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

A variety of media technologies spanning the entire media spectrum have been used in multiple ways to research, construct and evaluate media products and key stages throughout the media production. The variety of programs used is Prezi, a presentation software, YouTube and Powtoon which use different media technologies to complete the media journey.

Regional Newspaper
The main media technology used was Adobe Photoshop CS6 because of the incredible and flexible tools available. the first thought in my mind on what program to use to produce the regional newspaper was Microsoft Word which many would consider but further thought proved that would of been a bad idea. Photoshop supports the changing sizes of canvas, images and text all in one whilst Word does not. In Word, the page size is not as flexibly changed compared to Photoshop which is why Photoshop was used instead of Word for the main formatting of the media product. 

Photoshop was used for the main part because of the features such as texts with a variety of fonts and the importing of images with ease. These features are key in producing newspapers because images need to be added and formatted into the page easily without any hassle or causing problems. Microsoft Word was used to a great degree to spell check the text for the regional newspaper because Photoshop does not possess a spell check system as good as Word which is why the text was created in Word then pasted over to Photoshop without any grammar mistakes present.

Other media technologies during the post-production of the regional newspaper is Prezi, an online presentation software, and this software was used because no other formats of media technology supported the regional newspaper to be presented in detail to an audience. Word or Photoshop is not viable to be distributed and other programs like YouTube is the wrong format and even if placed in the video, the media product could not be read from the screen due to the poor quality. Prezi allows the audience to zoom into the media product and be able to read the media product with no complications.

The evaluation stages saw the use of Prezi, E-Maze, Slide share (PowerPoint) and Blogger's own media interface. E-Maze and Prezi are both presentation software that allowed me to clearly present the evaluative question responses with no confusion surrounding my response. This is why these two programs were used, they provided crystal clear presentations which I believe suit the format of the regional newspaper because a newspaper is clear and precise just like the two presentation software.

Billboard Poster
In the construction phase, many media technologies were used to produce the billboard poster. Adobe Photoshop CS6 was the most used by far due to the editing capabilities such as the creating of text and the drop shadow effect used for the final design which has become one of the best features of the billboard poster due to the effect it causes. 

Photoshop is the foundation of all editing and I feel my skills have improved with the software considerably seen AS levels. Before with the music magazine, I could not create any drop shadow effect at all with any object on the screen but now as a media student I have progressed and now able to create such effects that contribute some great features to a media product just like the billboard poster.  Adobe Photoshop was also used to continually update and improve the designs created, the improvements suggested by the focus group could immediately be woven into the design.  Adobe Photoshop was key to production of the billboard poster remaining on schedule because any other program wouldn’t of allowed such easy editing and would caused to repeat every construction phase and more to be able to create the improved designs for the focus group.   

Research and planning had many technologies of different media types involved to be able to analyse certain billboards and plan the billboard poster construction. The internet was sued through media technology such as social networking to obtain images of billboards that others have posted so that I was able to gain a visual  of billboards. I live in a small, town with no billboards and travel wasn’t an option but thanks to social networking and other internet based sites I was able to obtain many billboards to analyse which wouldn’t of been possible otherwise.

PowerPoint , a presentation software, was sued to be able to analyse the billboard effectively and clearly because no other technology such as Glogster would be able to clearly p[resent a billboard and allow annotation to be added easily. Other technologies could have been used but PowerPoint and how text boxes could be added easily and positioned with ease can be done any other technology.

PowerPoint and social networking was key in researching and planning my own billboard poster because due to travel restrictions and the restriction of other software and technologies, the research and planning phase would not of been possible. Overall, these technologies were used to gather examples then edit with tolls to be able to clearly analyse these examples so that anybody else would be able to gather the same knowledge with no confusion.

When evaluating the media product created, the technologies used was Adobe Photoshop CS6 once more because the ease of editing provided by the technology is unmatched by any other program. The software was used to create any changes  to the product after being evaluated by the focus group.

The other evaluations produced such as this one were created through the use of presentation technologies found on the internet such bas Prezi. This because the level of compatibility and editing provided by the technology is amazing, the presentations can be embed to the blog which allows viewers to easily view the presentation directly from my blog rather than following a link.


In the evaluation stages, the technologies used were mainly to provided ease for both me and the audience because a technology ease to embed and edit is great because it means I was able to create a clear presentation them embed for the audiences ease in my own blog. Other technologies would not of been able to embed the presentations effectively in my own blog thus creating frustration and hassle for the audience.




Radio Advertisement

The research and planning phase saw a lot of use from YouTube to gather resources for evaluation. Social networking as well was used along with Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 to gather these examples of real media products and present them in a clear fashion whilst evaluating the gathered examples.

