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

We have used many different types of new contemporary media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages of my course and they have also helped me to either understand or create the horror genre and the conventions within it.

Blogger: We have used blogger throughout the year to show our progress in oder to learn about the horror genre and conventions within them, we have used blogger to learn about conventions of a teaser trailer. It is very easy to use and is helpful in allowing me to show my work in a more interesting way and eye catching way which is layout neatly and clearly for my work to be read and followed accordingly. Blogger has helped me in all aspects of the course as as it has allowed me to blog my findings in planning, research, construction, evaluation and goen towards all my final product and ancillary texts.

Photoshop CS4: I used photoshop to create my ancillary texts, which makes it possible to ass a professional touch to them and at the same time make them fulfil the horror genre. Photoshop has also helped me in the evaluation stages. as  I have been able to take still images of my trailer and upload them onto Photoshop in order to match them up ith existing trailers to create an undertsanding of how and why I used certain shots.

Garage Band: We used Garage band to create and ammend audio files, such as the soundeffects like bangs and screams and most importantly the music for our trailer. Garage Band has also made it possible to ammend inter-title sytles and fonts to then export them to Final cut pro and eventually our trailer.

Live Type: This application on the Apple Mac allowed us to make font syles and motions and enabled us to save and upload them to Final Cut Pro to use in our production piece. Live Type was effective is generating a quick and easy font syle, font and colour along with a motion which is seen in our teaser trailer.

Final Cut Pro: Final cut pro is where the trailer was the software we used to upload our footage, and editing our footage we had ganthered and made the previous day.  Final Cut Pro enabled us to produce titles and add effects on colours, contrasts and night glow e.g. the brightness and contrast and colour corrector. These allow you to say add darkness on shots to make them look like they were taken at night and make them look more 'horror like'. We also used fades and the cut/razor tools that enabled us to edit our footage into a teaser trailer and add certain conventions into out trailer.

Flickr: I have used the website Flickr in my course to add an interactive feel to my blogand the pasts within them, this also enables people to engage and be attracted more to my posts. Flickr has allowed me to analyse images in a more interactive and all round easier, more quicker way. Audiences can simply click on some of my posts and it will take them to Flickr where I have evaluated stills and mood boards. This helped make my research much easier and simplified my knowledge and undertsnading when looking back at certain shots and inspiraing my to re-create some of the shots and use them in our trailer.

Youtube: Youtube allowed me and my group to get different ideas and see some conventions through the watching of existing movie trailers which had previously been uploaded to Youtube. Watching these also helped me to analyse my product once we had uploaded onto the college's account on Youtube, this helped loads for our audience feedback and for the evaluation of our products.

Video Camera: We used a video camera to film our footage, we attached the handheld cameras to tripods for steady use and without the shakiness and lack of control just using the camera alone  would produce. However we did us some of the handheld camera shots as it is a typical convention of the horrror genre. We did also us sepperate uploader cameras to meant we could upload our footage onto the Apple Mac Computers.

Apple Mac Computers: We used Apple Macs throughout all work done. It enabled us to use all the technology I have mentioned and also standard applications like the internet. This defiably improved the quality of our products.

Still Camera:  I used a still camera to take pictures of our storyboards to upload them onto our blogs.

Tripod: We used tripods to fit the camera on so we could use an number of shots and anlgles for our production process. It allowed us to create tilts, pans and cranes whilst also making our production quality to a better standard.