1. QUESTION 4
By Rosanna Todd
Monday, 25 February 13

2. “How did you use media technologies in the construction
and research, planning and evaluation stages?”
For this question I will reflect on the production
process that took place whilst making our television
documentary, radio trailer and double-page spread.
I will talk about the software and hardware that we
used in order to complete our products and how
useful I found them to be.
I will then reflect on how effectively we used the
technology that was available to us.
Monday, 25 February 13

3. RESEARCH AND PLANNING
2)
1) When first setting out to produce our Websites on Internet Explorer such
products we started by making a list of what as Wikipedia, BBC, the Twitter
the topic for our documentary would be. Many homepage and The Guardian also
non-technological methods were used during provided us with facts and statistics
this process such as making hand-drawn mind- that we included in our
maps and lists on paper. Once we had decided documentary. We used google as
on the topic of ‘Twitter’ we drew storyboards our main search engine and Internet
to help us structure our documentary and so Explorer as our web browser.
that we knew what to include. We found this a We found
successful and useful way of planning even all these
sites very
though we did not use any media technologies. useful!
3)
Whilst planning for our documentary, an important decision to
make was to decide on which channel our documentary would
be shown on. To do this we researched in depth into different
existing television channels such as channel 4, BBC 1, BBC 3 and
4) We also used online programs such as iPlayer
and 4OD to watch and analyse documentaries
Channel 5. Factors which influenced our decision were issues from The BBC and Channel 4. YouTube also
such as what time it would need to be shown at and which came in handy when wanting to view
channel has the largest audience. We also took into consideration documentaries which were no longer running
our target audience and what channel they would be likely to on regular channel websites.
watch. In the end, our decision was to broadcast our
documentary on BBC 3 as it already has existing documentaries
shown on it which are similar to our genre of documentary. It
also aims its programs at a young target audience which would
match with our documentary. To carry out this research we used
google to search for the channel websites where we could also
view their documentaries and programs.
Monday, 25 February 13

4. RESEARCH AND PLANNING
To keep track of our progress and the
research we had already done we uploaded
our findings and analysis onto ‘Blogger.com’
where our group had our own blog which we
updated regularly with our latest plans and
ideas. This form of media technology was very
useful to us because it meant we could store
our ideas all in one place and also be able to
see posts from each member of our group at
any point.
• Slideshare-I used Slideshare to convert my power-
points into slides that can be more easily viewed on
our blog
• Scribd- I used this to change my word documents
into files that can be read on a blog by scrolling
down.
This software allowed
• Prezi- I used this as an alternative to powerpoint and me to upload my
work onto:
slideshare as it is a more interesting and interactive Blogger.com
way of creating a presentation.
This media technology was very useful to me as it made my research
and planning stand out and make it more interactive and readable. I
also used these websites in the evaluation stages of my coursework
Monday, 25 February 13

5. FILMING
Camera-
To film all of the footage for our documentary we used a Canon
HG20 Video Camera which records all of the footage onto an
internal 60GB hard drive. It had many useful features such as a flip Tripod
out LCD screen, a USB connection, Lens, and zoom control and
photo button. We used all these features to our advantage We used a tripod to place the camera on so that we
particularly making the use of the “zoom” button and the lens could achieve a steady shot. This was particularly useful
which allowed us to manipulate the focus. Certain effects on the when filming vox pops and expert interviews. The tripod
camera also allowed us to change the lighting balance to “white” allowed us to be able to do steady pans and zooms
which gave it a very natural look. In addition to using the camera without the camera shaking. This gave our documentary
for filming, we also used it to take still shots for stills featured in a very professional look.
our documentary such as the cyber-bullying poster.
Microphone &
To access the
equipment we had
to fill out an
Headphones
‘Equipment
To record sound for our documentary we used a directional microphone. This
Request’ form and
was needed for recording the vox pops, expert interviews and scripted
get it signed by our
narration for our documentary. To be able to hear what we were recording,
teacher.
we plugged in headphones to the camera so that we could ensure that the
sound levels were equal (e.g. voice can be heard over any background noise).
When recording around college this was useful, as places like the canteen
were very rowdy and lots of background noise was being picked up. The
headphones allowed us to hear this straight away and we could then make
sure that we prevented from filming any interviews in there. We also went
into a quiet empty room to record the narration so that no background noise
was picked up and this worked effectively.
Monday, 25 February 13

