Evaluation - Question 4

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


We used many media platforms, mostly the Internet to find videos, audio links, articles and images to research, plan and observe existing similar media products which helped us gain a greater understanding of what works well, what attracts which audience and the different conventions of the various platforms, whether it be a trailer, front cover for a magazine or a film poster.
To make our trailer we used imovie HD which allowed us to edit and add text and music to our footage. This was crucial because the addition of text to our trailer allowed us to get across to the audience our USP which is that the film is based on a true story. The addition of music was essential because the combination of sound and imagery/footage allowed us to create atmosphere and establish the correct genre. We used freeplaymusic.com to find a soundtrack for our trailer which gave us a range of genres and sub genres to choose from. This allowed us to find non-copyright music which gave us the sound we were looking for.
We used Adobe photoshop CS3 to edit our film magazine front cover and teaser poster and this allowed for a wide range of adjustments such as croping images, grayscaling them, manipulating the colour schemes etc. This meant that we could establish the notion of slasher horror through colour or the lack of colour. It also allowed us to be selective with generic colours if you like, such as reds, connoting evil, blood and gore; or the colour black connoting darkness, loneliness and death.
Throughout the coursework as a group we had to learn ways in which to overcome faulty technology and other issues. For example, the network that we used at college had failed to save our work a few times which hindered our progress ,however, we used portable USB devices as a solution which also allowed us to work from home and other location. Additionally, the website blogger.com failed to work on many ocassion which meant that we needed to find a way to get on with our work in the meantime and so we wrote what we were going to post on a word document so that we could copy and paste it into a post when available.
To evaluate our work we used facebook and twitter as platforms for our audience to gain information and coments on it. This was effective as these website are very popular and they reach out not only to the target audience but to a range of ages, genders and cultures. We also interviewed people who had watched the trailer or observed the poster or front cover. From these interviews we gained praise for our products and constructive criticism on how to improve our work. This was effective because it allowed us tolisten to feedback and reflect on comment bad or good. This is essential for large film companies such as Warner Bros. or MGM because it provides them with key information on how their audience want them to produce films which will then help them in the future when making later films.

Also used: Twitter, youtube and facebook