Harry Chappell

How did you use media technologies in the construction

and research, planning and evaluation stage?

During my A2 work I used a series of different hardware including:Camera Tripod & Steadycam Lighting kits

Hardware

We used a Cannon DSLR when filming the majority of our shots. Although I did not film all the shots I did use the camera quite a lot of set and took some of the shots especially the ones outside including the performance shots. I felt the camera was easy to use and since I had had previous experience of using the camera from previous projects I was able to use it with ease and my group was able to get professional looking footage. We made sure the camera was always charged on set and made sure the SD card was able to store the footage we took.

Camera

The lighting kits that we used when filming were easy to set up and use. We used the lighting kit for the majority of the inside shots as it helped make the shots look more sharp and helped keep a consistent lighting. Some of the inside locations like the bathroom and Ben’s room were quite dark to begin with so tactical placing of the lighting kit really helped us get the shots we wanted. I feel like I used the lighting kit very successfully throughout the project and would defiantly use it again in future work.

Lighting Kit

We only used the tripod a couple of times during the filming as we wanted the camera to be moving most of the time to help give the piece a nice flow and fast paced feel. When we did use the tripod it was easy to use and adjust in order to get the shots we wanted. One time that we used the tripod was when we filmed the time lapse shot and it was very helpful to make sure that the camera stayed in the same place the entire time. I felt that I used the tripod well during the work and would think of ways to incorporate more still shots in future.

Tripod

We wanted to make most of our shots non-stationary so we used a Steadicam in order to get moving shots whilst still keeping the camera from shaking to much. Although I had used a Steadicam before I had never had to use it to film such long takes as some shots were around two minutes of performance. I felt that the shots came out well and any small errors were able to be fixed during the editing stage of the project. I would defiantly use a Steadicam again in future work as it helped keep a continuous flow to the piece and quite it at a fast pace which we intended to do.

Steadycam

I used lots of different programs during all stage of the production including:Adobe premier proAdobe PhotoshopMicrosoft word

Software

Adobe Premier Pro was a very important program when making a music video as it allowed us to cut the shots and arrange them correctly. We were also able to add effects to our footage to add extra or hidden meaning. Although Ben did most of the editing for our group I still observed what he was doing and gave many ideas on what we could do and gave feedback on what worked well and what could be changed. Through this I learnt many new skills on the program and improved on the knowledge I had gain for previous projects were I had worked with the software.

Adobe Premier Pro

Before this project I hadn’t had much experience using Photoshop however I decided to still use the software when it came to creating the ancillaries for my project. I felt I did a good job using the program and managed to learn a whole range of new features that I was unaware of before. I would defiantly use this program in the future as it was very helpful and helped me to produce a good magazine advertisement and digipak.

Adobe Photoshop

I used Microsoft word throughout the research and planning stage of my work as it easily allowed me to store notes and ideas on what I wanted to do. It is a very simple program to use and so it allowed me to be much more efficient and creating notes and doing research into other texts. It was also easily accessible on all computers that I used as they all had the program downloaded, this allowed me to easily transfer work from different computers which made the work easier to control and complete.

Microsoft Word

I used Wix to help me create my main website for my A2 project. I have used the site before to good success but when using it this time I developed my skills and used a wider range of feature available on the website. I felt I did a good job at using Wix and since I have previous sue of the website I was easily able to complete the tasks quickly and did not have to waste time learning new website tools. The problem with Wix is that it can sometimes be quite slow to use and take a lot of time but I would still use it in the future due to my knowledge of the site and its available tools.

Wix

I used survey monkey to help me gain audience research on my project. I had used the site before and find that it is really easy to use and send your survey to the people you want to. I felt I used the site and its features successfully and was able to create a good survey which was really helpful when it came to the planning of my production. I would definitely use this site in the future as it really helped me and I feel my skills on the site are very good.

Survey Monkey

YouTube is a very helpful site especially during the research part of the project as it allowed me to watch other music videos and tutorials on what I could do to improve my own work. YouTube is a site I use quite a lot in my free time and I feel very comfortable using it. I was also able to use videos from YouTube and upload them on to my website easily which helped create variety on my website and make it interesting for people who are viewing it. I would use YouTube in future work to help me research new ideas and help me be very creative in my own work.

YouTube

I used the site Prezi which allows you to present your work in a creative way. I used this during the evaluation stage to help me evaluate my work. I had used the site before so I was aware of how to create the Prezi which saved me time. I felt that my work was also presented very clearly and the site is defiantly something I would use in the future to present my work and findings.

Prezi

The use of technology was very significant in the production process as it allowed me to add greater detail and depth to my work and allowed me to create a better finished product. Over the course of this project I have experimented and used a wide range of new and old programs and tech which has really allowed me to improve my work and develop my skills with these tools which I did not have before. It was very helpful in the research and planning stages as it allowed me to easily record my work and discover new ideas of how to develop my own skills and work. It was also majorly important in post production to improve the quality of the footage and add effects which gave more of an impact to the viewers and made my piece a success.

Conclusion