Film trailers are an advertisement made to promote an existing or upcoming feature film. These are usually shown in the cinemas or are put onto DVDs. Film trailers usually consist of clips from the film either they will be small snippets or key story events and show a date of the film release into the cinemas or onto DVD. Film trailers are called trailers because they used to be shown at the end of a film. The problem was that most people used to leave straight after the film had finished and did not watch the trailers. Making the trailers purpose not as good as they thought it would be. Now trailers have been moved to the start of films, but the name trailer has stuck, so people will watch them before they watch the film. This allows more films to be promoted and that people can see more upcoming films.

AdvantagesFilm trailers are a great way to advertise a film as they let people know when the film is going to be released and what it may be about. Film trailers can be watched at any time in many different ways, they can be viewed on the internet using, computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. This is making it increasingly easier for Films to gain more promotion and make more profit. Using the internet to advertise your film will make it easier to get around to other people as the URL can be sent over Facebook and other websites. They also allow people to see the cast of the film if the audience is interested and do not want to go look for that information.

DisadvantagesA disadvantage to film trailers is that people may make assumptions of the film from what they have seen from the trailer and not go watch the film at all. To avoid this trailers have to make themselves look as interesting as possible to the audience. In some cases people find the trailers too short or too long. If the trailer is too long it may give too much information about the film or just feel like it is dragging on, where as if it is too short people might not get what it is about and no longer interested it the film.

Film TrailersInside This Issue

1 Film Trailers

2 Kiosks

3 DVD’s

4 CD’s

5 User Generated

6 Mobile Devices

7 Digital Camera Capture

8 Compression

9 Digital File Formats

9 Aspect Ratio

10 Streaming Methods

10 Media Players

Film trailers used to come after the feature film that people used to see but now have been moved to the front of the film, but the name has stuck.

Applications and Technology

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2

PAGE 2 JASMINE MCGARTY

A kiosk is an interactive computer used for the public domain; they usually allow access information to do with communication, commerce, education and entertainment. Kiosks can be found in Shopping Centres and all sorts of other places. Kiosks can show you how to get somewhere from where you are. Usually kiosks will display a map of the area where you are, they also might have a search bar or have menus of certain shops or places that might interest you. When the user starts to search for a shop or place the kiosk will show all the possible places if there are multiple shops. The kiosk will show you a position on a map with ‘You are here’ then will start to show possible routes to the destination you have chosen.

AdvantagesKiosks allow people to find their way to somewhere with the help of an interactive map, these can be very useful for tourists and other people visiting places they do not know. It can also help you find multiple places of the same shop or restaurant. Some kiosks allow you to withdraw money so that you do not have to travel or wait in line a bank. You can also find kiosks in places like cinemas where you can use them to buy pre booked tickets rather than having to wait in line to buy tickets or the pre booked ones.

DisadvantagesProblems with kiosks are that they can break and make the user have to get someone to help or to fix the machine. This can be a waste of time at the cinemas as you may have to wait longer for someone to come help fix the machine which could take longer than waiting in line. This can slow processes down much more than it can help speed them up.

Kiosks

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DVD’s

A DVD is an optical disk storage format that was invented in 1995. Pre – written DVDs are mass produced by stamping the discs with data these are known as DVD-ROM as data cannot be removed or re written but only read. The most common use of DVD-ROMs is to sell feature films. Blank DVD’s can been used to store data this can range from 4.7GB which is the most common up to 17.08GB which is rather rare. These blank but recordable DVDs are known as DVD-R or DVD+R; these can be used to create DVD-ROM by using a recording device and having the data written onto the blank DVD. There are also some DVDs that be written and the re-written on multiple times these are called DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM.

AdvantagesDVD’s are mainly used for mass production of films and other media. A lot of the profits of films come from the sales of the DVD of that film. They are good ways to hold more content of the film such as playing the film with a running commentary of the actors or producer. Also there is no need to rewind or anything and they are easy to store. You can buy CD wallets that hold many CDs and DVDS in a single case. Films are gradually being updated to blu-ray and high definition as they are going down in price as they are getting more common for people to buy.

