How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

During my research and planning stages, it was necessary for me to include a variety of media types in order to achieve a rounded and detailed idea of the product I hoped to create. It became apparent that my previous knowledge of our documentary style was not extensive enough in order to form a complete and ordered concept. Most of our research material was compiled from video sites such as ‘youtube’ and ‘vimeo’; I also used text based sites such as wikipedia, allowing me to gain a written insight into the concepts and conventions of our media type.Many of our research products possessed their own website, displaying examples of production companies and the pre-production process taking our research further and giving me a concept to creating our final piece. I explored such production companies as ‘princess productions’; the main production company for an australian based mockumentary ‘summer heights high’. Their website conveyed a generalised type of program they pursue, and I felt that our concept would be an appropriate piece for the company to adopt.

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. During my research stages, it was a very helpful device allowing me to view and compare a variety of documentaries and mockumentaries. I was able to explore the typical conventions of this media type, and recognize the changes that I could make for comedic intent. The use of drop down menu showed the diverse and large number of works there are within these media types.

Wikipedia was a very helpful site to use during the research stages of our production. The articles are created by a range of volunteers allowing for a more in depth depiction of the pieces and companies‘ I studied. • Princess Productions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia• The Office (UK TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia• This Is Spinal Tap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here a few examples of the sites I visited to further my research. Some of the headings Wikipedia includes are ‘Reception’ and ‘related works’; these headings allowed me to identify a target audience, and continue my findings into a greater variety of works.

These are the latest editions of ‘empire’ and ‘total film’ magazines. They are the leading products in their field and as research products, I have found them very helpful.

Empire covers all aspects of film and television. It includes reviews, posters, interviews and articles giving an insight into up and coming or present work around the world. On the website, I came across a selection ‘teaser posters’ that the magazine had compiled as particular favourites; however it was also valuable research and inspiration for our production of a teaser poster.31 Stunning Movie Teaser Posters | Features | EmpireThese posters are diverse and interesting, leaving a lot to the imagination yet enforcing an idea as to the themes and mood of the works with the use of colours, font and representation of the characters, objects and settings within.

Within these magazines we also shaped our review structures, incorporating our own images and texts to enforce a legitimate product.

This is the software I used to compose our final track. It is used under a montage of fond memories which enforces a sense of emotion; this I mirrored within the slow tempo, and the use of a solo piano reflects Simons’ lonesome existence. Although this was my first experience with the software, I found it rather easy to use, able to copy and loop particular tracks in order to include key changes, tempo changes, and alter the length of the piece. It was simple to export the piece onto the film by clicking ‘share’, then ‘convert to MP3’; I was then able to move onto a memory stick and upload, and paste on top of our montage.

In Conclusion…• Without this variety of alternative media types, the research and production of our

film would have altered. Although ‘YouTube’ was a very helpful device, our inability to access the site at school restricted the amount of productive research we could produce during lessons. Another device that I did not use, was my mobile phone. Because I am able to access the internet, it was possible for me to update my blog on a regular basis, wherever I was. This integration of media types allowed me to research and produce on the move, however at no point did I take advantage of this device. The widely accessible nature of these media types has moulded and supported my ideas, creating a rounded and justified end result which I am proud of.