more realistic. It was simple a process to use due to the fact that when the music was downloaded into documents, you only had to add the sound upon Premier Pro where the film was created. We then juxtaposed the sound alongside the film through the use of editing to make sure everything was accurately presented and in time for example, a certain scale of music has to be co-operated into one scene within our movie which includes a voice over in order to make it more appealing and catch the viewers attention. I believe this source was useful as we could download music without a charge however, a limitation was that I had to make an account which valued our time. Due to the fact that, this time creating an account could of been spent on other work. Also, another disadvantage with freesound music was that we was unable to capture some pieces of music that we particulary needed for our movie such as music to create a fast pace to use throughout the chase sequence. However, in order to solve this problem we discussed as a group other types of music we could use and downloaded some examples to decide upon which was more suitable and fitted with some specific sequences within our movie. In addition, as this free music of this source was reliable we downloaded music to portray aspects of sound throughout our radio trailer therefore, it made it better quality and more mysterious.
https://freesound.org/
In the production stage of making our film, we used a ZOOM H1 to take a voice recording of my voice to use within the film to place over some mysterious music. It was easy to use, and produced a clear sound. The voice recorder was useful to use as it allowed us to record parts of the script through using our voice to add to the film as well as using snippets towards inputting into the radio trailer. This piece of equipment was beneficial for our movie as it explained certain parts of the film to the audience as well as making our film more effective and interesting. However, the radio trailer which we produced contained aspects of the voice overs within above elements of continuous music to ensure we could advertise the film to a wide audience. However, a limitation of using the voice over was that it needed to be used within a confined room which consisted of no noise so that it wouldn't pick up any background sound. Also, it was very sensitive on picking up sound therefore, some of the recordings we had to redo in order to make them accurate and sound clear enough to be added within the film.
Also, in the production stages of creating the film we used a Cannon HFG 25 camera to capture the footage in a clear quality. The camera was extremely useful as it allowed us to zoom in and out to focus upon certain things within the film as well as this is was easy to input this camera footage to the computer in order to edit within premier pro. A limitation for this camera would be that it was complex and quite difficult to use therefore, it was time consuming as we had to learn how to adapt to use this camera in order to provide ourselves with good, clear footage. With the ability of using this camera it has helped to develop my skills therefore, within the near future if I was ever acknowledged with this camera I would be aware of how to use it as well as teaching others around me.
Another use of software which was reliable that I used throughout the course of producing the film poster was Photoshop. First of all I made individual ideas for a film poster before constructing the final film poster. I used photoshop for the final poster as it allows many different effects which can be used towards our poster. Photoshop is a really good software for creating the poster as you are able to add colour, pictures, and effects such as, blurs, splatter, black cut outs and many more to make it more appealing. Our film poster consisted of all these effects in order to connect with the genre of our film. To learn how to use photoshop and develop my ongoing skills I spoke to my sister, a graphic designer who taught me how to use certain elements as well as watching online youtube videos which guided myself through the basics. Although, alongside the use of photoshop, in order to produce the script we used a software called celtex as it was easy to understand as well as that it already gave us a layout of how to present our movie script. It offered us everything we needed to ensure our script was of good standard although, if anything was to be amended then it could be accessed and changed easily.
Towards the planning of our film I produced a storyboard to show each sequence with an image as well as a sentence to provide the viewer a brief summary of a context to depict what was happening within each scene. To produce the final story board, I used a website page called 'www.storyboardthat.com'. It provided myself with a storyboard layout and backgrounds as well as cartoon characters therefore, all I had to do was construct the board with images as opposed to the scenes within our film. We produced a storyboard therefore, it would briefly describe each scene to the viewers therefore, they are able to understand the narrative of our film better. This was useful and beneficial as it was free to use however, it is good and easy to use. In addition, as I was only obliged to use the free setting of the storyboard we was limited to certain backgrounds and images that could be included within the storyboard. However, this was only a minor issue as I used my creativity skills to produce this to represent a clear sense of what happens within each scene of the film.
