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

evaluation stages?

Research and PlanningThe research and planning for our documentary was

essential and helped in many ways towards the production. A lot of planning we did wasn’t done using media technologies but more by hand. As a group we first created a mind map of the various topics we could base our documentary on. For example, we thought we could have based it on smoking, binge drinking or social networking. In the end we decided to choose the topic on knife crime mainly because it was talked about a lot in the media. Furthermore there were many sources which allowed us to get all the information we needed and we knew people who had already been a victim of a stabbing. Once we had our ideas, we had storyboard sheets so we could start planning the opening shots of the documentary including camera angles, lighting, mise-en-scene, and sound. We hand drew all the drawing and wrote out the text.

In the research stage of our documentary, we used many new sites and various newspaper articles to find out more information such as up to date statistics about the amount of people who have been stabbed. We researched on the BBC News website and the West Midlands Police site to get the most recent figures. By using resource’s such as books, internet and newspaper articles we were able to make sure our research was very accurate to avoid false information. The channel research included looking at websites such as BBC one, BBC three, ITV 1, ITV 2 and Channel $. Research was then conducted to look into similar documentaries to ensure we got the right channel. For this we looked at online programs such as iPlayer and 4oD. YouTube was another website which enabled us to look at documentaries which were no longer on the channel websites. We then looked into the type of audience they appealed to the most and came to the decision to air the documentary on Channel 4 as they have similar types of programmes such as Dispatches.

All the research we constructed in this stage was uploaded on our group blog, blogger.com which showed the progress we were making each lesson with regards to this task.

FilmingAfter doing our research and planning, the main part of the task started which was

filming the footage based on our storyboards. By using professional, high quality cameras we were able to carry out shots that consisted of focused and out of focused shot. The zoom tool also was available, to allow us to zoom in and out of different shots. By changing the white balance on the camera, it gave us a much more natural lighting and looked a lot better when we uploaded it to a Mac. We had equipment such as the tripod and microphone where we were able to comfortably travel to get the shots we needed. As the camera was very light and easy to hold onto, it enabled us to do handheld camera shots however for professional shots we used the tripod. The tripod helped keep the shot stable and to keep the rule of thirds in mind along with the mise-en-scene, Zoom shots and steady pan shots were much easier and looked at a high quality because of the tripod.

To record the sound of our footage, including the voiceover we used a directional microphone. To check sound levels, we plugged in headphones to make sure that no background noise was being picked up. We tried to use a quiet room which was available and arranged interviews before hand to avoid time waiting, We planned the questions as a group in order to get whatever answers we felt would help contribute to the documentary.

The technologies we used throughout this process

• Garage band• Final cut express• YouTube• Microsoft Word• Microsoft PowerPoint• Photoshop• InDesign• Slideshare• Scribd

Internet

The internet played a big part in part of helping us produce our documentary on knife crime. By using YouTube and other online services such as 4oD, it allowed us to see programmes such as Dispatches and Panorama so we could get extra information on how to create Left Wounded. It also helped us understand the code and conventions of documentaries.

The equipment we utilised

• Printer• Scanner• Mobile phones• Apple Mac computer• Computer• Headphones• Tripod• Microphone• Camera• Video camera

The Canon HG20 allowed us to capture high quality video clips along with still images which helped us when planning what shots we wanted to use.

The microphone port was essential to be able to record both diegetic and non diegetic sound. The polarity pattern on the microphone allowed us to point the microphone in a certain direction picking up sound from a specific point which would give us better sound clarity.

The headphones used were Beat Studios by Dr Dre. These high quality headphones allow you to hear every sound happening therefore we were able to see whether certain locations had too much background noise. It also allowed us to adjust the mic to get the best quality sound.

The voiceover was recorded using a voice recorded in a quiet room which gave us high quality sound levels.

Blogger

Blogger was the main site to use to organise all of our work in a chronological order. This allowed each member of the group do participate in part of the research and planning. It also avoided us repeating work and to fill in missing pieces when needed.

Websites such as Scirbd and Slideshare allowed us to upload pieces of research to Blogger. Prezi was also used to show information in a more creative way.

Editing

When all our filming was finished, we uploaded all of them from our camera onto the Apple Mac. It was simple and easy as all we had to do was copy the files over to the media drive. We opened up the editing program Final Cut Express to start the editing. The first stage was to log and transfer all the clips we wanted. All of our clips were labelled once they were transferred so we could easily pick and chose where to place each video.