6. FILMING
This shot was a pan of the police
room. This is an example of where we
used the tripod to be able to achieve
a steady pan.
Here we hand-held the camera as the
tripod was not able to be placed at such
a low angle. We had to lie on the floor to
be able to achieve this shot but I think
that it looks very effective and is different
to the other shots in our documentary as
it is at such a low tilted angle.
Monday, 25 February 13

7. EDITING
1) To begin the editing process we
uploaded the clips from the camera
onto the Apple iMac. We did this by
simply copying the files over to the
media drive and then into our folder.
Our folder on
the media
drive
This is the content of
our folder, here we
stored all of our footage,
music, documents and
images.
Monday, 25 February 13

8. EDITING
3) We used this
software to “log and
2) We then opened up the transfer” the clips so
software ‘Final Cut Express’ that we could then
which we used to edit the edit them efficiently.
Once they were all
whole of our documentary. imported, we labelled
each clip so that we
could identify them
easily and quickly.
Our documentary was
saved under “Video” so
that we could access this
quickly when starting the
lesson’s work.
Monday, 25 February 13

9. EDITING
This is our documentary in Final Cut Express
Window used
for watching
documentary
Unedited
imported
footage
Playback,
rewind and
Sequences fast-forward
buttons
Time
Tools used for
editing
The Timeline
Edited visual footage Background music Audio from footage clips (Diegetic)
audio (non-diegetic)
Monday, 25 February 13

10. EDITING
We did many edits in our documentary and one of
these was changing the speed of a clip to make them
faster. We did this by going onto “Modify” then down
to “Speed...”. This turned out to be a very successful
edit and we used it twice in our documentary, firstly
showing students feet walking past at a low angled
camera and secondly a speeded up car journey. Both
of these edits worked to show the passage of time in
our documentary.
Shots that
we speeded
up
Monday, 25 February 13

11. EDITING
The overall effect of the overlay
Other edits that we did included
overlays. This meant that the
text overlapped the image on
screen. This allowed us to make
captions for the interviews
stating the interviewee’s name
and profession.
We also had to
“render” our
footage and audio.
This meant that
our documentary
was fluent and did
not freeze when
We experimented with video transitions by going onto played back. This
“Effects” then “Video Transitions” at the top of the was vital when
screen on the toolbar.. This then offered a wide range trying to achieve a
of choices. professional look.
Monday, 25 February 13

12. EDITING
(The straight line marks the point of a cut)
The main transition that we used for
our documentary was the cut. This was
because all of the other existing TV To do this “cut” edit
documentaries that we had watched
only used this transition. To make our we used the “razor
documentary look as professional as blade” tool to cut
possible we decided to only use this the clip in the exact
and I think that this was a successful
move as it didn’t overcomplicate things precise place that
and made our documentary look we wanted.
realistic.
Once we had finished editing the visual footage we
began to look in more detail at the audio levels. We
added the narration in first and made sure that it fitted
effectively with what was going on on screen. It was
crucial that the beginning montage of images and
footage had the appropriate narration being stated
along with it and once we had fitted it into the right
place this was very successful.
Monday, 25 February 13

13. EDITING
Adjusting audio levels for
our documentary in Final
Cut Express.
We changed the sound levels by dragging
this line. To make it louder we dragged it
higher and to make it quieter we dragged it
down. Overall we found that on average, the
expert interviews were louder than the rest
of the footage. This was more than likely due
to the lack of background noise interfering
with the person speaking
Using the software Garage Band we
created the music for our
documentary . We used a mixture of
drum beats and riffs which sounded
realistic and professional. Once it was
finished we exported the track as an
mp3, opened it into Final Cut Express Our background music
and dragged it onto our timeline.
Monday, 25 February 13

14. EDITING
To make the audio gradually become quieter
or louder we used the “pen tool” to help
achieve this effect. This came in useful during
the interviews as we could make the
background music quieter so that the
interviewee could be heard over the top. It
also made transitions between clips
smoother as the sound could come back in
or fade out gradually rather than a sudden
loud noise. To use this tool we clicked onto
the audio line and the point we wanted the
volume to change and dragged accordingly
to either higher (louder) or lower (quieter).
Pen tool
Monday, 25 February 13

15. EDITING
We used the software “Photoshop”
to create and edit the title page for
our documentary. Having already
had previous experience of using
Photoshop for past media
coursework, I found this software
easy to use.
Monday, 25 February 13

16. RADIO TRAILER
To make our Radio Trailer we used the software Garage
Band again like we did for the documentary music. After we
had recorded in the individual vocal tracks using a
microphone we cut and edited it in Garage Band. We then
chose a laid-back style of music for the radio trailer as this is
what we found existing radio trailers to have.
Using a variety of time stretched drum beats and an upright
bass, this gave a decent base for the music and it gave the We then added a series of vibraphone riffs and more mellow
radio trailer a pulse, similar to that of BBC’s “Newsbeat” and relaxed instruments to give the track a relaxed feel.
Monday, 25 February 13

