Sonam Nguyen

1. Evaluation Question 4How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Sonam Nguyen

2. Digital Technologies Web 2.0 was a vital tool in the process of our production, all the way from research and planning stage, to the production stage and finally the evaluation stage. The internet provided us with the resources we needed to create the final product, the trailer. Youtube, Google images and Incompitech are examples of websites that were seen as very useful in providing ideas from watching similar trailers, use of images for our blogs and presentations and un-copy righted soundtrack. Additionally, social networking platforms such as Facebook were ideal in regards to sharing information (ie. Photo’s and videos of the production) to the target audience. As these types of websites are free and only require internet connection, means it is a very good way for an independent film to receive valid feedback. Furthermore, the use of Adobe Premiere Pro proved to be beneficial in the editing process of our trailer. As there is more demand for technology these days, prices are fairly low which means a lot of people are able to afford software’s like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro.

3. Research and Planning Stage The first stage of our production involved the ‘research and planning’. In this stage, we were advised to conduct research on postmodernism and dystopian/post apocalyptic genres . An example of a task that was assigned to us at the beginning of the year was analysing a number of postmodern trailer. This specific task proved valuable when considering ideas for our own trailers. Internet • IMDB – used when researching specific information regarding a certain film (ie age certifications and actors) • Wikipedia –used to find out more information about a film (the release date and box office figures) • Google images – used when presenting my information on my blog through powerpoint presentations. • Incompitech – used for gathering a list of different un-copy righted soundtracks. • Slideshare – used when researching historic dystopian timeline. Youtube Youtube was a necessary tool throughout the every stage, however proved most beneficial in the research and planning stage. I initially used Youtube to conduct research on a range of trailer, giving me ideas to brainstorm for our actual production. Our font style (similar to the one of Prometheus) was first seen on Youtube. Blogs Blogs posts were an essential part of the research and planning stage as they meant we could keep an organized area to present our ideas/brainstorms for both our group members to see, as well as other group members to see. My blog was split up into 4 different categories, Research, Planning, Construction and Evaluation. This made it easy to me to check old posts that I had previously written by keeping everything in order and structured.

4. Production Stage For the production stage, we used a Canon EOS 1100D to film all of the shots within our trailer. The camera was lightweight and the images were crisp which meant it was easy for us to start filming straight away. Furthermore, as it was a digital camera, it made it possible to re-watch our footage before uploading it, meaning that if a scene didn’t look up to standard then we could delete it and re-shoot it again. This also made it very easy for us to upload the footage onto a computer and import it onto Adobe Premiere Pro. Other props which were used in unison with the camera was a tripod, a slider and a micro lens. We gathered a range of soundtracks from the well known copy right free website, incompitech.com. The soundtrack that we decided to use was called ‘Anguish’. In terms of sound effects, we found a file on the college computer which offered a number of basic effects. The ones we ended up using were called: ‘Big Drum’, ‘Gas Seeping’ and ‘Lake and Water’. The website we found our font was called dafont.com. From previous research we wanted to find a font title similar to the one in the movie Prometheus as it offered a professional/clear style, which also emitted a eerie and mysterious tone. This resulted in me finding one called ‘Futuristic Fixed-Width’. In terms of the editing, we used a software called Adobe Premiere Pro. This enabled our group to add the soundtrack/sound effects, special effects, titles, change the colouring and cut shots down.

5. Production Stage (Magazine Cover and Film Poster) The same camera was used for both the filming of the trailer, and the photos taken for the magazine cover and the film poster, the Canon EOS 1100D, This camera was perfect for both tasks as it was easy to use, and the results were high quality. Photoshop was used in order to create our magazine cover and film poster. This software made it possible to edit our photo by changing the opacity, the brightness and the colour. Adding layers on to the photo meant we were able to use the Total Film magazine template and adapt it to our film.

6. Evaluation Stage For evaluation question 1, my group worked together to create a directors commentary over the trailer. We spoke about the genre, the mise en scene, the editing, the magazine cover and the film poster. We used a special software on the college computer which enables the screen to be recorded. Whilst we recorded our commentaries, we highlighted the images we were talking about so that audience could not only hear but see evidence of our work. Once the commentary was complete, we saved it onto a USB and imported it onto the ‘A2MediaVarndean’ Youtube page before uploading it onto our blogs. With regards to evaluation questions 2,3 and 4, I used Microsoft Powerpoint to present all of my information. Microsoft Powerpoint offers an organized layout which is really easy to use and access on the Quack blogs.