Thursday, 12 May 2011
Media Evaluation 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Firstly for the research of my media production, I used the Internet. Within the Internet I used a vast amount of different technologies. I will list them and explain why I used them here.
I used the virtual learning environment on my college’s website. I used it to find out all the things I had to do to create my media production. Some of the files I had to open were in a .PDF format. I therefore had to use Adobe Reader to view these. Although it had a tidy layout, this made it awfully hard to print any of the .PDFs out. The VLE system was useful though as it allowed my teacher to upload any useful research materials to the whole class.
Another media technology I used that is based on the internet is Youtube. Youtube is an extremely useful video hosting website. I used Youtube to find examples of videos/short films with a similar theme to mine. The fact a lot of these films are HTML based it meant I could upload the videos to my blog and textually analyse them.
This leads me to my next online technology: www.blogspot.com. Blogspot is a blog based online. I used it as an almost scrapbook for my media production’s research and as a diary for everything I did relating to my product. It is also what the examiner will see my coursework on. This I find is one of the most effective ways to do coursework; this is largely due to the ease of access. I could work on my blog from anywhere with internet access, I even did a post from my mobile phone.
Another online based technology I used was Twitter. This was surprisingly useful when I was originally planning to do a documentary. It allowed me to follow documentary makers and view examples of their work. It is also very effective at linking to Youtube. Twitter also allowed me to find good books (another element of media) on filming techniques.
Another way I found useful websites/files was via Google. Google is an internet search engine which is extremely good at providing accurate websites related to key words you type in your search. Google was how I got the copy-right free music for my project. It did this by linking me to a peer to peer file sharing site. This allowed me to find a some-what obscure song and download it to my USB as an MP3 file.
The final technology I used that is based on the internet was Prezi. Prezi is essentially an online presentation website. It uses certain animations to make clear cut presentations with unique styles. Also, due to it being online, you can’t lose any of the work (much like blogspot). This is another benefit to online technologies. The Prezis are also HTML enables; allowing for easy posts to Blogspot.
Next I will look in to all the software and hardware I used in the creating of my media production. Like with the Internet technologies, I will analyse their usefulness.
Firstly I used a Panasonic SDR – T50 SD video camera. This camera is very useful as it recorded digitally. I have always found digital a lot easier to use due to the editing time. This particular camera is hand-held however we did use a tripod to film. The other benefit of the camera being digital is the fact we could view all our footage on the screen. This camera is the only hardware we used in the creation of our media product.
The software we used to edit our footage was Adobe Premier Pro. Premier Pro is a very simple way to edit; it has a variety of techniques you can use to get a professional feel to your media product. This can range from video effects to audio transitions. Premier Pro was the main element in the final version of our production. I have always found Premier Pro to be simple but effective and although I prefer Final Cut, I enjoy using it to complete my films.
I used another editing software called Audacity. Audacity is very useful as it is a free software available for download online. I used audacity to edit all the audio in my media production but mainly for my copy-right free version of ‘Peter and The Wolf’. This was mainly due to the excessive white noise in the MP3. I feel Audacity is extremely good considering it is a free software, it is also very simple to use.
Another software I used was Adobe Photoshop CS3. I used Photoshop to edit the image on my ancillary task. Photoshop I feel is very good however I am not the best at using it. It has so many features that it appears complicated at first look.
Finally I used Microsoft Word. This was to create my Word documents. The publisher element on it was also used to create my ancillary tasks. I feel Microsoft office is excellent however it is fairly expensive for what it actually is.
Firstly for the research of my media production, I used the Internet. Within the Internet I used a vast amount of different technologies. I will list them and explain why I used them here.
I used the virtual learning environment on my college’s website. I used it to find out all the things I had to do to create my media production. Some of the files I had to open were in a .PDF format. I therefore had to use Adobe Reader to view these. Although it had a tidy layout, this made it awfully hard to print any of the .PDFs out. The VLE system was useful though as it allowed my teacher to upload any useful research materials to the whole class.
