media

1. Through the processof constructing my media product, it was essential
that I use numerous technologies to create my media product look effective
as possible.To accomplishan effective opening,I had to use a variety of
technologies including equipments, hardwares and softwares.
One of the many equipment i had used to construct my media productwas
a camera which was essential to capture and store footage.I used a canon
camera which were provided by our schoolto film our product. Before
starting with this project, i had limited knowledge on how to operate the
camera for example i didn't know how to change the exposure on the
camera. Before we started our filming we done test shoots and played
around with them to learn new things about them including how to change
the exposure so that it suits the lighting at the time. I learnt that if the
exposure was too high it would be hard to see the background as most of
the image or footage looks white and grainy. If it's too low it will look very
dark. This made me more confidentthrough the process.However during
our real shooting we were unaware that the camera may loose focus whilst
recording.After recording footage we looked at it on the camera it looked
fine but when we looked at it on a Mac we realised it was out of focus.We
shooted our opening again making sure it wasn’t out of focus.Through this
experience i learnt to record scenes multiple times as what may be seen as
perfecton the camera may not look the same on a computer.
A problem which we faced with the camera was that the battery died very
fast. On the first round of shooting we waited for the battery to charge so
we could start filming again. However because our first footage wasn’t to
our expectations,so on the second round of filming we borrowed a second
camera and battery of another group. While one camera was charging we
used the other one. This was we finished filming faster as we didn't have to
wait around for the cameras to charge. From this we learnt to keep two
batteries which could be changed during the shoot.
Another essentialequipment we used was a tripod. The tripod helped to
supportthe camera to ensure all footage to be clear and steady. In my
opinion the tripod was fairly easy to operate as we only had to open to the

2. length we wanted. However we underestimated this as it created
complications while we were filming. It was easy to operate when we were
doing shots which were still as we only had to attach the camera on it and
press record.The tripod was harder to use when we had movement. One
of the angle we included in our film opening is an high angle. We realised it
would be hard to do the the high angle as the length of the tripod was too
short. To overcome this problem we closed the stands of the tripod and
held it high on a table. Although this could have beenrisky we went ahead
and got the angle we wanted. Another problem with the tripod we had was
it didn't have a handle which our previous tripod had. This made it harder to
move the tripod swiftly. Also due to the weight of the camera, the camera
tilted down. To ensure this wouldn’t happen we held the camera at all times
and what we learnt was to make sure the top of the camera is stiff so the
camera wouldn’t tilt down from the joint.
In terms of hardware, we realised that the sound in our opening scene was
quite clear apart from the part there the female character is shouting from
the inside. However we could have improved the quality of it by using a
microphone.We couldn’t get a hold of this at the time of the shooting but
we learnt to use microphones in the future to make the dialogue clearer.
We used mobile phones which was very successfulin terms of
communication. When we were first put into groups we didn’t have contact
with each other out of school.After we completedfewof the individual
tasks we decidedto exchange number. Our mobile phones was an
effective way to communicate with each other and pass on necessary
information to other members of the group. Specificallywe created a
whatsapp group chat so everyone could see any changes that may have
occurred or anything to do with the group tasks where we helped each
other. Through the group tasks i learnt that communication is essential in
order to create a good media product.
We used a mac in our schoolas a base to create our media product. I was
already familiar with macs as i had to use them previously in my gcse’s.
However i found it much difficultto transport the footage onto a place
where it can be easily found. Due to this we had lost our footage within the

3. mac and we didn’t save it on a usb. After a long search we did find the final
footage and worked on it. Although we prefered to use windows, it was
easier to use complexsoftwares on there. Due to this experience we learnt
to transport the footage where it can be easily found but also to save it
elsewhere as a backup. Where work was incomplete we used our
chromebooks to finish it off. However, we couldn’t get access to some
softwares such as Adobe premierto complete our work at home as it was
only available in school.Therefore i learnt to do the editing in school.
To produce our media productwe also used softwares such as Adobe
premier, Adobe aftereffects and Garageband. These softwares were
completelynew to everyone in our group. In order to use these websites
effectively,we looked at existing tutorials and we completedour work with
the help of those tutorials. Some of the problems we faced with using these
softwares was that they were only available in schooland therefore we had
to complete all the work where we needed these softwares in school.
Another problem we faced was even with the help of youtube, the software
itself looked very complicated.We found it difficultimporting our footage
onto premieras it showed us being offline.While making the ident on
Aftereffects,a problem we faced was rendering the clip as it was taking too
long making these softwares time consuming. While using these softwares
i learnt that in order to effectivelyuse these softwares you need practise
which can be done by experimenting beforehand to becomefamiliar which
we didn't do. An alternative we found to create our footage was imovie. It’s
much easier to use however it doesn’t looks professionaland we can’t do
much with the footage on it. Moreover, it was compulsoryto use premier.
Other websites i used in the progressto my media production 7. I used this
to presentmy research and planning. In order to make it creative i used
these websites so my blog was not just full of writing. These websites were
relatively easy to use as they were not complexand there was a guide for
first time users which helped me to create my videos effectively.I learnt
how to make animations which seemedto be very hard in the beginning but
turned out to be easy. These videos i posted on youtube which i use
frequently making me a confidentuser as i know my way around it.

4. Other websites i used was Prezi to presentmy ideas in a more creative
manner, padlet to make my work attractive, Microsoftword to write longer
research, easel.ly to create infograpghics and and celtx to write my script.
Most of these websites i was familiar with as i had used it in the past.
Creating infographics was new to me as well as using celtx. By creating
infographics i learnt a new way to present ideas which is not in written form
and through the use of celtx my script looked much neater hence i will use
celtx in the future to structure my work. I posted all this on bloggerwhich
again way familiar to me by using scribd and slideshare.I learnt that longer
writing may not look neat if it’s on word and so using these websites made
the work look much better. Lastly i used a facebookto create an
psychographic and demographicsprofile which i had previously used and
so had experience with it.