YouTube was excellent in providing the right format to present the examples gather because there is no other format that can equal the compatibility that YouTube offers This is because other programs are harder to export to other software's. other programs like PowerPoint were critical in the planning and analysis phase due to the clarity of which my findings could be presented to the reader, other programs are smaller in resolution size whilst PowerPoint is larger in resolution and provides many different design to engage the audience of my findings which is exactly what a presentation of my research should do.

This particular phase used other formats and media technologies to construct the radio advertisement. Audacity was the main program used to construct the media product because the program is 100% an audio editing software unlike Windows Movie Maker. The windows program may offer some audio editing features but not like Audacity which offers full audio immersion and editing. Sound levels can be increased or decreased whilst being moulded with other mp3 files such as music which is how I got the voice of the host and music intro to blend together.

Audacity features a favorable exporting system that allows the user to export his/hers file as one mp3 file or other formats whilst being able to attach artist information for example. this feature allowed me to be able to export the mp3 file to Windows Movie Maker to create a video so that the radio advertisement could be then uploaded to YouTube. This happened because the mp3 file could not be imported to Blogger by itself, it needed to be placed in another format like YouTube to allow the radio advert to be attached to my blog.

The evaluation stages of the radio advertisement saw the use Glogster, Prezi, Slideshare and Blogger's own interface once. Prezi and Slideshare were used once more because of the clarity they emit in their presentations and Blogger was used again to clearly present my thoughts through their own software. Glogster was used  which is a piece of software that creates an interactive sheet of online paper basically. Its not a slide only one object in a manner and allows the user to scroll text boxes and clink on different media objects like YouTube videos which can be linked into the Glogster production. Glogster was used because of the different media it can involve in it's productions unlike Prezi or Slideshare.

Overall, the radio advertisement used many media technologies throughout the research, planning and construction of the radio advertisement. YouTube, Audacity and Windows Movie Maker are all very different media technologies but were used to create a media product which has showed me that not just one media technology is ever involved in producing real media products. There are so many different elements that go into producing media products just like how I needed the different media technology to be able to produce and present my own media product.

Final Evaluation
During this final evaluation, a new type of media was used which was Powton. An animated piece of software that allows the user to place in their own text and images whilst having numerous animated resources at their disposal to create videos. these videos are fully animated and fully editable and at the end can be exported to YouTube, downloaded or edited. The software was used because it provides the evaluation given in a clear manner and an engaging one which uses a different format of media technology.

Conclusion
Overall, a variety of media technologies has been used throughout the project such as presentation software or video technology such as YouTube. These media technologies have helped so much to bring all these media products together both in the production phase and exporting/distributing phase.
All these media technologies is why my media products have been able to be produced and this entire experience has shown me how all these different types of media technologies come together to produce media products.

Main Evaluation Question: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Main Evalaution Question: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Main Evaluation Question: In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Radio Advertisment Evaluation Question: How did you use media technologies in the contruction and reserach, planning and evaluation stages?

Research and Planning
The research and planning phase saw a lot of use from YouTube to gather resources for evaluation. Social networking as well was used along with Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 to gather these examples of real media products and present them in a clear fashion whilst evaluating the gathered examples.

YouTube was excellent in providing the right format to present the examples gather because there is no other format that can equal the compatibility that YouTube offers This is because other programs are harder to export to other software's. other programs like PowerPoint were critical in the planning and analysis phase due to the clarity of which my findings could be presented to the reader, other programs are smaller in resolution size whilst PowerPoint is larger in resolution and provides many different design to engage the audience of my findings which is exactly what a presentation of my research should do.

Construction

This particular phase used other formats and media technologies to construct the radio advertisement. Audacity was the main program used to construct the media product because the program is 100% an audio editing software unlike Windows Movie Maker. The windows program may offer some audio editing features but not like Audacity which offers full audio immersion and editing. Sound levels can be increased or decreased whilst being moulded with other mp3 files such as music which is how I got the voice of the host and music intro to blend together.

Audacity features a favourable exporting system that allows the user to export his/hers file as one mp3 file or other formats whilst being able to attach artist information for example. this feature allowed me to be able to export the mp3 file to Windows Movie Maker to create a video so that the radio advertisement could be then uploaded to YouTube. This happened because the mp3 file could not be imported to Blogger by itself, it needed to be placed in another format like YouTube to allow the radio advert to be attached to my blog.

Conclusion

Overall, the radio advertisement used many media technologies throughout the research, planning and construction of the radio advertisement. YouTube, Audacity and Windows Movie Maker are all very different media technologies but were used to create a media product which has showed me that not just one media technology is ever involved in producing real media products. There are so many different elements that go into producing media products just like how I needed the different media technology to be able to produce and present my own media product.

