Evaluation Q4 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

My A2 Media Studies project has given me a great expansion on my prior knowledge of media hardware and software. I worked with a selection of these hardware and software products last year in my AS Media Studies project, such as working on a MAC computer, using Photoshop and Blogger. Using these for a second year however, provided me with a more detailed and in depth understanding of how to use them allowing me to creatively construct a much higher quality product. This year I feel as thought I was given more freedom and encouraged to make more of my own creative decisions, I therefore experimented and acquired knowledge of how to use more software, hardware and online tools.

Below I have used Premier Pro to make a video detailing the hardware I used through the research, planning, construction of my product and how they helped me do so:

I endured very little problems over the year in terms of time limits. This is because I was able to continue the work that I started on the MAC computer in college at home and continue using my laptop at home. This was very useful to do so as I could take my time with creative decisions and take as much time as I needed to ensure that every element in my construction had the effect that I desired.
Below is me pictured using my laptop at home during the creation of my product:

I carried out a lot of my research and planning and my evaluation on my laptop at home as I
did not require the use of a MAC and therefore my laptop was sufficient to complete a lot of
posts freely at home. I was also able to complete work on Windows Movie Maker - a simple, easy to use program installed on my laptop.

Using my laptop at home allowed me to record videos of myself on the built in webcam detailing my progress and analyzing features within my evaluation. This was extremely useful as I found that it was best to convey my thoughts and reasoning for many of the questions throughout video recordings as they became instantly more personal.

Having a smartphone has been exceptional when completing this project. It allowed me to continue with the process of my research and planning on the go and made a great alternative to using a computer. I was email to efficiently email myself photo's I had taken in which I could edit on the computer. I will also able to create blog posts on the go, allowing my research and planning to be as detailed and as thorough as possible.
Below are the apps that I used on my phone during the creation of this project, research and planning and evaluation stages:

I used Fotobabble throughout the evaluation stage of this project. I used it via my smartphone and also on my computer. The sound quality I found to not be great however all information can still be received. Below is a Fotobabble I made detailing my experience with this media:

PLEASE NOTE THAT VOLUME MUST BE TURNED UP TO MAXIMUM WHEN LISTENING TO FOTOBABBLES.

One of the most useful forms of media when completing my evaluation stages of this project was Sound cloud. Sound cloud allowed me to share my voice memos quickly and easily. I recorded voice memos at different stages of this project and evaluation using the voice recording built in app on my iPhone:

I was then able to email these voice memos efficiently to myself so that I could retrieve them on my computer and then upload and share them via Sound cloud.

Below is a voice memo detailing my experience with Sound cloud:

Premier Pro
Premier Pro was of course the core program used during the creation of my product this year.
Below is a video detailing my use with this technology:

Photoshop

Photoshop was, in contrast to last years AS project, not the core technology used within my A2 project. It was however a technology that I used quite frequently through this project whether it be to make the title slides for my trailer or to edit pictures for my website homepage. Photoshop was a core technology however for one of my ancillary tasks, my film poster. I already had prior knowledge to Photoshop due to using this last year, I knew the majority of the basic tools and could use Photoshop at a relatively advanced level. Using it this year was a case of refreshing my prior knowledge and expanding on this in order to improve the quality of work produced. In terms of my poster, I was able to edit the image I wanted to use easily, and place this over an image of the forest, I was able to merge to two together effectively, using Youtube tutorials as a guide of how to best do this.
This year I acquired the use of more tools on Photoshop and was able to use last years experience with this Program to my advantage. I therefore found that I was able to complete work using Photoshop in a limited amount of time in comparison to the time it took me to complete last years work on Photoshop. I have enjoyed using Photoshop as it is a program that when a good knowledge is acquired, is very fun to use and experiment with.

Blogger

Youtube

Below is a voice memo, hosted by Sound Cloud detailing my use of Youtube within this project: