Evaluation media question 4

Evaluation media question 4

• 2.
  TECHNOLOGIES I USED Whilstproducing our music video, I used a range of technologies throughout my research, planning , construction and Evaluation. The use of these technologies made it so much easier to document my work on computers and on line and also enabled me to find new ways of documenting and uploading my work using multimedia technologies.
• 3.
  RESEARCH For the researchsection of this project I used some internet services. The internet provided the best way to get research as it gave me many sources which allowed me to gain the information I needed in a short amount of time What I used : For the research part of our project I used Google to research similar artists to our genre and Music videos produced by similar artists. I also used different websites of record companies to look at which artists they had signed and their particular genre. Why I used it : The technology of the 21st century allowed me to gain easier access to online websites and information faster. Before technology like this, I would have had to find another way of researching videos and then have to write up my results which would have been time consuming. Google gave me information from anywhere in the world, for example over 90,000,000 search results related to Pop/Indie and within 16 seconds Google had shown me the list of the websites where I could find artists in the UK or the USA so I could look at the way they had been portrayed What could have worked better?: Google was a very reliable sources and I believe that it was the best website to use because of its free and easy access and the fast and reliable results which contrasts to pre 21st century technology where everything would have to be handwritten and harder to document.
• 4.
  RESEARCH CONTINUED… What Iused : I used a social networking site called Facebook to further my research and look at the various pages of artists. I also turned to YouTube for more research into music because I was going to be making a music video and I needed some ideas of shots and angles which would be good to shoot from, also what would look more professional. What I did: Facebook allowed me to search their names and took us to their personal twitter page and official websites where we were able to have a look around the website and get ideas for our own websites. We had a look at artists such as Selene Gomez, Taylor Swift and Rita Ora, all whom we based the ideas of our artists image on.
• 5.
  RESEARCH CONTINUED… Once wehad found our artists image, we needed to research other artists of the same genre and same format so we could compare, so I used YouTube to search up artists for example, I searched up Rita Ora, Taylor Swift and other artists that fit the genre of music we were going for into YouTube and looked at the range of videos I could use for my research videos. What I used: I used Blogger to get down my ideas and to share my research. What I did: Once finding a video I used Blogger to upload my findings and share it with others. I was able to do this by using the ‘Embed code’ on every video on YouTube. YouTube allowed me to use the embed codes for the videos so that I was able to take any MP4 or MP3 file from YouTube and upload it anywhere.
• 6.
  PLANNING For planning Iused a mixture of internet and presentation technologies to show the planning of our product. For example I used Final Cut Pro, Prezi, Word, Powerpoint and as well as using all of these I also used YouTube to post videos.
• 7.
  PREZI Prezi provides theservices of creating a project/presentation and allows you to present it in a specific way that you want. It allows you to use different themes and ways of getting your ideas across. It also allows you to change transitions between presentations and allows you to embed videos from YouTube which was very useful when it came to analyzing music videos and talking about them as Prezi allows you to use pictures as well. What’s really good is also the fact that after you create the presentation, you can use the embed code provided to add it to sites such as blogger which allowed me to embed the presentations onto my work which made my presentations easier. It mixes the interactivity of a presentation with writing, which I think suits my style a lot more. Free to use and a straightforward learning process I how to use it.
• 8.
  SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook andInstagram were used to take some images of our artist so that we could use some for the website. Facebook is a social network website where posting photos and videos is public or private to your friends. Instagram allows you to post videos and short videos to your followers or the public depending on what your profile settings are. The artists pictures were taken from her Instagram page for the website and initially for the Digipak but we changed this later on. Positives: Facebook/Instagram allow interactivity with other friends who could comment on the videos I upload and give me feedback. The feedback was more accurate according to our target audience because they were around a similar age group as our target audience. Negatives: Facebook didn’t reach the whole public because my account is a private account. Only people who know me could comment, which meant that only a certain selection of people could give feedback to me.
• 9.
  OTHER PROGRAMMES An additionalcomputer programme used whilst creating my planning blog was Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop allowed Ellis and I to create the design for the digipak. It allows the creation of posters and Layouts by using different shapes and drawings. For example we created our Digipak using the tool where we could create the template for our digipak, after this we could fill the box with any colour for the background and then I took images that we obtained with the cameras and copied them onto the programme to create the image of the female on the front of the digipak. We also used photoshop to experiment with the different effects we could used on the digipak. We used Youtube to upload our animatic and video production, which meant that we were able to embed them onto our blogs. This made it easy for us to share the videos between our group, which were uploaded on our Youtube accounts. We were able to transfer the music track for our video onto the computer we would be using to edit using the bluetooth function from one of our MP3 iPhones.
• 10.
