How did you use media technologies in the construction

and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Programmes used in research and planning

Here are some of the methods we used to get research for our media products and what we used to plan this. We used a lot of mind maps to plan our ideas and discuss what ideas we had. As well we this we used whatsapp to communicate with each other outside of the lesson and used it to post new ideas to check them with the rest of the group. We used the channel 4 and radio times website for our research as this was useful to find statistics on these products. YouTube was useful when we wanted to learn how to use new products as this was easy to find tutorials for, for example we had not yet used Scribd. Furthermore, internet explorer was another way in which we got audience research and research on products as there were many websites based on this. Finally, blogger was used to post images and text posts of our research and what we had planned each lesson from the beginning until current lessons.

Evidence of planning

These are screenshot from our media whatsapp chat where we have posted new information in when we were not in lesson. This helped in keeping on top of the work as if there was something that needed to be done, we would inform the rest of the group and we would divide the work through this chat. This was also useful if there was a change of plan for example in the middle screenshot where the police man who we were interviewing had changed and we needed to be aware of this as well letting the front desk of college know.

Evidence of research This is evidence of the PowerPoints we made based on the research we did for channel 4 statistics and capital FM stats which is the station we were airing our radio trailer on. The statistics and information we found was off the official websites therefore we knew it was reliable and something that we could use. This was useful to refer back in the construction process as it made it easier to know what to include and not include based on our target audience.

Programmes used in the construction process

Documentary constructionDuring the construction process of our documentary, we worked closely with premiere pro as this was what we used to construct it on. Premiere pro was the main program we used which was effective as we learned a lot of new techniques and tools which made it easier to pick up on other technologies. As well as this we used Instagram during the filming to show what apps teenagers use and this was one that featured in the final edit of the film. Microsoft word was used when making each of the programmes as this was something we could make quick notes on and use as a diary to see what was left to do for the upcoming lesson. We also used ‘apps’ on the apple mac which was where all our edits and clips were kept from filming, and outlook to send the group new shots and anything information about the documentary which we were not able to send over WhatsApp. Using these technologies made the construction process of the documentary easier and contributed to an overall success for the group and the film.

Radio trailer construction

While creating the radio trailer, this was done mainly through premiere pro, the same program as the documentary. This made the process a lot faster as it was familiar to us and we did not need any lessons in using this. Previous to this, we did face some difficulties as we tried to make it in garage band but the program would not work which set us back in time. This was when we moved to premiere pro and this made the process a lot easier as we finished it in around 2 days. Through the construction of the radio trailer we also used similar programs to store out products and pass on information for example outlook, apps and Microsoft word. This was possibly the easiest media product to create due to the fact that we had previously spent over a month using it for the documentary so was skilled in this.

Magazine listing construction The final media product we constructed was our magazine listing, which we chose to produce on in design. This technology was quite difficult to use to begin with and it took a while to get used to which set us back a while as we did not estimate that it would take the time it did. In my opinion this was the most difficult media product to create as we wanted to make sure the layout looked as though it would fit into an issue of Radio Times and this was harder to capture than estimated. For this product we swapped who was editing it each lesson as we hoped this would generate more ideas and would help the creation process for example what layout to follow. As well as using in design, we used Microsoft word to write our article in and used the radio times website to look at real issues to analyse.

Programmes used in the evaluation process

Evaluation processDuring the evaluation process which I am currently in, I have used different technologies to answer each question. I firstly started the evaluation on Microsoft word to plan my questions and make it easier to write up the real thing. I began my first question using slide share as this was something where I could post a large amount of information and use screenshots and images to gives evidence of what I was talking about. This was useful as it made it easier to talk about certain topics through images rather than having to write an essay. The second question was done on Prezi as I did not want to stick to using the same technologies for each question. I also used PowerPoint and tried to use scribd but faced difficulties as the work I created did not post so I was unable to do part of my evaluation using this. The media blog was also a big part of the evaluation process as this was somewhere which was accessible at home and outside of college so meant that we could all upload relevant information which would access outside of the mac suite. We used this to post screenshots of the creation of all 3 media products which made it easier to break down and talk about in these questions. By using different technologies it was more effective as we were able to demonstrate the skills we had learned, and rather than writing an essay it meant that we were able to show our work through images and necessary screenshots, making it easier to visualise.