HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE

CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND

EVALUATION STAGES?Alice Culham

WHAT IS MEDIA TECHNOLOGY? - New media is highly interactive, users of it are active producers of content and information, this form of media uses digital computer technology for distribution and it can easily be processed, stored, retrieved and hyperlinked. With new digital platforms to use, the ability to interact and communicate an idea to a targeted audience has become increasingly easier.

The use of new media has presented benefits towards my coursework as there is constant progression in the tools and programmes available which enhance my ability to work creatively. There is various different digital platforms which I have used to host and present my work such as WordPress, YouTube and Facebook. These programmes have helped me across the different stages of this project through research and planning to construction and then evaluating the products.

WORDPRESS WordPress has been the interactive blogging software which I have used throughout this project in order to showcase each stage of the coursework. Using this site made it easy for all of my work to be in one place which enabled me to constantly refer to certain aspects such as my research where I had discussed the typical conventions of indie pop which I needed to refer back to throughout the process. I was able to organise my work into different categories; Research, planning, final products and evaluation which again made sourcing posts and navigating through the site easy. WordPress features many different tools and when I set up the blog I activated various plugins which meant that I could embed information from other sites such as YouTube, Prezi and Padlet so that my documents within these programmes could be displayed within my blog and I could continue working creatively.

There is a degree of inclusiveness within the blog as my teacher was able to comment on each of my posts meaning that I could gain invaluable feedback which would enable me to identify the areas in my analysis which need improving, making sure that I am working to the best of my ability. The screenshot above demonstrates an example comment which I then responded to by following each of the comments and replied to my teacher if there was any issues or update with the comment that she had written.

Overall, I have really enjoyed using this software and I cannot imagine using another site as I have found this to be easy and simple to navigate as well as appearing professional due to the colour schemes and themes available so that you can tailor your blog to how ever you want it to look.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING Utilising new technologies was beneficial for me right from the beginning of this project within the initial research and planning stages. Having access to the internet from both home and school meant that I could use web browsers and specific sites in a safe and efficient way to conduct research and wider reading around music video theorists so that I could apply this extra information within my posts.

I used YouTube frequently in order to watch and analyse music videos from the Indie Pop genre and determine common codes and conventions within this sub category of music. I was already aware of current indie pop artists/bands such as Bastille, The 1975 and Paloma Faith so I chose to look at videos from these artists specifically. Doing this really helped me to identify themes between male and female indie artists which I have discussed in my representation post such as the types of music videos typically created (narrative/performance/concept) as well as mise-en-scene and locations used. Watching indie pop music videos gave us lots of ideas for our own video and we mainly took inspiration from Catfish and the Bottlemen's video for 'Fallout' which features a car journey where the driver is imagining that everyone around him is dancing, which is a similar concept to our own.

We found the track that we wanted to use 'Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know' through YouTube as we all liked the band and decided to watch some of their music videos. I embedded music videos from the site onto my blog or placed direct screenshots from the video alongside analytical responses to the video in order to evidence my ideas and points clearly. We also uploaded our own music video onto the site so that people could watch it and give us feedback.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING I created a YouTube playlist called ‘A2 Media’ which featured a variety of Indie pop music videos from both artists and bands, this was an example of research which I could constantly refer to throughout this course. The music videos included common codes and conventions of the genre, and because they were all in one place this made viewing relevant videos easy and quick to do. I then embedded this playlist onto my blog which meant that I could either watch the playlist through YouTube or WordPress.

As I have mentioned, YouTube was hugely beneficial towards my music video analysis’, through the embedding feature I was able to write an analysis of the codes and conventions used while having the music video in the same document. This could be completed through sites such as Prezi and Emaze which allow a combination of both text and moving visuals.

GOOGLE

Throughout completing this coursework I have used the search engine ‘Google’ in order to find out information, I mainly used this technology within the research stage however the internet has really helped me within each stage. I chose Google as my preferred search engine as I find that this gave me the most specific and relevant sites first, and I also am most confident when using this engine compared to alternatives such as Bing or Yahoo.