On the other hand, I had to use different new media technologies to write and present my research on. I used Microsoft Word to write essays and dissertations therefore, I could follow a word count and precisely know how much work I had produced. I found Microsoft Word useful due to the fact that, the software is easy and simple to use especially when using it for the evaluation stage of my work. This software was also used for the construction of the shot list as we changed our narrative therefore, I believe word is useful as it makes it easy and accessible to edit work where needed. In addition, we also used word to produce the questionnaires for audience feedback therefore, it could be written up accurately to make sure everything was spell checked and punctual. Although, I used word individually for my own work for example, the explanation into what is a short film. However, after the results from the questionnaires was calculated as a group task we all participated into making pie charts through a professional and smart approach through the software excel. Additionally, I also used other media technologies to develop the representation of my individual research through software's such as powerpoint and prezi to display my work in a more interesting and effective way as it adds colour. However, a disadvantage of powerpoint would be that it was time consuming as the powerpoint that was created and developed had to be inputted onto slideshare then a link had to be copied onto Blogger to present the finished work. Although, prezi another layout to present my own individual work in an interactive approach which was useful as it allows you to add images and youtube videos easily as well as already giving a set out which is beneficial as it is already provided. Another advantage whilst using prezi would be that it is set out like a mind map and each main bubble adapts extra spaces for sub topics in order to link to the main focus. A limitation whilst using prezi would be that the source would crash and start acting slow therefore, this would add on time to complete this as I would have to restart the computer back up or close down the internet and load it all back up. All these software's that I have used portray that I can develop my skills as well as being able to work these contrasting media technologies.
Although all this information that I have successfully gathered and uploaded upon these different technologies had to be presented upon Blogger. Blogger was the first form of media technology that I was introduced to throughout the whole two years of this media course. Blogger is a blog publishing media source that is significant as it allows myself to display all my work in conjunction with the group tasks towards the construction of our movie. The blog is set out to represent each bloggers names as opposed to how many blogs they have produced individually as well as the shared group projects each blogger is labelled within. To make the page more effective and to create a pleasurable appeal to the viewers to relate to the crime thriller genre of our film, we changed the layout of the blog by adding a gun animation to create a violent and mysterious atmosphere to link to the narrative of our movie. Although, we changed the background colour to grey as it signifies a neutral and sophisticated way to associate a sense of loss to connect with the death which is presented throughout our film. Although, to juxtapose with the colour motif of grey the typography used is presented as red to follow the conventions of the thriller genre. Furthermore, the colour motif of red suggests a sense of danger to annotate towards violence and death therefore, this is significant as this also links with our film. I believe these colours link together well as they are both compatible. Throughout our production of the film we changed the layout of the blog multiple times until we felt it fit with our film conventions of a thriller.
Another reliable resource that was used towards the production stage of developing the film was freesound in which it is a legal website to download non copyright free music to use within our movie. The free music website has multiple advantages as it enables us to improve our media product by adding special sound effects to create an atmosphere. Also, the music we used adds to the movie as it makes it more realistic. It was simple a process to use due to the fact that when the music was downloaded into documents, you only had to add the sound upon Premier Pro where the film was created. We then juxtaposed the sound alongside the film through the use of editing to make sure everything was accurately presented and in time for example, a certain scale of music has to be co-operated into one scene within our movie which includes a voice over in order to make it more appealing and catch the viewers attention. I believe this source was useful as we could download music without a charge however, a limitation was that I had to make an account which valued our time. Due to the fact that, this time creating an account could of been spent on other work. Also, another disadvantage with freesound music was that we was unable to capture some pieces of music that we particulary needed for our movie such as music to create a fast pace to use throughout the chase sequence. However, in order to solve this problem we discussed as a group other types of music we could use and downloaded some examples to decide upon which was more suitable and fitted with some specific sequences within our movie. In addition, as this free music of this source was reliable we downloaded music to portray aspects of sound throughout our radio trailer therefore, it made it better quality and more mysterious.
