Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction a

Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout making my media products I used a range of media technologies.

Research

In the research stage of the project I brainstormed the different sub-genres of horror using Prezi. Prezi is an online presentation software that presents work in a fun and interactive way. Therefore I felt that this format was effective for brainstorming all the sub-genres of horror because it gives the user the independence to navigate around.

This research gave me a better understanding of the different horror sub-genres which enabled me to construct sufficient questions to ask a target audience for primary research of their thoughts on horror movies. I filmed the responses using my iPhone camera and put together the findings together using Windows Movie Maker so that I could present them in a way that flowed smoothly, which I then uploaded to YouTube.

Reviewing my survey results informed me that the preferred sub-genre of the target audience was psychological and paranormal. Therefore this was my chosen sub-genre for my horror film trailer. From here I created a presentation pitch using Microsoft PowerPoint to present potential plot ideas to a focus group. I felt that this software is specialised in presentations and so was effective for presenting to the focus group.

Planning of the Trailer

The planning of the trailer involved creating an animatic. For the animatic of our trailer, Kirsty and I used our storyboard drawings for the scenes and we used audacity to put together all the sounds we wanted to include. I looked on Freeplay Music to find some scores and sound effects suitable for our trailer. Additionally we used a sound recording app on our mobile phones to record sounds of our own. Kirsty recorded speech for the dialogue of the animatic, and I recorded emphasised ambient sounds like the door creaking and water running. Our own recorded sounds meant that we had control of what we wanted the particular sounds to sound like which in turn would make our product successful by including a range of sounds to intensify the trailer.

The planning allowed us to gather a range of sounds that we could play with to create our own sound mix that we thought worked best for our trailer. Planning the trailer by creating an animatic enabled us to gain a better idea visually of what the trailer would look and sound like so that we could show a focus group to get their feedback on the proposal. This helped us plan a product that once it was produced, it would be more effective because we were assured that the target audience would be interested by it. We had already experimented with various sounds to see what worked best with what scenes and what actions, so that once we had all the video footage for our trailer, we could then insert the sounds we used for the animatic into the official trailer which helped speed up the production process. We then put the storyboard images and music track together in Windows Movie Maker to create a flowing video product that could visualise our trailer plan, which was then uploaded to YouTube so that people could view it.

After this I used Microsoft Word to create the production schedule for the filming for the trailer so that we could organise our time effectively ensuring we would get all our footage completed in the time allowed.

Constructing the trailer

Kirsty and I filmed the footage using our own cameras (Canon 1100D and Nikon D3100) because these have good pixel quality and have features to capture video footage.

We then edited the footage when importing it into Windows Movie Maker by using the trim tool to cut scenes down in addition to the transitions such as fade out to black.

For parts of the footage where the action is intense we used a strobe light to create constant flickering, in addition to trying to create a police siren, we used blue filter paper over the strobe light to achieve this. This helped us create a sense of disorientation among the audience because it limits their perception of what they can see. Therefore this makes them feel apprehensive of what will happen in the film.

For the sound of the trailer we used audacity to combine the sounds we wanted to include in the trailer and placed them at the right time durations of the trailer footage. For example having the score start as soon as the trailer starts, having a sting when the necklace unexpectedly appears in the bathroom and a sting at the end of the trailer when the film title appears.

Once finished and published we uploaded it to YouTube and onto our own blogs on Blogger so that others could view the trailer.

To create the homepage I used Wix.com because this provided me with a range of features to create a conventional homepage.

I uploaded my navigation text, film title text, tagline, release date, reviews and credit block from 1001 fonts because this offers a vast range of font styles, and this is where I got my previous fonts from for the poster and trailer therefore to maintain a consistent house style I needed to use the same ones.

The navigation text is linked to the assigned pages so that it is a working website; and the ‘Silent Screams’ title text links back to the homepage. The navigation bar is found at the top of the screen on every page of the website so that it is easy to use for the audience. If the website was confusing and hard to use, users would easily get frustrated and not bothering using the site or its full potential or at all. The audience already anticipate how to use a website and expect to have a navigation bar clear so that they can easily navigate around the site.

I have animated the reviews so that they expand in once the page is viewed to make the page more interactive and maintains attention of the user.

The credit block is in the footer of the page so that it is found on every page of the site because this gives credit to those involved in the film.

I have also included social media links and a hashtag of the film as this is a key conventional feature in the modern day horror websites because they are commonly used by target audiences. These links also provide users to access of more information and updates about the film that excites and creates a buzz among the audience that helps gain interest to make the film successful.

I have included a sound track from Freeplay Music that was

used in a sound mix included in the trailer, and so is related to the film, to maintain consistency throughout all my products across the campaign.

The main image on my homepage is a still image of Chelsie, the dead character, in the forest taken from a long shot because this shows variation from my poster. Her positioning and location highlights her being distance from her so-called friends and suggests how she is the one to be afraid of.

I included text to instruct the user to scroll down the homepage to watch the trailer to make them interact with the page in addition to finding this common in my research, making it a typical feature.

Evaluation

I began my evaluation of the project by typing up my initial answers on Microsoft Word because this enabled me to document my answers clearly. I then used a range of ICT to present my answers.

Trailer Research

Question 1

Question 2

From analysing the focus group feedback, I could then focus my research on existing horror movies that are closely related to my chosen plot. For this I used YouTube to watch my chosen three trailers to focus on and analysed the mise-en-scene, camera work, editing and sound of all of them.

