Evaluation question 4

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

In order for me to create my final product I had to use a range of media technologies throughout the research and planning to the construction of my music video. The use of media technologies allowed me to analyse media texts as well as develop skills on software such as Final Cut and expand my knowledge on applications such as Photoshop.

The first piece of media technology I used was Blogger. I used Blogger as a site to upload and share all  of the work I completed during the planning stage. This included analysing and uploading music videos, writing about target audience and media broadcast platforms. Furthermore I was able to upload my music video, digipak and digipak advert onto Blogger. Overall using Blogger as a media technology allowed me to easily process and condense large amounts of information.

The next piece of media technology I used was Google. Google is the most used search engine which processes 3.5 billion searches per day with 40,000 search queries every second.  I used Google for research into the music industry, history of music videos and researching theories which apply to music videos. From here I was able to apply and challenge different aspects of theories, for example we applied star representation to our music video (Andrew Goodwin's theory) as it creates more audience interaction.

I used websites as media technology to create my final outcome. Pinterest was one website I used, this allowed me to gather a selection of images from Google to gain some ideas about a narrative based music video and what to include. The other website I used was "1001fonts.com", this was used to construct my digipak and digipak advert. It enabled me to view a range of different fonts with different styles and colours and place it on to photoshop ready to crop, and use the "magic wand tool" to create my digipak design.

In terms of creating the music video we used a tripod for most of the scenes we filmed for example our establishing shot which was the opening scene. Using the tripod meant we were able to get still shots and clear footage as the camera was not moving/shaking. To edit and construct the music video we used Mac computers. This was the best option as Mac's have modern up to date software and programmes such as Final Cut pro in comparison to programmes such as windows movie maker on other computers; which overall Final Cut has many more editing features. More media technology I used includes a digital camera. Using this camera meant that the footage was clear and in focus with high resolution, this would result in the editing being easier. I also used camera work as part of research and planning. This was due to us visiting Roundhouse and using different types of camera's and creating short productions with narratives. This enabled me to enhance my camera skills before making the music video. Whilst producing my music video I used a mobile phone as media technology, this allowed me to play the song whilst recording so that each shot could be accurately timed to fit in with each scene.

To make the digipak and digipak advert I used Photoshop. This programme allowed me to use a range of editing tools to edit the photos we took for the digipak and change the backgrounds of photos by using different layers in Photoshop. I also used Youtube during the research and planning stage to research categories of music videos and provide examples by sharing current music videos.

The last piece of media technology I used was Powerpoint and Prezi. Firstly I used Powerpoint as a way to complete a digital storyboard, the positives of this were that it was quicker and more efficient to design our storyboard and use online pictures to support our plan. On the other hand I used Prezi to create more visually appealing presentations during research and planning for the history of music videos, research into the music industry and music video conventions.

Overall, during the construction, research and planning using a wide range of media technology allowed me to effectively create the music video, digipak and digipak advert. It also allowed me to improve and enhance my technology skills whilst taking into consideration creative decision making.