Question 4:How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages?

Research: Trailer!We found that the use of the internet, in particular Google, was one of the most helpful tools whilst we were creating all three of our products. For our trailer we used Google to firstly research sub-genres of horror as we were aware that there were some, however, we were unsure of what they were and what they included. We then used this to find examples of some sub-genres so that we could gather a clearer understand of what they were and what typical conventions they had and also of what was expected of them. One of the way we stored this information was through creating a Slideshare as we could select the most important and relevant information and save it so that we wouldn’t need to find it all again.

Research: Trailer Continued!We then looked at the different types of trailers, such as theatrical and teaser, and found out what some of the differences and similarities between them. We used Prezi for this so the information could be stored in an interactive yet informative way. Slideshare and Prezi was also again when we started to analyse trailers. We found that analysing other professional trailers allowed us to see what common conventions they all share and how each sub-genre varies from the rest. Researching other trailers meant that we could see not only how the majority are created but also so we could gather our own ideas and see if there was anything that we could possibly use for ours or adapt an idea slightly to make it work for us.

Research: Trailer continued!Another way to research was to conduct a questionnaire and ask people general questions are their film preferences and in particular their horror film preferences. We done this using Survey Monkey as it meant that we could post it online and a variety of people from different places and backgrounds could complete it which meant that our research would be more general. However, we needed a wide range of people to complete it so we went to Twitter and Facebook and asked people to complete it on there. By doing this it allowed us to instantly access the information and it also doesn’t need the people doing the questionnaire to dedicate much time to doing it.

Research: Poster!Whilst carrying out research for the poster, we also used Google a lot. Once again we found 3 posters and compared them to see what conventions they have and any other similarities and differences. We created a YouTube video summarising these comparisons and used Publisher to analyse them. We also used a Slideshare to compare poster’s codes and conventions.This allowed us to gather a rough idea of what poster’s contain and how we could possibly style ours.

Research: Magazine!

Google was used again to find the conventions that magazines use and also enabled us to learn what each of them meant. We could find images of published magazine front covers to see what common styles they have and how they are planned out. We then used Publisher to analyse another front cover which helped us to understand the layout and design that some magazines follow.

Planning: Trailer!Naturally, throughout the research process we had developed a rough understand of what we wanted to do and already had a few basic ideas for our horror trailer. We used word to create a Risk Assessment as this allowed us to understand our restrictions that we might have so we could start planning realistically. We also used Microsoft Word to create a script for our trailer. However, we hadn’t produced a script before so needed to understand some of the basic things that scripts often contain. To do this we used Google to find some already published scripts, such as Harry Potter, to see how they are laid out. We then used Google to find out some of the things that all scripts contain.

Planning: Poster!We used Microsoft Word to create a flatplan for the poster. This enabled us to understand what features were going to be placed where. We used Google to look at other posters to find what kind of main image they use on their poster. This allowed us to plan what shots we would take which meant that it took less time as when we went out we knew what kind of photos to take.

Planning: Magazine!Once again we used Microsoft Word to create a flatplan for the magazine. However, this was only to give us a rough idea and did change slightly as when constructing it, we felt that it needed to change. We also created a Slideshare so we could explain the proposal. This helped us to think about who we were aiming the magazine at and what their interests would be. Therefore, when constructing the magazine, we could have in mind who our target audience was. By creating the proposal we could have a good idea of what we were going to create before even starting.

Construction: Trailer!

For the trailer we used the basic equipment such as a camera and a tripod. However, the tripod was not always used as we felt that some shots needed to be hand-held to create more tension and unease the audience. Also when we done the point of view shot, we felt that it needed to be hand-held so it could give the correct effect.

Construction: Trailer!We decided to use Premiere pro to edit and create the trailer. We already understood the basics of the program, however, we knew we wanted to reverse the clips but we didn’t know how to do this. In order to learn, we looked on YouTube to find a tutorial, click here to view it. This was quick and easy to do was extremely helpful. We also used Google to get certain images that we required for our trailer such as the green screen that appears at the start. We also used the Paramount logo in our trailer, however, we didn’t want to use the original style of it so used Photoshop to edit it and make it darker to suit the expectations of a horror trailer. Prezi was used once again to explain some of the sound effects used.

Construction: Poster!Whilst creating the poster, we decided to use InDesign as we are familiar with the software and felt that this would be the best tool to use whilst creating the poster. We also used a website called ‘FontSpace’ to get the font for the title ‘Truth or Dare?’. This was because we felt that the fonts that were already on InDesign didn’t meet our requirements of having a horror element to them. By using this font we felt that it filled the stereotypical horror writing style.

Construction: Magazine!We used Photoshop for the construction of the magazine as this allowed us more freedom to make changes and place everything where we wanted. Also we wanted to try and use as many different software's as possible. We carried out a questionnaire after the first draft to get feedback from our possible audience. We then put the results in a Prezi as this summarised them all up and allowed us to look back at the results quickly and easily.

Evaluation:We used Survey Monkey again to gather results about what our possible audience thinks about the trailer. Facebook and Twitter was used to ask people to complete this questionnaire. We then put this information into a Prezi as this is an interactive way to find out what people thought. YouTube has also been used to create a video along with other various sites that allow more audience interaction yet still conveys the information clearly.