Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research,

planning and evaluation stages?

Creativity• For the presentation of my work, I used ‘Microsoft PowerPoint’ in order to create

consistent and clear case studies and evaluations. In addition to this when constructing my power points, I also used online presentation software such as ‘Prezi’ and ‘Scribd’ in order to upload each piece of information via embedding my work to the site, then posting it into the HTML section of Blogger. In further addition to this, I used ‘Microsoft Word’ when creating documents such as costume design and explanations of locations for my research. Similarly, by using these technologies when crafting and researching my own work, I found that my blog became coherent and fluent in terms of the layout and presentation but also in terms of creativity

Distribution• When I had finished my production, I used a number of distribution methods in order to make sure that I gained secondary

reviews and responses from other members of my target audience. Also, I placed my finished product onto ‘YouTube’ before then uploading it to ‘Blogger’.

• The first stages of research into our work, found use of the Swedish online audio distribution platform; Soundcloud. My group and I used this site in order to search through different unsigned artists before finding ‘Coco and the Butterfields’. Once we had found the band, we listened to a range of different tracks before concluding that we were to use ‘Warriors’. The site was a clear and fast way of researching a group of unsigned bands whose music all possessed a similar genre and therefore, we were able to decide on using the band via the way that we could also listen to similar and opposing artists. Additionally, once finding the unsigned band and choosing the track quickly, we were able to brainstorm our ideas and begin with our initial responses for the creation of the music video.

Blogger Distribution• I used Blogger as my main form of distribution, allowing me to present my work and equally, allowing me to access it easily

when needed. The simple posts that can be created, enhanced my creativity when working due to the way that I could upload various forms of technologies such as the word documents and Power Points, as mentioned before, without difficulty. This aided my work via the flexibility that would not have been available when using other media types such as written work and filed documents. Furthermore, when using blogger, I created various posts via the default word pad that is inbuilt into the site, enabling me, in addition to the labelling of the posts that I had previously created, to share my work in an organised manner for others.

• Once posting my work onto my blog, I was able to receive and record feedback from both other individuals and tutors as each post allowed for a comment box beneath. This was a great tool for my work when looking back as many of the comments were for further improvements that, once completed, added to my grade overall.

Music Video Production• When constructing the music video production, we used a ‘Canon HD Camcorder’ in order to capture each scene

that we had crafted. The camcorder itself, contains many features of which we used within creating our piece. For example, features such as the zoom were used within shots of locations in the form of establishing shots. The quality of the picture on the camcorder also made extreme/close ups of the characters available, making the piece more identifiable for the audience members. When using the camcorder also, we found that there was a ‘Rule of Thirds’ setting which enabled us to create shots of the main characters in proportion to the locations and the mise en scene also, therefore, making the composition of the piece more plausible. Toward the end of each filming set, the camcorder allowed us to watch any of the footage that we shot within that time period. By re-viewing what we had already filmed, we were able to maintain a high standard of continuity and narrative through the way that we could improve any features that stood out as an oddity.

• The editing process of our music video production involved the computerised software, ‘Adobe Premiere Pro’. We used this software to order our segments of film into a structured narrative and add any transitions that would make the piece of a higher standard. For example, toward the end of our music video, we used ‘premiere pro’ to add a ‘fade to white’ transition in order to signal the return of the character from the fantasy worlds, a part which we would not have been able to do without an editing tool. Once we had crafted a clear narrative for our music video, we were able to place the downloaded track, ‘Warriors’ onto the footage, where we could then align any aspects that would allow us to conform to Goodwin’s ‘music and visuals’ theory such as the way we cut numerous shots of the props in time to the beat of the music.

Digipak production• Towards the beginning of the creation of my digipak, I constructed research into other packs of a

similar four panel layout. I constructed this research via the internet and ‘Google images’ whereby I was able to use the search bar in order to look for what I wanted. In addition to this, the research that I did for my magazine advert, used the same technology to compare different layouts and help me decide what best suited my own advert. Furthermore, the crafting of my front and back panels for my digipak were created via firstly, the use of a ‘Canon SLR 450D’ camera, which another member of the group and I used to take photographs of the main actress, Danielle, in character of Little Red riding Hood. The quality of this camera enabled us to take great quality, detailed, close up photographs of the female character, providing different accounts of various facial expressions which were a key link to our music video. Once the photographs for these particular panels had been created, I was able to then edit them via ‘Adobe Photoshop’, a computerised editing technology that swallowed me to enhance the colourations of my images and add in specific conventions of digipaks such as the band logo and the track name ( for the front panel) along side the track listing and barcode (for the back panel).

• Finally, when creating my two inside panels (2&3), I created drawing of two of the characters and thus, these needed to be scanned into the computer in order to digitalise them for the coherence of my product. Therefore, I used an ‘HP Scanner’ when placing my drawings onto the computer.