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

Courteney Coutinho

Research and construction

I used the Apple iMacs throughout the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of the project as I have had previous experience with using these computers in my AS coursework and find it easy to navigate. From my AS coursework I found that the iMacs are really easy to use as I can upload all my footage from the camcorders quickly and the corresponding film maker program; iMovie is also simple to use. iMovie worked really well for my AS coursework as I was able to edit each video I took with lighting levels and add different effects. I was also able to highlight specific parts of the footage and simple drag it to my movie so I had total control on the finished product. Although I did use this program last year and used many of the same skills I learnt in the previous year I have also learnt new skills such as how to use the green screen effect and double exposure. As iMovie is such a popular program there was lots of tutorials on the internet that helped us when trying to use the new effects in our music video. I also used the iMacs for the research and evaluation stages of my project as I had access to the safari for blogger, slide share, prezi and PowerPoint all of these was shown in my process. I also used Photoshop which was installed on the iMacs for the construction of my ancillary texts as I edited my photographs on there as I have also got pervious Photoshop experience. I found that the storage on the apple iMacs was really good and after creating a folder with our project name on it I was able to store and find all my work easily on there.

I chose iMovie as the program to use for the construction of my music video as I used it in my AS coursework for my thriller opening so knew had to navigate it and had a good solid knowledge on the different tools and effects. I felt confident with the process of making it on this program as I knew how to upload the raw footage from the camcorders, to be able to chose the particular parts I wanted in my video, how to add filler shots, and the tool to make the footage speed up or slow down. In the construction of my music video I had parts that suited the end of the song more than the beginning so I was able to add filer shots to make sure the lip syncing would not be out of time. I really liked the way I could operate this media technology as there was different lines where I could place different videos or pictures. I used the top line to place the white background for the chorus as I used the green screen effect on the raw footage which meant it did not have a background. I also used the line above t place the video of the lights for the double exposure effect. It was easy to mute the individual videos so the music could be heard and to add transitions through the transition heading on the left hand panel. The only section that I would maybe fault with this program is the time it took to save the movie file onto my documents. As it needed to convert it from the far movie maker process to a video file it took quite a bit of time and sometimes had to be left over night processing to be ready the next lesson.

I used the green screen in the construction of my music video as for the chorus I wanted the artist to be the focal point of the shot but to have small heads lip syncing around her to reflect the different walks of lives. We filmed our artist behind the green screen in the media room and used a tripod to place the camcorder on to make sure that the footage was not shaky. We used the normal camera setting as the lighting was good in the room as we had a light source near by. We used a medium shot to film all the different people to add continuity through out and to highlight the artists face as the focal point of the shot as the words that they are singing are important for the music video concept. The green screen was very simple to use as it had a large width and length meaning that we did not have to worry about interfering surroundings. It was a new skills that I leant when trying to edit the green screen to have a white background. I had to incorporate a background and place it on top of the raw footage. Then on the editing panel on the raw footage I used the green/blue screen effect to erase the background meaning that the top layer would be visible. I had to do this for every single face and then save each file on to the computer. I then use the multiple screen effects to add each face around the artist in the music video. It was complex and time consuming but I feel that the effect worked successfully for the purpose I set out. The only weakness I found was when I saved the file to add a new person in, the first person I added became very pixelated and unclear to see where the last person added was crystal clear. I would have to try and overcome this by trying a different method and researching other tutorials for a similar outcome. I did not use the green screen in my AS media coursework as I was worried that it would look tacky or unprofessional. However, by using a simple background and adjusting the lighting and contrast levels of the footage I think the green screen effect has worked well as all the attention is on the people singing instead of the background. It is really nice to have a plain background for the chorus as in the verses of the music video I use a variety of different location. I used Photoshop for the construction of my ancillary products as I edited all the photographs I used on this program. I have had lots of previous experience with using Photoshop, so I felt confident from the start that it could suit my purposes and I knew I could find lots of support online for any tools I didn’t know how to use. As I do A2 photography I know lots of different effects I can create on Photoshop, so I decided to make the front of my digipak black and white with only the artists in full colour. I also used it for the back of the digipak by making it black and white, and I added all the font, small print, barcode and symbols through Photoshop as I could change the colour using the brightness, contrast and levels. I did not have to use Photoshop in my AS media coursework as it was not necessary when creating a thriller opening. However I have used it for all three of my ancillary texts as I found it easy to navigate and to make the background white or white using the quick selection tool to highlight it. As I was experimenting a lot with the different effects I could create on this media technology it was an important tool that I could go back and erase if I didn’t like sections. I had to do this a lot to create the product the exact way myself and Charlotte envisioned.

