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

- Software
By Shanelle Peters

Bamboo Pad
The Bamboo pad was used in the construction process in order to create the typeface and stylistic main image of the magazine cover. The Bamboo pad is essentially a digital canvas which allowed the magazine cover to adopt a natural and latent appearance, as the main image is evidently of a female however the background is difficult to distinguish. As a result themagazine cover lacks the synthetic and manufactured markings of typical magazines as it has more intrinsic elements as a result of the handwriting and simple colouring.
In order to create the natural yet elaborate handwriting typeface to introduce the film that the magazine was advertising, I downloaded a font from dafonts called Across the Road. This font was specifically designed to imitate handwriting. However, in order to enhance the curves of the lettering, I downloaded the image onto the Bamboo editing software and using the Bamboo pen added to the strokes of the capital lettering of S, M and L. As a result, the serif font became more decorative, it also mimics the unique style of the little white lies magazine.

Final Cut (cont.)

Final Cut allowed us to view two different parts of the trailer at one point, with the Two up display window. I was able to edit the titling and its positioning using the Image wireframe option.

This allowed us to adjust the alignment of the titling to central or right alignment depending on its position within the trailer. The central alignment of the cast names bring focus to the names. However, the film title itself, has been positioned with a right alignment to add a sense of finality.

Final Cut- Sound

The editing software Final Cut was vital in the editing process. It allowed us to use more advanced editing techniques such as the ability to manipulate the sound used in our trailer. By ducking the instrument track Give Me Love top essentially fade in and out at key moments helped create a dramatic atmosphere.

We were also able to fine tune the length of the music and manipulate the duration of the song. This is evident at the beginning and very end of the trailer. At which point, the soundtrack segues into a climactic moment of the track Change by Banks. By using the trim option on the sidebar, we were able to detach the climactic point and position it at the end of the trailer, signifying a key turning point but also a change in atmosphere. Thus allowing us to be more creative and ambitious with sound.

Photoshop
Photoshop allowed us to realise our visions for the poster, as it gave us the opportunity to produce work that looks professional. I was able to use the layers to remove the white background from the Sundance vector by using the option screen. This gave the poster a professional appearance as the logos have merged seamlessly into the background of the poster.

Additionally, in regards to developing our creativity, we were able to produce more professional looking work as we became more critical and sought to strive for perfection. This can be evidenced through our manipulation of both text and font colour, as we were able to create contrasting colours that would be visible despite the background.