Evaluation 4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research,planning and evaluation stages ?

To make my soap trailer and ancillary texts as good as possible I had to use a range of technology including both a range of hardware and software.

Last year we used 'Windows XP' computers running adobe premiere which we used to edit our horror film openings. For our soap trailers however we used IMac's which were vastly superior and easier to use. The editing program we used on the IMac is 'Final cut pro'. This software allowed us to edit our trailer and thus improve it immensely. The software was far less temperamental compared to Adobe Premiere which would often break or loose saved data. Final cut pro was a lot simpler to use meaning we could add effects and transitions with ease. 'Final cut' allowed us to cut unwanted footage of the trailer allowed us to put in title sequences such as the BBC style closing scene as well as head smaller sub headings effortlessly.

Using Final cut meant our footage had a clear structure and was short and sweet like trailers should be, we were able to mute any background sound we had recorded also and add our music bought from ITunes and add our voice overs through voice recorders. Using voice overs meant that the footage wouldn't be interrupted with unnecessary noise and instead was easily applied throughout. We also used a voice recorder to complete our second evaluation activity which required us to do a commentary on our trailer and how it synergised with our ancillary texts.

We could not use 'Final Cut Pro' for our ancillary texts however, for that I used 'Adobe Premiere' which I used the year before to create my horror film production logo. This time however my skills with Photoshop had improved. Photoshop allowed me to create a TV listings magazine and poster for my media product Avenue, I used the conventions I had learnt about TV listings magazines and posters and applied my knowledge in creating my own. Adobe allowed me to follow the correct conventions and use a range of effects on my trailer to emphasise it's legitimacy/realism.

To take the pictures needed for my magazine and for setting ideas we needed a camera. Specifically we used a digital camera which was simple to used and helped us plan the setting of our soap by taking location shots and it also allowed us to take necessary pictures for the ancillary texts as I previously mentioned.

. To film the trailer we used a Panasonic HDC60 which allowed us to capture high quality footage with both great audio and visual quality. Instead of a tape we used an SD card which eliminated the threat of recording of our own or someone else' work. The camera was very easy to use which we benefited from, juxtaposed with my AS horror movie opening the quality gained for my media trailer is obvious. The tripod we used also helped a great deal in keeping out footage straight and professional looking.

I used Facebook to gain feedback on the trailer which helped to improve it as well as being essential for the third evaluation task. 


Youtube was effective in giving me feedback from users also, youtube allowed me to upload the video to my blog as well so everyone can see it as it is an important part of my coursework.

Paint was an effective program in regards to editing images to put on my blogs and this in turn helped me improve my evaluations to great effect. 


Finally Blogger allowed me to display all my media coursework dynamically whether it be video,audio,picture or plain texts. It has allowed me to display my coursework in a effective easy to understand manner and edit or improve posts whenever I feel the need arises.