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

To make my ancillary products, I needed to use a variety of media technologies to help support and create them. This ranged from websites, to specified software. I will now go through what technologies I used to research, plan and evaluate my project, and if they were used to the best of their or my abilities;

Research and Planning; To begin my project, I needed to make a clear analyse of what I wanted, so that the video could then be made with clarity and effectively. The first thing that we needed to do was research 3 music videos, so that we could then get an idea of what to portray in our own. www.youtube.com was first piece of software that I used to do this. Youtube, was a useful resource, because I could watch the official video for

artists for free. It has a massive database of music and genres, so I found what I wanted to use rather easily. As well as this, if I wanted to analyse a particular section, I could do this simply by pausing, fast forwarding or reversing

Software used;

Hotmail

Youtube

Prezi

Tumblr

Facebook

Adobe Premier Elements

Adobe Photoshop cs5

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Powerpoint

Hardware used;

HQ DV Camera

Tripod

USB Cable

DV tape

Digital Camera

Strobe Light

the video, using the red tool bar at the bottom. The site also has embed codes, so that I could copy and paste the link into my written work. The next piece of software that I used was www.prezi.com. This was so that I could make a small research presentation about the music industry. I found this website effective, because it had the same elements as Microsoft Powerpoint, however it could be uploaded online. There was also buttons that enabled me, to put a section of writing where ever I wanted it, and then play it through like a small film.

To gain permission for my music video, I decided use www.hotmail.com to email the record label. This was so that it could be sent fast, and in private, instead of being displayed on a social networking site.

I then used Microsoft word to type up my presentation notes, as it is easy to use, looks professional, and it is much quicker than writing it out by hand. Microsoft Word also has range of tools, meaning that I can change, the colour, font, add boxes or underline words.

Production;

When it came to the production stage, I needed to use the hardware to actually film my video, then the software to make it come together. I used a DV video camera which allowed me to record the footage, in high definition and with a professional ease. It is a hand held camera, so it was compact, and light, so that I could carry it about and track shots. This also allowed me to get some unusual shots The camera also had a zoom button, playback, and other features that you would normally expect to see on a video camera. To accompany the camera I used a DV tape for the footage to save onto. I used a Tripod for parts of the production so that, I could get some still aligned shots, or clear panning shots. A Strobe Light was also used, so that I could create some interesting lighting effects to reflect on mood and atmosphere. Once all this came together, I then needed to get the footage from camera to computer, so I used a USB cable to do so. It was then very simple to do, just by plugging it into the correct ports, a pop up would then come up, allowing me

to play the footage, which then played and recorded onto the computer.

Of course I needed software, to help the video all come together, so I found that the best resource to use would be Adobe Premier Elements.This allowed me to edit the video, in a clear manner, using a timeline to portray the video so I could cut and manage whichever

part I wanted. This meant that I could make the video go to the beat. The edits and transitions were simple to use, it was just a matter of dragging them on the section of

the video you wanted doing. Using Adobe also allowed me to create a video on a more professional level because of its versatile amount of uses. Although our schools network had many glitches during the production, the software itself was very good, and it made me realise how fun it could be.

When it came to making the Digi-Pak and Advert, I used Adobe Photoshop cs5. This is one of the more recent packages to come from the software company, which meant it had the most up to date tools to create an efficient product. It allowed me to choose the correct layout, and then add different styles, colours, fonts, - basically whatever I wanted. One feature that I liked in particular was the opacity tool which allowed me to overlap two images, with them both showing through. The software helped me to create a professional advert and digi-pak, and because we had been taught to use it in AS media, I found I could relate to using it much faster, then if had been a different type of software.

Evaluation;For my evaluation, I needed to use software that could clearly document and portray what I wanted to say, so the two that I used were Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint. I felt that for some of the questions Powerpoint was more relevant as I could split it into sections and bullet points, but with Microsoft, I could use an essay format and put as much explanation into it as I wanted to. To get audience feedback for my evaluation, I used www.facebook.com as it has the means for the video to be viewed by my friends and comments to be added, about it. The final piece of software that I have used is www.tumblr.com for me to blog my work, as it allowed me to save drafts, make my own theme and order it how I wanted it to look. I also found it very easy to use.

Website Bibliography;

www.google.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.facebook.com

www.hotmail.com

www.youtube.com

www.tumblr.com