1. HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PLANNING,
RESEARCH, CONSTRUCTION AND
EVALUATION STAGES?
Jahannara Ali
http://cfgsjahannara.blogspot.co.uk/

2. During the course of making our film, we
engaged in using a range of different media
products , platforms and software.

3. RESEARCH

4. Internet – We used the By using the internet, I was able to access
internet to research about many websites such as the BBC Film
different drama films. It was Network which I used to watch shot drama
a huge advantage because films similar to our story and reviewed it. This
we were able to understand was an excellent tool because I learned what
our genre and it gave us conventions /elements of a drama film was
more knowledge on how our needed for it to be successful.
film should be as a drama
film. Other websites included Rotten Tomatoes,
IMDB & Youtube which were most useful
because I watched different trailers of drama
films such as ‘The Descendant’ and read
comments from different critics. This in turn
made me acknowledge what people want
from a drama film also, it told me what is
typically expected in a trailer for a drama
film.
However, challenges I faced often with
Youtube and IMDB were that it was blocked
so I could only do this research at home.
However, after talking to my teacher, he got
the websites authorised so it was accessible.

5. Using the iPhone I was able to Using my Nokia (C3) I took the
access websites such as Youtube at initiative to illustrate camera shots
any time for research about our by taking pictures of my nieces
film. This was good because I could using shots such as headroom, lead
do research outside of school room etc. This was a good tool
whilst I was travelling. It was also because it made the learning
effecient. process of camera shots much more
interesting and interactive. Below
are example of the shot, headroom
and how it should be used.

6. We used Survey Monkey to create a an Using my Facebook and email, I
audience survey where we came up with was able to post the audience
different questions in order to gain knowledge survey up for various people to
of what the audience expect in a drama film. give feedback on. By doing this
We had about 12 – 13 questions .This was an we managed to get fast
extremely useful website as we were able to responses as many people are a
ask the audience what they want so we could part of a Facebook and for them,
make our drama film as good as possible. completing a questionnaire in
this form was more engaging
than other forms such as a paper
version.

7. PLANNING

8. Using Microsoft Word we created We not only used our phones,
our film scripts, radio trailer scripts, Facebook and email for research but
contracts, consent forms and much also to communicate with each other
more allowing us be competent in at any time of the day and, to contact
doing these jobs and actually out actors quickly. For example, when
allowing it to happen. For example, we decided to re-film a scene again
without the script we would not we used our phones and email to
have been able to make the film. contact the actors and ask them if
they were able to film on the same
day.
The problem with Facebook and
Hotmail was that it was blocked and
it could not be authorised by the
school at all, so we had no choice but
to access Facebook at home and
sometimes on our phone.

9. CONSTRUCTION

10. We used a Cannon We used the iMac computer
camera to shoot our to access various software's.
film However, problems we often
faced were that the iMac
computer was operating very
slow at times especially were
there were different
software's open at the same
time. However if there was an
activity that didn’t need to be
done on the same computer
one of us would complete it
using another so it we did not
waste time.
Bluetooth – we used Bluetooth on
both our phones and the imac’s to
send and receive pictures of us whilst
we were filming. This was needed for
our blog.

11. The software we used to edit our film I was in charge of creating the title for
was Final Cut Pro . It was an excellent our film and the credits. I used Livetype
software because we were able to use for the title and iMovie for the credits.
the razorblade tool to cut certain parts Livetype was extremely useful because
of a scene if we didn’t like it or to copy it there were a range of different fonts for
somewhere else. It also had a range of me to choose from the most
effects such as the fade in and out appropriate type for our film. I used
which we used a lot in to make our film ‘spotlight’ font to created the title for
more dramatic and effective. One of the our company and it came in an indigo
most useful things we did was slow colour which was perfect for our film.
down the pace and camera work of a
particular scene to try and blend a
mistake in a camera shot in. Not only did
it do this but it also added en emotional
and effective essence to the scene.
To edit our radio trailer used Audacity. This
was a brilliant software because we were
able to create a radio trailer in a quick space
of time. The trim tool was most useful
because we could efficiently trim parts of an
audio which we didn’t need.

12. EVALUATION

13. I used Microsoft PowerPoint to illustrate the audience
I used blogger to record
feedback from the questionnaire. It was an excellent
every step of my research,
evaluating tool as I was able to make many graphs or
planning and construction of
tables to show what the audience wanted.
the film. I uploaded
PowerPoint, wrote reviews
and much more. It was very
good because it allowed me
to upload anything such as a
podcast or video.
I used an mp3 recorder to record some
feedback on our film from other class
members and friends. It was good as it
allowed us to engage with different
technologies and really get a feel of what the
audience want.

14. We used a video camera to film our audience
feedback to the film ‘During the Riots’. We
recorded the audience’s reaction to the film
and later engaged in a discussion with them
about the things that worked in our film and
those that did not. We also asked them
questions. They gave a very detailed
response but the video camera was most
effective because it showed the audience’s
genuine reaction to the film in which we
used to conclude the success of our film.
To gather more feedback on our
film, we posted the film up on
Facebook, Blogger and YouTube.
This allowed us to get a range of
responses . However, there were
difficulties trying to paste the
‘embed’ code onto the blogger
website. However, after a little help
this problem was solved.