Screenshots of Final Cut expressThe screen shot shows how we have bent the sound levels to keep it stable and for documentary to flow all in one go. It shows how we experimented the sound levels to ensure we got the highest quality sound. We also used fades on sounds so that they would blend in from one clip to another.. To cut out sounds which we didn't need, we used the razor blade tool. This enabled us to adjust each part separately.

This screenshot shows the transitions which allowed the documentary to dissolve into another scene. The purpose of this was to make it look as professional as possible and to follow the conventions of a documentary.

Changing the speed of our clips was very successful so we decided to decrease the speed of the reconstruction to make it look as if in slow motion. The speed was easy to adjust as all we had to do was change the percentage. By changing the speed, it gave the reconstruction a dramatic effect which is what we wanted to achieve. We also added a blur function to the video to make the victim of the knife stand out.

We created a logo for our documentary to make it look more professional and realistic as an opening title screen would normally occur in a documentary.

A variety of transitions were used in the documentary to make it look as interesting and professional as possible. It also allowed the audience to take in the information and what has happened but also to be prepared for the next clip.

This was the editing toolbar which was used throughout this process.

This screenshot shows how we exported the video to YouTube to enable people across the world to view it. It makes it an easier access for everyone and as YouTube has an enormous audience, it means it will reach out to many people.

This shows the list of all the clips we had filmed for the documentary including all the interviews, fillers and vox pops which were all appropriate for our documentary. This allowed us to decide which clips we should and shouldn't use. We had an extra amount of video clips so we had a range of shots to choose from.

Placing text onto clipsWe added text to the documentary to add in extra information. For example we added text at the start of the documentary to show who created the documentary. We also used text on the interviews to show who the speaker is. We changed the size of the text to make it suitable for the audience to see but not too big to take up the page. We kept the colour as a basic white for the interview names as it would stand out on a black background.

This shows how the text was placed onto the interview to make it look professional. The backdrop is a simple black to make the writing stand out.

This is the opening 15 seconds of the documentary showing the groups names.

Music creation Once we had finished adding all the

clips, transitions and effects we needed to add the sound. The main sound was the voiceover which we had separated in various parts so it was easily placed in the correct places.

The music we used from our documentary was from a non copyright website which allowed us to take the beat and sync it with our work.

Radio TrailerThe music that we used for the documentary was the same music that we used in the back for the radio trailer. This is because we thought it would be more professional if they both linked together.

This screenshot shows the music for the radio trailer which was used from a non copyright website where we downloaded it and synced it with the voiceover.

Various music genres we could have got a beat from

We exported the radio trailer at a high quality to ensure it was as professional as possible.

This shows the full radio trailer project and shows how it has been put together.

The fade has been used at the end of the radio trailer to have a smooth professional finish instead of just cutting off.

This enables us to see the radio trailer sound levels and the various sound involvements.

Our radio trailer was completed in Final Cut Express allowing us to use extracts from our documentary including interviews. To show consistency and link the documentary to the radio trailer, we used the same background music. This was kept on look to keep it simple.

The radio trailer was an easy thing to create as it only consisted of extracts from our documentary and a voiceover. We chose to use a female voiceover as our documentary was male dominated. We made sure that the sound levels were at a high quality so you could hear the voiceover clearly. At the end of the radio trailer we made sure that the date and time was added so people know when to tune in.

Double Page SpreadTo produce our magazine article we used the program Adobe InDesign. This allowed us to create

our double page spread using a variety of skills to make it look as professional as possible. The article was written on Microsoft Word as it was a lot easier to write it on there.

Firstly we looked at different background colours which we thought would suit the documentary. At first we thought black would be the best but then soon changed it to white to follow the conventions of Radio Times. We then print screened which image we wanted to use from our documentary and thought the one from the reconstruction looked the most effective.

Once I had chosen the image, I opened it on Adobe Photoshop. I created an effect that made the victim of the stabbing visible whilst keeping the rest of it blurry. I then clicked on Auto levels and Auto contrast which adjusted the lighting and colouring of the photo.

Once the image was ready on Photoshop, we placed in into InDesign so that it can be resized to fit the suitable space. To make the image flow more with the article, we change the gradient in the effects.

In the beginning of our article we used a drop cap to make it look lot more professional. We changed it to a bold font to stand out and capture the audiences attention.

We also used shapes to create stars to show a rating of what professional TV companies have rated the programme. This would increase the amount of people willing to watch the documentary.

We created small text boxes to act as captions to each image to give extra information.

EVALUATION

The evaluation consisted of using programmes such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Prezi and Microsoft Word. By using different programmes it allowed my evaluation to look more creative and presentable.