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

EVALUATION

Question 1

ResearchInitial Ideas

I used Microsoft Word to list my first ideas when we were originally introduced to the task of eventually making a music video. This was effectively a brainstorm of song ideas, music video ideas, potential locations and a target audience. I found this helpful because it outlaid my initial ideas quickly and in an organised manner. I accompanied these ideas with photos to remind me of things like locations for future reference. The main positive of using word for instances like this is that it is a good software to use to write things like notes.

Music Video IdeasFor my next part of research I used PowerPoint to display my music video ideas. I used it to arrange my ideas under the headings: General Ideas, Album Inspiration, Potential Album Covers, my Digipak ideas and Colour Schemes. This helped my in making a decision in what I wanted my video and digipak to look like before I started my audience research.

Potential Music VideosA big part of selecting which music videos I was going to choose between to use for my final piece was by using YouTube to view a range of different videos so that I could decided which ones I liked. After choosing my ‘shortlist’ I could then embed the music videos directly onto my blog via YouTube which was a good way of making my work interactive and more compatible.

For my research stage I used fairly simple media technologies as I felt there was particularly any need to use advanced technologies that I didn’t know how to fully use them to their potential as this stage was just about brainstorming and getting ideas together.

For my audience research I interviewed three people that go to college to gather their opinions on music. Each interview lasted about a minute and 30 seconds and was useful to me because all the interviews contained a vast amount of information. Primary information like this is invaluable as research as it gives you honest opinions which I can then take into account and use as proof for ideas when it comes to the actual music video. The interviews helped me produce qualitative data, which would come in handy when analysis all the questions due to the honest and detailed answers I acquired. As I also conducted interviews in my AS coursework (albeit only audio interviews) I still saw the potential in using videos because it would help emphasise factors like our target audience as well as multiple other things.

I then uploaded the interviews onto YouTube as this was the easiest way of getting them onto my blog. Uploading videos via YouTube added to my blog on a more visual level as I feel it can help get points across more easily instead of just using text to portray opinions.

Audience researchAfter I’d watched back all the interviews I went through all the interviews and made a PowerPoint reviewing all the answers, including in depth analysis as well as photos to emphasise potential ideas and opinions. I used PowerPoint to do this because it allows you to arrange information as you want (by using text boxes) and can accompany this with photos and diagrams which enables me to add as much detail as I’d like to my analysis.

To film our interviews we used a studio in order to get the best environment to perform them. We used a Canon DSLR camera in accompany with a

tripod as this was the best equipment we could’ve used in this situation.

Research

Music Videos – Textual AnalysisTo analyse the music videos I once again used PowerPoint. This was so that I could include a vast amount of information whilst also making it easy to follow for the reader. I feel this was essential because it was important that the reader knew what parts of the music video I was referring to so they could relate. As a result I did this by screen shotting specific parts of videos so that I could make an important point in relation. PowerPoint was the best software to use as it enabled me to set out a consistent setting throughout, something I feel the other alternative (Word) wouldn’t have been able to do for me. Adding screenshots made my analysis not as dull because it was done in an essay style way due to the type of task it was. These screenshots helped aid the recognition of typical conventions in music video, of the pop genre in my case, like the mise-en-scene ad types of camera shots used.

Research

PlanningSong Permission

A vital part of using a song you would like to use for your music video is having the correct permission to use the actual song itself. My group chose to use the song ‘Thinking ‘Bout You’ by Ariana Grande. As a group we were required to send an email to Universal, who are the company that Ariana Grande. After we’d emailed them asking for their permission to use the song we soon received a reply from them. Emailing was a huge part of actually gaining the rights to use the song we intended to use as without doing this, we wouldn’t have been able to use any copyrighted songs.

Digipak and AdvertDigipak

To plan our digipak we chose to draw it ourselves as we believed we wouldn’t be able to recreate accurately what we wanted it to look like on any software perfectly. After we’d drawn it out we scanned it in using a printer, and then sent a copy as a jpeg so that we could directly upload the original image to our blogs which enabled to use the drawn version. From this I used PowerPoint to annotate my drawings which would add even more detail. PowerPoint was useful for this stage because I was able to use text boxes and arrows to accurately label features that I felt were important. This is shown to the right of this text.

Planning

AdvertThe first draft of our magazine mock ups were drawn but we replicated them in Microsoft Word afterwards. We decided that because we didn’t have an idea that we were certain with, it was easier to design a few ideas that we could develop. Although this was fairly time consuming, especially with things like drawing out all the shapes on Word, it allowed us to make a decision that our whole group were happy with. Because we had an abundance of different design ideas, we took the best elements and merged them into one, which would hopefully help us create the best magazine advert that we could. Our two main designs on the right help us create a basis that we could then create a professional advert.

