How did we use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
By jasmoove146
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Our digital journal: Blogger
Blogger was the main digital journal. This platform enabled us to document every piece of information in terms of the: construction of the TV Documentary, ancillary task (radio + poster), research into audience and TV documentary, the construction of our main product and our evaluation questions. -
Start the RESEARCH!
For this section, in order to get a broader knowledge of the production, the research conducted must be absolute. This was achieved by using a new search engine: DuckDuckGo. The reason why we used this is because it does not filter previous searches, creating for a more unbiased search. Search engines, like DuckDuckGo, are extremely useful as they allowed us to find statistics for "MCM Comic Con", and thus, we included that piece of information to our TV Documentary. -
MCM Comic Con Statistics Part 2
...to emphasise and inform new audiences about the rising popularity of the event. -
YouTube and Soundcloud
YouTube and Soundcloud are two of the best streaming platforms in today's generation and file-sharing medium. We this in our research by posting a draft of our TV Documentary on YouTube and Soundcloud for our radio advertisement. This is because it would enable us to receive valuable formative feedback so that we can know what the audience likes and dislike and therefore, come up with a solution to fix any flaws that they noticed. -
MCM Comic Con statistics
The use of search engines, like DuckDuckgo, Google and Yahoo enabled us to find relevant statistics for MCM Comic Con, which further allowed us to find past and present statistics of the event. For example, the percentage of males to females, age, type of platform to watch content, Fan favourite between DC or Marvel and many more. Therefore, it was indeed useful in the research and for the construction of our TV documentary since we able to make unique graphs to illustrate these statistics. -
Formative feedback for our TV poster
In order to receive formative feedback for the TV poster, we decided to create multiple designs, ultimately, three unique designs. We were able to receive feedback by showcasing the posters physically so that it's easier to examine the posters. This was, once again, beneficial for our research because it enabled us to get an idea of what the audiences feel about the posters and formulate an evaluation, in terms of the strengths and weaknesses. -
Benefits of researching: How to edit in Premiere Pro and After Effects.
Doing all of this was significant for the construction and research of out TV documentary and radio advertisement as were able to understand and produce a conventional TV documentary and radio advertisement -
YouTube (Editing research)
Since we had little experience in editing for visual production, we decided to use YouTube as the main platform to watch tutorials. We first looked into how to edit in Premiere Pro and After Effects as these two contrasting editing software's will be the main editing platform for our TV Documentary. Secondly, knowing the relevant tools to edit was essential as it would place us in a better position to edit the documentary and also, be creative. -
Facebook Messenger
Facebook's Messenger is text messaging application that allowed us to communicate with each other without being in person. This allowed us to organise our roles, schedules, which enabled for easier and quicker communication The hyperlink below illustrate some of the conversations during the production of the TV documentary
https://i4our6ix.imgur.com/all/ -
Equipment and software used in the construction of our TV documentary Part 2
As for the editing software, before editing our real TV documentary we decided to make a preliminary editing of the TV documentary to get a better picture of the construction. When editing the real TV documentary, we mainly used Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. As for the ancillary task, the poster was produced via Adobe Photoshop and as for the radio advertisement, we used Audacity -
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Production practice Part 1
During this timespan, the entire production team visited ExCeL London (venue of MCM Comic Con) because it would benefit us by getting a better grasp of the environment so that during the filming process we are comfortable with the venue. -
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Production practice Part 2
Additionally, this was also an opportunity for us to practice the intro for the documentary because we noticed that the cast present on the intro was struggling to execute the plan. Thus, doing this before the event would allow us to improve and not wasting time. -
TV Documentary construction: Equipment Part 1
From our research into TV documentary, especially lifestyle TV documentaries and documentaries in general, we found that cameras with high resolution, like the 1080p or 4K cameras, was a huge ingredient in the production. Thus, the use of Sony A7 Mk II was able to meet that criterion of a TV documentary. -
TV Documentary construction: Equipment Part 2
Additionally, it seems that every documentary had a tripod to stabilise the shots when filming. We failed to meet this criterion due to two reason: 1) Comic-Con forbid such equipment during the event to avoid traffic congestion within the venue 2) We didn't have the luxury to have camera rig during the filming day because the Media department didn't have onr during at that time. -
TV Documentary construction: Equipment Part 3
When examining TV documentaries, in either BBC iPlayer or YouTube, I noticed that the quality of the audio was superlative in delivering a great narrative. If we want our TV Documentary to be classified as a highly marked documentary we need to implement this our TV documentary, especially when filming outside the venue for interviews. Since our camera did not have a port for a microphone, we decided to use the Music Department's microphone and sync the audio during the editing process. -
Equipment and software used in the construction of our TV documentary
For our TV documentary, we used a Sony M7 Mk II camera which gave the option to film in 1080p. Since the camera had no built-in-microphone, we used the Music department's microphones so that the interviews were in high-quality, this means that during the editing process, I have to sync the interviews and any recordings done. -
Regent's park equipment testing
For our TV documentary, we have little information about how to calibrate the equipment that will be used for the production, especially the drone. Hence, our group decided to meet in Regent's Park (since it was the most convenient location for everyone so it would give a chance to know how to calibrate and not wasting time on the event figuring out the equipment work. -
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TV DOC FILMING DAY: MCM COMIC CON OCT 27-29 2017!!!
