evaluation q3

Q4.How did you use technology in the construction and

research, planning and evaluation stages?

By Pablo Ortiz

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Throughout the course I used varies websites to conduct my

research. These websites include Blogger, Survey Monkey,

Facebook and YouTube. My research focused on similar

products and on my target audience.

Blogger

At the start of the year I created my blog on a website called

Blogger. My blog was a place for me to structure, organise

and develop my ideas throughout the course. For example

whenever I struggled with writers block, I would refer back to

my blog and this would help to refresh my mind with new

ideas. Constantly updating my blog was very beneficial as it

gave me a clear vision of how I wanted my trailer to look.


Since Blogger is on the internet, I could access my blog at any given

time and this was very beneficial, the following example illustrates why.

On one of my journeys back home from college, I saw a male teenager

on the bus wearing a dark tracksuit and hoody covering his face(this

made him appear very intimidating). Then I posted about my impression

of this teenager on my blog. This inspired me to dress the antagonist in

my trailer in a tracksuit and in a hoody. Therefore if I didn’t have access

to blogger from my phone, I might have forgotten and not used this idea.

My blog was also a place to store and organise all of my research and

planning. It served as a back up if I lost any of my documents. For

example prior to the first shooting day, I published my shooting schedule

and my time management sheet on my blog just to be on the safe side.


Facebook and Twitter

Social networks are excellent tools used to communicate information around the world. When I was conducting my research I shared my survey on Facebook and Twitter because my target audience are frequently on social networks. Therefore by using Facebook and Twitter my survey was more likely to reach them.

I also used these social networks to be more interactive with my target audience by asking them questions in the comment section. This would stimulate a back and forth conversation filled with new ideas and opinions. By being interactive I gained valuable feedback on my trailer. This feedback let me know what we were doing right with our trailer and what needed to be changed. Therefore I used social networks during the research stage to interact with my target audience. As a result I feel like I understood their opinions about my trailer better.


YouTube

I found 5 trailers on YouTube then I analysed them on my blog. By analysing each trailer, I was able to identify and understand their conventions. For example trailers usually build up to a climax by using an up tempo soundtrack or fast transitions. Understanding these conventions was useful during the planning and construction stage because I knew what my trailer had to contain to satisfy them.

Therefore I used YouTube during the research stage to learn about the conventions of a film trailer.

Survey Monkey

Survey Monkey is a website that allows you to create and share your own surveys.

I used survey monkey to create my survey. I used this survey to learn more about my target audience. For example I learned their favourite fashion brands and their view on psychological thrillers.

CONSTRUCTION

Camera equipment – Canon XF300 and Rode NTG2 boom

mic

I used the Canon XF300 to shoot my footage and the NTG2

boom mic to capture my audio. The canon shot my footage in

high definition, this was beneficial because It captured every

detail of the mise en scene which increased the authenticity of

the setting. However the camera was not easy to travel with

because it was big and bulky which was an inconvenience.

The NTG2 captured my audio really well.

CONSTRUCTION

Macbook-Final Cut Pro

This year I used Final Cut Pro to edit my footage. Using the blade option ( this allows you to trim your footage with more precision) available in Final Cut Pro I was able to make my transitions smoother and more snappier. This made the conversation between the main protagonists in the first scene appear more natural and authentic. I believe that using this blade option was beneficial as it made the relationship between the main protagonists appear more genuine, and as a result this makes the quick shift in their relationship more impactful and confusing on the audience.

On Final Cut Pro I could also change the quality of the audio. After trying out different audio settings I stumbled onto the dialogue setting. I decided to change the audio of my footage from flat to the dialogue setting because the audio became much more clearer and comprehensible. This was beneficial because my audience will be able to understand what my characters are saying, and this is important to understand the trailers narrative.

CONSTRUCTION


I was inspired by the Wolf of Wall Street trailer to add sound

bridges in my trailer. However in order to make the sound

bridges work the timing of the soundtrack had to be precise.

Therefore I also used the blade option to trim the soundtrack

because it provided precision that I needed. After trimming the

soundtrack, I picked out specific scenes of my trailer and then

detach and delete the audio from that scene replacing it with

the soundtrack which created the sound bridge.

By using the blade option, I believe that I achieved the level of

precision needed to execute the sound bridges well. This was

beneficial because it made my trailer appear more layered

which increased the momentum and the impact of the climax

(making the trailer more memorable for the audience).

CONSTRUCTION


As you may have noticed I used a variety of effects in my trailer, these effects included the radical effect (making the screen appear as though it is moving), the graphic effect (turning the footage black and white), the flashback effect ( turning the footage grainy and bright making it appear as a flashback) and the earthquake effect ( making the screen appear as though it is shaking). These effects worked beautifully to make my main protagonists appear mentally unstable which was the main objective. I also used the flashback effect in the first and last scene to make them appear as flashbacks. Final Cut Pro contained many other effects and before I found the effects mentioned above, It felt like I had the creative freedom to play around with different effects. I believe that using these effects was beneficial because they strengthened the narrative of the trailer as well as the character development. In my opinion this makes my trailer more enjoyable because it startles the audience making it unpredictable and spontaneous.

CONSTRUCTION


In conclusion I used Final Cut Pro during the construction

stage to tie up my narrative. I believe that by using effects and

smooth editing it enhanced the quality of the on screen

relationship between the main protagonists. As I mentioned

before I believe that the large array of effects and settings in

Final Cut Pro gave me some creative freedom to experiment

new methods of presenting my narrative. For example

although I had the idea of using a flashback, the flashback

effect on Final Cut Pro solidified this idea.

EVALUATION

During the evaluation stage, I used the presentation websites

Prezi and Slideshare to answer four evaluation questions.

Then I embedded the presentations on my blog. I decided to

use Prezi because instead of posting a written response to

each question on my blog, Prezi felt more interactive and

entertaining. Unlike a written response, the slides on Prezi

shift from side to side. Furthermore you can zoom into

pictures and embed videos in a Prezi presentation which

makes it more interactive.

Prezi had a variety of different templates available so both my

presentations are not aesthetically similar. I used Slideshare

to answer the last two questions, I decided to use Slideshare

because I wanted to break the monotony of just using Prezi. I

found Slideshare to be a simple and elegant website.

evaluation q3

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