The group used a variety of new media technologies including iPads, iMacs, DSLR cameras, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, Final Cut, Soundtrack, iMovie, and Mahara in producing their three media products. They found the DSLR camera useful for filming footage and taking photos, Photoshop and Illustrator helped design magazine covers and posters, and Final Cut, Soundtrack, and iMovie were used for video editing and adding sound. While most programs were effective, the group encountered some technical issues along the way.

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

2. We used a variety of media products
to produce our 3 products which
include;
 iPads
 iMacs
 DSLR camera

3. We also used a variety of programs to construct
our media products, these include;
Photoshop Soundtrack
Illustrator iMovie
Word Mahara
PowerPoint iChat
Prezi Final Cut

4. DSLR camera
We used a digital SLR camera to film the footage for our
teaser trailer. This was a more advanced camera then the flip
cams that we had used to film our AS tasks last year. At the
beginning of filming for our A2 teaser we found it hard to
focus the camera and found it useful to clip on the
magnifying attachment to make sure the focus correct. As
filming went on we found the camera easier to control and
this developed our camera skills.
We also used this camera to take the still shots for our poster
and magazine cover. We found the camera was very good
for adding depth of field which enabled us to focus on the
main character, making him stand out from the background.

5. iPads and iMacs
We often used iPads to write up For the majority of our post-
journal entries on Mahara. They production work we used the
are a quick alternative to the iMacs. We developed our IT skills
desktop macs as they are quick and adjusted quickly to the apple
to load up and easy to surf the controls. We did experience
internet. The disadvantages of difficulties with the mouse on one
using the iPads is that we could of the macs but we managed to
not add images on our journal adjust the settings and fix this
entries on them. problem.

6. Photoshop (magazine)
We used Photoshop in the early stages of developing our magazine
cover:
This was the original image that we
shot using the DSLR
We added the mast head on Photosho
We cut out Kyri so that we could
2 make the background colourful to
match the colours often used on
EMPIRE.
We also changed the contrast of Kyri
to make his character stand out more
and make him more dynamic.

7. Illustrator (magazine)
3 4
We sent the
Photoshop file to
Illustrator and added
all the headings and
information. We also
added conventional
magazine parts such
as the
barcode, price, image
s etc.
It was fairly easy to
use Illustrator to
complete the text
whereas Photoshop
was a good program
to use to change the
colours of the original
image

8. Illustrator (poster)
+
Illustrator has been a big part of the creation of our poster. We used it to
develop and improve the images we worked with in Photoshop
(combining two images to create a psychological effect of two of the
same bully). Illustrator was at the start, difficult to understand because of
the complexity of the program, but we worked together as a team to help
improve the overall effectiveness of our poster. We were able to add and
develop the text we chose from the wide array available. One problem
we encountered was adding the billing block. We used the internet as a
way to research how to effectively create realistic billing block, helping to
overcome our issue.

9. Illustrator (magazine)
3 4
We sent the
Photoshop file to
Illustrator and added
all the headings and
information. We also
added conventional
magazine parts such
as the
barcode, price, image
s etc.
It was fairly easy to
use Illustrator to
complete the text
whereas Photoshop
was a good program
to use to change the
colours of the original
image

10. Illustrator (poster)
+
Illustrator has been a big part of the creation of our poster. We used it to
develop and improve the images we worked with in Photoshop
(combining two images to create a psychological effect of two of the
same bully). Illustrator was at the start, difficult to understand because of
the complexity of the program, but we worked together as a team to help
improve the overall effectiveness of our poster. We were able to add and
develop the text we chose from the wide array available. One problem
we encountered was adding the billing block. We used the internet as a
way to research how to effectively create realistic billing block, helping to
overcome our issue.

11. Word (ident)
We used Word to make our company ident that appeared at the beginning
of our teaser trailer. We did this by using a combination of shapes and
words which we then print screened as an image and added to our timeline
on Final cut then animated.
V
Circle arrow + V in Chancery font

12. Final Cut
To edit our footage into teaser trailer we used Final Cut. On here we
developed our editing skills. We made a lot of our clips darker to set a
mysterious and dark tone for our teaser and cut the clips to add continuity
and set the pace for our trailer.
We did however experience technical issues half way through editing. The
message that appeared said ‘general error’ and would not allow us to play
our teaser back. We had to
start editing again from the
beginning but this made it
easier for us to incorporate
in the suggestions we
gained form the feedback.

13. iChat
When we we experiencing technical
difficulties during editing on Final cut
we used iChat to call the college
tech, Simon. This was very useful
because we could talk to one
another discussing the issue and
Simon was also able to take over
our screen from his office in order to
try and fix the problem.

14. Soundtrack
For the sound we used
Soundtrack. On this program we
could use a variety of copyright
free sound effects and loops
which we could easy overlay and
cut to make an appropriate track
to go with our trailer.
When creating the soundtrack for
our media piece we encountered
some small issues which effected
the efficiency of our work.
We struggled to match the sound and the video together, but after some
careful mixing and fading we managed to resolve the situation. Also we
did not think that there was a wide enough range of sad piano loops which
we wanted to use to set the tone.

15. iMovie
We used iMovie to record various people from other groups giving
feedback about our first rough cut and also poster and magazine cover.
This was a quick and easy program for recording and simple editing which
was suitable for the Vox Pop. The program also allowed us export the
project straight to YouTube, making it easy for us to embed into our
journals.

16. We have used Mahara throughout our However all of our group
A2 coursework. This site allows us to have experienced
add journal entries for each stage of our difficulties in embedding
production and post-production work a majority of our images
and research. It also allowed us to as they appear as the
embed YouTube videos and pictures white box shown above.
straight into the post which was useful
in sharing our progress and finished
products.