Q4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Rhiannon Wynn A2 media

Sony HXR – MC2000E HD Solid state broadcast Camera

• In the research and planning stages of our documentary, we used this camera to collect some still images around he college performing arts department as a way to get inspiration for the theme and content of our documentary. The images were of an extremely high quality and allowed us to consider using them later on in the production of our documentary or poster. We also practiced filming by using his camera, during the planning stages, to help us get used to the camera and know how to use it.

• In the construction stages, we used this camera to film all of our footage, the fact that the camera is HD meant that we could collect high quality footage to help us create a professional looking documentary. The camera also has a touch screen which helped us to find and look through all of the footage we had filmed easily. This also meant that we could watch back our footage there and then, meaning that we could do more filming if it was not to a high standard, instead of being stuck with bad footage. The camera also came with an attachable boom microphone which we used when filming our b-roll footage.

• In the evaluation stages, we used this camera to film our audience feedback, this allowed high quality footage to ensure that we had a good record of what our audience thought of our documentary. We also used this camera to take more dance related photos to upload to our blogs to create a multimedia evaluation with high quality examples of how we used this technology.

• On this camera we made frequent use of the zoom and focus tools, this ensured that we captures useful footage that was in focus and the right size for our documentary. The zoom also helped us to use different camera shots and ensure that we had a variety in our documentary as a way to showcase our skills, and make our piece more interesting.

Tripod• In the research and planning stages of our documentary we used the tripod when

taking our stills and practice footage. Tripods are used by professional film makers to ensure hat they collect steady images and footage, as a result of using a tripod we collected steady and professional looking images that helped us when thinking about the production of our documentary.

• In the construction stages of our documentary we used a tripod when collecting most of our footage as it ensured that our footage was steady and professional, this also allowed us to place the camera at a specific height so that we could fit everything we needed on the screen. However, we did not use this piece of equipment for all of our footage, at some points we placed the camera on our shoulders or the floor to get the footage that we needed, this was because the tripod was large and sometime impractical.

• In the evaluation stages, I used this tripod to collect images for my evaluation so that I had professional looking images to use in my evaluation to show that I know how to use the equipment, and also to accompany what I had written.

Dell Inspiron Computers• Throughout the research and planning stages we used these computers to research our

topic, we used the internet to collect facts and statistics about dance that we could potentially use in our documentary, but also so that we knew what ideas to focus on when creating our piece. We also used Adobe Premiere Pro which is installed on these computers to create our documentaries, so the computers were in constant use during this task.

• During the construction stage of our documentary, we used these computers to create our documentary. We used software such as Premier Pro, Adobe Photoshop , Firefox, Microsoft Office and blogger. Without these computers we would not have been able to access the internet or this software, so they were essential, especially in the construction stage because without the computers we would have had no way of creating our products. The computers have large monitors that give a good quality picture, this meant that we could consider the quality of our documentary and it also meant that we were able to get a good idea of what our documentary would look like if it were on TV, meaning we were able to create a professional quality product.

• In the evaluation stages we used these computers mainly to access blogger and to look over what we had created, all of our footage and images were stored on these computers so we had easy access to it all, this ensured that we would be able to evaluate them effectively. We used blogger to create both the evaluation, but also other posts to document what we were doing in terms of creating the documentary.

Clip Microphones • During the research and planning stages we didn’t use clip microphones often, however, when

collecting practice footage, we filmed an interview where we used a clip microphone, this helped us to capture much clearer sound and showed us the benefit of using clip microphones if we wanted to achieve something professional. We also used clip microphones when creating the preliminary documentary, this helped me get used to using this particular piece of equipment and taught me how to properly film an interview if I wanted good results.

• During the construction stages, we used the clip microphones when filming all of our interviews, this was so that the voices of the interviewees were clear and loud, but also that there was less background noise and interference. Real documentaries used clip microphones for interviews so we wanted to get our piece as close to a real documentary as possible. We also used these microphones when recording the voice over for both the documentary and the radio advert, this ensured good sound quality so that it sounded as if it had been recorded in a studio, this helped to create a professional feel and improved the overall sound quality of our documentary.

• During the evaluation stages, we used the clip microphones to collect our audience feedback, this was so that we would be able to clearly hear how our audience reacted to our documentary, so that we could answer Question 3 to a high standard. I also made use of a clip microphone for question 2 as I created a director commentary, this helped to improve the sound quality of the commentary , however, it was a different clip microphone to the ones provided by college and did not produce the same quality of sound

Boom Microphones• During the research and planning stages we used boom microphones when

collecting our practice b-roll footage. This helped us to collect footage that we would most likely remove the sound from, but we still had the option to keep the sound as it was still high quality. We also used a boom microphone when creating the preliminary documentary so that we collected footage that had good quality.

