How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

HD Video Camera: One of our most crucial pieces of technology was our HD video camera, allowing us to film a large amount of footage, with a variety of camera shots, angles and movements. The camera was accessed through our school meaning we were able to use it for the lengthy period of time that was needed to capture all of our planned shots, in various locations at varying times. The High Definition element meant that we could shoot clear and smooth pieces of footage, adding to the professionalism of our trailer. The camera was small, light, so we were able to carry it around, and useful in that we could replay videos after we had filmed them. We would often bring the camera into school, to film in high-key/day-time lighting, and then plan to go out straight from school, as it would get dark around 4pm, and the transportability of the camera meant that this wasn't difficult. The zoom button on the camera was extremely useful for us, as we experimented zooming in and out with many shot types, such as the shot with the coat hanging on a telephone wire. This meant that we could film interesting footage, that increased or decreased attention on particular events/objects.

We used a variety of hand held shots, and shots using a tripod. We purposefully included hand-held shots to create chaos and panic, fitting the crime thriller genre, and to symbolise the panic that the Mother is feeling then her daughter goes missing. An example is a short hand-held P.O.V shot of an unknown character running through the woods, a location which repeatedly appears in our trailer, and is near the crime scene - suggesting danger. We were also able to use a large tripod from the school, which enabled us to film steady and stable shots. The tripod had many adjustment levels, meaning we could film from a variety of heights and angle, such as often using high angles when displaying the Mother after the disappearance, in order to make her appear as a vulnerable victim. 

Me and Simatra also used the HD Camera in the planning stages, using it to make our target audience video, and to record our initial ideas pitch.

Voice Recorder: A voice recorder was used several times in production. The first was to record our main character 'Alissa's' hide and seek-style countdown, as this would be played as a voiceover throughout the final. We felt that using a countdown would encourage audiences to watch until the end of the trailer in order to find out what the finale is. Instructions were given to Alissa as to what tone of voice to use throughout the countdown. We wanted the start to be playful, as this section would be featuring over the 'equilibrium stage' of our trailer, but then when the daughter goes missing we instructed for the terror and fear in her voice to increase. However, towards the end of the trailer, when the countdown gets closer to 'ready or not, here I come' we wanted a determined and raged tone in her voice, implying that she will do absolutley anything to find her daughter. 

Digital camera for photos: After planning the shots I wanted for my poster and magazine front cover I decided that hiring out a Digital Camera from the schools photography department. The high quality cameras would allow me to take professional photos, making my poster and magazine front cover more realistic and professional.

iPhone: My iPhone was one of the main technologies I used throughout my research, planning and construction stages of this task. The iOS technology meant that I could download apps in order to help with communication with my group members, such as Facebook Messenger. The calendar app was useful as it allowed me to set reminders for when to bring the equipment in, and reminders of what days we had planned to film. The camera was useful in keeping track of my planning that was done on paper/whiteboards etc, as it meant that I could easily take a photo and upload it to Blogger. We also used the iPhone camera when creating our storyboard, as we felt taking photos instead of drawing would allow us to carefully plan the composition of our shots in the some of the real locations that we would be filming. From my iPhone I could also access the internet and Youtube which aided me in my research, by watching trailers and look at other posters and magazine covers. 

Adobe Premiere Pro: All of our editing was done using an Apple MacBook Pro, using premiere pro editing software - premiere pro. I had a reasonable amount of experience with premiere pro, having used it for our AS production too, however, often researched ways to broaden our editing skills.
As we had filmed approximately 250 pieces of footage, premiere pro allowed us to import all of these videos, re-watch them all together and delete the ones we felt were unnecessary. We were also able to import several sound effects and music tracks, and see if they suited our footage, and then easily delete them if we felt they weren't.
The software allowed us to add several layers of audio and video, cut our footage to desired lengths and also add effects such as the 'Luma Key' effect and reversing the footage - as seen with the close up train shot. It enabled us to add in basic transitions such as 'fade to black' and increase/decrease the speed and volume of our clips. The software allowed us to easily build up pace in editing towards the end of the trailer, increased the speed in which our footage occurs and the volume of music. Inter-titles could also be added by inserting a new title page, meaning we could experiment with how, and when, we wanted our titles to occur.
However, as our editing was only available from one laptop it would involve finding times to meet in, both in and outside of lessons, to edit together - or making plans for me to go home and edit certain sections in the evenings.

