ONLINE

TECHNOLOGIES
BY ELAF KHAN
 WEEBLY
The website I used for my blog - weebly.com -was the first and most important piece of technology that I used for this
project. It allowed me to document my progress and evidence. The research section enabled me to explore the
complex world of cinema and store all of the information in my brain. Researching emphasized the significance of film
openings and enlightened me to the long history behind them. The 5 openings I analyzed (general, detailed and 9
frame) sharpened my critical skills and encouraged me to crate something with depth that is worth analyzing.
Looking into different genres (especially drama) was helpful because I knew which conventions to follow and set a
guideline to our work. The planning section organized my brain. While countless ideas were popping up, sitting down
and typing my thoughts or making storyboards/shotlists seriously made things coherent. The blog also gave me
alternative perspectives when I looked at my work from a third person POV and realize things can be done differently.
Updating the blog also kept me up-to-date with certain deadlines because I challenged myself to complete things
faster. Tasks like the risk assessment form and the screenplay also set guidelines for the project, something I’m
grateful for because time wasn’t wasted on planning during the shoot.
 YOUTUBE
YouTube wins as the second most used online technology. I learned how to shoot on manual mode from
here, how to improve my camera skills, how to edit on Hitfilm Express, how to use weebly (in the initial
days), how to remove the Filmora watermark on my preliminary video and many other things. I can
safely say I learned more about media studies from this site than I ever did from school. I used it to
watch the film openings of A grade students from other institutions and countries and also conduct
research about anything and everything e.g. history of film openings and child marriage. Most
importantly, I used YouTube as a dump for my rough drafts, unedited videos and final version because
videos cannot be uploaded directly to weebly. It was utilized to gain feedback from our audiences too.
 GOOGLE
This was most commonly used website as every other was accessed through this technology.
Other than searching for everything related to media studies, child marriage and filmmaking,
I used its subs like Gmail, Google Drive, Maps and Google Photos to transfer pictures and
videos from my phone to laptop, store data, show locations and make accounts for the
various presentation websites (e.g. Prezi and emaze). I also used Google to look at A grade
students’ blogs to gain inspiration and download images too. The presentation tool Google
Slides was also utilized.
 WHATSAPP
This was the primary app used for communication between me and Zuha, our actors and
teacher. He sent out reminders and instructions on the class group and Zuha and I often sent
voice notes to each other during the planning and production of Bano. Although I contacted
my grandfather on the phone, Omar and I communicated via WhatsApp too. The survey was
sent in our batch group.
 INSTAGRAM
This was mainly used to communicate with our audience. Before casting Zoonia and Omar, I
put up a story asking if anyone wanted to act, made a chat group for the volunteers and gave
them information regarding our project. Teasers (e.g. poster, announcements) and the final
version were also posted on this app.
 PREZI
Many presentations were made on prezi.com like the three film opening analyses (Inception,
The Lion King and Goldeneye). I like using prezi because of its cool visuals and presentation
style, but it sometimes causes annoyance too because flash has to be enabled each time I
open the website.
 SURVEY MONKEY
This website was used to create the online questionnaire. It was easy to use and embed into
my blog, although the options were limited to only 10 questions. This technology was utilized
to familiarize ourselves with the primary audience.
 CELTX
I used this website to create my script; it was selected because of its pretty, minimalistic
style and simplistic way to use. The best part is: you can add notes and directions easily.
 GOOGLE SLIDES
For the drama film examples presentation, I used Google Slides. It’s a very straightforward
and coherent site (very Google).
 EMAZE
This tool was used for the different types of genres presentation; it’s incredibly stylish and
simple.
 SCRIBD
This service allowed me to post the presentations on weebly easily without downloading
them or making an alternative link. This way, 2 different technologies could be used together
(online and software).