Evaluation Question Two

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

In my research and planning stages, different media technologies meant that I could access a wide range of information at the click of a button in a matter of seconds. The speed of the technologies I used really helped me in my research and planning stages as it meant that I could get my tasks done a lot quicker and have a variety of information to hand. Using different media technologies also helped me to present my data in different ways and to make it clear. I created my own blog on the website ‘BlogSpot’. This meant that all my research, planning , construction and evaluation tasks could be kept and presented in the same area which made viewing it much more easier then having to have many different documents. In my research stages I regularly used the well known broadcasting site ‘YouTube’ to look at existing music videos and to gather an idea on what videos were popular at the time I was creating my production. I chose a few videos and shared them on my blog and wrote a detailed evaluation of them, including what I personally thought was good and bad about them; this helped inspire me to be creative in my final piece and give me some ideas I could adapt and improve. I looked at both official music videos such as ‘Just The Way You Are, by Bruno Mars’ as well as other A-Level media studies student’s previous music videos from other schools. This enabled me to set myself a standard and it helped me to recognise the key conventions of a music video. After I finalised my project I uploaded it onto YouTube so I could receive external feedback which would help me in my evaluation. Also in my researching stages I designed a questionnaire to help me with my audience research. I used Microsoft Word to create this questionnaire and was able to print multiple copies. After the questionnaires were completed by members of my target audience, I took the data and put the results into Microsoft Excel. I then used the results to create graphs which made the results a lot clearer to look at and easier to understand. I also used the search engine ‘Google’ to find out more information on my artist (Katy Perry) so that I had some insight into her music as I had chosen to cover one of her songs that wasn’t as well known as her others. In the construction of my music video I used a digital camera and made good use of all the functions available. This included a zoom button, a video light (to make the footage brighter) and a camera function (to take still images that would later help me with my ancillary task).  I did have the option of using a tripod to make the footage more stable but I wanted parts of it to have a homemade feel about it and make the audience think that the boyfriend had recorded parts of it. In the construction of my music video I used the editing software ‘I-Movie’. This media technology made the editing of my video simple and I was able to add effects to improve the quality of the final cut. I used functions such as the stability button to steady some of the more shaky shots. I used the slow motion function to place emphasis on certain parts for example the female character ripping up the valentine’s card and her spinning around. I also used the reverse button in some parts to show that in the characters thoughts she is wishing she could go back and rewind and maybe change things between her and her then boyfriend. For my ancillary task I used ‘Photoshop’ to improve my images I had taken during filming, this included changing the brightness levels. I also used ‘InDesign’ to create my digi-pak. I used a template that I found on ‘Google’ and used a suitable font from a website called urban fonts.  Overall I think I used the media technologies available to the best of my ability and they helped enhance my production work.