Sunday 8 May 2011

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





Most technologies described as "new media" are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, and interactive.[1]Some examples may be the Internet, websites, computer multimedia, computer games, CD-ROMS, and DVDs. New media do not include television programs, feature films, magazines, books, or paper-based publications - unless they contain technologies that enable digital interactivity.





The above definition I researched from Wikipedia in order to receive a better understanding.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_media









The fourth and final evaluation question was about new media technologies. Throughout the process of this project, every student used many forms of new media technologies to help with their products including research, planning and producing. This post shows what form of new media technology I used, what I used them for and alternatives if these new technologies weren’t available.




















Internet: the internet became an important piece of technology throughout the course as it was used in the majority of it. Google was used many times to gain research and analysis on existing media products, as well as YouTube to familiarise ourselves with other media short films. We also used YouTube to place our filmed pieces on, which was then embedded onto our Blogger profiles. Blogger is another site on the internet which every class member had used to complete this course, updating it on every step of their production, also including research etc prior to the short film task. If the internet had not been available, the next reliable thing would possibly have been the library where we would have had to research into their books to gain knowledge, a huge time-consumer. However, professionals from the media industry could have also been a replacement for the internet as they would understand the majority of what we had to do.











Computers/Laptops: these were used to research into bullying, and other necessary things related to our film to help us receive a better image of what our film should represent when being shown. Computers were used throughout the process to upload tasks onto our Blogger accounts, research, analyse, watch videos, all increasing our knowledge in order for a better final product within a short amount of time. If this was not have been available, the alternative would again have to be the library however some of it would have to be primary research such as bullying stories etc. Yet again, consuming huge amounts of time.











Digital SLR Camera: although this is not as important as some other technology equipments, it still became hugely useful when required. We used this camera to take pictures of us when working on the film, therefore proof when uploaded onto our Blogger accounts. They were also used to take pictures for our postcards and film review pages if needed. An alternative to this technology would be to draw and illustrate what we had been doing, although this clearly would not have been as effective.











Sony PD150 Camera: this camera was used to record our film, Karma. Being the most expensive piece of technology, it became an extremely significant piece to help us capture everything required. It also allowed us to be slightly more creative as we were able to create different angles to give a better effect. It would have been extremely hard if this camera had not been available, an alternative piece would have had to be an older filming method, which has proven to cost a lot more.











Mobile phones: this was also used by every group member and at certain stages became fairly useful. Phones were used to contact members within the production in order to remind them or tell them of filming times, places etc. Or even used to help another member on certain aspects of the task. The best alternative to this would have been email however it would not have been as straight forward as messages could be misread. Writing letters could also be a replacement however this would clearly consume a lot of time, something we did not have much of.











Scanner: everyone was required to use a scanner to scan on certain pieces of their pre-production work onto the computer such as storyboards. This helped make it simple to upload images of drawn or written pieces onto our computers mostly destined for our Blogger profiles. The digital SLR camera would have been an alternative as it would be quick and easy however not as accurate as a scanner.











Edit suite: the edit suite was used to capture the footage recorded, and adjust it according to our needs. We were able to play around with the sound; adding or taking away any sound, edit any clips, as well as put the whole film together to produce our final piece. An alternative would be the old fashioned way, meaning it would not be as easy to edit what we had originally recorded.











Flip video: this was used mainly at the end of the task where we evaluated and received feedback on everything we produced. This enabled us to upload clips onto YouTube and then transfer over to Blogger, meaning a different form of communication. An alternative would have been either pictures or sound clips to explain what we were trying to get across.











Evaluation: new technology clearly has an important role in any form of media production. It is widely used in the industry, and heavily relied on. They are a key part to any media product as it helps people to research, construct, plan and produce everything required. I realised this as in pretty much every stage of this course, there was some sort of new technology involved. Although there are alternatives, these have proved to consume time and not be as reliant as new technology is now.

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