Evaluation (4)

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

Advances in technology; specifically the internet and the introduction of web 2.0, has meant that research for low budget film makers is easy and cheap. Social networking sites provide perfect locations for gathering recent information, Facebook for example allows its users to create polls which countless people could answer, this is a very effective method of research considering Facebook has over 1 billion users (most recent data). Most importantly of all, Facebook and similar social networking sites (such as Twitter and Tumblr) provide their services free of charge, a large factor to a filmmaker on a budget.

Not only has the ability to research become cheaper, it is also much cheaper to produce a film itself. While props and similar needs remain at the same cost, the recording equipment is much more widely available. Even mobile phones have relatively good standard recording capabilities, and so "found footage" movies are incredibly easy to make.

YouTube allows the user to upload their videos free of charge, for restricted or free viewing by the public. Following uploading a film onto YouTube, using other free services (as previously mentioned), film makers are able to share their video, which can in turn be shared, dramatically increasing reach. If for example, one person shared the film, this will reach all of their freinds, if two of those shared the film, it would reach all of their friends too, resulting in a huge reach completely free.


Logos and related images from tools used.

Photoshop, Premiere Pro and GarageBand meant that it was possible to create professional standard products with minimal training. There were more advanced features that if used correctly would have a substantial effect but this is not completely necessary. Naturally, problems were encountered with each of the software mentioned, but were overcome in some form. One such problem was trying to sync an overlay of sound with a clip of video (because the original sound was not loud enough), eventually, this was achieved by precise placing in the timeline and trial and error.

Photoshop was used in the creation of the poster and magazine cover. Part of my design for my poster included the emphasis of the necklace, this was achieved by using Photoshop's layers and changing hue and saturation settings. Eventually the necklace was on a layer above the one wearing it, meaning that it could be given a "negative" looking effect, making it stand out from the rest of the much darker background.

Garageband was used for originally used to create unique sound effects and music, however a lack of experience with the program and little musical knowledge meant that it was quite difficult to progress, even with the simplicity of Garageband's interface. Using Garageband would mean that the music would be completely original and unique to the trailer/film itself, but in the end effects/music that did not have copyright were used.

Websites were important in the research stage of production, IMDB and Google were perhaps the most important of the sites. IMDB (Internet Movie Database) cotains the details for the majority of movies, from cinema blockbusters to small limited releases, this meant that popular movies that were mentioned in questionnaires could be looked at in detail. Links could be made between movies to to try and understand what the target audience would like.

Google, being one of the most popular internet search engines was used for all information that could not be found through IMDB. This was a quick way of finding the little facts that did not exist in the regular places.

In using the various technologies to produce a poster, magazine cover and trailer, my skill with each has improved. New features are at my disposal that were not used  before and my creativity has been expressed and developed. Improvement lies mostly with Premiere Pro, as it was new software to me and I can now use it to create and edit to a good standard.