Tom Bentley A2 Media Blog: May 2015

During the A2 course we were introduced to new technologies for the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. We all had to learn how to operate these different media technologies. There were some technologies which we already knew how to operate.

Apple Mac- which we used for accessing programmes on and of course the most important one being the Internet (Internet Explorer). We also had to create our shooting schedule document on this machine which was basically a schedule of when we plan and aim to film certain scenes in certain locations of the place stated on the document.

The advantages of using his software is it allows you to get to the internet on it, you can access different programmes of being able to present your work on such as microsoft word, powerpoint, edexcel and etc. It also allows you to screen capture which is useful for capturing evidence of you completing something. An example of this useful technique would be during the construction process, when I was able to screen capture me editing in final cut pro.

There can be some disadvantages though of using the Apple Mac, as there is a risk of it crashing, and if all of a sudden there is a power cut, then they would go straight off.

DSLR Cameras- Of course in the A2 course we were now introduced to new cameras which we had to use to film our A2 products. The main change with these cameras than to the ones we used before which were the Sony HD cameras is the focus. The DSLR cameras were not auto focus meaning we had to adjust the focus on it before filming. It also included many other settings we had to learn to be able to adjust on it such as brightness, contrasting and etc. Here is a tutorial for you to look at, explaining how to work and adjust the settings on the cameras.

There can be some disadvantages with using the DSLR as because it manual focus you have to make sure something is in focus before you shoot something. If as well you were filming there is a risk that the focus might go out on the camera. Where as with the Sony HD camera there is automatic focusing, so it focuses on its own to a certain extent.

With these cameras we did focus pull, during the point of our film when Mallory and Peter are at the train station. The focus starts on Mallory and then the focus is pulled so it is then focused on Peter.

To see the example of where we did this, the shot is at 3.18 into our film.

Internet Explorer- This is probably one of the most important things we had to use throughout the planning process. We had to use this in order to access online websites such as Blogger which we had used to type up new posts, edit them when/if needed and then post them onto our individual A2 Media blogs.

The advantages of using this website is that it is a lot easier for you to research, and it allows you to access your work, and edit it online.

However though, there are some disadvantages with using the internet explorer it's not always that reliable as for example there could be some loss of connection, and it could crash.

Blogger- This was the online website we had to use in order to be able to type up our blog posts and post all our work onto our individual A2 media blog posts. Here is an example of me editing one of the posts on blogger. This post I was editing was the editing post. On a blogger post, it allows you to alter the time and date of it, which when they determine where on the blog it will be posted. So even if you completed the posts in the wrong order, you would be able to alter the date so that it would be in the right order when appearing on your individual A2 Media Blog.

Here is a screenshot of blogger with the lists of posts. You are able to have posts saved as drafts even when you haven't posted them. This is useful as you can pick up from from where you last left it and continue working on it.

On Location Recording Kit- During the planning process, we filmed a documentary to be able to get practise done so we would be prepared for the filming of our film. When using this you press the record button only once this is when you're testing to see if it works. The person who has headphones would be testing to see if there were any sound coming through the microphone. Then to record sound the button would be pressed again for the second time.

Facebook- We actually used this website to be able to communicate with each other through messaging, so we knew when to meet up to film and to edit our products both film and ancillary products.

The advantages of using this social media website is that it is a lot easier to communicate with other people. Facebook today can now be accessed through I phones, mobile phones, Ipads, computers and etc. So even if someone wasn't on their computer they would still be able to communicate via facebook to others through messaging on their mobile phones.

Of course there are disadvantages with using facebook. as facebook is an internet social website it does of course need internet connection in order for it to be able to work. So, sometimes there is a risk that the internet can crash or either stop working.

Microsoft Outlook Web App (School Email)- We emailed each other in our group as a way of communicating with each other as well. The advantage of using this is that it is a fast and easy way to communicate with other people.

The disadvantage of using this though, is that it requires internet and there is a risk that there may be a less of connection meaning you wouldn't be able to use this software.

Phones, Iphones (different types of mobile devices)

We all used mobile phones as a way to communicate which we all found the easiest way of communicating through a source of medai technology. Now a days, mobile phones are a lot updated and modern. You can now use mobile phones not just for texting calling someone, but it can also be used to take pictures, go on the internet, play music, go on social media, and etc.

I used mobile phones in my production group to call each other as a way to communicate with each other. It is very easy to do as you can talk to someone on the phone and they can talk to you back, and you can hear exactly what they say.

I mainly used my mobile phone for texting and facebook messaging each other. This is really good, as when during the construction process when I needed to tell them or ask them something about arrangements for meetings, then I could easily just text them or facebook message them on my mobile phone wherever I am. The disadvantage of using facebook message on my phone was that if you lost WiFi connection at home then of course you wouldn't be able to use facbook message. Also, if you were using you mobile network for your internet, and unfortunately you ran out of data then you wouldn't be able to use it.