17. RADIO TRAILER
We used automation and panning to give the track fade ins
and outs which gave the track more depth. Time stretching and
looping to certain parts was also used to give the track a more
modern feel to it. This style resembled some of the elements
used in modern hip-hop production which our target audience
may enjoy listening to.
The track was mastered
and produced to give a
“vintage” feel but the
modern hip-hop influence
grabs the audience’s
attention and appeals to
the age bracket of people
our documentary is
aimed at.
Monday, 25 February 13

18. RADIO TRAILER
After using a selection of pre-installed loops, we
found Garage Band a useful way of creating our own
original music for our radio trailer.
The editing and creation of
the radio trailer was overall
very simple and easy to do yet
it remained realistic and
sounded professional.
Monday, 25 February 13

19. DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD
(MAGAZINE ARTICLE)
I used the software InDesign to construct the double page spread
for my magazine article. I think that as a publishing programme, it
was very effective as it allowed me to just import my text in
efficiently instead of having to make individual columns. Having
used InDesign before for my previous media coursework I had
some expertise with the program already, however, I still feel that I
have learnt a lot about how to use this software from the process of
constructing my media product.
Whilst creating the double-page
spread we had to remember that it
was being produced for the ‘Radio
Times’ magazine. This meant that we
had to ensure we followed similar
codes and conventions to that
particular magazine so that our
finished article looked realistic and
professional.
Monday, 25 February 13

20. DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD
(MAGAZINE ARTICLE)
Construction process of double page spread
1) We started by making the
masthead and adding a few
images in.
2) We added some more
images onto the page to see
what they would look like and
where we could place them.
Monday, 25 February 13

21. DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD
(MAGAZINE ARTICLE)
3) We decided to put four images
together to create one main image. All
the images relate well to our
documentary as they are screenshots
taken from it.
4) We then added in
the stand-first and
pull-quote using the
text icon.
Monday, 25 February 13

22. DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD
(MAGAZINE ARTICLE)
5) We then finally imported the text into 3
columns on each page (rule of thirds) to
make the article look realistic and
professional. We also added in a drop-capital
at the very start of the text by selecting the
letter and enlarging the font size.
6) This is our finished
product.
Monday, 25 February 13

23. BLOGGER.COM
This was our
group on the blog
(group 4)
Monday, 25 February 13

24. BLOGGER.COM
Composing a post to be put on blog.
This often involved copy and pasting
embedded codes such as off documents
uploaded to Slideshare, Prezi and Scribd.
Posts on blog showing labels
which told us what work
belonged to each member of
our group.
Monday, 25 February 13

25. YOUTUBE, PREZI AND
SLIDESHARE
These screenshots
show us uploading
our work onto the
sites by using our
own registered
accounts.
Monday, 25 February 13

26. MORE
College computer and computer at home- I Memory stick- I used this form of
used this technology to use the internet and to technology to transfer work I had
write out my research. It was effective because done at college to my computer at
it allowed me to set my work out neatly and to home and back, so I could continue
find out more about existing television working on it wherever I was. I
documentaries. found this very useful because it
meant that I could spend more time
on the documentary at college, and
Scanner, printer and photocopier- I used the pick up from where I left off.
scanner technology to transfer my hand-drawn drafts
of the double-page spread, newspaper articles and
the storyboard onto the computer. I used the printer
and photocopier to print out our questionnaires and
make more copies of them to hand out to my target College camera- I used this
audience to fill out. This was effective as it allowed equipment to take the images for
me to complete my audience research and feedback. the blog and double-page spread.
This was effective because it was
an industry standard camera so
PowerPoint, word and excel- I used these therefore made my images look
computer programs to aid me in my research. I also more professional and realistic. It
used excel so that I could make graphs and charts of also meant that I did not have to
my results (from my questionnaires). These programs bring my own personal camera in
were effective because they ensured that my planning from home and risk losing or
and research looked professional breaking it.
Monday, 25 February 13

27. CONCLUSION
In conclusion I believe that we used media
technologies effectively in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages.
I now feel that I have learnt a lot of new skills and
techniques from using different softwares and
hardwares such as Final Cut Express and using a
camera, tripod and microphone.
I also think that we took full advantage of the
technologies available to us and that these were a
success in our work.
Monday, 25 February 13