At the beginning of this project, my knowledge on indie pop was limited as it is not necessarily my own music taste. Therefore I used the internet to find current artists and band’s from the genre, making sure that I was grasping codes and conventions of these stars which I could then apply to my own work. For example looking at the way they have been presented through their promotional images (costume, facial expressions, attitude and location) as well as fidning images of relevant digipaks and magazine adverts which I could use to analyse and help me with the research stage.

Once we had chosen our song ‘What You Know’, we were able to analyse the lyrics through searching on Google (lyrical analysis above) and this helped us when thinking about ideas for our own video. Furthermore, due to the rise in technological convergence I could also access Google through my smartphone, meaning that if I could conduct research wherever I was, which helped my progression throughout the project as I was also able to work while not actually in the classroom.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING From completing my AS coursework last year, I got to grisps with presenting work creatively and I learnt how to use interactive sites such as Prezi and Padlet. These sites allow you to incorporate text and visuals (including video clips) to present ideas and develop analysis points so that the reader can understand what you are discussing. I feel comfortable using these software's as I know that they are reliable and you can begin your work on a blank canvas meaning that it is easy to make the design your own and use your own images in order to make the posts’ appearance suit the topic that I am discussing. I found that Padlet was perfect for when I required lots of images and then only small amounts of text as annotations, for example the screenshot on the right displays my ‘Digipak & Magazine advert inspirational images and ideas’. This is a prime example of when I would be likely to use Padlet as I required lots of images in order to discuss the title of the post and then a small paragraph explaining why these images are inspirational to me. Whereas Prezi allows you to write more, as it is similar to a slide show format where you are able to differentiate the text and work in paragraph formats. I have used these sites primarily throughout research and planning.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Emaze and Flipgorilla also allow me to use a slideshow format where I can answer questions clearly by differentiating my answer throughout the different stages, for instance in certain cases when analysing music videos I have discussed mise-en-scene on one slide, the style of music video on another and so on. This has not only made the analysis easy to follow but also allows me to break up large chunks of writing which would not be visually interesting. I found Emaze fairly unreliable throughout the process compared to AS when I used it many times, I am not sure why but the site seems to work on some computers rather than others. Therefore I have been slightly nervous to use it, however I have still managed to utilise its tools in several of my posts.

My confidence levels of using different platforms through the internet have grown from studying media studies, for instance I have found that I have experimented with using new sites. For example, I came across ‘Poster my wall’ as a site and I chose to use this for my ‘Equipment, props and costumes’ post within my planning section. I would not use this website for posts which needed an in depth analysis as it is essentially a poster format (see image to the right) but it allowed me to present my work in a different style which would makes the post more visually interesting.

Emaze

Prezi

SURVEY MONKEY Survey monkey Is an online survey development website which allows users to create and

publish online surveys in minutes, and then view the results visually through a graph once responses have been made. With no cost and a quick registration process, this site enabled me to efficiently find out my target audience’s opinions throughout the research and evaluation stages of this coursework. For example before we began constructing our product we sent around a survey to sixth form students (due to our target audience being males and females aged 16-24) and this was based around the indie pop genre and what our audience likes to see within a music video. As an example the screenshot to the right hand side demonstrates a question that was included in the survey ‘What setting would you expect an indie pop music video to be filmed in?’ with three different options. The feature of a graph made it easy to quickly analyse the results and I could instantly identify that the majority of our target audience thought that it was conventional for an indie pop video to have an outside setting. This then influenced our decision when creating our storyboard as we could not only refer to this piece of information but also the other elements of indie pop which 53 people had commented on.

Post production, I also used this site when I was collecting feedback on the final music video, through the site I was able to ask specific questions with the choice of either a written response or multiple choice and I could then share the survey through social media sites or email in order to get as much feedback as I possibly could.

