Evaluation 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Seyi Odusoga
Hardware
Camera
Boom Mic
Tripod
Green Screen
iMac/Macbooks
Phone
Software
Adobe Premiere Elements
Adobe After Effects
IMovie
YouTube
Photoshop
Garage Band
Screencastify
Google Earth
Blogger
Google Docs
What technologies did you use throughout the three stages of this production?
Research & Planning
YouTube
During planning and research, we had used YouTube to view different news packages in order to derive ideas and compare our ideas to others. From YouTube we searched for how to make news packages and codes and conventions of news packages. This helped us organize our news packages properly, as well as develop on our creative ideas. We had watched the Charlie Brooker 'how to report the news' and used examples from Complex News to make our media product. I had also used it to find tutorials on how to use software I was new to, for example: Adobe After Effects.
Google Docs & Blogger
Communication is key within a group, and we had used Blogger and Google Docs to create and share documents. For example: when we created the script we shared it amongst ourselves by making it available on these sites. Google Docs also made the script accessible to us at home, at school and even on the go (on our phones).
Construction
Camera & Tripod
We used JVC HD Camera and a tripod to film all our footage. The tripod holds the camera still at a certain height for us to film. The camera was handheld but could be attached to the tripod, which was good because in news packages there is never a handheld shot. The handle on the tripod could help us pan shots if needed, and the adjustment at the bottom of the tripod allowed us to extend the height of the tripod, although the tripod was never tall enough for us to shoot at some heights, we often had to stand on tables.
Green Screen
The green screen is used to provide an artificial background for the footage. In editing the background would be placed on only the green areas. With the background created on after effects, we were able to make an aesthetic supporting background. The green screen was easy to use as it can be placed anywhere and we did not have to worry about mis-en-scene before filming. However, we had to iron the green fabric every time before filming which became a waste of time because it still affected our footage by developing creases.
Smart Phones
We had used our smart phones to film and take pictures. In one of our earlier shots we had filmed on a phone because we had stumbled upon an event which was worthy of filming. However phone quality is very poor, so we had to zoom in which just made the pixels more prominent. We had filmed on a phone once again, but the person working the camera filmed portrait rather than landscape, thus leaving black boarders to fill in the rest of the standard size when uploaded to the computer. We had also used a phone to take pictures of ourselves for images on our website.
Boom Mic
We had used the boom mic for great quality sound while filming, rather than rely on the camera's ability to pick up sound. The boom mic isolates interrupting sound, this was proven to us, when the camera which did not use a boom mic had footage with affected by the sound of the moving tripod and nearby plastic bottles. It also allowed us pick up sound from certain distance, so we did not need to stand too close to the guitar player to film him.
Google Earth
In our opening sequence we had recorded our screen using screencastify when we were rotating the globe and zooming in. We had first used it on an iPhone but with that came banners and interrupting notifications, however, it was much easier recording it on an HP computer. Although it did take a long time to download as the app takes a lot of space.
Screencastify
Screencastify allowed us to record our computer screen. We had used this as footage within the news package when we wanted to showcase DJ Frank's work on Soundcloud, as done on mainstream news. It automatically uploads the recording onto our YouTube channel, so this made it easy for us to access on other platforms. Screencastify allows us to also record our voices while recording the screen, however we did not do this as we assumed the sound quality would not be as good.
Weebly
We had used weebly to make our website. It was difficult to use because this was our first time making a website, however it was much easier to use than most website making websites, and it allowed us make hyperlinks to subpages of our websites. Also, we were very restricted with how much we could put on one page and how we could edit text.
Post Production
Adobe After Effects
To make the infographics and name banners, we had used After Effects to create animate text, images and graphics. This was difficult to use considering it was my first time using it. But with the help of YouTube, I learnt how to use it.
iMac/Macbook
To put together majority of the work, we had used iMacs and Macbooks to save and edit our footage. The IOS software allowed us use apps we would not regularly use elsewhere, such as 'Photo booth' to record our voiceovers, I had used HP computers to do this, so I only found the transition difficult to use because there is a big difficult from Windows to IOS. We had also used this within planning and research, such as in our verbal description of our storyboard, we had used the Photo booth app.
Adobe Premiere Elements & iMovie
We used them as our editing software to cut and insert footage into our final production. It was extremely difficult to use Premiere Elements because cutting footage was done to a second rather than a frame. Sometimes, I had to use After Effects to cut footage because Premiere Elements was not 'fine' enough. Premiere Elements was good but we did not use it for the final footage because we realized that IMovie was good for cutting our graphics and adding better transitions. we could manipulate footage better there also.
Photoshop
Photoshop helped us edit pictures when we did not need to do so in Adobe After Effects. Photoshop allowed us to crop, remove background and create images. It was easy to use because we had all used it in our AS media product.
After Effects was a better app to use, however photo shop allowed us edit available images while After Effects allowed us create new animated images.
Garage Band
Garage band is a software which helps us create music from scratch. It allows us collect samples from different genres of music and their instruments and compile all the samples into a finished product. We had made 2 different songs using this, it allowed us make original pieces at the pace in which we wanted in order to suit each frame. It was difficult using this because so many complex samples added made it difficult to know what to remove and move. YouTube tutorials did not teach us how to use it properly, we had to rely completely on guessing.
