Evaluation Question 4'How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?'

OverviewThroughout all stages of my work, I used technology frequently and for a variety of purposes. Some were specific to a task, while others were used multiple times throughout for differing reasons.

In my work I used a range of different cameras. During filming of the music video, I used a pair of video cameras to capture footage. Using a pair of cameras has advantages including the ability to gather more footage quickly, and to shoot a scene from alternate angles for quick cutting in the editing suite. The cameras themselves were high quality, ensuring that the footage looks good which also makes editing details easier.

For my ancillary task, I used an additional photography camera. The reason for using this third camera is that it takes higher quality photographs than merely using stills from video. A photographic camera was also used to take pictures of my research and planning sheets for uploading.

The final result looks more professional as a result of using the right camera for the right job.

Panasonic HC-V250

Sony RX100 III

Sony HXR-NX70E

An important piece of technology I used in the production of the music video was a pair of frequency lights, which stood on tripods during filming. The obvious application of these lights is to make dark rooms more visible, something that certainly came in handy when filming some places in the power station.

The second use however comes into play during post production, in that the lights make editing far easier. The ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ light frequencies for lack of a better description add some mood to a scene, but also highlight small details which makes adjusting elements such as contrast and saturation much easier when the video moves into post production. Washing a scene in cold colours reinforces the conventions of my genre by creating distant, chilling mood fitting of settings of dystopias.

Amaran H528C

My choice of editing suite for the music video was Final Cut Pro. It is simple to use yet capable of applying a range of filters, transitions and effects to colour, all things I utilised in my video. It is also software I frequently use at home, so I was proficient with it and knew how to use it to create a professional product.

Many effects used were presets from the software itself, or Pixel Film Studios. Mixing these options allows for a good amount of variety in effects. Adding footage and images was also very simple, which is useful when you have a long list of fragments to sort through.

Changing the hue, saturation and colour tint of the video allows it to fit the lower key tones of the genre better, appealing to fans in the process.

Final Cut Pro

An example of adjusting colour in a shot

Transition effects, from presets

Mail

While I decided to edit my video at home, it was more convenient to edit my research interviews as well as my evaluation tasks at school. There I sued Movie Studio Platinum. Although somewhat more complex compared to Final Cut, I believe it has more functionality when it comes to what is possible with the software. In hindsight, using it to edit the less complex types of videos means this choice of software was not completely suitable, but regardless they both did their job and I am happy with using them. In addition, Movie Studio Platinum felt easier when adding titles and text, something more useful and frequently in the research and evaluation stages than the production.

It is also software I have experience with from last year’s film opening task, so very little practice was needed.

Movie Studio Platinum

Photoshop was the image editing tool I used for the production of my ancillary tasks. It is complex to use, with things like moving around images becoming a multi-step process. However, it makes up for it by being a very powerful photo manipulation tool. Using colour fills I could black out my surroundings, while hue and saturation could once again be adjusted. The resulting dark colour palette with sharp lighting contrasts reinforces genre conventions. The creation of a font and the choice of bright blue for it also does the same, evoking the sci-fi conventions that are incorporated into electronic music. It is the fulfilment of these that gives my work a professional aura.

Photoshop

For research, the internet was extremely useful for gathering secondary research due to the vast amount of information you can find. Websites found can be bookmarked for future reference, and screenshots can be taken using the snipping tool to store evidence for use on my blog. These tools are used at all stages of my production because of their versatility, as well as the fact that it is required to access specific sites such as Blogger, Prezi and YouTube. Because print screen does not crop or save images, the snipping tool is a superior alternative for my platform.

To transfer drafts and other information between the school and home computer, I used Microsoft Outlook and Mail respectively. These programs are compatible with each other and allow myself to send attachments, and so I found them useful.

Blogger was where I post all my finished work during all phases. It is easy to embed work from different formats, and you can change upload dates to order work in a specific order, which makes it useful when compiling work.

YouTube was the site I used to upload videos before embedding them into my blog. In addition to production, it is useful for research as I can look for previous examples of music videos that I can incorporate elements from into my own.

Mail Outlook

To present my work in both research and evaluation, I used a range of software. PowerPoint and Prezi fulfil similar functions, allowing for structured presentations. Prezi allows for more dynamic and complex showcases, while PowerPoint is simpler in both output and ease of use. Embedding videos is easier in Prezi, making it useful in research tasks where I am required to provide video evidence of cited examples. PowerPoint however is better suited for image heavy presentations where complexity is not required. The fact that Prezi is an online service can also be a downside as there are occasional connection issues alongside the lag that appears when internet connection is not at peak. Prezi however does let you embed it to the blog without the need to upload it elsewhere. Overall, I prefer PowerPoint as a presentation tool due to its lack of complexity.

Younger audiences who make up the target audience of my genre are also more likely to enjoy vibrant presentations over still documents, hence the focus on that.

PowerPoint

Another piece of software I used to present research and evaluation work is Word. This is best suited to text heavy formats that do not need to be ‘presented’ to a group. Evaluation tasks presented in this format can therefore be in an essay style of writing rather than a presentation. Word allows you to change font size, colour, as well as add images. While this isn’t as simplified as PowerPoint, it is still functional and allows for some versatility.

Word is also compatible with the printer, moreso that PowerPoint which is in a different aspect ratio and compresses work to fit onto a page. I used a pair of printers, one for A4 prints of research work as well as the magazine advert, and another one for A3 copies of ancillary work such as the album cover.

Word

Phaser 6130

To embed the work on these various formats onto my blog, I used a website called SlideShare. It is compatible with PowerPoint and Word, which makes it versatile at its job. It is easy to use, and uploads are quick, meaning that it is also convenient to use on a tight time frame. A criticism of the service is that you cannot update a piece of work after it has been uploaded, rather you must re-upload the work separate from the original upload. Compared to Prezi, which you can update anytime and it will quickly transfer the changes to embedded presentations, it can be slow to make uploads. However, it is still a vital tool for letting me embed presentations and word documents, and one I would use in the future.

In conclusion, throughout my research, planning, production and evaluation, I have utilised a wide variety of software and hardware. Using this technology correctly and effectively can enhance a work, letting it fulfil genre conventions and attracting an audience. Most importantly however, is that it helps to improve the professionalism of my work, increasing it’s standing and appeal to a general audience and helping it stand out in comparison to other works of the same genre. Overall I would use much of this software again if given the chance to do future projects.