Image 1 - Blogger - Blogger was extremely useful to me throughout and I much preferred using this internet site than actually writing it out. Writing what I have written on my blog would have posed problems such as difficulty to edit e.g. if something in the middle needs to added then you would have to cross out your work and write it up again, whereas with Blogger easy edits can be made and I don’t have to worry about the scruffiness of my handwriting.
One major advantage of using Blogger was its ability to easily add video’s and pictures to the write up and embed them within the text. This is a real benefit because this meant that my work could give actual examples which therefore would enable the examiner to see the effort put in. Another huge advantage to using Blogger was its excellent ease to structure your work well with pictures below and formatted around the text. The tidy structure adds professionalism to the write up making it look like a more sophisticated and well thought out piece of work.
Image 2 - Facebook - Facebook proved and excellent source of feedback from friends and family as I was able to upload my pictures and filming that I had used and from then they could look at these products and give their view on suitable images for my ancillary tasks and what/what not to include in my teaser trailer. Below are some of the comments I received from one of the images I uploaded onto Facebook.
Image 3 - Corel Video Studio – The reason I don’t specify which version Corel Video Studio I used is because I used 2. One was Corel Video Studio X2 which was the software on the school computers and the other software I used was an updated version of this (Corel Video Studio X4) which I had on my laptop at home so I could work on my project outside school hours. Corel Studio was easy to use after a short while of getting used to the software and I was able to easily cut and edit my film appropriately. Cutting and editing weren’t the only tools I used when using Corel, I used special text effects for my title, provided on the X4 version and adding special effects such as lightening or darkening a scene were used to improve on my teaser trailer. Overall the software was very easy to use and without it I would have struggled, both versions had their benefits but in the end I found the X4 version much better because of its advancements and its improvements in general areas, for example a larger variety of special effects for both text and filming.
Image 4 - Photoshop – CS5 – This software programme proved to be very useful and unlike with Corel Video Studio I had worked with Photoshop in the previous year so I was already familiar with the editing tools and how I could use them to my advantage. I enjoyed using Photoshop very much and I would say the most difficult piece of editing was for the title of my magazine where I used the “Wind” effect tool to create a white, faded backdrop for enhancing my title. I used the software for both ancillary tasks adding mostly just text to the poster and adding more effects to the magazine. The real advantage, although indirect, was that I had previous experience with the software so using tools such as the wind effect tool and the clone stamp tool were very simple and required less thought.
Image 5 - Google – Google was the search engine I used to find exactly what I needed by typing key words into the search engine and finding some really valuable information. Google is a quick and easy way to find information and research, for example when I forgot a URL of a reccomended website I was able to tpye OCR MEDIA into google I was able to track down the webpage I was searching for Get Ahead OCR Media
Image 6 - Soundcloud – Soundcloud is a webpage I signed up to after my teacher recommended it to me. The site allowed me to do one main thing and that was to upload a voice recording or sound that I had made and then allowed me to use the file created from here and embed it within my blog. This helped me in particular with evaluation question 3 where I voice recorded feedback of my media products uploaded it to Soundcloud then embedded the created file onto my blog.
Image 7 - Webcam Companion 3 – Webcam allowed me to do what I did with Soundcloud but in a more advanced style. What Webcam Companion 3 allowed me to do was video the feedback given from my friend using sound and video (mp4) rather than just a sound (mp3). This contributed thoroughly to my evaluation question 3.
Image 8 - Youtube – What YouTube granted me was a easy and extremely helpful site where I could view and research as many teaser trailers as I wanted for free. The main videos from this site I watched were horror movie trailers in doing research for my teaser trailer looking out for specific codes and conventions from the trailer. I also hoped for the best when I typed into YouTube’ search engine – media A2 student’s teaser trailer and found several student trailer I could analyse. The real advantage of analysing a student’s trailer is that you can relate to it with the lower quality cameras and the considerably lower budget. From researching both student and professional teaser trailers I could identify any codes and conventions I needed to follow and any mistakes made or anything that I should try and avoid in the film making process.
Image 9 – Panasonic S50 Video Camera - To compile all my film material I used the Panasonic S50 which proved to be reliable in use. I was a little disappointed initially when I saw my filming footage having an improved mental image of what it would turn out like in my head but I think that my expectations were exceedingly high considering I had never really watched an amateur movie whereas HD movies seem to be the norm in the present day. The real advantage of using the Panasonic S50 however was that not only was it easy to handle and very reliable but it wasn't a tricky gadget to use in that all was required was to hit the record button and then the stop button. It took me a couple of minutes and a brief panic to find the charging slot but this was not a major issue.
Image 10 – Nikon D60 Picture Camera - Then there was the Nikon D60 used for picture taking for the ancillary tasks. I found this a very successful task in that in one period I got all my pictures taken how I wanted them and they came out brilliantly. The camera was very practical in that it was of a high standard yet it wasn't too tricky to use.
No comments:
Post a Comment