  CONSTRUCTION We used bloggingto organise all of our work and upload files. The follow feature allowed us to share information such as initial ideas for the video and possible photographs for the magazine advert and digipak between our group easily, which saved us having to email them to each other or using a USB stick/CD to transfer them between computers. Another advantage of blogging is that it meant that we could work on our coursework from any computer, at home or at school. This was much easier than having multiple word documents or powerpoint presentations.
• 11.
  PHOTOSHOP Using Photoshop, wewere able to construct the digipak. We used a copy of one of the pictures we took of our artist, then we used the lasso tool in Photoshop to cut around the head getting rid of any areas unwanted. We then used the shadow feature to give it that orange glow. We also used the shadow feature on the website pictures to give the artist a specific look. Similarly, we used the same technique to cut out the pictures for the inside panels of the Digipak. We used the eraser tool to remove some spots on the forehea to give the Digipak more of a professional look. We were able to implement a red colour scheme with the help of Photoshop. We also airbrushed the images to give them a more crisp and professional look.
• 12.
  CAMERA The camera thatwe used was known as a Canons DSLR HD camera. Top of the range quality which allowed us to get better, high definition quality shots which came out very well. The camera came with a normal lens and a telephoto lens which came in handy when filming close ups. Also came in handy when following the NFL athletes while they were playing. The use of the high definition camera really helped our project because, as a new media technology, the quality of film was amazing for a compact camera whereas thirty or so odd years ago, getting such a high quality image in such a small package was far from discovered. It created a very cinematic style to the production and was far better than the Flip Ultra cameras in HD.
• 13.
  SMART PHONES Having accessto this technology allowed easier filming and quicker uploading time, it also created a blogging device picture wise as while I went around London with my friend, I took some still photographs of the surroundings to see possible locations of where to film. Disadvantages: Images didn’t come out well as they had to be adapted using PC programs and the quality on the phone was different to the quality on the macs. Using a phone also proved difficult at times because we had to constantly make sure it had battery and not to waste any memory etc. Advantages: The phone allowed us to take quick shots we wanted and gave us good quality images. Also if we needed to write down a quick memo, we could for example, Notes on a iPhone.
• 14.
  MY LIVE SIGNATURE Anotherwebsite I used to do the writing on the digipak was MyLiveSignature.com. This was a website that created a signature for me. We wanted to have signatures on the digipak so that the artist could add their own personal touch to the digpak, we also thought it worked well with the style seeing as we had a biography page. This website asked me what I wanted to say in the signature and then gave me options of fonts , sizes and colours as well as the slope of the writing. I downloaded the signature and then added it to the bottom of the playlist page of our digipak.
• 15.
  FINAL CUT PRO Forediting purposes, we used the editing software, Final cut Pro which was on all the Macs provided at school, in order to complete our storyboard animatics, and rough copies of the music video, as well as to show edits as I have done and then I uploaded it to my YouTube channel. It proved useful and easy to use for what we wanted and was familiar as we had used it for the project we completed the previous year. The presentation allowed for the professional look we were going for just with the amount of time and effort we put into it.
• 16.
  WIX – WEBSITEMAKER The website maker Wix was the perfect choice in order for our group to achieve the professional and independent style/look that we aimed for but coincidentally proved to be simple and easy to use so it didn't’t cause us many problems. The use of Wix is very similar to the use of Prezi in the way you can edit specifics. The process of being able to view edits made to each page link on our website was simple and caused no long term problems. On top of this, the fact that it was a free flashmaker meant that no expense was spared in making a professional looking website.
• 17.
  EVALUATION For the evaluationof the Media product I used Apple Mac computers and a Presentation websites such as Blogger and Slideshare . The Apple Mac computers Provided us with a built in camera and microphone and we used this to film/record our audience feedback and ourselves for the planning section of our video. We would be able able to sit big groups of people in a room and film them whilst we asked them questions. This was helpful as we didn’t need to find anyone to hold a camera and we could record straight onto YouTube where we could upload it and then share it to various other websites. This was one of our most helpful media technologies. The Macs also contained all of our work so as soon as we entered we could start and get straight down to work. Slideshare is a programme which allows you to upload documents from other programmes such as word and powerpoint and allows you to embed your work onto websites such as blogger, for example, this presentation right now is on slideshare.
• 18.
  SUMMARY By using allthe different technologies to create and present my work, I have been able to document, upload and share all of my work as well as keep it online so I can create copies and access it easily. The technologies I have used have also taught me about how different multimedia technologies can be used to create a piece of work which I can then share with the public or my friends for feedback. Using the ‘Google’ proved unreliable when I searched specific things as it gave me multiple search results with only 60% of the results relating to my search request, however, it was helpful when I needed to search up artists/bands and music as it gave me results from different time periods and I was able to compare different products. Many of my presentations and images were uploaded and created using computer technology. The use of new media technologies has allowed all the stages of my project to be quick and has made it as easy as possible for me to produce and share my work.