Abobe Photoshop: Photoshop was crucial for me, as both my poster and magazine front cover were created using the software. We also used Photoshop when creative our production company logo. Using Photoshop was initially quite difficult, as I had never had real experience using it in the past. However, I used the internet to help me in using the tools, meaning that I could create my poster and magazine cover how I envisioned. Photoshop enabled me to add text in our synergised font using the 'Horizontal Type Tool', add a variety of photos, and also manipulate the way they appeared through editing.
I used the blending options on Photoshop to change the colour and appearance of my poster. I used the quick selection tool to select the mother in my poster image, and cut her on to a separate layer. This was so that I could manipulate the colour of the background without affecting her appearance. I experimented with changing factors like the contrast, and brightness settings to make my main photos more sinister - matching the thriller genre.
In my poster you could initially see a grey jumper that Alissa was wearing underneath her coat, and this hadn't been present in our trailer. In order to hide the grey jumper I used the clone stamp tool to blend the colour of her neck over the jumper, to make it all look like skin.
Although photoshop has a large variety of font options, I decided to use the 'chiller' font throughout my texts in order to create synergy. To make the title 'Here I Come' stand out I used many different blending option such as a white Stroke and a drop shadow to ensure that it was clear on the dark background of my poster.

Blogger: I found using this blogging website very easy, useful and practical. I was able to access the website from many different devices, including school computers, my own laptop and also my iPhone, meaning it was easy to add blog posts to present mine and my groups ideas. Being able to add photos and embed files meant it was easy to keep track, and keep revisiting research and planning. The different 'Save' and 'Publish' options were practical as it meant that I could work on several different unfinished pieces of work at a time, and revisit to improve posts. 

Powerpoint/word: I used Microsoft Word in planning to collate ideas before finalising my concepts on the blog. We used Microsoft Powerpoint to create a presentation for our pitch to our class about our initial ideas. On the Powerpoint we could create different slides for each topic - such as narrative, characters and mise-en-scene ideas.

Emaze: Emaze is a new creative website which is 'the next generation of online presentation software', and I used for one of my planning tasks. The site allowed me to import pictures, synergise the use of font text and change the fonts when making a presentation about the psychographics of my target audience.

Social Networking: Working as part of a group meant that effective communication between us was vital, and allowed us to share research, ideas and also share links to group work - such as the pitch links etc. Social Media sites such as Facebook meant that we could quickly communicate, and set the conversation so that notifications appeared whenever someone spoke in the group chat. We also heavily used social media to promote our trailer, and also the gain audience feedback. We created a Facebook and Twitter page on which we posted behind the scenes photos, and also our final trailer. Using social media was the perfect way to target our young adult target audience, as Facebook and Twitter are most popular with these age groups. Making pages dedicated to films is a very common way of marketing a film release, with Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train both having their own Facebook pages. It is a cheap and easy way to reach a mass audience, and post regular and interesting information that audiences would be interested in. Therefore using this new media technology would be very beneficial in promotion our full film, merchandise and receiving audience feedback, as seen below.

YouTube: YouTube was created in 2005 and allows users to upload, share, comment and view videos. YouTube is a main platform for film promotion, with the majority of film trailers being accessible on the site. YouTube was helpful for me when researching other crime-thriller trailers, with me being able to embed them on to my blog, making analysis much easier. We also used YouTube to upload our pitch and target audience videos, as well as our final trailer for 'Here I Come'.

Other Websites- Several websites helped me in producing my poster, magazine cover and trailer. Freeplay Music and Freesound.org allowed us to download sound effects and music for our trailer. These websites are huge databases of royalty free sound and other audio files. We also used websites to download the 'chiller' font onto the laptop we were using to edit because it was not already programmed onto the editing software.