Q4. How did you use new media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation?

The internet is filled with information. I realised that you have to be more effective in the way you approach researching online, getting the right information is a skill in its self. I used search engines effectively. When researching conventions of Hip-hop and Rap videos I used key words to precisely get the information I needed. This helped me get useful opinions and thoughts from people all over the globe.. YouTube also had major role on researching good quality videos. The user friendly interface made it really easy to gain access to videos old and new giving me the ability to compare and contrast the development of my specific genre; furthermore I also used it as a platform to gain feedback from daily viewers.

Face book has been a great resource in helping me in three aspects on my project. Face book allowed me to talk to be people all over the nation and get their response directly. For example I posed up some of our art work for our dig pack and I could instantly see how many “likes” and positive and negative comments I got. This enabled me to take on judgements and improve my work. The use of email helped construct the project. I used it to email various places for a boxing location. It was very effective and instant.

In regards of constructing my music video new media technology really helped. The use of tripods during shots gave us professional stable shots; this allowed our music video to be easily compared to other commercial videos. The cannon xm gave us the ability to adjust the lighting. This gave us control of our shooting and the feel we wanted to give each shot.

There where options of warm filters for our scene, we mostly used the filter that brought out the colours of London city and a grainy filter for the intercut of the story line for clear distinction. Furthermore the usage of a portable IPod and speakers helped us play the song on set in London. This made it easier for lips syncing. The auto focus on the cameras helped keep our shots in focus without the concern of health and safety as we were filming in public. Due to the fact we where out side most of the time shooting, setting up the tripod became very easy and quickly, I had to be very efficient and decisive about my shots and at for assessment before hand.

Editing has a vital role of determining how good your final product turns out to be. I also learned that editing takes time. Therefore I made time and learnt all the shortcuts enabling me to focus on constructing the video. I learnt the importance of transitions. For example there is a difference between a cut and a crossover, I used a cut to create pace and rhythm, and on the other hand the crossover I used to introduce new scenes and new dress codes in a smooth way unlike the cut which can be abrupt. Editing creates clarity and narrates the story, therefore I looked at many other similar music videos (such as) and picked up on what worked and

what didn’t and used that as a base for my editing style. There were problems while editing. The narrative did not make sense, certain shots didn’t not link with the concept; therefore I kept on re editing and reshooting until I was happy.

Doing the advertisements and the DVD pack was another learning process. The tutoring in lesson really helped me understand the tools on Photoshop. I realised knowing the programme gave me the ability to be more creative rather than worrying about how to do stuff. Doing practise editing helped me gain confidence and the ability to disp lay confidence. Looking at other professional adverts and DVD packs gave me an insight on layouts and how a campaign is created, for example what fonts are used and why, what colour schemes are used and what photos are used of the artist. An advert is a representation of the product, people buy into that representation therefore I was very conscience of how I constructed the representation of the artist and the music video through the adverts and the digi pack.

I tried to create my evaluation as exciting as possible. Using voiceovers really helped me voice me expression and my thoughts exactly the way I want it. Voice pox’s helped me get my audience feed back and construct them in such a presentational way which is much more pleasant to listen too. Power point helped me make main points while being able to visualise it with animation and pictures. Over all technology played a key role in my project, from research straight to the evaluation, technology made it easier to do things and more exciting!