Evaluation; Activity 4

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

YouTube: we used YouTube to upload our videos onto the internet. This allowed our friends to watch our product and give their opinions, so we could make improvements, as we are all within the target audience, it was really useful to hear what they thought of the different elements we put into our trailer. Using YouTube allowed us to send links to our friends and ask their opinion as we went through the editing process.
YouTube also allows us to easily upload clips onto our blogs, keeping them updated with all vital information regarding our production process.

Adobe Premiere Elements 10: we used this software to edit our piece because it is the best software available to us, and is often used by professionals; this allows us to get a real feel of what editing is like on a professional level. The software allowed us to explore many option and even though we haven’t used a great deal of the special effects, we have gained greater understanding of what works within our genre and how to work such software, which are transferable skills.

Adobe allowed us to be precise when cutting our clips, ensuring the trailer flows well and continuity is maintained. This ensured that match on action matched perfectly and made the trailer appear more real, increasing the sense of horror.
It also allowed us to manipulate the contrast and lighting allowing us to reinforce the idea of horror, keeping audiences on the edge and making the trailer more satisfying, as it meets their needs. We could make some shots darker and others lighter making them all more coherent and so more effective. Editing is really important for horror films as in the past they have been known for their over the top special effects and overly dramatized camera angles and shot transfers. Recently however horror films have used special effects to make clever transitions making the film seem more real and more terrifying, we have gone down this route, as over the top gore is dated and less effective nowadays. We used clip duration tools to slow down some of the scenes to create a feel of blind panic, speeding some up to make the audience’s heart rates increase.
The software also allowed us to add our non-diegetic music easily and time it to fit in with the pace and beat of the clips, we could also edit the sound of each different clip to make sure that it flowed smoothly.
We used it to add our titles as well, which was good because it made it easy for us to fit them in to our trailer where they are most effective. We used fonts that link in with our poster and magazine cover as well.
The software allowed us to faded to black into our titles and between shots making the trailer more effective and helping us slow the pace. The fades to black made our trailer look more professional and allow our shots to have more of an effect on the audience.

Photoshop: we used this to create our film titles, magazine cover and film poster. We chose Photoshop as it has the biggest range of functions, allowing us to play around with designs, so we could find the most effective combination. We used the effects to make it black and white, so it was simple but eerie to match the actual font.

Photoshop’s various layers and functions allowed us to make effective magazine cover and posters, as they were made on the same software we could build links between all three of our products creating a collective identity.
The different tools allowed us to colour, size and edit the different elements so they fitted together and went with the theme of the overall look.

Camera: We used the schools camera to do our filming, this meant that the camera was already set up to match the Adobe software, ensuring the resultant clips are the best they could possibly be. We chose to do this because; having used the schools camera previously in media (our preliminary task) we had good understanding of the ins and outs of the settings. We knew how to play around with the focus and contrasts finding what fit our scenes best.  We have had previous experience of what lighting works best to give us clear shots and slightly pixelated shots to convey the idea of being isolated and cut off from everyone else.
On some of the shots the camera didn’t provide the greatest resolution, however it was the best camera available to us at the time of filming.

Tripod: We used the tripod to stabilize and elevate the camera, ensuring our shots matched in height and angle, to make sure we maintained continuity. Tripods reduce camera shake making sure we achieved maximum sharpness. The tripod allowed us the film shots in which we all featured and also allowed us to film continuously making sure we captured everything.
The mobility of the camera and tripod allowed us to explore a range of different angles and by the end of filming the project we all had in depth knowledge of the camera and tripod functions.

Blogger: We have used blogger to record and evaluate our journey from the initial research to evaluating our final piece. Blogger allows us the reference pictures and videos, by uploading them onto our blogs and analysing them. Viewing our blogs live, shows clearly the journey we have taken and all the elements that have come into play when creating our trailer.