The document summarizes the various digital tools and methods the author used to conduct research, create media, gather feedback, and evaluate their coursework for a project on horror films. These included setting up a blog on Tumblr to post work, using PowerPoint and Prezi to present case studies and key terms, analyzing film trailers and magazine covers using screenshot annotations on PowerPoint, researching demographics using Paint, planning with Wordle and spider diagrams, drafting storyboards by hand and photographing them, creating a risk assessment and location posts with behind-the-scenes photos, editing a teaser trailer using iMovie and open-source assets, adding a "ghost" to a historical photo using GhostCam and Gimp,
2. Before I even began my research, I set up a
blog on Tumblr where I would post my
coursework to. It is a great and helpful site to
use for media coursework as it allows you to
post videos, pictures, links to websites and
embedded content. My research began on
doing a case study on a film that would be the
same genre as my finished product. I picked
'The Cabin in the Woods' and used Microsoft
PowerPoint on the computer to present my
case study with text and pictures. I then saved
each slide as a JPEC image and uploaded it to
my blog. (See pictures below and to the right).
3. I then used Prezi.com to make a slide for key terms I
will be using in my coursework such as masthead,
voice over, tagline, strap line - and then I put a
definition of each underneath. Presenting it in that
way made it easy when looking back over them.
4.
I then began researching into similar products; so I looked at 3 different horror trailers on YouTube to
analyse. I screen grabbed several moments of the trailers and pasted them onto Mirosoft PowerPoint
where I was able to add annotations to them of my analysis of the scene. I then saved them as a jpec
and put it on my blog. I also looked at 3 magazine front covers and 3 film posters of my genre. To
analyse them though I set up a spider diagram for each one, with the picture in the middle and gave
annotations round it. It was easy to do this as I set up an account on spiderscribe.com where you can
do this on the computer. I then put links them on my blog. Below is an example for ‘The Woman in
Black’ poster I analysed.
5. I researched into my target
audience by looking at the UK
Film council's demographics for
horror films. I edited the
picture using 'Paint' circling
and pointing arrows and the
demographics I was aiming for
(age, gender, working class).
This was effective looking back
at the post and I was able to
identify the audience I was
aiming at straight away.
6. My planning began with a Wordle I made on the
internet and a Spider diagram on spider scribe of
ideas.
7. After I had uploaded these to
my blog I began drawing a hand
sketched draft of my
storyboard, magazine front
cover and film poster. I took a
photo of them using my camera
on my phone and uploaded
them via my phone on my
Tumblr app (as the picture to
the right shows).
8. I then made a risk
assessment, location,
planning and costumes
post using the blog post
on Tumblr. Later I then
added pictures I had
taken behind the scenes
of the location,
character's costumes
etc to add to the posts.
(An example of the
props of costumes post
is on the right).
9. For my teaser trailer I used a variety of technology such as
video camera with a tripod (as seen in the picture on the
left below), a Mac with the editing software iMovie and
Google for finding copyright free music/fonts.(as seen on
the picture on the right below).
10. I used an app called ‘GhostCam’ on my tablet and I
used an old photo from about a 100 years ago and
edited a ‘ghost face’ in front of it. Below shows how I
did it.
This is how it looked in the trailer:
11. I took the photo using a
DSLR camera with a
dark lighting setting.
Then I added text
and fonts round
the image using
text boxes.
Here is how the
picture looked
when I viewed it
on the computer.
Magazine Front Cover
I then used the
editing software
‘Gimp’ to cut
around the photo.
I pasted it onto a
black background.
12. Film Poster
I took the photo with
the same DSLR
camera in pitch black
with a flash on to get
that glowing effect
with the laptop in his
face.
I then edited the
software on ‘Gimp’
editing the
contrast/brightness
to a dark level.
I then added fonts to
it using text boxes.
13. I used
SurveyMonkey.com for
my audience feedback. I
did one survey for the
teaser trailer and the
other for the film
poster/magazine. (They
are clearer on my blog
on Tumblr).
14. For question 1 of the evaluation I used Windows
Movie maker as it was a good way of getting my
point across with use of pictures/videos/text. I also
did a spider scribe for the poster and another for
the magazine to answer the question relating to
them.
15. For Evaluation Question 2 I used
SpiderScribe.com on the computer as it was a
good way to compare my magazine front cover,
film poster and teaser trailer.
16. I found answering evaluation question 3 on a video a
good way to approach it. And for evaluation question 4
I obviously did it on Slideshare via PowerPoint as it was
a good way to present it!