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

Throughout all my research, planning and production I used new media technologies to help present and produce my work. I shall go through them, explaining why they were necessary and their different uses.

Photoshop

Above is a picture of Photoshop Elements that was additionally used, but it could only do basic commands - there was no 'blending options' which were needed for the images. Using Photoshop was at first a difficult experience, but with more use and help from tutorials it become easier. I definitely think my skills on Photoshop has significantly improved since last year as well, and that I could only achieve the 'look' of my ancillary products on this programme.  

Final Cut Pro

Using Final Cut was essential to the production of our teaser trailer. Again, tutorials online were used to help edit the teaser, as well as guidance from our lecturer. We experimented with brightness effects and slowing down the film, but we felt it wasn't necessary in the end. Also, the animatic was created on here - first scanning the drawings on to the computer, then importing them into final cut. The animatic was a learning curve for me, as the skills I learnt then, were applied to the teaser trailer.

Livetype

We used Livetype to make our title at the end of our teaser trailer. We had lots of fun experimenting with the different animations! However, it wasn't really appropriate, so we made a basic one. The above screenshot is one of the fonts we later rejected, as due to technical problems the metallic 'sheen' wouldn't work on Final Cut. Ideally, the one above is the one we would have used, but unfortunately we couldn't.

Soundtrack Pro

Soundtrack Pro was used to make the footsteps, ambient music, and gunshot you hear in the teaser trailer. It has pre-recorded samples that you can edit. I found this software very easy to use for what we needed to do. However, I think it would have been better to record our own footsteps because they are on a loop in the teaser trailer, which is extremely noticeable when you hear it. Nevertheless, I don't think it's too big a problem, and it's not that obvious either. It was necessary to use this programme for the gunshot, as we don't have access to record our own.

GarageBand

While not as sophisticated as Soundtrack Pro, this was the only audio editing software I had at home. However, I only needed to record a voice over for my animatic and GarageBand has a Podcast setting which is perfect for recording voices only. All I had to do was click record, and import the .mp4 onto iMovie over my animatic. 

iMovie

I used iMovie to make my evaluations and research videos. This is very simple and quick to use, and there is even a link to directly publish to YouTube. I think that iMovie is extremely useful for this type of film making, but I don't think it would cater for people who wanted to edit large amounts of film with lots of effects.

Blackberry

We filmed a focus group on Georgia's mobile phone, the quality was not perfect, but it was very convenient and shows just how much technology we have at our disposal. She was able to upload the video straight form her phone to YouTube, which is convenient. 

Flip Camera

I filmed my research interviews on the Flip - a small portable camera that has a built-in USB connector so you can easily download your video's to the computer. It was very easy to use, and the videos came out in good quality, for the size that it is!

Medion Camera 

I filmed my evaluation interviews on this camera, but I had a bit of trouble with this technology. I found that uploading my interviews caused technical problems, (wasn't compatible with mac, so had to convert the files) so this took more time than expected. When editing them they would often freeze, so the quality of them isn't good either. 

Photo Booth

Photo Booth is software already on my laptop, so I do not have to download anything off a camera. I used it to make my evaluation of the poster, which was convenient as there was nothing to set up. Photo Booth takes images and videos from an in-built camera in your laptop (an example of convergence) that automatically appears in iMovie.

Hotmail/Gmail

When our group needed to send each other files or talk to each other, we sent emails. This is convenient and reliable because we can them at any time and information won't be lost online.

Facebook

The social networking site allowed us to send out questionnaires with the teaser attached via hyperlink,  or just to ask for people opinions, this could be sent to many people at a time. This made it very easy to give us feedback, and it was more convenient for everyone. For the initial research Facebook did not work so well, but using it for audience feedback was successful. Facebook allows us to use technology simply and we can target our audience on here as well, because so many people have access to it. 

Survey Monkey

This was used I the beginning of the research, but unfortunately it was not very successful. I think one of the main reasons was because people do not recognize it, and it looks daunting to fill out all the responses, where as on Facebook it seems much easier to do.  It was an interesting find though, I was not aware of this website beforehand - It was another option available on hand for us. 

YouTube

I had to get an account on YouTube because it allowed me to published videos straight from my laptop on here. Also, other people can see them, as it allows you to embed the films onto your blog.

Zamzar

Zamzar is an online file converter that I often used to convert screenshots into jpegs. Its very quick and easy to use, with no need to sign up to anything.