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

In our media product we used new media technologies throughout every stage of our production. New media technology has become digital technology and has enabled us to become more creative and have more choice during the course of our productions, giving many advantages. Digital technology is universal, meaning it is widely accessible, therefore through this developed media, primarily being the internet, we have been able to construct, market and distribute our film, without paying a penny. The internet has become the key in new media technology and was used in many ways throughout my production. I used the internet to research other film films from the "thriller" genre. More specifically I used "youtube" to find many films similar of our genre as well as the film website "IMBD". As well as using these sights to research other films I was able to research different cinematographers as well as experts in title sequences such as Saul Bass. The internet has become the key in new media technologies as it is time efficient and cost less. Instead of taking time to research through books and film magazines we are able to find the same information through search engines such as “Google” in minutes. I also used the internet to research for copyright free sound for our media product, however I didn’t have much luck. Even though it would have been quicker to do so online, we imported our music and sound effects through CD’s.
In the research stages of our project we used each others blogs to compare work and research and in the planning stages of our media product we again used blogs. We also used the schools department blog to help us organize our time planning of what tasks was to be completed, as well as a form to receive feedback. I used the blog especially to show the development of my work and different stages of each task, and how I used the feedback we received to better my product. Through the blogging technology I felt many benefits. I was able to access my blog from anywhere with internet access, demonstrating the accessibility advantage of this new media technology, and therefore see what deadlines had been set on the school’s department blog. I used the blog to communicate with my teachers and other members of my group and also compare the standard of my work against other students.
In my planning stages of this media product I used many different software’s. For example, I used slideshare to display pitches and the feedback I received. For the location reccee, call sheets, and shooting schedules I used a word document. For the location reccee and photo storyboard I used the technology of a still camera to take pictures of possible locations and the storyboard of our film.
In order to prepare for the actual production we took part in camera and sound workshops which involved us handling the equipment, including Canon HD cameras and a full sound kit. We had to set up the equipment as if we was going to use it and then dissemble it and from this we learned how to deal with common problems of the equipment.
Therefore we used this equipment in our production stages. The digital revolution has made filming easier, as with today’s technology it is straight forward to learn how to use a camera and has become easier to film, compared to film cameras that was used in the past. The Canon HD camera and XLR lead was a key part of the equipment as well as the sound boom and microphone. The equipment we used was the same as the equipment we used during our AS production therefore we already had experience using it, yet through using this new media technology my skills become more advanced and I was able to use the equipment more efficiently. For example, I learned how to auto focus the camera, and also blur the background of my frame.
In this production we had a completely new editing software, Adobe Premier. Therefore in our planning stages, we practised editing a short scene of the iconic "Psycho" shower scene together in order to practise for our film edit. This editing software I found was much more advanced in terms of effects and transitions and I also found it was easier to incorporate sound onto the timeline than before and adjust the sound levels.
I also found that an advantage of this software was that we was able to do our editing in a non linear sequence, which was especially beneficial for my group as we experienced many problems digitising our rushes onto the computer. As we edited our film onto a lacie drive we had no problems with our film being portable. We was therefore able to edit our film on any workstation we chose to. This was an advantage for me and my group because often we edited the film at different times, without all group members being there. The portability of the lacie drive made our editing a much smoother process as another advantage for my group was that when problems occurred on one computer, we was able to move to another station and edit our film from there.
In the evaluation stages of our project I used the technology of blogging once again. This was the way in which I posted my answers to recieve feedback, as well as looking through the labels on my blog to reflect the work which I've put into my production, which was necessary to answer some questions, particularly the question on audience feedback. Within the blogging technology I felt a sense of familiarity. I often use social networking websites and could see a parallel between these, and consequently I felt comfortable using the blog.
Due to our access to new media technologies our product has been of a better quality. For example, if we were to create our film posters on the software Paint compared to Adobe Photoshop, our result would have been a less professional, simplistic poster. Also the media convergence of Adobe, with both Photoshop and Premiere, was an advantage as both software’s shared similar features therefore made it easier to use. For both ancillary tasks, the film poster and the magazine review, I used Adobe Photoshop to produce these. It was the software which was most able to make my final products look professional and realistic.
Overall, there were a variety of different ways in which we used new media technologies in our media product, and I believe as long as the technology carries on developing, the better quality of product we will be able to produce.