This is the filming day of our TV documentary. However, since the event was up and running for 3 days, we were only able to film for the 27th due to the fact from our research, we learned that majority of the attendees wanted to go on this specific date. Thus, we wanted to adhere this trend so that we can get as mush footage as possible and the interviews. -
Using Adobe Spark Part 1
Editing visually in A2 was a huge hole in our production for the TV documentary. In order to get started, our class was tasked to create a short (30s) video of our choice but using a new editing software called Adobe Spark. This was beneficial for our research and construction of the TV documentary because firstly, producing a short video can benefit us by being comfortable with the editing as we transition from audio to visual production. -
Using Adobe Spark Part 2
Secondly, the reason why this also beneficial for our research and construction is that it gives the chance to receive formative feedback in the early stages of the productions. This is good because it would help us know the strengths and weaknesses of our short video. Therefore, when its time to edit the real TV Documentary we would have a clear knowledge of what to add and not to add -
Using Adobe Spark Part 3
Also, this exercise was beneficial for the construction of our TV Documentary because it allowed us to think-outside-the-box when making the video. In one of our production team, he used the cut-to-the-beat technique which received positive feedback from our peers. As a result, we were obliged to implement this technique in our TV documentary so that we create an energetic, upbeat tempo in the TV documentary, which also links to the overall energetic theme of Comic-Con. -
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Preliminary editing of TV documentary using Adobe Elements Part 2
In order to solve this issue, our team compiled some BGM's and we did a trial and error to examine which was the desired BG for the intro. We expanded on this by getting the entire class to see the preliminary editing of the TV documentary so that we can receive, yet again, a formative audience feedback so that we understand what went well and the errors. This was also a good opportunity for us to ask them which BG they preferred. -
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Preliminary editing of TV documentary using Adobe Elements Part 1
In order to produce a high-marked tv documentary, our teacher decided to make us use Adobe Elements and produce a 1-2 minute preliminary editing of the TV Doc. This was beneficial for us because one of the issues that we first tackled, other than the structure of the TV documentary, was the choice of music for the intro. The reason why this caused a conflict in the team was because we couldn't find a suitable BGM to emphasise the theme of the documentary, which was a superhero and anime theme. -
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TV Documentary Construction: Premiere Pro and After Effects Part 1
When constructing our TV documentary, we used Premiere Pro and After Effects together when editing the documentary. This was because Premiere Pro allowed us to organise the editing process properly and After Effect enabled us to use special effects on the TV documentary. Furthermore, when constructing our TV documentary, we used a variety of editing techniques, such as L-cuts and J-cuts, voiceovers, cutaways and cut-to-the-beat on Premiere Pro and After Effects. -
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TV Documentary Construction: Premiere Pro and After Effects Part 2
The use of Cutaways was used during the interview segment of the TV documentary. The reason for this is because they gave us an opportunity to present the audience an image of what the interviewees' were talking about. For example, when the first interviewee talked about a special 'Jedi training' area in MCM Comic Con, we felt that a panning shot of this would help give the audience an idea of what he's talking about. -
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TV Documentary Construction: Premiere Pro and After Effects Part 3
During the editing process of the TV documentary, we felt that Premiere Pro was the editing software available, along with After Effects. This is because the level of complexity forces the editor to understand the basics in order to progress further so that you can increase the potential of the documentary's quality by using different types of editing techniques, special effects and many mroe. -
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TV Documentary Construction: Premiere Pro and After Effects Part 4
When editing in either of these two contrasting editing softwares. I realised that mastering the keyframes was the key to editing in these two editing softwares because the concept behind this function enables the editor to express a better quality of editing and precision. -
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TV Documentary Construction: Premiere Pro and After Effects Part 5
Cut-to-the-beat was an editing technique that we decided to implement to our TV documentary. The reason to is was because during the Adobe Spark video and preliminary editing of the TV doc, we received positive comments about this techniques and thus, we decided to use it for the TV documentary as it would be helpful to represent the ample of activities that Comic-Con has to offer. By cutting to the beat, a series of images would flash according to the beat of the music. -
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Ancillary task: Radio advertisement construction in Audacity Part 1
After completion of the TV documentary. We now have to move on to the creation of the ancillary task, which was the radio advertisement and poster advertisement. In order to construct the radio advertisement, we were obliged to use Audacity as the digital audio editing application and record the advertisement for the TV doc. The reason why we used audacity was because we were extremely familiar with the concept of editing in this audio software. Thus, it the process convenient. -
