Magazine - Final

Poster - Final

Trailer - Final

This is the final draft of my trailer. YouTube seems to recommend videos at the end and if paused - sorry!

Evaluation Question 4

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

Mindmap of media technologies used

Planning

• These stages involved me first consulting the list of possible briefs to select the one I felt I was most interested in.
• To develop an understanding of my chosen brief (promotional package for a film encompassing a trailer, poster and magazine cover) I used Microsoft Word to take a screenshot of the specification and underlined the parts which were most relevant.

Using Media technologies in the research and planning stage

• The primary media technology I used at this stage was YouTube, a video sharing platform.
• This allowed me to explore existing real media products so that I could emulate the form of a trailer as much as possible.
• Using a web browser or search engine is a prerequisite for using YouTube. In order to gain accurate and useful results, I had to know what to search for. This perhaps hindered my use of media technologies because I stayed within the realms of my existing knowledge, searching for trailers I had heard of as opposed to other trailers which could expanded my knowledge of the medium further. For example, other trailers could have made more creative use of transitions which I could have applied to my own production. This was also the case for when I was conducting research regarding my ancillary products. When watching trailers, I made mental notes which I then transferred in writing straight onto ‘Blogger’. This was good because it meant that the analyses could be completed quicker, but on reflection using technologies such as Microsoft Word or Apple Notes would have been better. This is because writing or typing notes would allow me to articulate and organize my thoughts better before going into the analyses.
• I also used YouTube to embed these trailers into ‘Blogger’, as a way of illustrating the points I made.
• USING MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION STAGE: iMovie
• Whilst Adobe Premiere Pro was my chosen editing software, to begin with I decided to create a draft version of my trailer using iMovie. This was because I was already familiar with iMovie from making my AS coursework production. I found the software to be less complicated and easier to navigate. This gave me a clearer idea of where to start and allowed me to see what kind of product I wanted to create in Premiere.
• I found this to invaluable as it gave me a sense of direction; I was beginning to lose faith in my abilities as I found Premiere to be so perplexing and a little overwhelming. On reflection, I appreciate that this did not advance my skills as much as I would have liked because I was perhaps not as experimental as I could have been with Premiere. In addition to this, iMovie only has pre-loaded titles, which restricted my ability to experiment with and envisage titles. As a result, the element of my production which involved using typography and titles was less planned than I would have liked. 
• Using this technology had mostly positive outcomes, but it was time consuming. However it probably took less time than using trial and error in Premiere.
• I used PREMIERE PRO to edit my footage. I found the razor tool particularly useful so I could be as accurate as possible when cutting the footage.
• I used GARAGEBAND to edit and enhance the non diegetic soundtrack. As a result, it had a more positive effect on my trailer.
• With regards to my ancillary products I used InDesign and Adobe Photoshop - InDesign for the magazine cover and Photoshop for the poster. I feel that this helped to give a more professional look to my products as they are chosen softwares in the media industry.
• To present my evaluations I used a variety of media technologies such as YOUTUBE and POWERPOINT. I created a survey using SURVEYMONKEY, and online survey builder so I was able to gain feedback on my products. I also used KEYNOTE and POWERPOINT to export files to mp4 videos so that they were more interactive.
• I feel that I have learned a great deal about media technologies this year.

* Sorry about the format, I made this first on Keynote then copied it to blogger.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Presenting my production

Like most films, my trailer was premiered using YouTube, a video sharing platform. YouTube was founded 12 years ago so is established itself as a leader in video sharing. As a result, it has many features available to its users. These include a video stabiliser and editing function. 

I could have used Vimeo to share my production but found Youtube much simpler to use and it easier to embed the video on my blog through YouTube.

Vimeo

Trailer

The short video above exemplifies how I drew inspiration from Disney's Maleficent (2014).

Slide order:
1) Title Slide
2)Using the conventions and form of the medium
3) Examples of the use of medium conventions
4) Conventions in Relation to Genre: Using conventions of the "Dark Fantasy" genre
5) Examples in Real Media Products: "Dark Fantasy" Genre Locations
6) Examples in Real Media Products: "Dark Fantasy" Genre Locations - 2
7) Evaluation: Using the conventions of real media products
8) Real Media Products: Developing the Conventions of these in my trailer
9) Developing the conventions of real media products: Low key lighting
10) Developing the conventions of real media products: The female antagonist
11) Examples in Real Media Products: The female antagonist (Maleficent)
12) Examples in Real Media Products: The female antagonist (Huntsman: Winter's War)
13) Developing the Convention of Sound in my trailer (has audio)
14) Developing the Conventions: Title Transitions in my trailer
15) Evaluation: Developing conventions of real media products
16) Challenging the Conventions of media products: Having One Character
17) Challenging the Conventions of Real media products: Overlaying
18) Evaluation: Challenging the Conventions of real media products
19) Evaluation: Using, Developing and Challenging conventions of real media products

Poster

Evaluation Q1 - Poster
Magazine Cover

Evaluation Q1 - Magazine Cover