To create and edit our film we used a software called Adobe Premier Pro. Although, this software was also used for the construction of the restricted and unrestricted narrative, practising how to do elliptical editing. In order to do the elliptical editing we filmed a full length of a journey to a vending machine then, to edit it to the obliged standards we had to cut it down so that it lasted approximately 30 seconds. On premier pro we also had different options in which sound could be altered in order to make things louder or quieter in pitch to make it better quality. In addition, there were other options which allowed us to add specific effects to our movie to make it more precise as well as professional. Some examples of these affects that could be consisted within this software are the following; cross dissolve which is a gradual transition from one image to another furthermore, an effect called fade in and fade out to gradually close the movie in an interesting way. However, this also allows the sound to fade out before the next sequence is shown. The sound effects added using freesound is significant as it creates an atmosphere to suit the particular scene shown at that time. Another advantage of using these elements within media software enabled us to show a manipulation in scenery or reflect a specific time frame passing by. On premier pro it also allows ourselves to add extra interesting outcomes to insert title sequences, and credits to reflect who stars within the movie as opposed to who directed, edited, distributed and inputted sound within our film. As we inputted a title the typography was in red therefore, it shows conventions of a thriller. Whereas, the colour motif of red usually signifies death in conjunction to use of violence and danger. Furthermore, it was presented against a black background in order to stand out as well as using bold large writing this creates emphasise and catches the viewers attention. In order to improve our film we also added a voice over of myself speaking to detect a flashback this is significant as it draws the audience in and it helps them to understand the narrative. Premier Pro was further used for the production of our radio trailer therefore, everything could be editing to suit 30-40 seconds to depict certain parts of the film in order to promote and advertise our film to a wider audience. I believe that Premier Pro is a useful software for editing films as it provides everything we need in order to make our film to be presented well. It has widened my knowledge into media and I can now use these software within the future without any guidance.
In the production stage of making our film, we used a ZOOM H1 to take a voice recording of my voice to use within the film to place over some mysterious music. It was easy to use, and produced a clear sound. The voice recorder was useful to use as it allowed us to record parts of the script through using our voice to add to the film as well as using snippets towards inputting into the radio trailer. This piece of equipment was beneficial for our movie as it explained certain parts of the film to the audience as well as making our film more effective and interesting. However, the radio trailer which we produced contained aspects of the voice overs within above elements of continuous music to ensure we could advertise the film to a wide audience. However, a limitation of using the voice over was that it needed to be used within a confined room which consisted of no noise so that it wouldn't pick up any background sound. Also, it was very sensitive on picking up sound therefore, some of the recordings we had to redo in order to make them accurate and sound clear enough to be added within the film.
Another use of software which was reliable that I used throughout the course of producing the film poster was Photoshop. First of all I made individual ideas for a film poster before constructing the final film poster. I used photoshop for the final poster as it allows many different effects which can be used towards our poster. Photoshop is a really good software for creating the poster as you are able to add colour, pictures, and effects such as, blurs, splatter, black cut outs and many more to make it more appealing. Our film poster consisted of all these effects in order to connect with the genre of our film. To learn how to use photoshop and develop my ongoing skills I spoke to my sister, a graphic designer who taught me how to use certain elements as well as watching online youtube videos which guided myself through the basics. Although, alongside the use of photoshop, in order to produce the script we used a software called celtex as it was easy to understand as well as that it already gave us a layout of how to present our movie script. It offered us everything we needed to ensure our script was of good standard although, if anything was to be amended then it could be accessed and changed easily.
Towards the planning of our film I produced a storyboard to show each sequence with an image as well as a sentence to provide the viewer a brief summary of a context to depict what was happening within each scene. To produce the final story board, I used a website page called 'www.storyboardthat.com'. It provided myself with a storyboard layout and backgrounds as well as cartoon characters therefore, all I had to do was construct the board with images as opposed to the scenes within our film. We produced a storyboard therefore, it would briefly describe each scene to the viewers therefore, they are able to understand the narrative of our film better. This was useful and beneficial as it was free to use however, it is good and easy to use. In addition, as I was only obliged to use the free setting of the storyboard we was limited to certain backgrounds and images that could be included within the storyboard. However, this was only a minor issue as I used my creativity skills to produce this to represent a clear sense of what happens within each scene of the film.
Overall, to conclude new media technologies in the constructions and research planning and evaluation stages of making our media product are useful sources of evidence as well as the softwares which provide good quality footage. In addition, through the course of producing this media product I have developed my skills and knowledge upon digital technology. I can now confidently contribute individually to edit films within softwares I was unsure how to use at the beginning of my media course as opposed to now. Whereas, I can now use a Cannon HFG 25 camera, and a ZOOM H1 for creating voice overs. All of these media technologies that I have used and focused upon throughout this essay have been vital to use in order to present the success and achievement throughout our film.
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