4. How did you use media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and evaluation

stages?

YouTube was used in several stages in the research and planning. We were able to get all the music videos that we used for our case studies on YouTube. YouTube helped with planning as we used it to research different artists also we researched narrative based videos and other videos of the same genre of Ed Sheeran’s music. This helped us really understand narrative based videos. Additionally it helped us to understand the themes that consist in videos of this particular genre.

WhatsApp was mainly used to communicate with other group members and the actors. The reason why we used WhatsApp was because all our group members and the actors already had the app and even if they didn’t have it, it’s very accessible. We had two different group chats on WhatsApp; one chat with just the group members and another including both the group members and actors. We used this app to organise team meetings and also to discuss filming schedules.

YouTube:

WhatsApp:

Google:

Google was the most important technology as YouTube and Blogger are both connected to Google. Google was used to search artists and also Google images helped to find print products of a similar genre to our music video. This helped us as we got a feel of how expert print products look like. Furthermore if we didn’t understand any media terms and our teachers were not present to help us we used google. Also google was vital in terms of researching different theories.

Moodle:

Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalised learning environments. Our college has a Moodle page. This allowed our group to gain access to the templates for the risk assessments, location release forms, and talent release forms and call sheets for our actors.

Technologies

Prezi:

Prezi is a presentation software and storytelling tool for presenting ideas on a virtual canvas. Prezi is one technology that I used frequently and was comfortable using it. This is because I have used Prezi in the past and therefore was familiar with it. Our group used Prezi to present the class pitch for the research and planning of cd packaging and advert also for the treatment. Moreover I have decided to use Prezi for one of my evaluation questions.

PowerPoint is a software package designed to create electronic presentations consisting of a series of separate pages or slides. PowerPoint was really easy and quick software to use and I was already familiar with it. I mainly used PowerPoint so that I could upload the power point on Slide share. Slide share allows users to upload files in different file formats. I used slide share for the research and planning for the CD packaging and advert (case studies).

PowerPoint + Slideshare:

Wix.com:

Wix.com is a web development platform that allows users to create websites and mobile sites. I used Wix.com for Question 1 of my evaluation. This was my first time using this technology however this did not create difficulties as I got used to using it very quickly, overall I loved using this technology the most.

PowToon:

PowToon is a software which allows users to create animated presentations and animated videos. Our group used PowToon for the recces. At first I found it difficult to use PowToon however as I went along I found it easier to use.

SpiderScribe:

SpiderScribe is an online mind-mapping tool. SpiderScribe was one of the easiest technologies to use as it is very simple and self-explanatory. I was already familiar with this technology as I have used it many times before.

 Final Cut Pro:

Final cut pro is non-linear video editing software that runs on intel-based Mac OS computers. We used final cut pro to edit our music video. I first used final cut pro for our practise video conversely I was still unfamiliar with the software. However one of our group members (Natasha) was familiar with the software and also enjoyed using it. This was beneficial for our group as she taught the rest of the group members how to use it moreover this helped us to edit the video a lot faster which was important as we had less time to edit because our group took longer to film. Furthermore we used several different techniques on the software for example colour correction, filters and transitions. We used colour correction because one of the clips that were shot in the subway was too dark therefore we used colour correction to match it with the other clips in that scene. Also we de-saturated the flashback scenes to make it black and white this made it clear to the audience that it was a flashback. Transitions were added throughout the video to make to make the video more smooth.

Photoshop:

Photoshop is an image editor software. As I’ve used Photoshop in the past; using this technology was not a difficulty. Our group used Photoshop to edit our CD packaging and magazine advert. One thing I’ve learnt from this experience is how to add colour to a specific area for example the yellow tint on the right inside of our CD packaging. Moreover I learnt how to use the filter gallery tool; this allowed us to add different effects to our images. We used the filter gallery for the front cover and the right inside of the CD packaging therefore this tool was vital for our CD packaging. Also we brightened majority of our images to heighten the colours. Overall although I already knew how to use Photoshop I have gained may new skills.

Blogger:

Blogger is a blog publishing service. Blogger is the technology we were directed to use to file all of our work on. Blogger was vital as we blogged everything in terms of all our research and planning and finished work therefore we used Blogger regularly. The main reason why I liked using blogger is because it is very accessible as I have the app on my phone also it is easy to use and keeps everything in one place therefore all my work is easy to find.

Equipment:

Camera:

The camera we used was a Cannon DSLR which allowed us to capture excellent quality footage. Personally I enjoyed using this camera also as our group used this camera before it was easy to use outside of college. Our group focused the camera on subjects to gain a better quality image. Moreover after experimenting with the ISO we established that the higher the ISO the brighter the brightness and the lower the ISO the lower the brightness. This was extremely helpful as most of our filming was done while it was dark. The only issue with the camera was that the battery kept on running and the memory card was filled very quickly. However this was not the actual camera’s fault; this was resolved by carrying multiple extra batteries and memory cards.

Tripod:

The tripod was useful when we wanted to film scenes from a distance. Additionally for our group the tripod was the most useful when we had to film the time lapse (from day to night). My group members and I set the camera up attaching to the tripod and left the camera tuned on for about half an hour; that’s all we had to do to film the time lapse. There were no problems with using the tripod.