Another media technology I used that is based on the internet is Youtube. Youtube is an extremely useful video hosting website. I used Youtube to find examples of videos/short films with a similar theme to mine. The fact a lot of these films are HTML based it meant I could upload the videos to my blog and textually analyse them.
This leads me to my next online technology: www.blogspot.com. Blogspot is a blog based online. I used it as an almost scrapbook for my media production’s research and as a diary for everything I did relating to my product. It is also what the examiner will see my coursework on. This I find is one of the most effective ways to do coursework; this is largely due to the ease of access. I could work on my blog from anywhere with internet access, I even did a post from my mobile phone.
Another online based technology I used was Twitter. This was surprisingly useful when I was originally planning to do a documentary. It allowed me to follow documentary makers and view examples of their work. It is also very effective at linking to Youtube. Twitter also allowed me to find good books (another element of media) on filming techniques.
Another way I found useful websites/files was via Google. Google is an internet search engine which is extremely good at providing accurate websites related to key words you type in your search. Google was how I got the copy-right free music for my project. It did this by linking me to a peer to peer file sharing site. This allowed me to find a some-what obscure song and download it to my USB as an MP3 file.
The final technology I used that is based on the internet was Prezi. Prezi is essentially an online presentation website. It uses certain animations to make clear cut presentations with unique styles. Also, due to it being online, you can’t lose any of the work (much like blogspot). This is another benefit to online technologies. The Prezis are also HTML enables; allowing for easy posts to Blogspot.
Next I will look in to all the software and hardware I used in the creating of my media production. Like with the Internet technologies, I will analyse their usefulness.
Firstly I used a Panasonic SDR – T50 SD video camera. This camera is very useful as it recorded digitally. I have always found digital a lot easier to use due to the editing time. This particular camera is hand-held however we did use a tripod to film. The other benefit of the camera being digital is the fact we could view all our footage on the screen. This camera is the only hardware we used in the creation of our media product.
The software we used to edit our footage was Adobe Premier Pro. Premier Pro is a very simple way to edit; it has a variety of techniques you can use to get a professional feel to your media product. This can range from video effects to audio transitions. Premier Pro was the main element in the final version of our production. I have always found Premier Pro to be simple but effective and although I prefer Final Cut, I enjoy using it to complete my films.
I used another editing software called Audacity. Audacity is very useful as it is a free software available for download online. I used audacity to edit all the audio in my media production but mainly for my copy-right free version of ‘Peter and The Wolf’. This was mainly due to the excessive white noise in the MP3. I feel Audacity is extremely good considering it is a free software, it is also very simple to use.
Another software I used was Adobe Photoshop CS3. I used Photoshop to edit the image on my ancillary task. Photoshop I feel is very good however I am not the best at using it. It has so many features that it appears complicated at first look.
Finally I used Microsoft Word. This was to create my Word documents. The publisher element on it was also used to create my ancillary tasks. I feel Microsoft office is excellent however it is fairly expensive for what it actually is.
Media Evaluation 2
How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary tasks?
There are many different techniques I used in my ancillary tasks to make them an effective combination with my short film production. In this evaluation I will discuss and analyse these techniques.
Firstly I will look at my first ancillary task. My first ancillary task was a magazine film review for my main product ‘Alfie and the Snake’. I did a lot of research in film reviewing and decided to base my version heavily on the highly successful ‘Empire’ magazine.
The first technique I used was having screenshots on top of my film review. These pictures were taken out of my production. I feel this is a very effective; yet simple way of combining my production with my film review. It will also help the reader gain a feeling about what the film’s tone is without actually seeing it. I find this to be a key way in appealing to a target audience.
Another simple, yet effective technique I used was a set colour scheme of red. My reasons for choosing red are as follows:
• It is the most dominant colour in my media production (due to the snake)
• It is an eye catching colour for my review’s white background
I however did not write in red. This I felt would have ruined the professional approach to my film review.
