Advanced Portfolio Film | Promotion Package consisting of a film trailer, front cover of a film magazine and film poster | Evaluation Question 4 | How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? |

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  • Research and Planning 1

    The online blog has allowed me to post all of my research, while I have also blogged updates on the process of working through the stages of creating ‘The Other Side’. It has also enhanced my communication with my group members, allowing us to combine our ideas for the film as a whole.
  • Period: to

    Process of creating 'The Other Side' film trailer and ancillary products

  • Research and Planning 2

    Much of the work I completed was presented on ‘Microsoft PowerPoint’, as this offered a structured organisation of the process of researching each aspect of films, trailers, etc. It also has the capacity for clear and well-presented work, therefore making my research clearly understandable for future reference.

  • Research and Planning 3

    I also used ‘Google Images’ for obtaining posters and material that was from the films I analysed for getting ideas for my own products.

  • Research and Planning 4

    I also depicted my initial film idea, through its development to the group’s final narrative and trailer structure by using another Microsoft programme: ‘Word’. This allowed me to offer detailed discussion of the narrative, the character development, the naming of the film, the scripting, the shot list and structure, the conventions of the film and how these relate to its genre.

  • Research and Planning 6

    Web 2.0 technologies were especially pivotal in the research and planning stage of the project. I used ‘YouTube’ and ‘IMDb’ frequently to research and conduct analysis. They also allowed me to easily print-screen images to provide evidence for my research, to emphasise the importance of my points, and consequently, how I should aim to offer a similar standard of product in the conclusion of the project.

  • Research and Planning 5

    Meanwhile, I also used the ‘Timetoast’ website to create timelines of the history of the post-apocalyptic and social realism genres, as this was one the first steps in the entire process. This provided a clear illustration of the history of each genre, and what I should have considered when creating my own film.

  • Research and Planning 7

    I also conducted research using a variety of academic and film-industry websites, to obtain a deepened insight to the preparatory and production methods of filmmaking, to make as successful a main and ancillary products as possible, which display the appropriate conventions, alike to currently existing products.

  • Production 1

    We used a DSLR Camera to obtain all of our footage, along with a tripod and an attached microphone. The convergence of these materials allowed us to obtain a high quality of footage, and enabled us to successfully exhibit a product that reflects the social realism genre, with a variety of appropriate shots and angles being used to good effect.

  • Production 2

    The trailer was constructed using Adobe Premier on a Macintosh computer, so all the technologies converged to be moved on to this single platform.

  • Production 3

    We also used the voiceover sound kit internally, so were able to put non-diegetic sound over the on-screen action with no unwanted background sound, while diegetic dialogue would occur at different times. We were able to record a number of pieces of dialogue, mostly from Charles (Ben) and his father (voiced by myself, but edited with effects), which as well as conveying the social realism genre, added to the character development.

  • Production 4

    We used non-copyright music from 'Incomputech' for use in our trailer, which we felt conveyed the hardships found in social realism films. We felt it increased the personal tone and emphasised the fact that 'The Other Side' is a film concentrating on character development in addition to the difficulties and issues contemporary society faces, such as economic difficulties, homelessness, substance abuse and the divide between rich and poor.

  • Production 5

    We used additional sound effects in the trailer to make the production appear more professional, by editing the voiceovers and reducing excess 'waste' noise featured in some of the scenes.

  • Production 6

    To manufacture the ancillary products, I used Photoshop. I could overlap images on top of one another, creating an appropriate brand image for both the magazine front cover as well as the poster. I was able to design the overall layout of each product, although with the magazine cover I had to choose an apprpriate platform for marketing our film on. I was overall able to convey the social realism genre through this programme, due to its capabilities to edit images, lighting and other features.

  • Evaluation 1

    For some of the evaluation questions, I have utilised the organised and neat layout and presentational capacity of 'Powerpoint' once again, while I have also converged some other platforms for analysis, such as converting my ancillary products to JPEG images to use for analysis and discussion, while I have also used additional images from the 'Google' search engine, for further discussion.

  • Evaluation 2

    I am completing Evaluation Question 4, like the original genre timelines, on this very programme: 'Timetoast', due to its easily understandable layout, and for my audience to observe the structure and methodology of how the process was conducted.