1. Question 4: How did you use media
technologies in the Research and
Planning?
By Tanya McDonald

2. Wordpress
Wordpress is the free blogging website which I have used all year to blog, keep
track of and present my work.
For my research and planning in particular it was very useful as I could embed
videos from Youtube and images from Google and then analyse them.
Pros: Because Wordpress is a well known website other websites like Youtube
support it making it easy to embed videos and images.
Cons: Before the new ‘slideshow’ feature it was very hard to arrange photos in
the posts as each photo had to be done one by one. Also, the size of the post is
always slightly different to the size of the ‘new post’ box so you often have to
preview the post before posting it to make sure that text and images end up in
the right place.

3. YouTube
YouTube is a well known website in which users can upload, view and
share videos.
YouTube has been an unbelievably useful resource when researching
trailers as it has always been easy to find information on the trailers and
then analyse them thoroughly by playing and pausing the video player.
Pros: Youtube videos are easy to search and also easy to embed in other
websites.
Cons: YouTube often takes a long time to load and it was also possible
to find ‘fake’ versions of real trailers.

4. Google
Google is one of the most popular websites and search engines on the
internet.
Google was particularly useful as I could easily look up images of posters
and magazine covers to then analyse them. I also used it to look for
locations for filming by using Google
Maps and then using Street View.
This was a great feature as I could use
it to look at locations without actually
having to go to them and I could also
use it to give actors directions to the
locations.

5. Facebook
Facebook is a Social Networking Service which has become
increasingly popular over recent years.
Facebook was very useful during the planning stages of my project
as I was able to easily contact my actors, discuss my ideas, create
events with the time and date and
even use Google Map through
Facebook to show the exact place
I would be filming.

6. iMovie
iMovie is a video editing software for the mac or other Apple products like
the iPhone and iPad.
This software was particularly useful when I was doing research and
Planning as I was able to cut out parts of the film ‘Tekkon Kinkreet’ in
order to highlight which shots I particularly liked.
Pros: The software makes professional looking videos quickly and easily.
Cons: I often experience issues with uploading videos and getting them in
the right folder to then use them in the software. There is a limited amount
of editing and precision in the software (especially compared with Adobe
Premiere Pro CS5).

7. Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, collaborative, multilingual Internet Encyclopedia
containing information on nearly every subject ever searched.
I have used Wikipedia throughout the research and planning of my
trailer (sometimes without even realising I have). It has been a
irreplaceable source of information on films, trailers and all other
information I have needed.
Pros: Provides easy access to any information just by searching on
Google.
Cons: It can often be debated whether it is reliable as anyone can
provide or edit the information.

8. Microsoft Office Word / Pages
Microsoft Office Word is a Word Processor Software designed
by Mircrosoft. Pages is a Word Processor and Page Layout
Software designed by Apple for the mac.
Both of these programmes have been very useful in the research
and planning of my trailer, depending on whether I was working
with Microsoft Windows at school or on my MacBook and using
Pages at home. Mostly I used these programmes to write out
ideas and to pre-write trailer, poster and magazine cover analysis
before copying it into a post.

9. Thank you for Reading!!