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

and evaluation stages of production?

Question 4 evaluation

• In research YouTube was a large component that I used. It allowed me to research my chosen genre, and to firstly to find a song which I liked very much, in which I felt I would be capable to create a music video to. Once I found a song I liked, I then began to look at videos of the same genre to get a feel of the narrative story's in which I could use for my own. It also then allowed me to find conventions by allowing me to open two videos side by side and look at the elements used throughout by comparing them. After doing this I could then pinpoint what narrative I wanted to use, and come up with ideas from this of what it would consist of, and what shots would feature. But more importantly, what the mise-en-scene would look like. It also allowed me to start looking for casting for my music video, looking at typical genre music videos I was able to see what the style of people were cast, and draw links and begin to look around college looking for someone to fit the roles that I needed.

• Not only did I use youtube as a source of research, but I also used youtube to upload my drafts of my music video and also my final edit. This was to allow me to post it to my blog more easily, but also to post it to allow my target audience to find it and comment on it.

• As web 2.0 is blooming with teenagers because it is easy to use and free this allows me to target my audience perfectly.

I used web 2.0 to help create my media products as it was the most important aspect I could have used. It served as my primary source of information to figure out how to even start thinking about making a music video.

I used the google search engine to help me find mise-en-scene conventions so I could apply them to my own work.It allowed me to search clothing brands which fall within the indie-pop genre. I did this via searching ‘Indie-pop’ and Google has a built in search bar which will bring up a scroll list of bands which you can select, and it will take you to their wikipedia page, or you can select the band and view images of the artist. This feature is fabulous and very convenient and made it so much easier to find bands which fell within my genre. Using google cut down my research time in half and I was able to create a mood board of outfit ideas for my music video.My research from this informed me that the male characters wear skinny jeans, and labelled t-shirts or smart shirts, for my female lead it informed me that she should wear doc martens and a skirt. As this season of clothing is flowing skirt weather. It also allowed me to understand what guitar I should use for my performance section as Wikipedia has its own set of images from arena tours they have done so it allows me to understand what my audience would be expecting.

Adobe Photoshop cs6

I used Photoshop a lot throughout the duration of this production process with the ancillary texts and my magazine advertisement. From the previous year of studying media I have used Photoshop a lot as last year my product I had to create was a music magazine so this year I came into media a lot more confident with using this technology and being able to experiment with layers as to how I created a triangle hierarchy using photos from my music video

To create the triangle which is featured on my digipak and on my magazine advert I used the shape tool to create a large triangle to use it as a template for the outside of the images, I then duplicated this, and shrunk it down to a size that was able to fit 9 times in this large triangle. I then screen grabbed from my music video, and using the Magic wand tool I was able to select the triangle, then right clicking and choosing select inverse, then clicking on the photo layer and pressing delete it deletes the outside of the image which is the unneeded bit so I was left with the photo as a triangle.

Photoshop allows me to create high resolution images that programmes such as publisher cannot. This gives a more realistic look to my magazine advert so I am then able to put my advert into a real magazine and see if it fits and looks good. I did this to see if it fit with my genre I chose.

Adobe Premier Pro

I used adobe premier pro to create my music video and all the drafts I also created during the course of my a level. I also used it to edit together clips for my focus group.

I had the choice of this programme but also a programme on the mac’s called Final Cut Pro and after having a demonstration on the editing suite I preferred how easy it was to use. It has a simple layout and easy functions which are easy to pick up. As my technician at college also knows how to use this software it was easy if I was stuck on something rather than Google the problem.

The effects on this software were easy to manipulate to do what I wanted them to do, creating white blanks and editing the videos themselves to have no sound or delay the sound itself and have the volume of a track/video be introduced gradually to my product.

Another thing I like about this software is that you can drag clips anywhere onto the timeline and edit them. You can even leave blanks along your timeline so this meant I could start editing my footage before I had even finished filming.

PowerPoint

I used PowerPoint to create presentations like this one. It is easy to use and simple to customize.

Slideshare SlideShare is a great online website which you can upload

PowerPoint to. It means they can be viewed anyway by anyone and can also be embedded into a website such as blogger.

Blogger

Blogger has been the place where I can post my entire project online, from start to finish. I can embed posts with my YouTube clips, I can insert polls to get audience feedback, and I can add photos to show my progression throughout.

An example of a poll I created is here. This poll was created to see what my audience that view my blog prefer and what aspect I should take for my music video. From this I was able to create an audience profile and involve these things into my music video.

Prezi Prezi is an online presentation

software in which you can create presentations that are more interactive and interesting for the viewer. They look more professional and are an easy way to get your thoughts down and show the development of your ideas from one to another. I could also show people a prezi of outfits which I would be considering and get audience feedback on these to see which is their favourite and which would be most suitable for my genre. This helped me a lot during my planning process.

iPhone 4s This phone was a great deal of help

during the course, it allowed me to look on the internet at my storyboard to know shots that I had used and would need to film, it allowed me to listen to my song to gather any additional ideas on the spot of filming but it also allowed me to access blogger via bloggers app and directly upload any ideas or pictures from location.

It also allowed me to view my storyboard while at the editing suite, this was helpful as the editing suite that I used was not connected to the internet, and to conserve space I was able to use my phone instead of logging onto a computer which had internet to continue my work.

Samsung MV800

This camera I used during my production, I had bought this camera awhile ago due to the feature of being able t flip the screen up. I found this highly helpful due to certain shots such as the one on the staircase. In order to get that shot I had to use a tripod and push it against a corner wall to fit the entire shot in that I wanted. But being able to flip the screen up I was able to make sure that the entire shot was in without having to use a mirror to see how it was positioned.

Also by using my own camera I was able to quickly start filming without having to get to know the camera features, as I already knew them and how to use them to my advantage.