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Ancillary task: Radio advertisement construction in Audacity Part 2
Before we embark on recording the radio ad for the TV doc. We had to conduct a semiotic analysis of previous and existing radio advertisements for TV documentaries. This is because it would help us revise and enhance our understanding of how they constructed their radio ad. -
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Ancillary task: Radio advertisement construction in Audacity Part 3
(Fading the narration out):
Our research taught us that we should fade the narration out for a quick 5 seconds so that when the BGM kicks in; it is not abrupt. The reason why this used was because the BGM used helps reinforce the nature of the event- as upbeat and energetic. -
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Ancillary task: Radio advertisement construction equipment
When researching how to produce a radio advertisement, we found that making sure that the quality of our audio should be as high and clear as possible so that our audience can hear it effectively. This is because, our research into radio advertisement usually includes a voiceover with a microphone that is clear for the audience to hear. Thus, using the Samson microphone would ensure that we follow that criteria when creating a radio advertisement for our TV doc. -
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Ancillary task: Print Advertisement construction in Photoshop Part 1
Creating the print advertisement for our TV documentary obliged us to produce 3 unique designs for our TV doc. So that we receive valuable formative feedback from our peers, and teachers, and gain an insight into their thoughts and opinions about each poster's design. This was also a good opportunity to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the posters which is valuable as I can produce a mixture of techniques for the final poster and avoid any flaws that might hinder the quality. -
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Ancillary task: Poster Advertisement poster 1 Part 2
As for the first TV poster, the reason behind the splitting of Ronan's face was to point out the different sides of his personality. One is a typical human being in natural clothing and the other side, invoking his deep appreciation in pop culture by cosplaying as Robin. -
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Ancillary task: Poster Advertisement Poster 3
As for the final poster, the design for this product was also based upon the formative feedback that we received for the second poster because one of the interviewees pointed out that the cast appeared to be serious when looking at the facial expression. Thus, I made all three cast in cartoon mode, this was effective in terms of eliminating the seriousness of the poster as the use of cartoon has a connotation of friendly, light-hearted vibe. Which also reinforces the theme of the event. -
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Ancillary task: Poster Advertisement Poster 3 Part 2
The reason why poster 3 took long to complete was because the cartoon format for the cast was a new concept for me. Thus, I had to circumnavigate around YouTube to find a suitable method of doing this as I realised that the task was tedious and slowly reduced my motivation to complete the poster with haste. -
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Ancillary task: Poster Advertisement Poster 1 Part 1
This was beneficial to our TV poster because it reinforces the seriousness of the event because an oppositional reader might say that "it all jokes, nerds and geeks should get a life" etc. But a dominant reader might say that these cosplayers are expressing their passion and deep love for pop culture. Hence, it creates a visceral pleasure, which is what we wanted to the audience to feel and contemplate about. -
Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Part 2
We also showed ways that our TV documentary, radio advertisement and poster advertisement the developments and challenges of real media products by using certain clips of our TV documentary and radio advertisement to illustrate how we did so. This was to show the similarity and difference between the documentaries and radio advertisements that we were analysing -
Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Part 1
Evaluation question one was answered in a vlog format where everyone in the production team talked in front of the camera explaining how our main product and ancillary task use, develop and challenge forms of conventions of real media products. We recorded documentaries like 'Ian Hislop; First Immigration Britain', Werner Herzog and many more documentaries that helped shaped our decision -
Evaluation question 2: How effective is the combination of our main product and ancillary texts?
As for this evaluation question, Alberto and Ronan decided to use Adobe Spark as it was a good way to diversify our way of presentation. Furthermore, it was also the best method to demonstrate our understanding of the question through images, sound effects and clips from our TV documentary, radio advertisement and poster advertisement -
Evaluation question 3: What have you learned from the audience feedback?
In order to answer this, We used Active Inspire as a method answering the question. We used different ways of receiving feedback for our main product and ancillary task. For the TV doc, we used YouTube has the main formative feedback as it would convenient to see it anywhere and anytime. As for the radio advertisement, Soundcloud was used to receive the formative feedback as this was the platform in which the product was uploaded. As for the poster, we used constructive feedback in video format.
