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

The Research Stage: Google

When researching facts to include, google was a very very effective tool. Through simple searches such as “Chocolate Facts”, we were given thousands of results giving us useful fact to use in our piece. Also, we found links to the official websites of Cadburys, Galaxy, Fairtrade and similar sites, which again helped us gain more information and a better understanding of what we were looking to achieve in our piece.

Construction: XM2 Camera and wired mic

This was the camera used for the majority of the filming. In conjunction with the tripod, this device was effective for capturing high quality images in order to get the best possible quality. However, the camera at first seriously malfunctioned, resulting in corrupted footage. We at first considered this was a problem with the tape, but through further investigation discovered that in fact the camera was broken, and had corrupted the footage on the tape by showing block lines over the top of the footage when played back. This meant that we were forced to re-film everything we had previously done, and on the second attempt encountered no problems with the XM2. The built in microphone is effective for certain shots, but in areas with a lot of noise using the additional wired microphone is more suitable. This microphone gave us a clearer sound and eliminated unnecessary background audio,Which would have made the recordings a lot less clear.This microphone was easy to connect to the camera andHelped us to get clearer audio as well as the higherQuality pictures provided by the camera.

Construction: Video capturing

The main two ways of capturing our footage were through a tape deck and via transfer cable. However, a deck was not readily available, so our capturing had to be done directly from the camera via PC cable. The footage was captured into premiere pro where it was then ready for editing. There were no problems with the transfer process, and it was an easy to complete task simply by pressing “G” on the keyboard.

Adobe Premiere Pro - Introduction

After capturing, Adobe Premiere Pro was used in order to edit the footage into order. This was done by importing the pre-captured sequences into the window, and then cutting these down further in order to retain the best quality footage. This process helped us to remove all of the unwanted footage, and make decisions as to what footage made the final cut. As you can see in the window, two small windows are open in the programme – One for the footage that is currently being cut, and one for the preview of the finished clip. This was helpful, as it enabled us to view both the final piece and the pieces we were editing in separately. The timeline is the crucial part, and it was important we edited the piece in a running order so we could avoidCluttering the timeline with footage. OnceAll of the footage was in order, we then Moved on to the more specific editing.

Adobe Premiere Pro – Blue Screen

Another very important feature of Premiere Pro is the blue screen feature. Using a chroma key, we removed the blue screen that was used as the background for a shot. Then, we replaced the blue background with a photo relevant to the topic, for example when one of our vox pop candidates was explaining his like for a Cadbury’s Whole Nut, he was doing so with a backdrop of a Whole Nut bar. This feature was used for our opening montage of interviews, and our main interviews were shot with relevant backdrops as opposed to a post edited blue screen background. The whole process of removing the background and replacing it with a picture was a relatively easy process, and Adobe offered all the tools needed to both initially do it and then refine the final result.

Premiere Pro - Issues

Although Premiere Pro is an easy to use tool, we experienced a few issues. When wanting to add extra or improved footage, the entire timeline had to be moved, creating gaps such as the one demonstrated below. However, Premiere Pro made this an easy problem to overcome by offering the “Ripple Delete” feature which removes the gap and closes the timeline. However, we encountered a major problem when trying to export our final piece. The dialog box on the right prevented us from initially saving the work, and upon clicking “continue” the programme would freeze and force a close. The problem was however eventually resolved and the file exported.

Evaluation Stage: Powerpoint

As clearly evident, Microsoft Powerpoint was an effective tool in answering this

particular question, as I was easily able to explain my points in an effectively

presented format. Powerpoint is extremely easy to use and helped me to present my

ideas as I intended to.

Evaluation Stage: Samsung ES75 Camera and “The Radio Room”

When answering one of my evaluation questions, I used a camera to record myself answering the question. It was easy to use, and produced a good quality image with a decent, clear sound quality. Another question I answered was recorded in the college’s Radio Room. The high quality recording equipment enabled me to produce a clearly understandable sound. The recording equipment includes a high quality microphone, mixing desk and the “audacity” software. This setup was very helpful as it provided an easy to use system with high quality results.

Audacity was an extremely useful tool in editing the recorded voice pieces from the evaluation, as well as for recording the voiceover anradio advert. It enabled quick but precise editing in a user friendly setup. The simple buttons, shown right,Were simple to understand and allowed us to record,Play, fast forward, pause and rewind.

Ancillary texts: PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop CS5 was an extremely useful tool in constructing the print advert, as well as making the overlay for the radio advert. The tools are simple to use and allowed high quality images to be edited. We implemented a Channel 4 logo, Channel 4 style graphics and also removed the background to make it all white using the magic wand tool. We attempted to adhere to the stylistic aspects of conventional channel 4 advertisements, such as the one in example (a), and so added he simple titles, small “4” logo and the clear background, as shown on our print advert (b).

A

B

How to create a print advert

This is the starting image with the blue screen. This needs to be removed.

Removal of the blue screen

Using the magic wand tool, the background was removed and replaced with white. TheTool made itEasy to Remove theMajority of The blue, But the lassoTool was Required toRefine it.

Addition of the channel 4 logo

Using the copy and paste function, a black channel 4 logo was implemented. This was Then editedUsing the Render toolTo make itRed, whichFitted in With our ColourScheme.

Addition of the block titles

The block titles were then added. Using the shape tool, black rectangles wereAdded to The piece.These formedThe back ofThe text Which wasAdded usingThe text tool.

The finished piece

Audience Feedback - Facebook Using the social medium

of facebook, asked for feedback. We posted our final pieces on the site an received comments. However, some were unconstructive so we sought feedback from other mediums, such as people watching our documentary and giving feedback. These interviews were recorded on a handheld camera.

Presenting the work - Blogger

Blogger is an effective blogging site which allows a free setup and easy to use interface. Posts were created easily and quickly which allowed an easy and impressively presented medium of sharing information. Implementing youtube videos and pictures was also easy to do and simple.