Collecting feedback has been vital throughout this coursework and therefore Survey Monkey as a service has been very useful to me.

PLANNING/ORGANISATION TOOLS

Throughout the process of planning our music video myself, Becky and Dom decided to create a group chat through I-message as we each have IPhones and found that this would be a quick and free method to communicate with each other. We could each send a message to the conversation and we mainly used it to arrange where and what time we were meeting to do filming, as well as arranging times to edit the video if we had free periods together. The screenshot on the right was taken from the chat in December when we were beginning the filming for the video. As you can see the topic of conversation was the bridge scene which required a selection of cars positioned in a circle and an empty car park once it was dark. Becky was checking with Dom that he could make the shoot and my parents had agreed to drive their cars up so that we had enough flashing lights to make the scene look effective. Overall across the planning and construction stage of this coursework, messaging has been vital to our success. Due to the task being team based it is essential that everyone is aware of the plans, we also needed to work around each others schedules, especially as the filming took place in the Christmas holidays when many people have plans. Having a group chat allowed us to do this effectively and communicate with each other outside of school time.

EQUIPMENT USED

Throughout the construction of my products I have used various different equipment in order to achieve high quality and a professional look, for example I used the Canon DSLR camera for both the filming of parts of the music video, as well as taking images for my digipak. This is an example of proliferation of hardware because I was able to use one piece of media technology for multiple purposes, while remaining a high level of standard on both products. I did not have much experience of using a physical camera as usually I take pictures on my smartphone, however I found it easy to use and I soon learnt the basic skills that I needed. I was also able to play back footage and instantly view the images that I had taken. This reduced the chance of me having to re do shoots as I could immediately view the images and see if the technical elements and mise-en-scene was appropriate for the indie pop genre.

The camera’s size and portability was beneficial for me, especially as I was taking images outside and did not want to be carrying around a lot of equipment. I charged it once before using and the battery lasted for the duration of my shoot for the digipak which meant that I could take all of the images that I needed within one shoot. The ability to zoom and because we were using a tri pod this meant that we could achieve different camera shots and angles while still taking a clear image or piece of footage which was not out of focus or shaky.

(CONTINUED) When filming, we used the Canon camera mainly for the footage which was filmed outside of the car, for example when the main character is walking out of his house and getting into the vehicle, the bridge scene and at the end when the driver has parked up at his workplace. The camera allowed us to achieve various camera shots and angles which differed from the GoPro as this camera was placed on top of the cars dashboard and did not move throughout the process of filming. We needed to make sure that the video flowed and suddenly moving the camera would not work well with the music video plot and could confuse audiences as the focus is primarily on the main driver’s journey to work.

The Go pro camera worked really well for filming in the car when we needed to see lip syncing from the characters from the front view of the car. The piece of equipment is small and could easily be placed on the car’s dashboard meaning that we did not have to hold it for the whole journey which would not look effective or be very safe. Despite its size the actual size of shot is very wide and the camera allowed all four passengers to be in shot. The quality of footage that the camera produced was remarkable and the footage was steady throughout as Gopro’s are renown for filming movement. Using two cameras worked to engage audiences as it created a clear variation in camera angles and shots which made the video less repetitive throughout.

CONSTRUCTION – IN DESIGN Adobe InDesign is a publishing software which was created in 1999. For the construction stage I used this programme in order to assemble my digipak ancillary text, I also used a digipak six panel template within this programme. This made it easy for me to place my images in the correct place and make sure that they were the right size, it also ensured that I was adhering to typical conventions of using six square panels for the digipak. It was my first time using the format and at the beginning I was slightly unsure of how to use it, however I soon learnt the basics and for things which I could not find I watched YouTube tutorials which helped me a lot. The template included guidelines such as 'insert tray here' which made the process of inserting my images easy. I also managed to use my chosen font 'Georgina' which I sourced from DaFont which meant that my promotional campaign could be consistent in terms of typography, which I found from my research is very important. The programme offered opportunity for design and presentation skills to be used, as well as a variety of effects which meant that I could make the product appear professional and visually interesting to consumers. For example using colour settings meant that I could adjust the levels of colour e.g. make them brighter/darker in order to suit the background colours of the panes.

