Friday, 8 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
4. How did you use technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Video camera: We used this to film our documentary. The role and use of new media was very important in the various stages of the production. Through planning we used the internet for research and a dictaphone recorded the audience research. We recorded all of this as well as the evaluation onto a blog. Using videos, sound bites and also moodboards, technology has helped me to show the different aspects of my work in different ways. We encountered several problems with the technology due to the server in school being down a lot. We had to learn how to use the software for the audio and video from scratch, which wasn't difficult but more time consuming in terms of discovering the effects we wanted to use. The most useful piece of equipment was probably the tripod. Although the camera is essential for the filming, the tripod is what made the shots look professional.
It was also handy having the camera phone close by as the other equipment was sometimes difficult to get hold of due to the demand in the school for such equipment. Technology has also proven to be useful in the evaluation stages of this. Through use of a blog, all of the research, planning and final tasks could be logged.
I made voice clips and using Microsoft Movie Maker, made them into video clips that could be uploaded. Using this program I also put together the different videos required to show my audience research and other aspects. Using Adobe Photoshop I was able to create the mood boards. I took screen grabs from documentaries shown on You Tube and also the BBC iplayer website. this enabled me to compare screen grabs from my documentary.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
In order to gather the audience feedback we set up a small group session with people from our target audience. We filmed them watching the documentary and adverts then we asked them several questions. The video below is taken from this session.
Next we took copies of the documentary and adverts and showed them to more people in the target audience. Below are quotes from these people.
'It’s really interesting and I like the use of cut aways and SFX’.
'It looks really professional and I would defiantly be interested in watching the rest of it’.
‘The use of cut aways are really effective in the ways it relates to the interview’
'I like the voice over because he sounds dark and mysterious and this fits in well with the theme of Halloween’
'The print add is eye catching because it makes me wonder why there is a suit with a pumpkin head, then I see its for a documentary and I want to find out more.’
'The radio links with the other tasks well and is interesting.'I like the music used as it is a known song but its different and it makes me want to watch more of the documentary.’
'It’s really spooky and I like that element in documentaries.’
'The sound of the voice over is a bit quiet but I like the five minutes on a whole.’
'Some of the connections between the shot could be smoother, it jumps around a bit but the content is good’.
‘I think the channel choice is good because channel 4 plays many documentaries in a similar style.’
The significance of the audience feedback was that it helped us to improve the designs and edit. From looking at this feedback it tells us that our documentary looks professional in terms of style, layout and SFX. This tells us that we are aiming the documentary at the right target audience. A weakness found was in the sound levels with the interview with the vicar being a lot quieter than any of the other audio. To improve this we have edited the levels more appropriately. By doing this we will be making the viewing easier for the audience. Another weakness found by the audience was that some of the transitions aren’t very smooth however we have changed this to make it more even.
Audience feedback is important for real documentaries as it is what the producers need to make money. The number of viewers counts as audience feedback. For instance a soap opera that has constantly high viewings is having constantly positive audience feedback or they wouldn't keep watching it.
Next we took copies of the documentary and adverts and showed them to more people in the target audience. Below are quotes from these people.
'It’s really interesting and I like the use of cut aways and SFX’.
'It looks really professional and I would defiantly be interested in watching the rest of it’.
‘The use of cut aways are really effective in the ways it relates to the interview’
'I like the voice over because he sounds dark and mysterious and this fits in well with the theme of Halloween’
'The print add is eye catching because it makes me wonder why there is a suit with a pumpkin head, then I see its for a documentary and I want to find out more.’
'The radio links with the other tasks well and is interesting.'I like the music used as it is a known song but its different and it makes me want to watch more of the documentary.’
'It’s really spooky and I like that element in documentaries.’
'The sound of the voice over is a bit quiet but I like the five minutes on a whole.’
'Some of the connections between the shot could be smoother, it jumps around a bit but the content is good’.
‘I think the channel choice is good because channel 4 plays many documentaries in a similar style.’The significance of the audience feedback was that it helped us to improve the designs and edit. From looking at this feedback it tells us that our documentary looks professional in terms of style, layout and SFX. This tells us that we are aiming the documentary at the right target audience. A weakness found was in the sound levels with the interview with the vicar being a lot quieter than any of the other audio. To improve this we have edited the levels more appropriately. By doing this we will be making the viewing easier for the audience. Another weakness found by the audience was that some of the transitions aren’t very smooth however we have changed this to make it more even.
Audience feedback is important for real documentaries as it is what the producers need to make money. The number of viewers counts as audience feedback. For instance a soap opera that has constantly high viewings is having constantly positive audience feedback or they wouldn't keep watching it.
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