Another technique I used in my ancillary task was putting key information about my short film down the side of my film review. I kept this as short and accurate as I could (much like in ‘Empire’) to give a basic idea of the film to the reader. I feel this was another easy way to get my media production across to its target audience. Also because it has all the essential information on my film without any sort of opinion, it allows the reader to make their own mind up on whether they will view the film.
The final useful thing I used in my film review was the review’s rating system. I felt the image of stars was associated with most rating systems and therefore used it with mine. It also allows the target audience to get a non-bias rating for my media product and allow them again to decide if they want to watch it.
Overall I feel my ancillary task one is a fairly effective way of combining my main production with itself. I feel it could be improved with a colourful background, however this may over complicate my simplistic approach to the film review.
Next I will look at and analyse my second ancillary task. My ancillary task two was a poster for my main production. I created it using Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop (although a minimal amount of the latter).
Firstly, I again used a red font for the main titles in my poster. This was primarily for the same reasons that I used red in my first ancillary task. However since I made this poster later than my first ancillary task, I felt it would allow any of the target audience that read the review to associate the poster with it and then obviously my media production.
I also decided to use green and yellow for the background. I feel the green is useful as like red, some snakes in my short film are green. This would again allow people to get an almost preview like colour scheme to the film without actually seeing it. I used yellow as I felt it is a colour typically appealing to youngsters (my target audience). The fact my poster is bright also allows people viewing It to get an idea that my film has quite a light tone and child friendly plot.
I used an image of Alfie holding a snake directly under the short film’s title as I felt they perfectly matched each other. The fact the snake looks quite ‘toyish’ and friendly will again allow for my target audience to be intrigued by what my film is about. This is especially true since snakes are commonly seen by most children as ‘evil’
Although I feel the above is effective with the combination of my media production. I feel I missed out on a few key features that would have greatly improved my poster. One example is the age rating. This would support the target audience as it would have a universal rating. I therefore feel my first ancillary task was much more effective.
There are many different techniques I used in my ancillary tasks to make them an effective combination with my short film production. In this evaluation I will discuss and analyse these techniques.
Firstly I will look at my first ancillary task. My first ancillary task was a magazine film review for my main product ‘Alfie and the Snake’. I did a lot of research in film reviewing and decided to base my version heavily on the highly successful ‘Empire’ magazine.
The first technique I used was having screenshots on top of my film review. These pictures were taken out of my production. I feel this is a very effective; yet simple way of combining my production with my film review. It will also help the reader gain a feeling about what the film’s tone is without actually seeing it. I find this to be a key way in appealing to a target audience.
Another simple, yet effective technique I used was a set colour scheme of red. My reasons for choosing red are as follows:
• It is the most dominant colour in my media production (due to the snake)
• It is an eye catching colour for my review’s white background
I however did not write in red. This I felt would have ruined the professional approach to my film review.
Another technique I used in my ancillary task was putting key information about my short film down the side of my film review. I kept this as short and accurate as I could (much like in ‘Empire’) to give a basic idea of the film to the reader. I feel this was another easy way to get my media production across to its target audience. Also because it has all the essential information on my film without any sort of opinion, it allows the reader to make their own mind up on whether they will view the film.
The final useful thing I used in my film review was the review’s rating system. I felt the image of stars was associated with most rating systems and therefore used it with mine. It also allows the target audience to get a non-bias rating for my media product and allow them again to decide if they want to watch it.
Overall I feel my ancillary task one is a fairly effective way of combining my main production with itself. I feel it could be improved with a colourful background, however this may over complicate my simplistic approach to the film review.
Next I will look at and analyse my second ancillary task. My ancillary task two was a poster for my main production. I created it using Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop (although a minimal amount of the latter).
Firstly, I again used a red font for the main titles in my poster. This was primarily for the same reasons that I used red in my first ancillary task. However since I made this poster later than my first ancillary task, I felt it would allow any of the target audience that read the review to associate the poster with it and then obviously my media production.