Without this example of technology, it would have been difficult to make the digipak appear professional and it also would have been time consuming to work without a template as the sizing and layout would need constant checking.

CONSTRUCTION – PHOTOSHOP CS5

When constructing my magazine advert, I decided to use Photoshop as I felt that this programme is likely to have a much wider variety of tools compared to Microsoft Word. I was able to scan my hand drawn image of the lion onto the computer and then import this image onto Photoshop. I did not alter the image itself very much at all as the colours used in the drawing were how I had imagined and I found that the detailing and clarity of each feature such as the lion’s eyes and mane were perfect. I therefore mainly used this programme for adding special effects to the text which made it appear more professional. The band’s name and album title has had a level of shadowing put behind it which helped to ‘lift’ the words off the page and stand out to consumers. The screenshot on the bottom left shows the product without this effect and then beside it is when the text has the shadowing added. Photoshop also uses layers where each object or piece of text has its own layer. This tool made it easy for when I was focusing on a certain aspect of the advert such as when altering the colour of ‘This Is The Life’ to make it a bright red, rather than changing every piece of text I could only select this one layer and change it to how I liked. From my research I knew that a magazine advert is typically an a4 size, so before I began adding to the image I made sure that the page had the correct dimensions in order for the advert to be conventional.

CONSTRUCTION – PREMIER PRO To edit our video, we used Adobe Premier Pro which is a timeline based video editing software, it is an industry standard programme, meaning that from the beginning of editing we were able to make our music video professional. Additionally, myself, Becky and Dom had used the software when constructing our AS film opening sequences ,therefore we each had background knowledge in how to use the software and had the confidence to be more experimental with the software features. Ultimately, this made the construction process a lot quicker compared to AS coursework as we already had the background knowledge which really helped us when it came to editing. The screenshot below shows the format of Premier Pro, we were able to take all of the footage that we filmed and then import It directly Into the timeline, allowing us to arrange the footage in the correct order. For example starting with the main character walking out of his house and then ending with him closing the boot as he has arrived at his workplace. We then added in our chosen song over the top of the footage in the audio bar. This enabled us to see where the footage needed to be cut as we knew that we wanted the majority of our editing style to be cut to the beat which we found from our research was a common convention. It also made sure that the lip syncing was accurate, which of course is very significant within music videos.

CONSTRUCTION – PREMIER PRO Throughout gathering research we received many comments regarding the editing style as people liked the cut to the beat edits. For example, at the beginning there are even obvious cuts where the screen is completely blank as we felt that this style looked effective within the video. We also used specific editing tools such as speeding up footage and then using a reverse tool which made the footage go backwards. We found that using these extra effects made the video much more engaging and interesting to watch and it fitted with the indie pop genre which is typically quite alternative and would not conform to the usual straight cut style. It also added to the conceptual theme of the video as it heightened the fantasy element and portrayed the idea that the footage occurring is not real and instead the main character is imagining it. This is because in real life while the driver is walking down the stairs he would not go forwards and back like the editing created the effect of.

Despite utilising these tools, I feel that as a group we could have experimented more with colour correction effects as I noticed that the characters sat in the back of the car cannot always be seen as clearly compared to the front passengers (screenshot on the right demonstrates this). It is possible that this could have been improved by increasing the brightness or altering the level of contrast within the footage. Furthermore, we also received several comments stating that the narrative could have been made clearer by creating a visible difference between reality and fantasy. On reflection I think that this could have been completed by using a different filter between the scenes where the driver is on his own, compared to when he has company, which Is likely to make the storyline more evident and audiences may have a better understanding of the video. We had a slight restriction in the terms that we could only access Premier Pro at school, however overall it has been a really helpful piece of software and we could not have created our music video to a high standard without using it.

