1. Q4 - HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

2. RESEARCH AND PLANNING Throughout the Advanced Production I have used media technologies ranging from the basic software of Microsoft Word to the more advanced software’s of Photoshop and IMovie. All the software’s that I have used throughout this production have had a huge impact on my final products and how they were made. Media technologies have helped through the early stages of the advanced production when doing my research and planning. When researching real horror productions, the everyday media technologies such as the Internet and Microsoft word had helped me gather information and ideas about the codes and conventions and the type of camera angles would be the best to use when portraying the genre that I was working with.

3. Technologies such as YouTube have also helped me present some of my work when doing the audience research. This is a piece of technology that I have used to present my work and that I have used as an effective way of displaying my work. When doing audience research, I feel that this is where I had used the most media technologies to carry out my research in real media texts, but also techniques such as interviews and questionnaires. When making the questionnaires I used the technology of Microsoft word, as I did with the research into real media texts. But when creating the survey for my audience research I used the Internet to get a broader range of answers from people I didn’t know. I felt like this was an effective way of using technology to gather information that I needed to create final products that my target audience were happy with and products that included features that would interest people of that age range.

4. When planning for my final products I used similar technologies to those of the research stage. The research that I had carried out had help with the planning of my productions, as I knew what my target audience wanted from a new horror production, but also whether my idea suited the people I was aiming it at. The technologies I had used when planning for the final products were the basic technologies, that I had only used to present my work. My work at this stage was mainly on paper and Microsoft word. To get a digital version of my work to present on Word press I had to scan the paper copies of my plans onto my computer to then upload onto my website. This was a process that I was familiar with and therefore able to do correctly.

5. CONSTRUCTION I also used media technologies when capturing the images and filming for the trailer. When taking the images for the ancillary tasks I used my Digital SLR Camera, so that they would look a bit more professional, as to what they would have if they were taken on a mobile phone. When taking these images I knew what settings and aperture to have the camera on so that the outcome would have the right amount of light to make it look like an image from a horror movie. The technology that I used when filming the trailer, was my video camera. Looking back I feel that the quality of the footage could have been better and where I was filming could have had better lighting so the camera could have recorded without having trouble focusing.

6. The two main pieces of technologies used within the construction are Photoshop and IMovie. As I was already confident using both pieces of software, I was able to use them to create three decent horror products that all work well together and is something that my target audience would enjoy. The media technologies that I had used for the three final products, I feel were the most complex and difficult to use. For example I had to re familiarise myself with IMovie after not using it for a few years. When making the ancillary tasks the only piece of software that I had used to create these pieces were Photoshop. Photo Shop being the main piece of digital technology I have used for the ancillary tasks, I felt that it was the most effective piece for the task of creating a magazine cover and poster, as I already was confident with the software. When making the ancillary tasks in photo shop I knew the tools and effects that I could put on my images to create two products that have a strong link to horror.

7. Another piece of Media technology that used to create one of my three products was IMovie. As this was another piece of technology that I was already confident with I was again able to add the effects that I knew would resemble the genre of the trailer. For example on parts of the trailer I was able to desaturate the footage to create a darker atmosphere across the trailer. I was also able to add other features such as text, which is of the same font as the two ancillary tasks, to create a link between the three productions across the advanced production.

8. EVALUATION Within the evaluation I have also used a variety of Media technology to present my work. The main piece of technology that I have used not only in the evaluation but also across the entire production is word press. The use of word press has allowed me to present my work in many ways and one that I have used when presenting my work is an online software called Prezi. This Media technology has allowed me to present my work in a different format to what I had one the previous question. That piece of technology had allowed me to create a different type of presentation using a different media platform. I think that this way of presenting my work was effective for what I was trying to achieve at this stage in the production. I also used the media technology of video to present my response to one of the questions. This was another way that I felt was effective, as I was able to add in quotes from my feedback and display them on the video, which I personally feel was a more effective way of getting the point across. This video being one of my responses I feel that it has enhanced the range of media technology used not only in the evaluation stages, but also across the production as a whole.

9. For the first time across the production I used Microsoft PowerPoint as a media technology that could present my work. This being a completely different type of presentation compared to one that I had previously in the evaluation stages I felt that this was another effective way that I could use a presentation to present my response to the evaluation. The media technology of Word press has allowed me to present my work in many different ways across my entire production. The use of media technology has helped me through all stages of my production, starting with the research and planning, through to the construction and the evaluation. It has allowed me to do in depth research and allowed me to present my work in many different ways, including the basics of Microsoft word and power point through to the more complex of using internet software’s such as Prezi.