Blogger was a main part of all my project as I displayed my whole thinking process and work on the media device so it can be easily accessed by my fellow peers, target audience and teachers. Blogger is a very popular media device and is used by many as it is simple to navigate and produce. Anyone can see my blog if they have the website address and it is easy to navigate through the content panel on the left hand side. I used blogger for my AS media coursework so was very familiar with the functions and tools and felt confident I could improve my previous blog this year. From looking back and evaluating from my previous blog I saw that I did not incorporate many media forms and technologies into my blog. For my A2 blog I believe I have used lots of different media forms as I included prezi presentations, Power Points, video’s and photographs through out. This creates a much more interesting blog and is more eye catching and interacting for the audience rather than large blocks of texts. Another strength to this media device is that it is accessible any where, I can post blogs on a mobile device or on to the computer and it is all saved through my account which means I do not need to use memory sticks or have all the work saved to just one computer. Blogger also works with lots of other media devices such as slide share, prezi and YouTube as I can upload work from them websites to feature on my blog. This creates the interacting section of my blog. I found also from last year that there was not clear section of research, my work and evaluation where I feel this year I have tried to make clearer by grouping them together on my blog. As blogger is easy to access I posted the website address for my survey monkey survey for people to complete. As the public can see my blog I would get a larger variety of response and by displaying my music video and connecting products, meaning more people will see my artist creating a larger fan base and target audience.

Another media technology I used throughout research stages of my project was YouTube. When I was completing research on professional music videos already in the music industry and other students work I was able to view very easily on YouTube. There is a great variety of videos on YouTube as many people have different accounts where they can post their work to be viewed by the public. This media technology was very important in my research stages as I watched all the videos I analysed on here, and could chose any song I felt was appropriate for my target audience and genre through the search bar. The quality of the professional music videos was very good which meant I could pick our small details of the product. Another feature that was really handy was that I could see the account that uploaded the video. For example, in the screen shot the account is Paloma Faith’s, and as I liked this particular music video and felt she was highly appropriate for my genre of music I was able to watch more videos uploaded by her by clicking her name which sent me to her channel. Suggested videos would also feature in the right hand side panel, which I used in my research so I had a great variety of artists to choose from. I used YouTube in my AS coursework also as I had to again watch existing thriller openings to be able to construct my own. This is the main reason as to why I found it easy to navigate and used it again. YouTube is used by many people so I was able to get a great mixture of music videos to analyse and watch through my research, some professional and some ammeter. It helped me create my list of conventions for music videos and also highlight what I would like and not like in a video.

Planning

Survey monkey was used during the planning and research stages of my music video. To gather feedback on the most appropriate target audience for our artist I decided to create a ten question survey where people from the public had to give their answer and opinions on topics such as their favourite genre of music, how often and how they consumer music and basic information such as gender and age. I found survey monkey really easy to use and navigate as I could chose the particular style to present the question and how nay options I wanted. I found this media device really good an would use it again in any more projects as it catered to my needs and I manage to incorporate everything I wanted in this short survey. Another great factor was that once I got all the responses I wanted it would then present the results in a series of graphs and statistics and also gave me the option to just view one persons questionnaire. The different features allowed my to analyse my results easily and highlight my target audience. In my AS coursework I used a similar method of planning as I used a questionnaire which I found successful and the reason why I chose to use it again. However I used a questionnaire I made on Microsoft Word and was not very advance as it only had tick boxes and lines. I found that it was difficult to get people to answer the survey as I would have to physically see them to be able to et them to write on it and to give it back to me so I can collect the results. However, as most people have a mobile device that connects to the internet and have access to a computer I found a survey online was much easier. It had more advance layout options and I could literally send the link via email to anyone and ask them to respond it as they could do it on the go on a mobile device. My survey was also open to the general public so I manage to gather more responses from a wide variety of people through using an online survey website. I also found it much easier to analyse my results as all my feedback was collaborated on my page.

I used iMovie also during the planning stages of my music video as I used it to present lip syncing exercises. With the artist I chose, I filmed her lip syncing different songs and needed to add the title of the song and artist on there. Lip syncing exercises were important parts of my planning stage for my music video as it reinforced to myself and Charlotte that we chose the right artist as lip syncing was a key part and gave a professional quality to the video if done correctly. I had to film the artist on different shots as it was her first time in front of the camera so she was a little bit shy and had jokey elements throughout. However I found that the artist I chose was appropriate for our music video as she was very expresses with her facial expressions, body language and hand gestures and looked highly professional. On iMovie I was able to watch all the footage I recorded and highlight just the lip syncing part to use. I then added text by using the left hand panel and wrote the artists name and song title. I was able to convert the iMovie file to a video file and upload it to YouTube so I could link it to my blog to show the planning stages of my work. I also used YouTube for my planning stage, when I was choosing the song I wanted to create a music video for. I could explore many different existing songs through this media device and chose my favourite song.

During the planning process of my project I used PowerPoint and Slide share to design my record label logos. I created a variety of different logos that I then had to decide what one was most appropriate. I designed them all on Photoshop and presented them on a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the different variations I created of them and the factors I liked and dint like so much. I found PowerPoint was a really good way to present my work as I sued lots of photographs and on this media technology I just copied and pasted the image from my file, however on blogger I would need to make sure the photograph was saved on my account before using it. Also on blogger I had some issues aligning the work against the text, so used PowerPoint as I find it easy to navigate after lots of previous experience. The PowerPoint also showed my thought process as well as being interactive for the viewer as they have to press the button to see the next slide. This way of presenting breaks up large parts of texts and shows the different logos I created and the process I took to chose my record label logo. After I created the presentation I was able to upload it to slide share so I can present it on my blog and gather feedback from the general public. I used slide share and PowerPoint to plan my AS coursework also and found it a good method as it is easy to navigate and view and also makes my work interacting which makes the viewer pay more attention to the work.

