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EVALUATION TASK 4How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Holly Partridge

In my AS year in pre-production I used blogger to do my coursework on, which is essentially an Internet blogging website. To upload presentations onto my blog I used slideshare, which is a very basic uploading tool that uploads documents, such as PowerPoints. To research into thriller opening sequences I used YouTube, which is a digital distribution website. I also used embed codes to then share these videos onto my blog. In my A2 year I used significantly more presentation tools, such as Prezi, Scribd and Emaze. Furthermore I researched not only using YouTube, but also Soundcloud, where I again embedded songs onto my blog to share these. In my A2 year I also filmed an animatic of my storyboard on a Sony Nx5 and then cut these shots to the beat of my song using Adobe Premiere Pro.

I researched into music videos, similar artists and similar genres. Using YouTube I was able to search for one video and then have suggested videos on the side, which enabled me to look into music videos of my artists genre pop rock. Furthermore Soundcloud enabled me to further look into the similar artists star image, as well as find artists similar to mine. In my A2 year I used more online presentation tools such as Emaze, Scribd and Prezi. These helped my blog to look more sophisticated and also presented things in a more creative way. These simple presentations tools transformed my blog from a basic blog to a creative, appealing blog, which is shown from my progression from A2 to AS. Furthermore my blog has a title I created online, which I have embed into the HTML settings, as well as a custom font also done by embedding into the HTML settings. The development of my skills in digital technology is also shown through my animatic, as in my AS I created a storyboard to help visualize the video, however in my A2 year I filmed this storyboard and cut it to my artists song. This helped me to further visualize the shots and timings of them, which ended up in adding more shots as I felt they went on for too long. My advance in my skills in digital technology therefore aided the creative process in the pre-production stage of our coursework.

In my AS year in the production stage the shoot day was very basic, as I did not use much digital technology. I used a Sony Nx5 to film the shots and also used our iPhones to capture photos of the shoot day to post on my blog, which were then uploaded straight onto my blog. In my A2 year as my skills developed I was able to use a Sony FS 100, as well as using different lens for different shots. Furthermore I used a digital lighting board in A2 whereas I used fixed lighting in AS. In my A2 year I used a projector, as I wanted to project shots of newspaper clippings onto my artist, which was connected to an Apple MacBook, which used iPhoto to view and upload the images. Also in my A2 year instead of taking photographs and uploading them straight to my blog I used Flickr to upload them as well as filming behind the scenes footage on my iPhone. I also made a time-lapse of the shoot day using a Sony Nx5, which shows a video of the whole shoot day but sped up.

The development of my skills in digital technology was prevalent through my change in camera from the Sony Nx5 in AS to the Sony FS 100 in A2. I also used lens changings, which contributed to my creative decision making as I was able to get all of the shots I wanted to, for example we have a big wide shot with the artist in jail which would not have been possible to shoot without the lenses changes and thus without my developed skills. Furthermore I was able to use coloured lighting in my A2 year as I my skills enabled me to use a digital lighting board. This aided my creative decision making significantly, as I have a whole scene with red lighting, as well as a backlit performance scene, which I wanted to film through research of other music videos. Both of these scenes would not have been possible without my skills developing from AS to A2. I also used a projector and a MacBook to project pictures onto the girls in the jail, which is vital to the narrative of the video as it informs the audience of why the girls are in jail.

In my AS year I used Final Cut Pro in post-production as well an Apple Mac to edit on whereas in my A2 year I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my music video. In both years I used digital footage, which was transferred to the Apple Mac via a memory card. In my A2 year I used significantly more software than in AS, as my skills in digital technology developed, such as Adobe Photoshop, Wix Website Builder and Survey Money. I also used social networking sites more significantly in A2 as in AS I only used YouTube, whereas in A2 I used Twitter and Instagram, as well as YouTube. In A2 in post-production the development of my editing skills was shown as I created a rough cut, lip synced my video to the beat and created special effects.

Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro are not significantly different it just took me a bit of time to get used to the new software. I used the same computer, an Apple Mac, to edit my video in both years. However I did find it difficult to use the new software at first but as my skills developed it became easier. While editing in AS I simply cut the shots together using the blade tool, added some music behind it and added graphics (opening sequence titles). However in A2 my skills in digital technology significantly developed as I lip-synced the video to the song, which was difficult at first, as I had to get the clapperboard in line with the song timings. We used the clapperboard app on an iPad on the day to help this process in post-production. When cutting the shots I had to make sure it was in time to the beat, which lead me to be finding the exact millisecond when the beat was and cutting it there.

I also made a rough cut in A2, which I didnt in AS, as I needed to see how the shots fitted together, which aided my creative process as I was able to then decide where I wanted each shot. I also used special effects in A2, as I need to duplicate one of the members of my band, as it was to portray that she had schizophrenia and therefore aid the narrative. In my A2 year I used a great deal more software than in my AS year, as in my AS year I used Final Cut Pro and then YouTube to upload my opening sequence. In my A2 year I used Adobe Photoshop to create my artists digipak and Wix Website Builder to create my artists website. Neither of these promotional tools would have been created if my skills in digital technology had not developed, as I would not have been able to use the software. Therefore this helped significantly in the creative process of my promotional campaign. In my A2 year I also used social networking sites, such as instagram and twitter for my promotional campaign and to get my video seen. In AS I only used YouTube and the effect is evident as I have significantly more views on my pop video in A2 than my opening sequence on AS.