Editing and Sound

Mise-en-scene and Camera Work

For question 1 I used Windows Movie Maker because this enabled me to present my answer using video footage as well as sound. I recorded myself speaking out my question using a sound recording app on my iPhone which I then uploaded to Windows Movie Maker so that I could align my narration to the correct footage being displayed. This took time to ensure that the right footage that was being correlated to the points I was making. I used the trim tool to cut the video footage down to the areas I wanted to show and change the speed of some of the footage to prolong its display time so that my speech aligned up with it.

For question 2 I used Screencast-o-matic to film my screen while I spoke out my answer. This software enabled me to explain my response to the question while providing visual evidence to support my answer to help put my point across clearly. This way I could incorporate both still images and video footage with my spoken response. I created the visuals using Microsoft PowerPoint to present the show and work through as I spoke out my response.

I presented the mise-en-scene and camera work research using Microsoft PowerPoint. I chose this software because this enabled me to present my findings in a suitable way whereby I could include both text and images to make my research clear and thorough.

For the editing and sound research I used Windows Movie Maker to present my analysis because this enabled me to show moving footage whilst running a presentation show automatically. To demonstrate how the editing of film works, video footage was needed to clearly display this because still images cannot convey this whereas Windows Movie Maker enabled me to. Likewise with the sound research, to understand how sound is used and when it is used throughout the trailer you need to have audio or video footage that plays for you to be able to hear the effect and use of sound.

Two images from my research:

Below is a short glimpse of my editing research, and my sound research clip:

Click play to watch

Question 4

Question 3

For question 3 I used Adobe Fireworks to present part of my answer. I used Fireworks to create a GIF file that would present my response on an automatic loop. I chose this software because I had not previously used it for any of my evaluation answers and so I felt this broadened my excellent use of ICT. This software enabled me to break down my points of the audience feedback along the way of the process of making my products. I could change the file type to an animated GIF which allowed me to work with states whereby I changed the timings so that they were of a suitable length for others to read.

For question 4 I used Prezi because this enabled me to present my answer in a sequential way. The layout of the presentation allowed me to create a clear flow from each stage as well as being able to include text, images and videos to make my answer more interactive and fun. I constructed my answer in chronological order and so began starting with the research section, branching off into small subdivisions of the trailer, poster and homepage research off of the initial research circle. I then inserted the path to the next circle of the planning stage whereby I analysed the planning of the trailer with two branches off explaining the poster and homepage planning. A new path then lead to another circle detailing the construction stage of the trailer, with two subdivisions analysing the poster and homepage construction. And finally finishing with the evaluation circle explaining how I used various media technologies across the four evaluation questions.

I then gained audience feedback about the finished products which I presented using Windows Movie Maker because I recorded video footage of some focus group member responses. Therefore to present their points I created a presentation show that displayed all the audiences' answers to each question. This then allowed me to reflect my overall products against the target audience feedback to see if I had been successful or not.

Poster Research

For the horror film poster I conducted research using Google to explore existing horror film posters. This enabled me to collect a selection of psychological and paranormal horror film posters that I could then analyse.

I used Microsoft PowerPoint to present my findings in a suitably presented way. This meant that I could refer back to it when I made my own poster so that I could make my poster as conventional as possible. I uploaded the finished presentation on my blog as images so I could refer back to it and others to see.

Homepage Research

Two images from my research

After reviewing several homepages I created a presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint summarising the general conventions of psychological paranormal horror homepages because this could present my findings in a clear and suitable way.

Screencast-o-matic allowed me to capture moving footage of the pages so that I could show how you navigate around the pages. Therefore I published my finished research presentation as a Windows Movie Maker so that the screencast-o-matic video footage would play soundly. I also chose one of the existing sites, Insidious 2, to analyse its website using a screencast-o-matic to visually show how to use the website and its features.

I then created a navigation map of the Insidious 2 site on Microsoft Publisher because this enabled me to understand the layout and structure of their site and display it in a suitable format which could help me make one for my own webpage.

Click play to watch

Image by Tom Mooring

Poster Planning

Click play to watch

After my research of existing paranormal horror film posters I then drew four initial poster ideas and scanned them so that I could upload them to my blog to gain feedback from my target audience.

Constructing the Poster

To create the poster I used Microsoft Publisher to make the finished product because this software is designed for publishing documents and so is effective for making a poster.

I took my photos using my Nikon D3100 camera because this is designed to take high quality photographs and so the pixels would be of a high standard and make

my photographs look professional. Once taken I uploaded the images onto my

computer so that I shortlist my image choices for my poster main image.

From audience feedback I then developed one of my initial posters and uploaded it to my blog.

I used Adobe Fireworks to edit the images; the rubber tool to erase the background of the original photograph so that I could place ‘Chelsie’ on a black background. I did the same for the second image yet I blended and rubbed her mouth out also. I then layered the no mouth image of Chelsie over the top of the screaming one and changed the opacity level to very minimal so that it was highly transparent.

Original Images:

Edited Images:

Final Poster:

Homepage Construction

Homepage Planning

After researching existing horror film sites, I created a navigation map for my Silent Screams website on Microsoft Publisher because this enabled me to display the map clearly. In addition I drew a labeled plan for the homepage which I scanned and uploaded to my blog for others to see.

Click play to watch

Original image: