MEDIA

E VA LUAT I O N Q U E S T I O N 4 H O W D I D Y O U U S E M E D I A T E C H N O L O G I E S I N T H E

C O N S T R U C T I O N , R E S E A R C H A N D P L A N N I N G A N D E V A L U A T I O N S T A G E S

RESEARCH & PLANNINGT H I S S TA G E I N V O LV E S C O L L E C T I N G I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T P R E V I O U S M E D I A T E X T S A N D P L A N N I N G M Y O W N C O U R S E W O R K

Research• General Internet and Search Engines.

This was for researching different music video directors as well as find a quote to use for my magazine advert, among other things.

• YouTube. This was for deconstructing and analysing pre-existing music videos, which helped me understand conventions and make my creative piece as close as a real media text as possible.

• Wikipedia. This helped me gather information about the artist and some history to music videos. It should be noted that this website can be unreliable due to its open-source nature.

Planning• Camera. I used a variety of cameras for

photographing mise-en-scene and evaluating which camera I should use in construction. This helped me massively when creating.

• Editing software. Photoshop was used to create the moodboard and arrange images for my blog. I also used Adobe After Effects to edit footage like the preliminary task. This was crucial for planning.

• Teacher Resources. I was given information about the different theories surrounding music videos.

• Scanning Devices. This was used for storyboards that I drew by hand and drafts of my advert and digipak.

• Slideshare. This is where I uploaded my PowerPoints so they can be easily accessible on my blog.

• Wordpress. The platform for my coursework blog.

EVALUATIONOverall, the use of technology in the research and planning stage was effective and I used them all to the best of my ability. I knew to take Wikipedia information with a pinch of salt, so I used other websites to gain reliable information, like the BBC website to get the quote for the magazine advert.

I feel that, during the planning, I used advanced software like Adobe After Effects and learnt a lot from using this software at an early stage. This was very beneficial for me. However, I would consider using cameras and experimenting more with footage, which would have better prepared me for later technology.

Doing research with YouTube greatly benefitted me for deciphering conventions in music videos, which was made a lot simpler by the ease of access YouTube has: I was able to find any video ever made and control it using pause and fast forward as well as screenshotting specific areas to put on my blog.

From AS, I have learnt a lot more in the technical side, like using Adobe After Effects and understanding conventions. This year’s coursework had a strong emphasis on the planning and construction and the technical side has greatly improved my creativity.

CONSTRUCTIONT H I S S TA G E I N V O LV E S M A K I N G T H E C O U R S E W O R K A N D E D I T I N G I T I N T O A M U S I C V I D E O W I T H T W O A N C I L L A RY P R O D U C T S

Construction• Final Cut Pro. This software was used to edit the

final video and I used a variety of techniques like trimming, colour correction and video inside text to name a few. This helped me creatively and enabled me to create an effective music video.

• Photoshop. This software was used again to edit the magazine advert and digipak. After I completed the collage, I imported them into Photoshop to add text and assemble the images, in order to finish the ancillary products.

• Video recorders. I used a Samsung camera in order to film the footage. It was lightweight and simple to use – something I wanted from this technology.

• Free Sound Effects. I downloaded free-to-use sound effects found on YouTube in order to get the super imposed wave sounds for the beginning of the video.

• Audacity. I used this to trim and edit the song and the sound effects so they were ready to be put with the footage, which massively helped me to create the final product and enabled a larger variety of effects.

EVALUATIONThe construction of my coursework used the most varied technologies, which had to be used at the best of my ability. Using Final Cut Pro often proved difficult for me, but the issues were minor and more of a general nuisance if anything. It was definitely the best editing software to use and I picked it up easily. I was also really happy with the use of collaging, scanning and Photoshop to make my ancillary products and I believe this was really effective. It helped me branch out more and experiment with different, unique styles.

On reflection to AS, I have learnt a lot more about Final Cut Pro and cinematography, something I had only a minor part in during my AS coursework. I am really happy with the amount of technical skills I have learnt from AS.

Admittedly, I could have used much more advanced technology in terms of the camera. I could have used a shoulder rig or a tripod in order to stabilise the footage or even a higher quality camera. This in turn would prove to be my downfall and heavily influenced the quality of the footage. However, due to constraints with time and equipment, this was unrealistic to achieve so I stuck with basic technology.

EVALUATIONT H I S S TA G E I N V O LV E S E VA LUAT I N G M Y P R O D U C T O V E R A L L A N D I T S E F F E C T I V E N E S S A S A R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T

Evaluation• FreeOnlineSurveys.com. I used this website

to publish an online survey to gather feedback on my chosen song and music videos in general as well as gathering feedback on my final video.

• Piktochart.com and Glogster.com. I used these sites to illustrate my evaluation questions in a dynamic way.

• Adobe After Effects. This was used to edit evaluation question 1 and create a video to answer it.

• YouTube. I uploaded the final piece to YouTube to gain feedback and make it easy to access for myself and my peers.

• Social Networking. This was used to gather interest in my videos and gather feedback on them.

EVALUATIONIn order to evaluate my products, I wanted to use dynamic technologies in order to answer the questions to the best of my ability. I decided to edit a video so it was more interesting and I could demonstrate footage and pictures as well as narration. I think this was very effective and I’m happy with how this turned out.

Using Piktochart and Glogster were also extremely helpful and provided an active way of presenting information. These were easy to use and even gave me experience on creating posters and infographics, something I had not previously done.