EVALUATION STAGE

When writing my evaluation I wanted to make sure that my work remained creative, however for each question I knew that I had a lot to discuss, therefore I needed to find a balance with the platforms that I was using. I needed to be able to include detail and have the ability to write lots, while also including visuals such as images and short video clips to evidence my ideas.

For question 1 and 3 I used Prezi, as I have mentioned the site uses a slide system where the slides are positioned on a path and you can move through the path to display information. I thought that Prezi was a suitable choice because both questions required a combination of screenshots and then text to discuss these images. For example question 1 ‘“In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?” required me to analyse my own products, taking evidence from both the video and ancillary texts and then comparing this to current indie pop products. I therefore needed to use lots of examples in the form of images or video clips in order to explain what I was discussing. Due to this, Prezi was a perfect tool for me and I have used it a lot across the two years that I have studied A level Media, so I feel I am experienced in the site and know how to use it effectively. I was also able to use different themes for each piece of work so that the layout and style differed, making my blog more interesting.

The screenshots for question 3 ‘What have you learnt from your audience feedback?’ primarily came from Facebook and Survey Monkey as these were the websites that I used to source feedback from my target market. I used the survey to gain comments on my music video, I included the link from YouTube and asked respondents a series of questions about what they liked and disliked. I was able to tailor the responses I received so that they were more reliable by giving the survey to eight people who I knew liked the indie pop genre and were aged 16-24. I was then able to analyse the data that I received by looking at the graph results and taking screenshots of the results to put into my response to the question. Secondly, I used Facebook as a tool for gathering feedback on my magazine advert and digipak. It was easy to create a page titled ‘Alice’s Media A2 work’, add as many people that I could from my friend’s list that I knew were in the correct age group and then write a short description asking people to comment any feedback that they may have. This proved successful as I received a variety of comments which were both positive and constructive and I could then comment on each individual piece of feedback, identifying any key areas which would need improving.

EVALUATION STAGE

I think that creating a page on Facebook to gather feedback was beneficial to my evaluation because from my target audience research I had found that individuals within my market are likely to be social media users. Therefore it would be effective to engage with them through this platform as they are more likely to get involved.

For sections of question 1, 2 and 4, I used Microsoft programmes – word and PowerPoint and then embedded them onto my blog through Flip Gorilla and Slide share which converts PDF files into files which can be embedded onto an online blog. I am very comfortable working with this software and I find the layout and tools included easy to use. For example within question 1 I made the Microsoft Word page have a landscape orientation, this meant that I could easily include images of my digipak which already is landscape and then annotate around this.

Although this software is not based online, I have the newest version of the software at home so I am able to use an up to date design and use different fonts and themes in order to make the document creative. Images can also be added to make the documents more visually aesthetic and it is also possible to edit these images for example making the background transparent or altering the colours/level of contrast to improve the overall look of the image. In Microsoft PowerPoint I like how each slide could be based on a different topic making it easy to understand, for example within this question I have tried to do a slide per piece of software or equipment that I have used.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, while new technologies can often take a few attempts to come to terms with such as different programmes like InDesign and Photoshop which prior to the construction element of this coursework I had never used before, their benefits are outweighed by this. Programmes and software's can often be unpredictable and at times complicated, for instance there were a few times when Premier Pro seemed to crash for no reason, however due to this we learnt to save our work very regularly to prevent losing any big changes that we had made. Technology is now widely accessed for no cost, throughout my research and planning stages when I used a variety of presentation web sites such as Prezi, Padlet, Slide share etc. I was not required to pay a fee and the registration process was quick and easy. I was able to use the embedding tool to share the work that I had created onto my blog, meaning that I could constantly communicate my ideas through different web platforms. With the assistance of Web 2.0 I am now a consumer of media products as well as a producer. Furthermore, without the progression in technology, completing my AS and A2 coursework could not have been so visual and demonstrating my thoughts and ideas would have been a lot more difficult.