YouTube- We used this social media website to publish videos on. We also used it to share videos to Blogger which we would then post on our individual A2 media blogs. We also used it to upload our final short film onto, in which we then

The advantages of using YouTube, is that it allows you to watch videos which could be useful for research. It allows you to share videos on, which could be to do with your work. YouTube can allow you to make videos you publish, private. So only you can be able to see it, on your account.

The disadvantages of using this social media website, is of course the main one being Internet. As this media website requires internet connection in order for it to be able to work, if there were no connection, then of course it wouldn't work.

Final Cut Pro X- This was the software we had to use to upload our filmed footage on and also to edit the footage we got. This Final Cut Pro was new and updated, and had advantages on it.

An example of advantage of using Final Cut Pro X is that when you transfer clips into it, you can arrange the clips into folders, so it is a lot easier to find the clips that you to put into the timeline.

In the folder part of the final cut where you have all you clips, it allows you to select one part of each clip and then you can drag it into the timeline. Therefore you can select certain parts of the clip that you want on then place it into the timeline. You would be then cutting part of the clip out or even still keeping it when you had select parts of it.

Another advantage of using the updated version of Final Cut Pro was

There is a disadvantage of using this software as there isn't a save option for this. You can only just simply close it down but then it saves automatically from where you last left it. But, of course there can be the risk of this not happening, which then unfortunately you would lose what you last did from it.

Here is our Final Cut version of our short film 'The Illusion Of Existence'

Quark Express - We used this software to construct the magazine review on, during the construction stage. This technologies was one of the new technologies we had to learn to use. One big advantage of using this was that it allowed you to use the house style 'Empire'. We were looking at examples of different magazine reviews which were the house style 'Empire'. It even allowed you to edit it to make it a different color.

Another advantage of using this was that as we were completing the magazine review, we would be able to have a sample text on the magazine, so you can see what it would the magazine review would look like when it was completed.

Here is a tutorial for you to look at of how to use it.

Here is the final version of our Film Magazine Review.

Photoshop- This was the software we used to design and edit our film poster on, both our draft and final versions. An example of an advantage of using this software is that you can easily erase of some of the edges of a photo really precise and carefully by zooming in a lot so you can see what you're erasing from it close up. You can also use a tool which is a blemish tool. This was a good tool which allowed you to go over someone's face for example and clear their faces, for example if they any spots or marks on their faces, we could use the blemish tool to get rid of these and make their faces look better for the poser.

Here is the final version of our Film Poster.

Scribd- We used the programme to share a Microsoft Word document on. We would then be able to embed it on onto our A2 individual media blogs. There was sometimes a disadvantage with using this as sometimes it wouldn't upload fully enough what was on the word document. There may be a bit missing on the word document.

Divshare- We used this software to share audio files onto. This was an advantage piece of media technology as when we recorded audio we didn't have to record sound through video, but could simply just record sound and then share it.

Celtx- This was the programme/software in which we used to produce our script. the advantage of using was that it automatically let you type it but it alters the setting automatically for you so that it was actually set out as a script. This was a really useful software to use as you didn't have to keep altering the settings every time you would use it.

3-Point Lighting Kit- We used this lighting kit during when we were doing our photo shoot for our Film Poster. It was really good technology to use as when we used these all at the same time it would produce the suitable and right level of brightness we wanted to appear on our actors for when they appear on our film poster. The disadvantage of using this is that they are still hot after they been used

White Screen- This was one of the new technologies we had to learn to use. We used it as a background for our actors, to stand in front of so that there would be just a white background. This made it easy for us to be able to create the background of our film poster. This was the advantage of using this screen. However, the disadvantage of using this was that as we rolled it back when we putting it away after we were finished with using it, it was rather difficult to use as sometimes it wouldn't be equal both sides. It started to roll outwards one side and then the other side it started to roll inwards.

Scanner- We used the scanner to scan things during the research stage of our course. This was when we were looking at different examples of film review magazines. An advantage of using this was that we didn't have to take pictures of existing review magazines and then upload them to the macs. Instead we could just connect the scanner to a mac, then we would scan it, and then the preview of it would come up on the mac.

Dolly- This was a piece of media technology in which we used to put the tripod on with the camera on and film smooth shots. These shots would be used to follow someone. So for example in our short film, we filmed a shot using a dolly when during the park scene Mallory and Peter were walking and speaking to each other at the same time.

To see an example of where we used a dolly shot in our film, the shot is at 2.30 into our film.

Tracking- These were what we used to wheel the tripod on to be able to film smooth shots. The advantage of using this was that the tripod would be able to be fitted on this therefore we were able to wheel it smoothly letting us film a smooth shot. The disadvantage of using this though was that it is very easy to get scratched, and sometimes it were very difficult to take apart and put together.