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HARDWARE! – THE MAC

We used an apple mac computer to access different software for construction and post production. I had never used a mac before so at first it was hard to use. The thing that was hardest to use was the mouse as the scroller works the opposite way round to the standard PC, but now my skills have improved and I am perfectly comfortable to use the mac for any piece of work. I used the mac predominantly in the construction and post production stages of the course work. I also used the mac to access internet for our blog and software like Premier, InDesign and Adobe Audition for coursework post production. The mac helped me to be creative with the editing as the professional software was effective and easy to use. I was able to manipulate my sound and footage with ease creating smooth cuts and brighter images on the documentary. I was able to create a smooth cut within my documentary when I jumped from watching our archival footage then to it being full screen. I was able to develop my gatekeeping skills within editing by removing things I did not want my audience to see.

HARDWARE! – THE PC

I used a pc mainly for the research and planning of my coursework. It allowed me to access the internet for research purposes as well as having programs such as word and PowerPoint so that I could use them to create planning material such as schedules and risk assessments. These particular tasks with the PC did not cause to much aggravation as it was similar to what we were instructed to do at AS with the same hardware. However, I would argue that, as I used a wider range of software, my research skills did improve this year. The PC helped me to be creative by providing different programs all with features that made my work more interesting. One example was how I could use Prezi to make an interesting presentation by adding in different background, transitions and images whicj=h related to the actual text.

HARDWARE! – THE CAMERA

To film our documentary we used a Canon camera to record all of our footage. To use the camera to et an effective show or recording, we also had to use a tripod to keep our shots still and a microphone to clearly pic up sounds from any interview or vox pop we filmed. To use the microphone, we also had to use earphones to make sure the voices and sounds were being picked up clearly. This equipment allowed us to expand our creativity by allowing us to record anywhere without sacrificing the quality of a good shot. The tripod had a spirit level so we knew when the camera was straight so there were no tilted shots. It also turned the camera 360 degrees so we were able to get a steady panning shot of the college as a type of establishing shot in the documentary. Using the camera to film many shots of students using their phones (specifically social media) allowed us to represent them as ‘addicted’ to their phones.

HARDWARE – THE VOICE RECORDERWe used the voice recorder for the post production stages of our

coursework. It was used to record the voice over of our documentary and to create the voice of the radio trailer. The concept was that the voice is recorded in a quite room (so as not to pick up any background noises) and then plug it into the mac via a USB port then upload it into Premier and Garageband. This device allowed us to record anything and it was easy to use so we simple wrote a script then recorded it. At first, we did have a few problems. The first one we encountered was that when you pressed record it takes a few seconds for the process to start so we ended u with the first few seconds of our voice over cut off so we had to re record. On our first attempt we also realized that having a mobile phone near the device created a buzzing noise in the background. By using this hardware, I have learnt that we can manipulate the view of the audience by the way we lead them through the documentary. One example of ding this is questioning “how make up on your face is natural?” this will make the audience question their beliefs and they may decode the documentary differently.

SOFTWARE! - ADOBE PREMIER PRO

We used Premier for the post production section of our coursework. This particular piece of software was used for editing out documentary together. All the different tools allowed us to edit the visual image to make it brighter or darker. We were also able to cut footage and make cut aways as well as adding transitions to make the documentary aesthetically pleasing. We used the razor tool to split footage so we could edit out anything we didn't’t want to feature in the finished piece. This particular tool also let us cut out gaps of silence in our voice over so it flowed better with the visuals. The software helped expand our creativity by being easy to use so we could implement all of our ideas. We were able toadd text to shots so as to follow the convention of crediting our expert interviews and create a title screen for the documentary its self.

SOFTWARE! – ADOBE AUDITION

Audition is a sound editing software created by adobe and it is link to premier. I used this program to edit sound levels on the documentary, in particular, to reduce background noise. You simple had to highlight the sound clip you wanted to edit then select ‘noise reduction’ in ‘edit’. This allowed us to take the sound from the vox pops done in a noisy area and lose some of the background noise from the clip, making them usable within the finished piece. This was another piece of software that was not necessary for AS so using it was a new skill I gained this year.

SOFTWARE! – INDESIGN

I use InDesign last year to create my double page spread for AS but my skills within the software improved this year and this year, my knowledge and understanding of the software is much more impressive. I was able to add and manipulate an image with more success than before. I was also able to remember tow to use tools like the text box, the columns and creating drop caps. In this software, we were creative with colours and fonts we used as well as thinking about the article itself and what we would use as a pull quote. One thing we created on this software was the masthead, this creates branding for our magazine so it is recognizable to previous readers of the magazine. I created this skill in AS for my music magazine coursework, but developed it in A2 by adding a masthead to a double page spread which I did not do in AS.

SOFTWARE! – GARAGEBAND

We used GarageBand to create our radio trailer and music for our documentary. We imported the recorded voice over then used apple loops to create a track to play alongside the voice over. We new the music had to be right as it told the viewer how they should be feeling at the time when it is playing so as this was a serious documentary, we needed some melancholy music. I was also able to manipulate the sound level of this music so it didn’t overpower the voice over or sound clips. This allows the reader to focus on the voice over. Although most of the radio trailer is audible but there is one quote which audience research proved was hard to gear even with the music very low so I could have made that clip louder, making the overall trailer more effective.

SOFTWARE! – WORD AND SCRIBD

I used word and scribd mainly for the primary and secondary Research and Planning in the coursework. I used word to create planning paperwork such as risk assessments and production schedules and I uploaded them to scrib so I could put them on my blog and have them on there in a more interesting way than just typing the information straight on to a post. The two software’s are basic and easy to use, plus I used them multiple times in AS so they were not particularly challenging for me to use.

SOFTWARE! – POWERPOINT AND SLIDESHAREWhen doing the research and planning section of the

coursework, I used PowerPoint to display my information creatively by adding transitions and effects, I then used slideshare to upload it to my blog by embedding it into a post. When I embedded my PowerPoints onto my blog via slideshare, I realized that the effect I had put on did not appear on the blog. I also found out that the video example I used did not play. I had to over come this by embedding my video examples separately. Again, these software’s are basic and I had previously used them in my AS year, making them easy and useful for my coursework. An example of me using this is when I did research into similar products, I created a PowerPoint with a still from a documentary, I then analyzed the documentary and explained how we would pull conventions from this documentary and use them in our own. I then took examples of the documentaries I analyzed and put them on the blog in the same order the analysis appears on the blog.

SOFTWARE! – PREZI

Prezi is a piece of internet software I used mainly in research and planning and evaluation stages of my coursework to make my presentation of information more interesting. When I first used it at AS I found it difficult to use at it was new to me and I did not understand all the options and tools. Now, after practicing and using it again at A2, I understand the uses and options and my use of the software has improved. An example of this is when I used Prezi to create my narrative theorists post. I was able to manipulate the pathway that the presentation took to organize my points effectively. I was also able to add interactions and idea that fitted into the pathway to expand on my knowledge and presentation.