• During the construction stages we used boom microphones to ensure that we had b-roll footage with a decent sound quality. We also used a boom microphone when filming our vox-pops as it meant we had good sound, but also we didn’t have time to attach clip microphones to the people we asked to do our vox-pops as they were only short interviews.

• During the evaluation stage we didn’t use the boom microphone as we had already collected all of our footage.

USB Transfer Cables• During the research and planning stage of creating our documentary we

used USB transfer cables to transfer our preliminary footage from the camera and onto the computer, this helped us to sort through all of our footage and pick out which clips we were going to use. We also used these cables to upload still images that we took on the camera onto the computer so that we could view them on a larger screen and take inspiration from them.

• During the construction stage we used USB transfer cables to upload all of the footage we collected onto the computers so that we could import them to Adobe Premiere Pro so that we could begin editing our footage together to create the documentary.

• During the evaluation stages I used USB transfer cables to transfer any documents that I needed for my blog onto the computers, this meant that I had several copies of my work to ensure I didn’t lose anything.

Adobe Premiere Pro• During the research and planning stages we used Adobe Premiere Pro to create our

preliminary documentary, this software helped us to edit together and cut our footage easily. Using this software in the planning stages helped us to get used to the software so we were able to use it effectively when creating our final documentary.

• During the construction stage, we constantly used Premiere Pro to create our documentary. This allowed us to use footage, music tracks, stills, and archive footage together, but also allowed us create professional results, we made use of all of the video and audio tracks so that we could do things such as create an interview that also incorporated b-roll footage and played a music track underneath, this meant that we could make our documentary more complex and interesting than if we used a different software.

• During the evaluation stages, Adobe Premiere Pro was used so that I could create a video and edit it, and add pictures and music to answer question 2. This ensured that I created a video that answered the question in the most complex way, showing that I know how to use media software effectively. I also used Premiere to edit the audience feedback video, this meant that all of the unnecessary parts of the video could easily be cut out and I could also make adjustments to the sound quality to ensure that I could hear what the audience had to say about our documentary.

Adobe Premiere Pro - Tools • To create our documentary we used a variety of tools to ensure that we got the best

results possible on our final piece.• For the sound quality, we used the fill left tool, this meant that if someone was

watching the documentary using earphones, the sound would come out of both instead of just the right earphone. Ensuring that the sound was as good as it could be. We also adjusted the sound level on some of the audio tracks. For example, we brought the music tracks down and the interview and voice over audio up, this ensured that the interviewee and voiceover could be heard at all times.

• For the video footage we used the tool to adjust the brightness and contras on most of the clips, this was so that we had good quality footage that was not too dark, this also meant that if we were filming in rooms that were not well lit, we could just use this tool to improve the look of the footage and make it look much more professional.

• We also used effects such as the zoom and fade, these effects made our footage more interesting. We used the zoom on the titles so the title zooms out toward the audience, this gives it an interesting and fun effect that would appeal to the audience, as it is something different to standard and boring shots.

• We also used the text tool to create the writing for the graphics. This tool in combination with Photoshop helped us to create interesting and professional looking graphics that fit in well with the theme of our documentary.

Adobe Premiere Pro – Screen Shot

Where all of the footage clips are stored.

All of the different video and audio tracks that can be used to create our documentary.

Shows the clip that you are currently working on

Shows the whole piece/ all of the edited footage.

All of the tools and effects.

Photoshop CS5• During the research and planning stages of the documentary, we used

Photoshop to create ideas for our documentary graphics, such as this one;

• During the construction stages, we used Photoshop to create our newspaper advert and all of the graphics for our documentary. We also used Photoshop to edit all of the stills we took so that they looked more professional and clear.

• During the evaluation stages I used Photoshop to edit all of the images that I used for my blog, I used the brightness and contrast tools to make the images brighter and more professional.

Photoshop - tools• For our documentary graphics we used the paint tool to create a black rectangle that

our text would appear on, we then used a brush tool in the shape of a star, we coloured this brush in a silver/gray so that it stood out against the black background and also fit in with the performance kind of theme . We then chose a black and white picture from Google and used the quick select tool to cut around the image, which we then added to the black rectangle.

• For the poster we chose a still from the documentary, firstly we put the photo in negative to make the pointe shoes black instead of pink, this made them stand out on the poster. We then uploaded an overlay onto the image and put it behind the photo, this gave the effect of stage lights, which again fit with the theme of our documentary. We then added three white rectangles in the left hand corner of the screen and used the text tool to add the text, we chose a font that was closest to the channel 4 font and put it in black so that it stood out against the white background. We then got a channel 4 logo of Google Images and used the lasso tool to cut the logo out, and then we coloured it in white to match the text boxes.

