Evaluation of G324 A2 Advanced Portfolio

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

and evaluation stages?

Planning…Throughout the construction of our teaser trailer and

its ancillary texts, we used various mediums that helped us complete our coursework. These included software programs and websites.

We first began our ideas on paper, then we transferred our them onto Microsoft Word – a word processing software that allows the construction and distribution of printable material.

We used it to keep our work neat and safe, and to make it easier to distribute the notes we had written, as opposed to hand writing multiple copies, and in the event of a loss, we would always have a copy backed-up.

…ResearchOnce we had an idea, we took to the internet to

find more ideas. We were familiar with a site named Google, which helped us search for sites that had information on topics such as: the horror genre, the basics of special effects make-up, horror films, etc. We found Google to be very useful because it gave us many ideas and also had information on our topics of choice.

Google is a web based search engine that enables one to find information on the world wide web (www).

…Google

When we were editing our magazine front cover, we used Google images to find an issue of EMPIRE so that we could crop the masthead and place it on our magazine.

We used Google when we were browsing for royalty free scores. As a result, we were redirected to a website called ‘incomptech’.

…YouTube

…WikipediaWhile on Google, we were frequently directed to Wikipedia - an online encyclopaedia of information contributed by users of the Wikipedia community. We used Wikipedia because it had pages on ALL of the information we were looking for. When searching for a theme, we used Wikipedia to research more about the horror genre, dream catchers and their origins, supernaturalism, witchcraft, etc.

When browsing information about horror films, we also saw reliable information about their plots, box office figures, production budgets, cast & crew information, etc.

…Flickr•Once we decided what we were going to, we got about starting the construction of our ancillary texts. We started searching for images of the dream catchers, using Google and Yahoo! images. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful as they both didn’t have exactly what we were looking for.

•We then came across Flickr – a photo sharing site where users post pictures online to show their art on the world wide web. We saw some very good examples of dream catchers which inspired us to begin drafting our ancillary texts. They were all placed in beautiful settings with beautiful backgrounds and they all looked similar to what we wanted our poster and magazine to look like.

…ProductionOnce we completed our research, we then started taking

some shots for our poster and magazine front cover.We used a still digital camera, with the use of some

professional lighting to give it that extra edge. We had to ensure that the characters were standing within shot and we had to be weary not to capture any props or the outer frames of our black drop.

We wanted focus to remain on the characters and the characters alone. The lighting had to be perfect or else they pictures wouldn’t have come out clear.

We had to ensure that everyone was placed appropriately in the shot so that they could be seen clearly.

…Production

We took our pictures for our ancillary text, however, we couldn’t use all of them because we took pictures of the rails and the walls and other mistakes, as you’ll see above in the picture to the far right. We did take some good shots though, as you’ll see with the first two. We learned a lot taking pictures, about positioning, lighting, etc.

…ConstructionOnce we took our pictures, we began by first

constructing our magazine cover. We used Adobe Photoshop CS3, a

sophisticated software program that allows one the ability to manipulate an image, thus achieving a feat they cannot without such groundbreaking technology.

Photoshop allowed us to create our magazine. It had many settings that helped us turn an ordinary A4 canvas into a magnificent A* worthy magazine front cover.

…Adobe Photoshop Using Photoshop, we were able

to construct the Empire masthead. We found a copy of Empire magazine on Google images, then we used the lasso tool in Photoshop to cut around the EMPIRE masthead on the real magazine and then we were able to transfer it onto our work. We then used the shadow feature to give it that orange glow. We also used the shadow feature on the poster to give the title somewhat of a smoke/ghost effect.

Similarly, we used the same technique to cut out the mask that was placed atop the masthead. We used the lasso

tool to cut face of the hooded figure from our poster which we then resized to fit as a logo in between the “world exclusive” cover line.

We were able to implement an orange, black and white colour scheme with the help of Photoshop. We were even able to move the image to find space to fit all the cover lines on the far right. Usually they surround the main image, however we challenged this convention and placed them at the far right.

We also airbrushed the images to give them a more crisp and professional look.

…Da FontWe used an external website

called Da Font to download some royalty free text we used on the magazine front cover. We used the text for the main cover line that reads: “Use With Caution”; we downloaded royalty free fonts on a website called Da Font. We chose that particular font because we liked the fact that it looked very ‘cursed’. It reminded us of text you would normally

associate with voodoo and witchcraft.

