d

1. Question 4: How did you use new
media technologies in the construction
and research, planning and evaluation
stages of my A2 coursework?
By Hope Brennan

2. New media technologies
 During my construction and research
and planning for my A2 media studies
coursework I have used a variety of new
technologies including: both tool you
can find online and downloaded
software. The downloaded software was
used more on the construction of my
media productions for example: CS6
Photoshop and Final cut pro, however I
have used these on my research and
planning as well along with websites
such as: Prezi and Weebly. More
examples of the technologies I used are
on the right side of this slide.

3. My blog.
 When presenting my media A2 coursework I used new
media technologies to set out all of the work I done and
present it on one webpage. The name of the web 2.0
site I used to create my blog was Weebly. Weebly
allowed me to create different categories pages such
as ‘research and planning’ and ‘production diary’. As
well as edit the style/layout of the blog to suite the
theme of all my work that in this case was ‘horror’. As
an A2 media students I was also able to use Weebly as
a source to look at other candidates in the past years
work as exemplar blogs.

4. Use of web 2.0 in my research and
planning process
 During my research and planning I used web 2.0 to help me in many ways.
One way I did this was using it as a main source of research when looking at
real life horror posters and trailer’s. However I also used in a more
constructive to create written trailer analysis’ and a shot by shot analysis using
free presentation websites such as: Slideshare and Prezi.
 However I also used web 2.0 and social networking for my A2 research and
planning development. I used social networking to communicate with fellow
producers and actors for my horror trailer to plan important dates and
meetings. However I also used it to communicate with my target audience to
ask them questions about what they would like to see from a horror trailer of
my genre to ensure that the work I put in to it caters for the target audience
correctly. I did this in great depth with cross media collaboration of web 2.0
with the website ‘Survey monkey’ and the social networking site ‘Twitter’ to
help me promote my research survey to people of my age group to get a
positive answer to all the questions needed to be asked.

5. Use of final cut pro in
research and planning
 I used the software Final cut pro to create and edit my trailer
however I also used it to create a trailer analysis for my
research and planning process. For this I had to write a
detailed analysis, comparison of three trailers, two being
horror and one being normal. I then had to video my self
performing this analysis in the college green room and I did
this because it made the film easier to edit as the colour
green contrasts easily with the colour of my skin. After this I
inputted the recorded film onto Final cut pro and change the
background to black using the background tool. After this I
was able to edit the trailer analysis and I done this to
inputting images of the trailer shots I was describing in time
with the description.

6. Using audio in my research
and planning process
 I also used mp3 audios in my research and planning
process and I done this in two ways:
 Firstly, I made an audio in depth trailer analysis to describe
three different trailers in more depth than my video trailer
analysis.
 I also used audio examples for sound research on my blog. I
did this by downloading real life example, creating small
audio files on logic of instruments that are classically used in
horror music to create suspense and I also used logic to
make my own minute and a half horror song for my movie.

7. Use of Photoshop in my
coursework
 I also used Photoshop in during my research and planning stage of my A2 coursework to
create drafts for my poster and horror magazine. This allowed me to explore and try my
different ideas before the production process.
 I also used Photoshop in my production process to create my poster and horror
magazine. I used many tools on the software when doing this such as ‘colour overlay’ of
a knife image for my poster and a ‘brush tool’ to erase the green screen background of
the photos I took of my model. I was able to move these images onto over images for the
background by allow the layers to overlay each other.
 Whilst using Photoshop I needed to find a scary font for my magazine and poster,
however their wasn’t much Varity on the software, due to this I went online and
downloaded scarier fonts onto Photoshop so the fonts would suit the theme of the
magazine/poster.
 I was able to save my finished products on Photoshop and as a JPEG file so they were
easy to put on my blog as an image. This is an advantage of modern media technologies
as it made the files more accessible for me to share for feedback and upload on to
Weebly quickly.

8. Construction
 I used a Panasonic handheld camera to film my trailer and to take
pictures of the images for my poster and magazine.
 I filmed the trailer in my house as it suited the location I wanted the
trailer to take place in a family home. However due to this I had to
pay attention to the lighting of different areas of my house when
filming my trailer.
 I used to green room at my local college to take pictures for my
magazine and poster behind a green screen, this is because the
colour green contrasts well with skin colour so it would make my
images easier to edit on Photoshop, also I was able to take these
photos in a room with excellent lighting so they were more likely to
come out the way I wanted them to

9. Using final cut pro for
production
 I also used final cut pro for the production of my horror trailer. This software
allowed me to edit the video and audio I record for my trailer. I had about six
minutes of footage to cut into 1.30 minutes of footage for my trailer and it was
easy to do this on final cut pro as it allowed me to cut and edit my work shot
by shot.
 Final cut pro also had many effects I could use when creating my trailer such
as: lighting filters to create the atmosphere you want in your film, audio effects
such as delay units, reverb units and equalization to cut out the unwanted
sounds of the audio and emphasize key audio, make it stand out.
 I was also able to add text boxes to write the key information I wanted on my
trailer for example the title of the film ‘silent whispers’ and the dateline ‘spring
2015’. As well as this I was able to add images from the internet into the film
such as the BBFC rating logo that would be present at the start of a real life
British horror trailer.

10. Marketing my horror trailer
 YouTube was a great help when marketing my horror trailer
as I was able to upload my horror trailer after downloading it
from final cut pro and share it to my friends and family.
 I could link the YouTube link to my trailer to Facebook and
twitter so it was easier to access my target audience by
sharing the trailer this way.
 As well as this YouTube allows people to rate and comment
on the trailer. YouTube is accessible to everyone so sharing
my trailer online this way is the easiest way I could get
feedback quickly as anyone online can watch it and anyone
with a YouTube account could rate and comment feedback
on the trailer.

11. Evaluation
 I also used modern media technologies when creating
my evaluation of my final media products to present A
reflection on my work in a professional manor on my
blog. I used many different types of software for this
such as: Microsoft PowerPoint, slideshare, Prezi, Final
cut pro and Photoshop for editing the photos I have
uploaded. Modern technologies made it a lot easier to
make a presentable evaluation online to share to my
Weebly blog

12. Conclusion
 I believe using modern technologies was beneficial for me as an
A2 media student to construct and present my work. In modern
day there are loads of types of software I was able to use to do
this, to present my skills as a media producer being able to work
with a range of software from audio software such as Logic to
simple internet software such as Prezi.
 The main software I used for my construction was: Final cut pro,
Photoshop and Logic. However with the advantages of web 2.0 I
was able to use a rang of websites to present more professional
work on my Weebly blog.
 To conclude modern media technologies allowed me to make
higher quality and more professional products with advanced
modern day technology, therefore I feel that my work was more
presentable due to this then it would have been if I was using
basic, old-fashioned media technologies.