Question 4

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Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stage?

Research

During the research process, I used YouTube regularly to watch trailers for other horror films. This was particularly useful as it enabled me to be secure in my knowledge of conventions with trailers of this genre to therefore implement them into my own work. YouTube also allowed for me to view work of other students who have undertaken similar tasks. I also used the search engine Google whilst researching for my film. Google allowed me to access a vast array of websites. I used Google Images to see previous issue covers of Empire magazine alongside using it to look at horror movie posters. This gave me style models of which I was able to follow during the creation of my ancillary tasks.

Planning

I placed silhouette placeholders in iMovie, which allowed for me to visualise the timing of my trailer before taking my shots whilst also creating a digital storyboard. By creating this storyboard, a sense of structure was made and I had the ability to replace these placeholders with real shots as my filming progressed. To familiarise myself with software I’d be using for the evaluation stage, I created a practice response to a question with the iMac GarageBand in the form of a podcast. This gave me the ability to implement images to my podcast to give a visual representation of what I am talking about. I was also able to stop the recording whenever necessary, which helped me, become more flexible with my recording. I regularly used blogger to record my progress during the process. Blogger is a useful tool because it enables me to effectively organise all my work in a single place. Through labelling my blogs into tags such as ‘Research and Planning’, I was able to catagorise them where relevant. I used Blogger throughout the whole process as it is an easily accessible site and I    had previously used it in my AS studies.

Construction

Whilst constructing my trailer, I made use of a handheld Cannon Legria HD camera to record my footage. It allows for smooth recording as it films at 60fps. The fact that it was handheld proved to be a helpful factor as I was able to closely match conventions within horror movies. The point of view chase shots were complimented by the shakiness of the camera to make the action appear more intense and natural. It also gave me more freedom with the type of shots I was able to take. For example, I sat in a tree to film a particular part of my film as the distance between the camera and my characters below made them appear more vulnerable. I used a tripod for shots of which required stillness. The tripod gave me a lot of freedom with its adjustments in height and angles to ensure that I was capable of achieving the shot I desired. iMovie was a useful application on the Apple Macs as it allowed me to construct my trailer in a straightforward method. It allowed me to cut clips to guarantee that the timing of each shot was suitable. I was able to add music, transitions, text for a title and the application also has an array of filters that can be placed over shots. I found the Day-to-Night filter particularly useful as it allowed me to convincingly make my shots appear like they took place during the night. For my ancillary tasks, I took pictures using a Cannon still camera and this ensured that I had high quality images to enable me to begin editing. Photoshop C5 was used for my poster and magazine cover and my skills and familiarity with this have developed quite a lot. The software enabled me to manipulate and edit images to adapt my images in order to create my ancillary tasks that closely follow conventions.

Evaluation

For the evaluation process, I used the photobooth app on the iMac to record myself as I looked back on how I created my product. This was useful as it enabled me to talk into the mac’s webcam, allowing me to stay at my seat whilst recording and therefore providing convenience. I was able to stop recording and freely play again to allow for needed breaks between filming. I then used iMovie to edit this filming, allowing me to place images over my shots to compliment what I was saying. I was also able to segment my film by placing subtitles for each section of the evaluation. I also returned to GarageBand to create a podcast and used my skills developed from my practice with the app in the planning process. The fact that I was familiar with how to use the software allowed me to efficiently create a podcast. Prezi proved to be a useful website as it enabled me to produce a professional looking slideshow easily. Its array of layouts enabled me to have freedom upon the appearance of my work. I was able to separate each aspect of my evaluation onto its own slide creating a sense of organisation throughout my slideshow. I devised another presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint. Due to how massive of a brand Microsoft is, I’ve used the software for years and therefore I was accustomed to using it and able to efficiently create a slideshow. I then uploaded this to the website Slideshare. This proved to be useful due to its compatibility with Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft PowerPoint.