ConstructionEditingTo edit our music video we used the editing software Adobe Premiere Pro. I had a basic understanding of Adobe products after using Photoshop for my AS year coursework. After having success with Adobe Photoshop I acknowledged that Premiere would be the best software to edit the music video on. Even though this software was fairly complex, it allowed me to make an extremely professional looking video. I knew how to do fairly straight forward things like importing and cutting but I realised I needed to grasp a wider understanding of Premiere in order to achieve the best results. It took a while to get used to the software and working out what certain aspects did, but in the general scheme of things it was worth it because it developed my skills on the software as a result.

Using YouTubeAs Adobe Premiere Pro is an advanced software with endless editing options, we used YouTube to find ways to insert specific edits and effects. We watched tutorials that would show us how to do certain things that we were unsure on. The videos provided step-by-step details on how top do something which was really helpful because it helped us follow it easily. This aided us as it made our music video more professional due to the effects we were now able to access that we couldn’t previously. Using YouTube helped us edit our video in a much shorter time than it would’ve done without using step-by-step guides.

PhotographyPhotography

For our photography planning and production for our digipak and magazine advert we used a Canon DSLR camera. I had already used this camera in the production of last years coursework, when making a music magazine so I was aware of the basic settings I would need with the camera. To help matters both this years and last years photographs were took in the photography studio so I knew which settings were required for this environment. At first, some of the photos we took were overexposed due to the brightness of the room. However, after changing the exposure, the quality of the images improved and allowed us to take a range of different shots that could be potentially used for the final digipak or advert. We got a range of different types of shots (medium, long shots and close ups) of our artist, to emphasise that we knew how to use different shots effectively even if they didn’t all make it onto our final product. The photos we didn’t use came in handy on our contact sheets regardless which displayed our camera skills. The settings we used throughout were very similar. This was because we wanted a common theme running in both our digipak, advert and final music video. Using the memory card inside the camera, we then uploaded ALL our photos firstly onto the computer and secondly onto a contact sheet, which would then feature on our blog to show how we used the camera and its technologies to create a solid piece of work.

Construction

Filming and EditingFilming the music video

We knew from the start of our project that the part we had to get spot-on, was the filming aspect. This is because it is the final piece of our work and displays our knowledge we have gained over the coursework. Soon we realised it would be the most time consuming part of the project and would need to go on a number of separate shoots in order to achieve the outcome that we were aiming towards. Using a Canon 600d DSLR was extremely useful because of it’s instantaneous ability to stop and start filming, meaning we could get more filming done overall. Another pro of using this camera was that we could use it in any of the many environments, from a well-lit unnatural photography studio to a dusky cows field, the camera was able to capture everything to a high standard. Because we used one camera throughout the filming, it meant that during the edit everything linked together well and hence created seamless transitions from one shot to the next, which gave our video a realistic tint to it. This is what we were striving towards and we achieved it.

ConstructionEditing and UploadingTo upload our music video one of us used YouTube to make it public so that everyone could view it. By making it public on YouTube it allowed anyone to view the video, even if they wouldn’t normally listen to/watch this type of music video. This was important to us because it allowed us to collate opinions from the public, which is helpful because it’s an honest and unbiased view so it is extremely useful feedback. A benefit of uploading the video to YouTube is that people from all around the world can comment directly on the post, giving us instant information and feedback on our production. We also posted the video on Facebook which would reach our friends instantly so they again could comment and give their opinions on our video. All of this information was key because it allowed us to base our evaluation and conclusion off it.

Evaluation of my use of technologiesDigital technologies have helped me massively throughout my creation of a music video. Whether it has been using software or using a camera to film and take photographs. My blog is the perfect place to look to see my progress as everything is ordered chronologically, and shows clear development as I use a range of software throughout my coursework. All my research was done before I actually made the product so this all featured at the beginning of my blog allowing me to evaluate everything more easily.

I have gained a wider knowledge of technologies over the past 2 years which I feel has enabled me to make a good overall product including the ancillary texts and the music video. I felt comfortable using any software. This is proved by the fact I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my video, as it was an advanced piece of software but I felt suitably able to use it with success. A more basic option was to use Windows Movie Maker which still would’ve allowed me to edit but to nowhere near the standard that Premiere did.

Overall, I feel that the way in which I have used the technologies in my coursework has improved over time. I also feel that the technology I used were the right ones as they allowed me to complete my work to the best of my ability.