QUESTION 4 – HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION, RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION

STAGES?

Todd Lillis

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

• In the beginning of the coursework we started by mapping out ideas without the use of media technologies, e.g. mind mapping on paper, and listing any topics that we wanted to cover. When we came to planning the documentary, we also used storyboards and listing to gather ideas rather than using any media technologies.

• When researching the topic we chose, the internet was the most important resource to us, as we could find anything we wanted.

• We used internet explorer at college, and at home I used an Asus laptop with windows 7 and Google Chrome.

• Websites such as The Guardian, BBC and YouTube became extremely useful in picking out stories that we could use to gather figures on how many people are effected by cyber bullies.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING…

• In addition to researching the topic, we also had to research into TV channels to find which one our documentary would suit best. To do this we looked at several websties including; BBC Three, Channel 4, Sky and ITV.

• When it came to researching other documentaries, we used BBC iPlayer, 4od and ITV Player to watch them. Using these services provided by the websites gave us access to which documentary styles the channels seemed to prefer to host.

• For older documentaries that weren’t on the iPlayer, ITV Player and 4od, we used YouTube as there is always somebody who uploads DVD’s and Videos.

BLOGGER

• We used blogger to keep a track record of where we were and when we completed either a piece of work or found something to help us we uploaded it to the blog to keep track of it.

• Blogger was an important part of our research and planning and my evaluation because everything we had done and completed was there for me to refer to.

CONSTRUCTION – FILMING THE DOCUMENTARY

• We filmed the documentary on a Canon HD camera with a manual focus ring on the front. We found this very useful when we wanted un-focused or into-focus shots.

• When recording vox pops and interviews we mounted the camera to a tripod to keep the shot steady. This helped to make the shots look clearer and more professional.

• We used a directional microphone when we were interviewing so that we could get high quality sound, we also had to make sure the microphone didn’t appear in any shots.

• To make sure the sound was clear and good for the documentary the person monitoring the camera used a set of headphones.

• All equipment was tested before any interviews and set up so that we didn’t encounter any difficulties or errors.

CONSTRUCTION - EDITING

• After we filmed footage we plugged the camera into the college Apple Mac and transferred it into a folder belonging to our group.

• Then opening Final Cut Pro we had to use log and transfer to place it onto the timeline to edit the documentary together.

CONSTRUCTION - EDITING

• The next step for us was to pick and order the clips that we wanted to use, this meant filtering through and deleting clips due to failure or lack of good standard.

• Using Final Cut Pro meant that we could place effects onto the clips such as text over lays and cross dissolves making transitions smooth and effective.

CONSTRUCTION – SOUND LEVELS

• Making sure the sound levels were correct was a vital part of the editing process as without editing them the documentary would have sounded far from professional.

• The way we did it was by making sure that, the interviews, background music and the voiceover were all at suitable levels for the listeners.

• To do this we had to play around with the pink velocity line to increase/decrease the decibels to find an accurate and appropriate level.

EVALUATION

• I used PowerPoint, Slideshare, Microsoft Word, Scriibd and Prezi throughout the stages of my evaluation. I did this to show that I understand how to use different types of software and so that my answers to the 4 questions would be boring.

• For the uploading process I first uploaded my PowerPoints to SlideShare and copied the embedding into blogger. I did the same with Prezi, by creating it online aftter finishing I copied the embedding and placed it into a post on blogger.