Photoshop – Screen Shots

Firefox MP4 Downloader• During the research and planning stages we used Firefox MP4 downloader

to download all of the videos that we felt we could use for archive footage, this was so we had them stored on the computers and we knew where to find them so that didn’t have to search for it all during the construction stage. We also used this to download all of the music that we were thinking about using, again, so that we had them all in the same place and didn’t have to search for them later on.

• During the construction stage we used the Firefox MP4 downloader to download any other footage that we needed off YouTube. An example of this is the dancers on the title. We decided that we wanted to do something unique so we downloaded two video clips of dancers on an green screen to use on our titles, by using the Firefox MP4 downloader.

• During the evaluation stage, I used the Firefox MP4 downloader to download the documentary and radio trailer, that I uploaded to YouTube, onto the computer do that I could post them on the blog. I also used this to download the video and director commentary for question 2 and 3 of my evaluation so that I could easily post them onto my evaluation on blogger.

Microsoft PowerPoint• During the research and planning stage we used PowerPoint to

create some of our initial plans and ideas, for example I created some brainstorms and displayed them on a PowerPoint, this shows how I used different software to display my work.

• During the construction stage I used PowerPoint to document some of the work I had done and to keep track of the filming and editing that we had done so that I could keep up to date with it.

• During the evaluation stages I used PowerPoint to create the answer to question 4 – to show that I could use different media technologies to display my work.

Google Images

• During the research and planning stages we used Google images to look at photo’s of dance classes and dancers. This gave us inspiration and helped us to establish what kind of things we wanted to film and include in our final documentary.

• In the construction stage, we used Google images to collect the image of a dancer that appears on our graphics and also the overlay that is seen on the title of our documentary and the newspaper advertisement.

• During the evaluation stage I used Google Images to find images of other channel 4 posters that I could compare our poster to, and also to show how most posters follow the same conventions.

YouTube• During the research and planning stages we used YouTube to research other dance

documentaries to give us inspiration for our piece, we also looked through some possible archive footage and music for our final documentary. We also uploaded the preliminary documentary onto the blog so that we could easily access it and upload it onto blogger.

• During the construction stages I used YouTube to collect all of the archive footage that we used for our documentary, this was a good place to get our footage from because it was easily accessible and had a wide range of footage that we could think about using. We also used YouTube to find and collect all of the music for our documentary, after searching a wide variety of songs we narrowed it down to a few that we thought would reflect our theme the best. We also used YouTube for our overlays. During the opening titles of our documentary, we used overlays to give our documentary a ‘music video’ feel, and we collected all of our overlays off YouTube.

• During the evaluation stages, I used YouTube to collect video to put on my blog to show which videos we included in the blog and also the videos that we collected to give us inspiration. I also uploaded the documentary and the radio trailer onto YouTube so that I could easily upload them onto my blog. Also I uploaded both the video for Question 2 and the commentary for Question 3 onto YouTube so that I could easily upload them onto my blog.

Blogger• During the research and planning stages we used blogger to

document all of our initial plans and research, we created posts for all of our brainstorms and storyboards so that they were all in one place and easy to find. This meant that we could look back over all of our plans when constructing the documentary and know where we were up to and what we had to film.

• During the construction stages we used blogger to look over all of our research and also to update our posts to document what we were doing .we also uploaded all three of our final products onto blogger.

• During the evaluation we used blogger to post all of the work we had done on the documentary and the evaluation.

Barnum’s Dance Website• During the research and planning stages we used this website to collect

information about dance and the kind of dance products that are on sale, this gave us an idea of what kind of documentary we were going to make and helped us to decide that we wanted to discuss the growing popularity of dance.

• During the construction stage we used this website as a way to contact the store as we wanted to conduct an interview in the store. We also thought that it would be a good place to collect some b-roll footage as they have a variety of products that we could film to outline how much dance has grown in popularity.

• During the evaluation stages we didn’t use this website as they contacted us telling us that they were not willing to let us film in their store. Having collected all of the information that we could from this website we had no further use for it.

SlideShare• During the research and planning stages we used SlideShare to upload

PowerPoint's’ that contained any of our initial ideas and brainstorms. By uploading them to SlideShare they were much easier to put on the blog as I just had to embed the URL onto blogger. I also created a PowerPoint to analyse a documentary on ‘The Simpson's’ which I uploaded to SlideShare and then embedded to blogger.

• During the construction stages we created some PowerPoint's to document some of our ideas and decisions so that we knew what we were going to film and how we were going to edit it all together. We then uploaded these to SlideShare so that we could easily embed them onto blogger.

• During the evaluation stage I created this PowerPoint to answer question 4, I then uploaded it onto SlideShare so that I could easily post it onto my blog.