How did you use media technologies in the construction

and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the research stage I used media technologies such as:◦ VLE◦ Google◦ YouTube◦ Prezi ◦ Pearltrees◦ Slideshare◦ SoundCloud◦ SurveyMonkeyWhich I will be explaining in the following slides

Research

I used the school’s Virtual Learning Environment to present my research and findings into a blog. I also used it to conduct a survey over 60 respondents from the age demographic of 11-18 year old girls studying in secondary or higher education on their opinions on music videos (both iconic and by genre).

I used this as it is accessible within the filtering system and both in a home in school environment to maximise productivity and where I could work on it. The blog also allowed posting of various content types and allowed embedding of content like YouTube videos and slideshare documents.

Research -VLE

I used Google as the search engine to access sites relating to Lionel Hampton or his music. Google was very useful to me as it allowed me access to many different documents and the suggested posts also allowed me to perform research on different areas of Lionel Hampton or even the conventions of digipaks or artist’s websites.

Research- Google

YouTube is a video streaming service that I could only access at home due to the filtering system at school. However when accessed, the site allowed me to stream videos to use for research on constructions of a music video and the types of effects I could include in my own music video.

Research- YouTube

I used the cloud site prezi to present research on topics such as conventions of a music video and iconic music videos. I found it useful for its dynamic representation of data in a graphical format, which made the experience of watching the presentation more immersive and being able to edit from any workstation with an internet connection meant that it was an effective tool in producing research as needed. Having used it sparsely in AS I found it much more useful this year and used it more.

Research - Prezi

I used the cloud site Pearltrees for gathering research from multiple websites, saving links and text as necessary in a hub of information. This was especially useful for research on Lionel Hampton and on 40’s culture, although I would have liked to know access to the site is restricted if you don’t have an account which lead to having to repost the information on the VLE in multiple posts. If I could have gone back and had the option of not using this software I probably would have still used it but been aware additional time would need to be used to put the information into the blog afterwards.

Research - Pearltrees

Slideshare was a really useful cloud website for uploading PowerPoints to, for presentation on the blog on the VLE. I liked using it as it allowed re-ordering of slides and you can easily navigate through it to fully understand all of the information on the slides.

Research - Slideshare

I used SoundCloud in the very early stages for selecting a song to use, while working out the pros and cons of each. I found it useful for quickly listening to each song and later embedded it into the website I produced because of it’s popularity and wide audience.

Research – SoundCloud

I used SurveyMonkey whilst conducting audience research over a wide demographic of people. I found it was useful for representing data graphically and in an understandable format. I was able to reach a wide range of people (through advertising it on social media) and I could analyse the results thoroughly and effectively.

Research – SurveyMonkey

During the planning stage I used media technologies such as:◦ VLE◦ Camera◦ Facebook◦ Wix.com◦ .pdf filesWhich I will be explaining in the following slides

Planning -

I used the school’s Virtual Learning Environment to present my planning into the blog I had created at the start of the course.

Planning - VLE

I used the camera (a Panasonic HDC SD-40) with a tripod to take pictures of the locations I was considering using for the music video. I used the camera I would be using filming to check the resolution and general lighting levels in the area (e.g. was a tree casting shade on a particular area). I think this worked well as I was able to plan out solutions (e.g. filming at a different angle) before I started filming.

Planning – Camera (Panasonic HDC SD-40)

I used the social networking site Facebook to organise my friends who would be participating in the video. This was very useful as I was able to set up a group and check who had seen what information and I was also sure that everyone had access to the information. It also meant real-time updates on what dates people could and couldn’t do and I could post the lyrics to one place where people could see and learn them from.

Planning - Facebook

I used wix.com to create a frame for the website and to check what content I needed to record or take while filming to be able to create a corporate identity and link the site to the music video. This meant the content and pictures I took at the locations had much more direction that it would have had otherwise.

Planning – wix.com

I accessed pdf files which contained guidance on my coursework and others that contained information about templates for the digipak , downloaded from the discfactory, (www.discfactory.co.uk) which I could later import into various image editing software.

