Evaluation question one redux
- 1. HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES? With the rising influence of the internet and computer technology it has never been easier to create a piece of digital work or conduct research into a variety of different areas in a variety of different topics. Throughout the course i’ve had to use the internet or software from both school and my home computer to create a piece of credible work, to do this i’ve had to use a variety of different programmes and had to use technology which became an essential way of finishing my product and presenting them.
- 2. PHOTOSHOP Almost all of my work was needed to be completed by computer, the computer was essential for the stages of research and planning, design and most importantly the editing process of my music videos. The majority of my coursework was done using computer programmes and software to create designs and our finished music video edit. In the stage of making our digipak and magazine advert designs we used the computer software Adobe Photoshop CS6 where it is easier to create photo stylistic image designs and the perfect engine to design and create the best possible album digipak and advert with me already being familiar with the programme from AS media work I was confident when working with new and inventive designs that I used YouTube to research tutorials and different methods to better my work so I was more confident with the programme from the beginning of this coursework. I created draft work before final finished designs to know what best fits to the genre I was attempting to capture and recreate, because of these tutorials and my increased understanding I was mainly able to carry most of my designs from my draft to my final design with a few improvements from my feedback I received.
- 3. ADOBE PREMIERE PRO The programme with most pushed my ability to create work was this computer software, Adobe Premier Pro, which was the engine we used in the post production stage and create the finished edit of our music video. This was a completely new engine for me to use and had never used it until this previous term when creating both our preliminary work and finished music videos, it was made possible with it being available on school computers and also on Ben’s PC which we also used to do editing outside of school hours. Premier Pro is a video editing software package that allows video clips to be place together to create a feasible piece of work, this is the best possible programme to use at our disposable with the inclusion of multiple forms of exporting our music videos to put in on a viewing platform (YouTube) that we could then embed on our blog work. This site in the editing stage allowed us to also edit and alter the texture and overall colour style of the video with most of our shots being with a soft black and white colour texture which we believed worked in relation to the dark tones of the song with its lyrics.
- 4. THE INTERNET The internet was an essential aspect of the whole subject, either for the sections of research and planning, production or presenting. For research and planning I mainly used google to collect images and screenshots, to view music videos and see what is popular in regards to shots and structure, to collect art for my poster advert and digipak design and create it in a creative, professional way. Uktribes.com was used in my research as a way of learning and researching different types of audience, this was essential as it made the genre I was listening to easier to study and work for knowing who listens to it and who the main audience is.
- 5. CHROME/ GOOGLE DRIVE A vital part of my research and planning as this was the main internet engine I used to gather images, to study various advert and music album design, and other music video structure of the same genre (more detail look at the internet section). Chrome was essential however, more than the internet research resource but also the web storage facility that is the Google Chromes, Google Drive. This was essential to the creation of the production stage as it allowed us to store and share with the people in our group the videos and images taken during this stage of the coursework so the post production and editing stages could be easier with everyone having access to the area where these videos and proof of production are.
- 6. BLOGGER The website Blogger was used to keep all my research and planning, findings and finished work was kept and presented. Blogger is a website that allows people to store work in a location to present in a professional and ordered way, this allowed me to show teachers and other students my progress throughout the course in chronological order, going from research and planning to production and pre- production. I have previously used Blogger before in my studies for my media AS coursework so returning to the site wasn’t difficult to work with it again was easy and was able to learn more a lot earlier than last year to make my coursework feel a lot more structured at the earliest stage. Also, YouTube was used as a way of showcasing our groups finished product and music video, meaning we could embed this video onto our Blogger blogs.
- 7. CAMERA For the main tool of the production stage we used a Nikon d3400 provided personally by team member Isabel Denney-Foster who also shot and recorded many of the shots in the music video with the camera. This high quality camera made it more achievable to create the most realistically and sound recordings that made our music video be more believable as a professional creation. Having used a camera multiple times last year during the AS coursework I was confident to use one again however this year required me to record and film in a professional way which was more challenging but allowed me to use more equipment e.g. Tripod to aid me in the creation of the music video. Also finding the best angles and frames to use to fit the genre and make the video more realistic was easier and more achievable whilst having the freedom of being able to film both long and shorter takes. Again also, my own Samsung S7 Edge mobile phone was used to begin with when filming with an impressive camera with some shots even being used in our final video (the ones predominantly with Ben solo in the white room).
- 8. LIGHTING In the white room mainly the soft light boxes were used to create a more toned style for the video, in particular these shots and when edited to a soft black and white texture worked with the tone of the song and helped to replicate other music videos from the genre. One of the main benefits of using this lighting as a technique in a video is the fact that shadows are eliminated fairly easily and doesn’t make the white room or location we were in look “tacky” or unprofessional, whilst also giving a place where the one filming can use as a place of cover so they’re reflection also isn’t noticed or even present.