DisadvantagesIf the DVD gets scratched it can ruin the whole thing either it not working at all or the film stopping all time when it comes to the scratch. Also there is a big market for selling pirated films which can badly damage the film industry. With so many fake films made it can damage the profits of what films make and can make it so that the company that made them did not make returns on the film they have produced. DVD’s are slowly being bought less and less with the internet and allowing people to stream the film or rent it for the day.

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Cd’s User Generated

CD stands for Compact Disc and is used to store digital data on an optical disc. It was originally made to store and play back data, but was developed further to store data. Even though it has become gradually outdated for data storage as more people are using flash drives and other means of storing data. Standard CDs can hold up to 700mb of uncompressed data and even more when compressed. Pre-written CDs are mass produced to sell music as it can be made so that the discs cannot be re-written or the data removed. Some good points for CD’s are that they are small so they can be stored pretty easily.

AdvantagesThey are easy to store as you can buy a CD wallet that you can place many CD’s in and that can be easy to store as well and easy to keep playing on repeat. They can be used in computers to play music, play games on, and have files that can be installed or to rewrite CDs and store data. They also can be uses in cars to listen to music and used in other technology too.

DisadvantagesThe sales of CDs are declining due to being able to buy music digitally and can be held by mp3s, IPods mobile devices and other devices. Some drawbacks to CD’s are that they can be scratched and stop working. You may have to keep changing you CD to listen to other music rather than it carrying on straight to the next track.

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Mobile DevicesUser generated content is produced by people themselves and is uploaded to the internet or other places. User generated content can be anything as it is what people make, this can be videos, art, music, stories or even just blogging, tweeting or uploading photos to Facebook. YouTube is a great example of user generated content as many people upload videos every day and these can be use from all over the world. YouTube is also a great tool for viral videos to circle the world. There are many website that allow people to post their own content these are website such as ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’, where posting something is called tweeting, ‘YouTube’, where you can find many uploaded videos, ‘Tumblr’ where you can find posts of anything such as pictures, videos, stories, and music. There is also another website called ‘Flickr’ where people who have taken images and edited them post their work. These are all great ways for people to share their work or share their lives or just have fun.

AdvantagesIt is a good way to share photos and videos with family and friends. Or share your hobby with people, it is also a good way for people to create a portfolio which is easily accessible by people looking for talent or user generated content. Many people have become YouTube celebrities by using YouTube to post videos of themselves doing different thins or just doing something they like to do. There is also ways to promote you to the world either singing acting or creating short films to post on websites that allow user generated content to be viewed.

DisadvantagesThere are many problems that come with theses websites such as with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube there is a lot of cyber bullying where people can upload images or videos of people without their permission. Also plagiarism can be easier to do because the image can be used in whichever way once uploaded to the internet.

Mobile devices have increased dramatically in the way people use them and how many people have them, first of all they could only be used to call people when on the go, now you can text, take videos, download apps, store music, videos, and pictures, browse the internet and much more. They have gone from small screens with no color to small HD screens with 720p plus. They can still be used to call and text people from the device but can also use them to download many apps that allow you to stream films, music and other media straight to your device. Some people even have multiple devices for other uses or the same one for the same use. Many mobile phones have camera devices that allow people to record and take photos; they also have features to be able to upload them straight to the internet. They can be sent mobile to mobile in seconds and can be stored on these devices. They can also be used to store music digitally so that you don’t have to carry around a lot of CD’s. Touch screen on phones is increasing much more as there are more games and other apps.

AdvantagesIt is becoming easier to use mobile devices as touch screen is becoming more and more popular. This means people can switch from apps to call and texting with one swipe of a finger. And the devices are getting much better at running apps and other things. Mobiles have become a necessity to people in the modern world as it is hard to get a hold of someone without one. They are quickly becoming much more than a phone; they are a source of entertainment, social networking, with Facebook and Twitter, they can be used for music players and cameras as more recent phones such as the IPhone have 5megapixel cameras making the image quality better.