Planning – pdf files

During the construction stage I used media technologies such as:◦ Camera and Tripod◦ Microphone◦ Adobe Premier Elements 8.0◦ Smartphone◦ Paint◦ Adobe Photoshop cs6◦ Wix.com◦ Paint Tool SAI◦ FacebookWhich I will be explaining in the following slides

Construction -

The Panasonic HDC SD-40 was the camera I used to record all of the footage for the music video. The camera also had photographic capabilities, allowing for the photography of clothes and photos for use in the website and digipak.

The tripod was usually steady but I found if I held it while filming, even if not panning or tilting the stability was increased and to further decrease shaking in the footage I usually hung the camera bag on the clip underneath to weight it down.

Construction – Camera(Panasonic HDC SD-40) and Tripod

I booked a microphone to record any extra diegetic sound during filming the locations e.g. the waves on the beach or the sounds inside the tunnel where Sam’s filming was. I found it’s sensitivity was very weak and even speaking directly into it produced very little in terms of audio information that could be manipulated in editing therefore I stopped using it, after using Audacity to try and manipulate the audio tracks as possible but all there was was silence.

Construction - Microphone

This is the (video) editing program I used to construct the music video. I found that it was a bit difficult to use at first, until I was proficient enough with the software to know where all the features could be accessed.

A better program for editing in my personal opinion is Sony Music Studio which I have used on personal projects, but this wasn’t installed on the school computers.

Construction – Adobe Premier Elements 8.0

I used my personal smartphone to play the song from so my actors could dance and lip-sync to it. I found this was useful as I always have it on my person and it has quite impressive speaker capabilities. It also meant that I was able to change locations or positions as needed without being restricted by things such as cabling for speakers.

Construction – Smartphone – Galaxy Samsung SIII

I used paint for collecting screenshots so I knew which areas of the song I really had to record extra material for and so that I knew which parts of the song I had sufficiently edited to.

I think this was better than just saving the files to a word document as I could also directly upload the image files to VLE to evidence my work.

Construction - Paint

I used Photoshop to edit some of the images I collected from the photoshoots for the digipak and website. I did this to enhance the images and to make the overall product seem more professional. Some of the effects such as changing the iris were done with a Bamboo wacom tablet as I found this method of changing the graphics to be the most accurate and fastest to use.

Adobe Photoshop cs6

I used Wix in the construction of the website as it is an online website builder. I found the template to be very useful and I could dynamically edit the content on my site with little access difficulties (occasionally the HTML 5 editor wouldn’t run on some internet browsers).

I think it was a very effective website builder and I don’t know of a more efficient tool. The availability of a mobile option meant I could also consider the changing consumption patterns in my audience and create a mobile specific site that meant that the brand looks professional no matter which device it is being viewed on.

Construction – Wix.com

I used Paint Tool SAI, in conjunction with a bamboo wacom tablet, for use in editing the digipak. The software works along the same image editing principles of adobe Photoshop (e.g. use of layers) and by using tools such as “Magic Wand” I could remove the white colour from the downloaded template to lay over the top of the images, producing a professional result. I resized and erased the images as necessary and I thought this was a suitable software to use for the purpose of the manufacture of the digipak.

Construction – Paint Tool SAI

Facebook was again used in the construction to message actors on the day of filming or slightly before to make sure of directions or specific instructions.

The chat feature made it easy to judge when people were online and to pin them down to make sure they were available for filming.

Construction - Facebook

During the evaluation stage I used media technologies such as:◦ VLE◦ Prezi.comWhich I will be explaining in the following slides

Evaluation -

I used the school’s Virtual Learning Environment to present my evaluation into the blog I had created at the start of the course.

I used this as it is accessible within the filtering system and both in a home in school environment to maximise productivity and where I could work on it. The blog also allowed posting of various content types and allowed embedding of content like YouTube videos and slideshare documents.

Evaluation - VLE

I used the cloud site prezi to present a question of my evaluation as I found it useful for its dynamic representation of data in a graphical format; which made the experience of watching the presentation more immersive.

The methods of data organisation and embedding on the site also meant that I could freely convey meaning in my evaluation, with text supported by images as necessary.

Evaluation – prezi.com