Radio Advertisment Evaluation Question: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Radio advertisement evaluation from bdr628

Radio Advertisement Evaluation Question: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Radio Advertisement Evaluation Question: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Radio Advertisement Final Product Survey Results

An important factor to consider when judging the radio advertisement is if the volume levels are right because otherwise the audience will not hear the information being said or the volume will hurt their eyes through the high pitches of the sounds. Many of the audience thought however that the radio advert had the right volume level. this was excellent because otherwise more alterations would be needed to make the advert suitable for all audiences. The audience also thought that the radio host was also very clear in how he speaks which is brilliant because of course the radio host needs to be clear in his sessions which also means that the information is being conveyed clearly.

The majority of the participants of the survey agreed that the soundtrack at the beginning of the radio advert suited the media product probably because it reinforced the image of other radio adverts which have soundtracks at the beginning of their shows. the same participants also thought that the advert in the form of an endorsement worked excellently and that the details of the regional newspaper being mentioned was right to be included, this is maybe because of the linking between products make sense to the audience.

With the form of an endorsement being used in the advert, the audience were asked if the advert was right to fade out as the host was talking which was meant to signal the end of the endorsement. many thought this was appropriate which is great because it means the edited advert was right and suits the audience. I can only guess that the audience found it logical to fade out as if the radio show was continuing rather than ending the advert completely because a show wouldn't end after an endorsement.

Overall, the radio advertisement was liked by the vast majority of the audience which means that the form of the advert begin an endorsements suits the audience. This is good feedback because it shows that my own decisions surrounding the planning and production phases were well founded and well implemented.

Radio Advertisement Final Product Survey

This is the survey that is to be completed by the audience after they have heard the final radio advertisement. the results from the survey will show me if the final product reached the expectations of the audience. Create your own user feedback survey

Radio Advertisement Step by Step Documentation

Radio advertisement step by step from bdr628

Final Radio Advertisement

Below is the final version of the radio advertisement with all the adjustments made from the focus group meeting. The advert was re-edited on Audacity then exported to Windows Movie Maker to make it viable for YouTube so that it could be published and embed on to Blogger.

Radio Advertisement Draft Focus Group

A focus group was held so that the radio advertisement draft could be assessed by an audience who can give an impartial view and feedback on the radio advert.

The members of the focus group had the radio advert draft played about three or times at the start so they knew exactly what the advert was and then was played whenever they needed to point something out to me or remind themselves a particular section.

Three points were made that the entire group agreed upon needed to be changed or improved so that the radio advert could be better for a listener.

1) The sound levels need to be altered so the all the sounds and the voice of the radio host are not too quite or too loud. The focus group commented that the intro is very loud which would want to make the listener turn down the radio volume whilst the voice is quite. the listener would have to turn the volume down and up which is not the intended effect.

Based on this, Stuart Hall's preferred readings theory would make the listeners have a negative reading with the radio advert because they will be too busy altering the sound level so they'll annoyed at the advert so therefore on some level feel discouraged to look further into the Shropshire Staffer.

2) The second improvement suggested to make to the radio advert was too have a better look at the effect placed on the voice. An equalization of the voices effect was added which was used to create the more radio voice effect because when listening to a radio, some muffle is expected because they are speaking into a mike, the equalization effect was used to add such an effect. on what the focus group have said the effect will have to be lightened rather than removed because it was a good effect just over used.

This leads me to the conclusion that the effect will have to be lightened but not removed because of Stuart Hall's Uses and Gratification theory. the theory suggests that the radio listener will a non-active listener because of the format of the radio which means the radio advert will have to be clear. A voice muffled too much will be unclear so the listener will not get any of the information thus rendering the radio advert practically useless.

3) The third point made by the focus group was that towards the end of the radio advert a thud can be heard then the last sentence to be spoke suddenly occurs without any sign of continuity because it sounds interrupted. they said this may be a editing error, which appears so, but it needs to be fixed because the last part of the advert seems has a thud then suddenly starts again thus giving the impression that the radio advert doesn't seem natural but purely fabricated. They said this effect created is very bad because the radio advert then seems unnatural or at least not well done which would put the regional newspaper down as well. This is because if the newspaper radio advertisement is poor, then why would they purchase the newspaper itself?

With the final point made, it is clear that the problem needs fixing because otherwise the entire radio advertisement and the other products such as the regional newspaper will fall in quality in terms of how effective they are.

Overall, the focus group went very well because some great suggestions were made and will be implemented in the future to ensure that the radio advert is better in quality and far more effective.

Radio Advertisement Draft

Here is the draft for the radio advert that was recorded and put together by using Audacity and then exported by using Windows Movie Maker. The file was then uploaded to YouTube so that the radio advert could be played and embed on to Blogger.