Evaluation Question 4 - Philip Costin
- 1. EVALUATION QUESTION 4 How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research and planning and evaluation stages? Philip Costin
- 2. RESEARCH AND PLANNING I used many new technologies in my research and planning stages. These included: Blogger Scribd Slide share Powtoon Prezi YouTube
- 3. SCRIBD , SLIDE SHARE & BLOGGER I used scribd and slide share to present my research throughout the course. These are used to present work that I have put on basic Microsoft software such as word and slideshare, these tools were useful to have to keep the same structure of presentation as on word and PowerPoint but be able to upload it to blogger. I learnt a lot of skills from using scribd and slideshare on Blogger where I learned how to use HTML code. This helped further my IT skills later in the research and planning. I used scribd for analysis of documentaries and storyboards as it was only a simple software and did not allow me to be creative.
- 4. POWTOON AND PREZI Further into my A2 course, I gained confidence in my IT skills and found new softwares such as prezi and powtoon. I had used prezi before but only felt confident using text tools, however with more confidence I learned skills such as creating new paths using the path tool and embedding images. Powtoon was a software I had never used before. I found it useful to be creative in recording research and planning ahead. I found it to be a user friendly software where there were many easy templates to follow, and an easy to use timeline. I think it was important to use these softwares to be creative in my work and looking back I think I used it effectively in my research and planning although I did not enjoy using software like PowToon as it was hard to get a lot of information across with only limited time frames to do so.
- 5. YOUTUBE At the start I already knew the basics of YouTube and had ideas of how to present information creatively through it. I found it to be useful when filming diaries/ updates, using video diaries allowed us to demonstrate our progress better. I found it to be an easy to use software as you only need to click upload on a video; the only difficulty was having to export the videos to a format that was suitable such as an mpeg4 video. This was because I had to learn which files to export to. Reflecting back, I'm glad I used it and I think it was important to use for the creativity of the research and planning of the documentary.
- 6. CONSTRUCTION STAGES Technologies I used in the construction stages include: Adobe Premiere Garage Band Photoshop InDesign HD camera Apple Mac Microphone and tripod
- 7. HARDWARES I was unfamiliar with any of the hardwares I had to use such as the Camera, tripod and microphone. I learned it from the college technician and trial and error. Once learned it made it easier to get good shots and control the feel of documentary. Shotgun microphone- I learned it was important to test the mic and trial and error allowed me to know where to put the mic in relation to what I was recording. I used it to record the voice over and record all the interviews. Cannon HG20 HD – I had not very often used a video recorder and was unaware of how it works. I found that I was fast to learn the basics of setting up a shot and recording, I felt it was important to learn quickly with this so that I could encode what I wanted in shots. I also learnt important features such as playback to see a shot back and how to upload the footage to the computer. I found it was easy to use after a while and became quite a natural habit, therefore I think I used it effectively and wouldn’t change how I used it. Tripod – The tripod was an element of filming that I did have problems with, especially with making sure the shot was at a straight angle and not canted. So reflecting back on this element of filming and using hardware, I think it was a weak point. Reflecting back I think I was less efficient with new hardwares and slower at learning how to use them compared to softwares.
- 8. ADOBE PREMIERE It was a different new software which I had learnt some tools in class and those were aided by working in the groups when editing on the software. I quickly got used to independently using tools such as slice and effects tab. This was useful for editing but I had little knowledge of other tools such as the Title tool and sound levels; my group helped me with this and in learning other editing tools such as auto-adjust which reflecting back would’ve been useful for myself to figure out earlier so I could edit to levels of better consistency. It was also important for me to understand how to edit because I need to consider Gatekeeping as a director in order to think about what scenes to edit to make a meaning of. I think that I was able to do this through the use of shot emphasis and including more shots of mobile phones being a distraction.
- 9. ADOBE PREMIERE Title feature for adding captions for expert interviews The effects menu that was used to add transitions and change light levels of shots to improve overall quality. This is the timeline of shots where we can order shots and cut them using the splice tool. It is also where the audio levels can be changed.
- 10. GARAGE BAND Garage band is a software that we had to use to create the radio trailer. I was unsure of the software initially and made mistakes in the creation process such as overlapping audios and not knowing how to splice audio. However after trial and error as well as research, I became much more proficient in the use of garage band and learnt how to better edit audio together and change the sound levels of clips. The tools I could access were very useful in the creation process and made it easier. Reflecting on the use of garage band I think it took me a while to get to grips with but I’m happy with my new found skills in the end and happy that it was effective enough to allow a professional look.
- 11. GARAGE BAND This is what the timeline looks like on garage band and how the sounds can be adjusted at the bottom, as well as the splice tool. After importing audio I found it was important to have every piece of audio on a separate layer, so the sounds can be adjusted independently.
- 12. PHOTOSHOP AND INDESIGN These were softwares that I had to use for the creation of the magazine spread. Photoshop was an important software that I was already proficient with and that made it easy when using tools such as the magic wand tool and polygon lasso tool to cut out the background of images such as the expert interviewee Julie(below). InDesign was used mainly to edit and compose the TV Listings. I had already drawn up initial drafts with pencil on paper so I was already sure of the layout and could draw boxes using shapes tool to place hold pictures and text when planning. I used tools such as the place tool to insert images and the text tool to make drop caps which helped improve the look of the magazine and this is something I would not have been able to do on other softwares, so I found that this was effective in the creation of the TV listings. Reflecting back these softwares were an essential to use and I’m glad that I was proficient in them.
- 13. PHOTOSHOP AND INDESIGN On the right is how I cut the background from an image using the polygon lasso tool whilst at the bottom is showing the place tool which is how I placed the images onto the TV listing after editing them. I also used the paragraph styles tool to give the three column layout and drop caps.
- 14. EVALUATION STAGES Movie Maker PowerPoint Slideshare YouTube Prezi
- 15. MOVIE MAKER I used movie maker as it was a software easy to edit with and upload videos with, as well as the fact that I had used it before so I knew the tools to use. I used it when creating my evaluation questions and found that it was useful because I had experience in it and this meant I edited the videos quicker and more effectively. Another useful tool was the ‘record voiceover’ tool where I could easily add a track directly onto video whilst watching the video play so I could perfectly time my words, this was very useful for analysing the documentary footage. It was also effective when trying to vary my creativity in software usage.
- 16. CONCLUSION Reflecting back over all my IT skills, I would say that I have improved massively over the course and it has been hugely helpful when filming shots and editing them together using software. I was definitely weaker using new hardwares than with new software and I learnt slower, but I feel that I still managed to use them effectively when creating my products as well as when planning and performing research tasks. I also feel that gaining new knowledge of software such as PowToon and the html code of blogger has helped me be more creative in my approach to work. I wouldn’t have thought to use moviemaker or YouTube to present research or evaluation but through trial and error as well as research I can look back feeling content at my work. On the other hand I feel that I maybe could have used even more software and allow myself to be more creative.