DisadvantagesThe problem with mobile phones being able to do much more is that the battery life of mobile devices is being used much quicker as the phone can do much more. Most recent phones require charging every night whereas with older phones that do not have touch screen could be charged about once every two days.

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Digital Video Capture

Digital video capture is creating a video and making it into a digital format to either place on the internet or other places such as YouTube or to keep on mobile devices.

AdvantagesVideo capture can now be done by anyone with a phone with a camera or a camera; most people will have something that will be able to capture video in one way or another. Video capture can be done in many different qualities as well by having different mega pixel capture devices. These devices can range in quality the most frequently used is 5 megapixels for camera phones and cam-recorders. With having most people with camera devices it mean a lot more of what happens around the world can be shared over the internet or by sending the data over text or putting it onto a disc. Video capture has become a great way to make yourself a YouTube celebrity by posting video and people sharing them.

DisadvantagesThere are a few disadvantages as the quality of the capture can be that bad that the video is no more than distortion and can’t be understood. There can also be videos taken without consent of the person in the video, then which can be spread throughout the internet. Some of this can be called cyber bulling where people then comment of the video and make fun of the person in the video.

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Compression

Lossy and lossless compressions are two ways to compress a file, image or a video. Lossy compression is when the image is compressed to a smaller file but the quality is very much reduced as the image or video has pixels per inch reduced so that more colours are stretched over more than one pixel. Lossless compression is where the file is reduced but without reducing the quality of the file.

Advantages Lossy compression is a good way to make the file smaller as it greatly reduces the file size. This makes the file much smaller and easier to store, upload to the internet or just takes up less space on a storage device. Lossless compression is a good way to compress a file as the file keeps the quality of the original.

DisadvantagesLossy compression over time can be compressed so much that the image can’t be seen and that the file once compressed will keep losing pixels over time each time the image or video is downloaded and re uploaded making the image quality really bad. For lossless compression the image keeps the quality but keeps the file size much larger than it would with lossy compression.

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Digital File Formats

There are many different Digital file formats which depend of the software which is used to edit or to use the video with. Some of these formats: .mpg, .mp4, .mov, .avi, .wmv, .flv, .swf, .3GP, .ASF.

Advantages

The advantages of having different files types is that it means that there are more ways to play the capture with different software. Also the different files mean that there can more ways to convert the file to larger or smaller file sizes with different qualities. Some may be able to keep the quality and make the file smaller or ways to make it even smaller but lose some of the qualities.

Disadvantages

All these files types may confuse people because that there many different types of software that can be used and some are not compatible with each other, and it may be hard to find compatible software.

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Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is the proportional measurement of width and height; this could be an image or video. The most common aspect ratios are 4:3 which is a standard resolution and 16:9 which is wide screen or high definition.

Advantages

Aspect ratios are good as the image can be really crisp is the resolution of a screen and the aspect ratio match. If a screen uses a 4:3 aspect ratio and the video or image does the video or image will fill the whole screen. This is the same for the 16:9 aspect ratios as well.

Disadvantages

If the aspect ratio and the screen do not use the same ratios such as the image is 16:9 and the screen is 4:3 the image will ‘letterbox’ on the screen. This is where the top and the bottom of the screen have black strips across it. Making it look more like letter box.

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Streaming methods is where data is being sent via the internet, bit by bit. This could be a film or any video. This is currently used on YouTube and a lot of other websites. It can be also used to have a TV players play live TV to your computer or mobile device.

Advantages

An advantage to streaming methods is that you can start to watch the video before it has fully loaded. It allows you to watch the bit you have already received.

Disadvantages

A disadvantage is that it can take a while to load a file if that file is large, making you have to pause the video and wait for it to load more. This could also happen if the file is small but you have a slow internet connection or if the video is being watched by many people.

Media players such as DivX and windows media player allow the user to watch films, listen to music and many media files.

Advantages

The media players allow the user to play music and watch films easily.

Disadvantages

Some media player requires an internet connection or right type of file. So that means that you can’t use all types of file formats with some media players.

Streaming Methods

Media Players