FINAL POSTER

FINAL MAGAZINE COVER

FINAL TRAILER

Evaluation Question 4

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

The development in my use of technologies between AS and A2 level have been significant, as I have incorporated the use of more softwares due to the construction of the poster and magazine cover.  As well as the developed use of software, I have also been allowed to develop my use of equipment, as I further incorporated a Gopro camera as well as a stereo mic, allowing me to have a range of different shots and sounds; the stereo mic proved especially effective for ambient sounds, which could not have been achieved using the directional mic, and the Gopro allowed me to achieve realistic chase sequences due to the harness it provided, allowing me to chase my actor - increasing the verisimilitude of the product, which is essential in terms of achieving an accurate depiction of a social realist film. Incorporating the use of the Gopro camera meant I had to further develop my skills in the Final Cut software as the images the Gopro captured needed to be altered in order to demonstrate continuity with the images captured by the regular camera. This was achieved by removing the natural fisheye effect which the Gopro provides, compressing the footage and matching the colour with images captured by the regular camera in an aesthetically pleasing lighting.

As well as developing my use of different technologies, my skills in softwares such as Final Cut pro and motion, which was used during my AS level, has significantly increased as I found my speed of editing was much more rapid as I developed my use of shortcuts for tools such as the blade, trim and zoom. 

The aesthetics of the trailer was further developed in the use of transitions such as fades to black, flashes of lights and fades to colour, as well as the incorporation of music and sound, as I made efforts to include sound bridges and layered ambient noises producing a far more aesthetically pleasing result than previously achieved. 

The use of key frames when fading the music in and out also proved very useful and effective, especially in terms of sound bridges. As well as building tension in the opening sequence where the music fades in out of nowhere. Key frames were also essential when incorporating dialogue, and the volume of the music had to decrease so that the dialogue would be audible. 

Including graphics from reviews also proved simple due to my previous use of the software, as well as did layering images on top of each other, which needed to be done when including awards and the title of my film. My development in the pace of my editing skills proved especially useful during the construction of evaluation question 3, which was created on Final Cut in a relatively short time space. My abilities in the use of the Motion software increased significantly as I found the use of filters on pictures produced far more professional results than attempting to create images myself using the materials provided. The use of partial generators further built on the aesthetics of my Ident.

Utilising the photoshop software for the construction of my poster and magazine cover proved especially difficult for me as I have not previously used this software before, however I recognised the importance in developing my skills in order to produce a professional result. This was achieved by using tutorials on youtube, which were used when attempting to produce effects such as the raindrop effect - which was achieved and significantly improved the aesthetics of the poster. Photoshop elements was also explored as this software was made available to me outside of school, however I found it difficult to apply my limited knowledge of Photoshop to Photoshop elements therefore it was only used as a template in which I built on during school time on the Photoshop software. Illustrator was also used in order to develop the fonts of my poster, however my limited time space did not allow me to develop my skills in the software to the extent of which it made a significant impact on either of my products.

The use of social media in the development of my production and the research and planning aspect has developed significantly as I learned to exploit websites such as youtube for the tutorials in which they offer. This was especially useful when working on new softwares such as photoshop, as I could now produce work which previously would not be possible for me. Soundcloud also allowed for me to look at different types of music which would work for my production - and the track itself was published on Soundcloud, which later allowed for me to download it onto a computer with the editing software, where it could be applied to my production. The convergence of all these different websites on Google allowed for me to access all social media on a single search engine, which proved to be very useful in terms of time efficiency. Facebook further allowed for me to publish my work and receive audience feedback. Overall the use of social medias in the research and planning of my production proved essential, as it allowed for me to access information regarding all my influences, from the trailers themselves to influences for magazines and posters. 

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 3 Poster

Evaluation Question 3 Magazine