I also decided to use green and yellow for the background. I feel the green is useful as like red, some snakes in my short film are green. This would again allow people to get an almost preview like colour scheme to the film without actually seeing it. I used yellow as I felt it is a colour typically appealing to youngsters (my target audience). The fact my poster is bright also allows people viewing It to get an idea that my film has quite a light tone and child friendly plot.
I used an image of Alfie holding a snake directly under the short film’s title as I felt they perfectly matched each other. The fact the snake looks quite ‘toyish’ and friendly will again allow for my target audience to be intrigued by what my film is about. This is especially true since snakes are commonly seen by most children as ‘evil’
Although I feel the above is effective with the combination of my media production. I feel I missed out on a few key features that would have greatly improved my poster. One example is the age rating. This would support the target audience as it would have a universal rating. I therefore feel my first ancillary task was much more effective.
Media Evaluation 1
In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
There are many ways in which our media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products. In this evaluation I will look at how our product does this and why we chose to do this. I will start by looking at ways in which our product uses forms and conventions of real media products.
Firstly for all of our short film (until the dream sequence) we used a form of editing called ‘continuity editing’. Continuity is used in a lot of media products and texts, this is due to the fact it makes them appear more realistic to the audience in which they are aimed at. These media products can range from a relatively simple short film (such as ours) to a high budget Hollywood film. We felt continuity editing would be extremely useful for our short film as it gives the spectator a sense of realism. It also allows for a more obvious sense of disorientation when the dream sequence begins. Here is a simple video demonstrating continuity editing. This includes the 180 degree rule and sound bridges.
Another way in which our media production uses a convention of real media products is with the ‘Three act structure’. This is generally used in all television dramas, films and short films.
This equilibrium in our production is when Alfie returns home after Rugby, this is apparently a very normal circumstance in the boy’s life. The disruption to this equilibrium however comes from when he is home alone and the watching of a scary film. The dream Alfie has acts as a stage to show the spectator the problem in which the child has; this is essentially Alfie being afraid of snakes. The resolution however comes from where Alfie befriends the snake in his dream; this therefore creates the new equilibrium where everything is normal and Alfie no longer fears snakes.
Another convention our product uses is the transition between real life and dream being very obvious to the spectator. This technique can be seen in other media products: such as Spellbound by Alfred Hitchcock. The reason we used this was to allow the spectator to see a clear difference between what is real in the film and what is not. This is also shown by a number of jump cuts we used to break down the continuity, all emphasising the dream quality of the film.
The final convention that our media product uses that is similar to that of real media products is the use of sound as a way of helping continuity. This is often done with sound bridges (shown in the continuity video above). Sound bridges are a common part of most films and television dramas, especially when they feature a conversation between two or more people. An example of a sound bridge from our film comes from when Alfie is watching television (both in his dream and in reality). The television sound can be heard, even when the camera is doing a close up on Alfie’s face.
Next I will look at how our media product conforms to forms and conventions of real media products. Firstly our product conforms to the ideology that most boys are interested in sport. This is shown in our product from Alfie being male and wearing a Rugby kit. Males liking and being involved in sport is also widely accepted amongst the media, this is evident as most films that revolve around sport feature and almost male cast.
Another way our product conforms to conventions of real media products is with the use of Alfie having a nightmare after watching a film that has been rated by the BBFC as PG. This is also useful to our production as it emphasizes the fact that Alfie is young, home alone and impressionable.
Although these, our media product does more to challenge forms and conventions of real media products than conform to them. It challenges the ideology often found in films that children need a parent or guardian figure around them (‘Home Alone’ for example). This is evident in our media product as Alfie happily walks home alone and uses a key to get into his locked house. The fact he has a key can also indicate two things. One is that he is home alone often, or two being that Alfie is simply trusted by his parents.
It also challenges the fact that most films depict snakes as bad creatures (‘Snakes on a Plane’, ‘Anaconda’). This is why we thought it would be good to film a friendly snake to show young children, much like a nursery rhyme (which was one of our original ideas).