I also used prezi to present my planning stages on my project. I did not use prezi in my AS coursework as I found it quite challenging to use. However I overcome it this year as I had more time to work out how to use the media technology and used tutorials online to support me. Prezi presentations look really professional, and interacts the audience as they have to navigate the presentation at their own pace. It also breaks up large blocks of texts and incorporates photographs and lots of colour. I made a variety of prezi presentations throughout the process of my planning stage as I manage to get all my ideas out and it shows the audience my thought process. I found it quite challenging to use as it kept freezing on the overview of the presentation and would not let me at time select on the text box I needed. However, with patience I over came this and uploaded it to my blog. I really like the prezi presentations although they are very time consuming as they add a professional effect. Although I found it challenging to use, this media technology had lots of tools and devices to use as many professionals use it for corporate events and training sessions. I would use this media technology again for another project as the hard work was worth it when I saw the professional outcome. It also works cohesively with YouTube as I was able to add links that would play through YouTube.

Evaluation

For the evaluation stage of my process I used the media technology of YouTube again as it is a great way to market and promote my new artist due to the many people who use it on a daily basis. When I uploaded my music video any member of the public was able to see it and leave comments and like or dislike it. This is a strength to my work as I found gather a feedback on a much larger scale as well as many scouters using digital technology to find new artists to break into the music industry. However the weakness is as well as constructive comments I may also received some inappropriate comments that will need to be monitored as it could restrict other people from feeding back. Another issue I faced was copy right issues. As I owned no rights to the song I needed to make it clear through the description section and highlight the purpose that I use the music. Shortly after I uploaded it YouTube added the hyperlink of where the public can purchase the song from iTunes. I did not mind it but as it had copy right music I was not able to view the music video on mobile devices. To gain access I had to dispute this with YouTube and highlight the purpose of my music video again which is totally for educational reasons. I used YouTube to upload my thriller opening also in the previous year to gain feedback and to help me upload it to my blog. As it worked successfully last year, I decided to use the same method to present my final outcome and found it easy for the target audience to access as I would just tell them the web link address or my channel name or title of video.

Another way I collected feedback for my evaluation was through survey monkey again. I created another ten question survey that I would ask members of the target audience to fill out in reflection to my music video and ancillary texts. As I have used this website before I knew about the different layout options and how I could present each question. I chose to use this method of getting target audience feedback as for my AS coursework I used verbal feedback as the majority of my evaluation. However, with this survey I would have all results written clearly on one page, so I can analyse how success my work is and ways I can improve it. I found from the other survey I completed for my planning stage that it was really easy to distribute the survey as I could send the website address via email to member's of the target audience and they can answer it in a mater of minutes on a mobile device or computer. On the email, I also sent them the link to the music video on YouTube, so they could watch the video as many times as they wanted before giving feedback. I found this way of collecting feedback gave my evaluation another dimension as I have also used a focus group presented in a video format and through posting it on social media websites. I found when I asked people to write down their feedback on the survey in their own time I got much more honest and detailed feedback as they could do it in privacy and when they had time.

I used a social media website to gather feedback for my evaluation, as the majority of people from my target audience use social media in their everyday life. I chose to upload my music video from YouTube on to my private Facebook page as only people on my friends list could see the share. By sharing the link on my Facebook page I found it a more private way to gather feedback as only people on mine and Charlottes friends list could see it. Although not as many people would be able to leave feedback as it being on YouTube, I found that the people on my friend list to be apart of my target audience as they are aged 16-25. As only people from my friend list could comment I did not have to worry so much about inappropriate comments and I left some advice for people to write in the video description. I asked people to write what they liked and what they would change. I found that I received lots of positive feedback and the same point they would change was the same throughout. Gathering feedback via a social media website was new for me as in my AS coursework I did not explore the different media forms for my evaluation. I feel that I did gather valuable feedback from uploading it on Facebook as so many people use it on a computer or mobile device as they are on the go. I made sure my video was able to be seen on a mobile device as many people don’t use computers as much and only look at Facebook through their mobile. I had to be careful with copyright issues as when I uploaded it straight to Facebook the website took it down due to the music. This meant I had to share the YouTube video which could still be viewed on a mobile device.

For one of the evaluation questions I used mind meister to create a detailed mind map about the different form of media I have used. It is a free website that allows me to create mind maps and design it to the way I want it to look. Once I was finished I was able to download it as a JPEG image to make it easy to upload to my blog. I have never used mind meister before, however after using it for this evaluation I would as it was easy to operate and shows my thought process to the audience as well as making the different forms of media clear through having a different bubble. This way of presenting work stands out on my blog as I haven’t used it before and it helps break up large blocks of text making it more appealing to the audience.