Evaluation 4

Development from AS to A2:

Blogger - My use of blogger has improved greatly from AS to A2, especially in terms of my confidence using and presenting the information on the software. I was not aware of the creative tool before, which allowed me to change the format and template of my blog in order to make the overall presentation of all of our information more clear. My use of the blogger also increased, in terms of embedding and linking videos, thus making my blog more interactive for the people viewing it.

Hardware - Development has been seen in the use of our panasonic camera over the two years, especially in relation to our cinematography and positing/framing of shots. This was helped greately by the fact that we conducted a camera practise, shown in the research and planning stage of our media package presentation. We tested our limits in terms of camera positioning, especially through our use of low and high angle shots to suggest either dominance or inferiority at certain moments in our trailer. We were also more aware of trivial things, such as the camera's charge time, which allowed us to male full use of our filming time. Lighting was an area of media technology we developed drastically, mainly due to the fact that our style/colour and tone was essential to our trailer (Our main USP). Our biggest influences, such as 'Drive', 'Only God Forgives' and 'Welcome To The Punch' all experimented with different uses of lighting and tone, which is something we also wanted to do to suggest narrative, as well as create engaging and visceral images for our audience to remember. Our use of lighting was much more minimalist at AS level and so the development is extremely noticeable. Sound was another area, where we certainly developed despite still experiencing problems. Our audiences commented on our good use of 'dubbing' at specific moments, which suggests our development as this was not the case previously. We extended our use of sound by recording our own foley sound at particular moments, for example the 'gun cocking' and the footsteps leading up to the house.  

Social Media - We didn't use social media at AS level, which we realised was a mistake as it allowed us to extend our product out to a wider audience, shown by the fact that many people we knew mentioned what they liked about the trailer, in which they saw on Facebook. We also used Instagram and Twitter to connect our audiences to the trailer online, which was again useful as it allowed us to show our film to a wider audience, instead of simply people we know already. Social Media has been invaluable to us as aforementioned, it provides that link between us and our audience on a post/comment platform. 

Software - Our use of softwares, such as Final Cut and Photoshop has also improved dramatically over the journey of our two year course, especially in relation to the technical aspects used, such as our choice to colour match particular shots, for example the bar shots in relation to the scenes in the friends house, which were originally quite dull but after matching with the dark blue colouring in the bar scene turned out to be quite effective. This was essential due to the fact that these scenes were essential to the narrative of our piece. My personal use of photoshop developed tremendously over the two years. I wasn't aware of how to use photoshop originally but quickly learnt for the purpose of creating our own ancillary tasks as well as the advert and art of title compilations for the evaluation questions. 

 VIDEO OF THE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WE USED:

A video made on iMovie, highlighting how I made my magazine front cover using the photoshop software: 

MT