We chose the red because it connotes danger and uncertainty which is what is going on in our film – Melody expects the unexpected.

…Completed Ancillary TextsFilm Poster Magazine Front Cover

…ConstructionOnce we completed the construction of our

ancillary texts, we used Photoshop to transform the document from a from a larger photoshop document (.psd) format to a (.jpeg) format. jpeg’s are smaller and it is a format that can be read by Blogger and is also much smaller than a psd and thus easier to save. You still maintain quality, but you reduce size!

We then set about starting our teaser trailer. We had researched everything we needed with the help of our own minds and external sources including: Google, Wikipedia and Flickr.

…ProductionWe then began filming our teaser trailer using a digital camera.

We also brought along our tripod, track, still digital camera and some make-up.

We used YouTube to browse for some make-up tutorials, and I even got in touch with some “youtubers” for specific help with our make-up. Their tutorials proved very difficult so we ended up just smearing some fake blood on our actresses hands and filming that instead. It still came out fine so we were still pleased with our efforts.

We used Sony digital cameras to film our trailer. Although they’re not the ones used in the industry, they were the next best thing. Such technologies makes it easier for ordinary media consumers to become media producers. Instead of just watching, we can now produce and freely distribute on such channels as: youtube, metacafe, daily motion, etc.

…ProductionWhen filming, we had to be aware of many constraints that would

hinder the quality of the video. We had to make sure that we always rolled in and out of shots so that it would be easier to cut when editing.

We had to ensure that our filming was steady when appropriate and one fundamental factor we failed was to ensure that props were out of sight. Unfortunately, there was a crucial shot that we couldn’t use because there were tracks in the shot which didn’t make the teaser look nice as one would easily notice it and you the examiner would mark us down, so instead we changed it and made the previous shot a blackout.

We had to be aware of light, especially in the candle scene. We had to ensure that the curtains were closed tightly and that the little light from the candle was enough to capture everything.

In the forest scene, it was snowing so we had to always ensure that the lens was water free and we had to use extra measures to keep it dry and warm.

…Production

We made a few errors during our filming, however, we learned many new things as well, and the end result was very satisfying indeed. Once we completed our shooting, we set about getting our work edited…

…Final Cut Pro Once we commenced our filming, we used final cut pro to edit our teaser. Firstly we used the ‘log and capture’ feature to get the necessary shots to

be edited into the teaser. We then used a few of them to then create the teaser.

We changed the transitions and included some fades and dissolves instead of just straight cuts throughout. We wanted to give our teaser that edge, to differentiate it from other common teasers.

We also added text into the teaser using another software called ‘Live Type’, which allowed one to create real-time text that could be placed in any moving media. We used it to create the opening text at the beginning of the teaser – informal pictures. We also used it at the end to create the “10.10.10” and the “Dreamcatcher” title at the end.

Also, we added some music to our teaser trailer. As we were not allowed to use copy righted music, we had to Google ‘royalty free score’ and thankfully we were redirected to a website called Incomptech, which had 1000s royalty free scores that could be downloaded for free. We downloaded a few of their scores which we then used at numerous points during the teaser trailer.

…Blogger•As part of the requirements of our coursework, we were to post all our work on Blogger. Blogger is a blog sharing site where users can post daily blogs that can be read by others or privately used as a diary.•Blogger was somewhat similar to a website, except that it was quick and easy to post blogs once we completed pieces of work. We used Blogger as a diary, posting regular updates on work we had done.•We were also able to post some pictures, embed you tube links, upload videos and embed a PowerPoint document onto our blog. It was all quick and easy to understand - It didn’t come with similar complications that are involved in creating, updating and maintaining websites.•Unfortunately, our control was limited so we couldn’t customize the blog the way we wanted; we had to leave the default Blogger setting…sorry about that!

…EvaluationIn the evaluation stage, I

decided to do a PowerPoint presentation with the aid of a website called slideshare.

Slideshare is a website that allows users to upload PowerPoint slides that can then be viewed by others. They also have an embed feature which meant I could

embed it onto Blogger where it could subsequently be viewed.

I also used the youtube embed feature to support some of my points in some of my evaluation questions.