How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning, and

evaluation stages?

InternetThe internet was essential in research and planning, we viewed numerous children’s TV programmes videos on ‘YouTube’ to gain an overall understanding of the genre and its conventions, we used ‘BBC’ which connected us to the “CBBC” site to see if there were other TV programmes we could use in our questionnaire, to find out which is the popular TV programme for our demographic.

Internet

We also used ‘Google’ to evaluate our ancillary products to other products already established products. And Ofcom website to understand the regulations of TV broadcasting. The internet was a key factor in the production of the product because without it we would of not been able to gain a good understanding of the main conventions and been able to plan our product with the knowledge of media conventions.

This is the post about Ofcom TV legislation and the guidelines TV broadcasting has to adhere to.

Final CutWe used the editing program ‘Final Cut’ to create our title sequence. None of us had used the program before so I played around with it and used the manual to figure out how to capture shots and to change the speed of the shots. We were shown by our teacher how to use the video filter, chroma key. This took a lot of time as the blue curtain wasn't just one colour and we needed to make sure it was all chroma keyed out. We also had to edit the saturation, edge thinness and the softness to make the edges around the actors smooth. It is a very user friendly program which made it easy for us to play around with filters and create the image we wanted to.

Final CutWe had to create three video lines to add the background scenes and the text to the whole sequence. The idea was to have the scenes behind the actors so we had to figure out what went on each line to create the order they appeared. Editing the speed of certain shots allowed us to create a slow tempo and also a fast tempo to complimented the beat of the music we produced. The video transitions made our video flow throughout and helped to jump from scene to scene.

‘Final Cut’ was essential in being able to use a blue screen effectively to create the style we wanted to achieve and also to change the tempo, which enabled us create a comical effect which would appeal to our demographic.

Sound Track Pro/Garage Band

The other members of my group completed this part of the project as I was away. They initially used Garage Band to create our soundtrack however, they didn't like the style as they felt it didn't match the genre of our programme. So they switched to Soundtrack Pro to complete the final version. The soundtrack produced is upbeat and also has a mysterious tone as it used the minor key which fits into the storyline of mysterious crimes occurring in the school.

PhotoshopWe used the photo manipulating software ‘Photoshop’ to create our ancillary texts, magazine and DVD cover. We had to make sure that each section of the covers were on different layers so we could manipulate where they were placed and in what order. It also allowed us to manipulate the photos without affecting the other components.

Photoshop We had several photos we wanted to use to make the covers

as effective and attractive as possible. We had to cut them out and delete the backgrounds so we could layer them onto another background. To cut them out we used the quick selection tool, this allowed us to cut out quickly and smoothly the area we wanted to use. We also used generic illustrations that came with the software to create the crest and the magnifying glass. This shows

the main photo in Photoshop being manipulated – we had to select the background to delete it.

We used the “quick selection” tool for ease and for effectiveness.

Audio Boo/Slide shareTo upload audio to my blog I used “Audio Boo” which allowed my to upload onto their site and then use a java script code to embed the file onto my blog. I had to use this for the music and my audience feedback. I also had to use “Slide Share” to upload PowerPoint's to my blog as I also needed the java script code to embed that slide show on a post. I used slideshows for my analysis and as part of my evaluation to use as much media technology as possible.

BloggerBlogger allowed me to post all my work in a format that can be easily transferred. I uploaded work as I went along which helped to see how well I was keeping to my schedules and you can assess my time management. Blogger also allowed you to save, draft and organise work in the way you wanted it to appear before publishing it. I found that blogger enabled me to store and present my work in a professional manner.

Overall, new media technologies were crucial in the completion of our product as it gave us the ability to complete a professional looking product. Through using the internet, ‘Final Cut’ and ‘Photoshop’ we created a title sequence and other related products that were in general successful.