Our film does however challenge itself in some place. For example the child being independent enough to walk home and be home alone but cuddles a toy and gets under the covers when he’s scared. This however could conform to the idea that everybody needs family and care when they are scared.
There are many ways in which our media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products. In this evaluation I will look at how our product does this and why we chose to do this. I will start by looking at ways in which our product uses forms and conventions of real media products.
Firstly for all of our short film (until the dream sequence) we used a form of editing called ‘continuity editing’. Continuity is used in a lot of media products and texts, this is due to the fact it makes them appear more realistic to the audience in which they are aimed at. These media products can range from a relatively simple short film (such as ours) to a high budget Hollywood film. We felt continuity editing would be extremely useful for our short film as it gives the spectator a sense of realism. It also allows for a more obvious sense of disorientation when the dream sequence begins. Here is a simple video demonstrating continuity editing. This includes the 180 degree rule and sound bridges.
Another way in which our media production uses a convention of real media products is with the ‘Three act structure’. This is generally used in all television dramas, films and short films.
This equilibrium in our production is when Alfie returns home after Rugby, this is apparently a very normal circumstance in the boy’s life. The disruption to this equilibrium however comes from when he is home alone and the watching of a scary film. The dream Alfie has acts as a stage to show the spectator the problem in which the child has; this is essentially Alfie being afraid of snakes. The resolution however comes from where Alfie befriends the snake in his dream; this therefore creates the new equilibrium where everything is normal and Alfie no longer fears snakes.
Another convention our product uses is the transition between real life and dream being very obvious to the spectator. This technique can be seen in other media products: such as Spellbound by Alfred Hitchcock. The reason we used this was to allow the spectator to see a clear difference between what is real in the film and what is not. This is also shown by a number of jump cuts we used to break down the continuity, all emphasising the dream quality of the film.
The final convention that our media product uses that is similar to that of real media products is the use of sound as a way of helping continuity. This is often done with sound bridges (shown in the continuity video above). Sound bridges are a common part of most films and television dramas, especially when they feature a conversation between two or more people. An example of a sound bridge from our film comes from when Alfie is watching television (both in his dream and in reality). The television sound can be heard, even when the camera is doing a close up on Alfie’s face.
Next I will look at how our media product conforms to forms and conventions of real media products. Firstly our product conforms to the ideology that most boys are interested in sport. This is shown in our product from Alfie being male and wearing a Rugby kit. Males liking and being involved in sport is also widely accepted amongst the media, this is evident as most films that revolve around sport feature and almost male cast.
Another way our product conforms to conventions of real media products is with the use of Alfie having a nightmare after watching a film that has been rated by the BBFC as PG. This is also useful to our production as it emphasizes the fact that Alfie is young, home alone and impressionable.
Although these, our media product does more to challenge forms and conventions of real media products than conform to them. It challenges the ideology often found in films that children need a parent or guardian figure around them (‘Home Alone’ for example). This is evident in our media product as Alfie happily walks home alone and uses a key to get into his locked house. The fact he has a key can also indicate two things. One is that he is home alone often, or two being that Alfie is simply trusted by his parents.
It also challenges the fact that most films depict snakes as bad creatures (‘Snakes on a Plane’, ‘Anaconda’). This is why we thought it would be good to film a friendly snake to show young children, much like a nursery rhyme (which was one of our original ideas).
Our film does however challenge itself in some place. For example the child being independent enough to walk home and be home alone but cuddles a toy and gets under the covers when he’s scared. This however could conform to the idea that everybody needs family and care when they are scared.
Friday, 1 April 2011
Magazine review UPDATE
Alfie and the Snake 2 review
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=75195282 Full screen link
I've decided to update my film review ancillary task, after looking at my previous one I felt that screen shots from my short film would be more appropriate and professional looking. I have therefore edited my document to suit this.
Friday, 25 February 2011
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