Issak Cook A2 Evaluation question

1. Q4: How did you use new
media technologies in the
Construction and Research,
Planning and Evaluation
Stages?
Issak Cook

2. Throughout the long journey of creating my music video for Buried Alive, we used a massive range of new media
technologies to assist us while researching for our music video. Here’s what we used:
• Google – The search engine enabled us to readily research the song and conventions of hip hop songs and
artists from the click of a button. Google opened up a whole range of services that we could use including:
G-Mail to communicate
in the group and send
information.
Google Chrome was used as the
search engine for every website.
Blogger was used to research
our artist and provided an
essential home for the
creation and documentation
of our music video.
YouTube was good for researching similar
artists and uploading a video which we
could share and embed online.

3. • iPhone – Every member of the group owns an iPhone which gave us the option to use collaborative features
such as iMessage to communicate on the project and discuss filming schedules etc.
Having an iPhone proved very useful throughout the process as the Apple AppStore provided a whole host of
different apps which we could use to assist us while making the music video. With some footage even being
filmed on an iPhone using the in-built camera and app, due to the easy use of it and the handy nature of it due
to it being readily available on our mobile phones.
Photo editing software:
• Aviary is an advanced photo editing website which allows for editing and
manipulation of pictures both online and via an iPhone app so it was very
easily accessible. Aviary was used during the research of the clothing for our
artist and our photo shoot research.
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 was used for more advanced and powerful
manipulation of the pictures used throughout; in our digipak, website and
tour poster to name just a few, there’s an app for it too which made it
accessible at all times. It was also used to research fonts as Photoshop
boasts an expansive range of interesting fonts. Photoshop was most used for
our digipak due to it providing a lot of interesting tools and effects.

4. imgflip.com was a great tool that we
used. Easily found online, imgflip could
be used to turn video footage into a gif
which is essentially a looped picture.
Photobucket was another useful website that we used. Photobucket
was used solitarily to upload photographs which were used throughout
the process. Photobucket pictures could be arranged and grouped into a
gallery which could then be embedded onto our blogs. This was found
to be really useful as it made our blogs look more aesthetically pleasing
and more interesting to look at. It also has an app for the iPhone which
we used to upload pictures while out and about.Microsoft PowerPoint was used to create
and showcase presentations to the group
at the early beginnings of the process. It
was used primarily due to the fact that it
boasts many great presentational features
such as transitions and animations to
keep people interested for the duration of
the presentation.
Microsoft Word was used several times to
write risk assessments, letters and filming
schedules using the very easy table feature.
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were all used to research the online
presence of the artists which we researched. Instagram was useful
when looking for hip hop clothing inspiration. Twitter and Facebook was
practical to examine how artists interact with fans regularly in various
forms.
Soundcloud and Spotify were used as an alternative to
YouTube to research songs which we could use to
make our music video for. Both Soundcloud and
Spotify both boast useful exploration features which
made finding songs really easy. Both Soundcloud and
Spotify have sharing features which was handy when
sending to members in our group and embedding.
Surveymonkey.com was used to conduct surveys when
conducting research when attempting to understand our target
audience. We could ask 10 questions for free which constricted
us in a way but at the same time it made us think more and
reinforced our questions with more thinking behind them.

5. We used Youtubetomp4.com to convert
YouTube videos into .mp4 files which
were used in the steal-o-matic and
interview and .mp3 files which were
used multiple times including within our
music video. The website was really
quick and easy to use.
The Snipping tool which comes pre-
installed on all windows computers was
used to screen grab important images
during research and evaluating our
music video.

6. We used Wix primarily for the creation of our artist’s website.
Wix is a software used for building websites. We found Wix
very easy and straightforward to use. Wix allowed us to make
browsing the website a flawless experience; through labelling
and widget implementation to a web store. From making an
account, to building and publishing our website for the world
to see, Wix was enjoyable to use.
Advantages of using Wix Disadvantages of using Wix
Free to use Better features you have to
pay for
Wide range of templates to
choose from
Not a lot of user interaction
can be implemented
Easy to use Adding content can be
difficult at times
Easy to access by the public
Able to create a shop similar
to real music artists’ websites

7. Emaze can be used to create an aesthetically pleasing presentation. It’s
useful to show a lot of information in a fun way. Although Emaze is
difficult and fiddly to use at first, it is a very useful tool once you’ve got
to grips with its features. Emaze’s can be embedded easily onto blogs
so we thought they’d be perfect to use on our evaluation question.
Emaze was one of the tools used in our evaluation of our music video
journey.

8. Prezi can also be used to create
an aesthetically pleasing
presentation. It’s another
online tool that can be used to
provide information in an
interactive format. We found
Prezi easier to use in
comparison to Emaze as it has
a much more user friendly
interface in addition to it
looking subjectively better than
an emaze too. Similarly to
emaze, prezi’s can be
embedded onto our blogs and
for this reason they were a top
option when writing our
evalutions.

9. Slideshare is by far the simplest and easiest presentational tool which we
used to present our evaluations. Slideshare basically transforms PowerPoint
presentations into online, embeddable presentational assets. Once logged
in, in literally a few clicks, you are ready to present any PowerPoint on your
profile no matter where you are as long as you have an internet connection
due to the programme boasting a very simple iPhone free app.

10. We conducted our filming on Sony HD Handycams.
Advantages of using Sony HD Handycam Disadvantages of using Sony HD Handycam
Allowed us to film the video Poor battery life
Compatibility with tripods Poor video quality in comparison to industry
standard
Can upload footage via USB Poor focusing qualities
Ability to take photographs Poor ability to film in dark environments
Extended zoom feature (although the picture
quality gradually gets worse the further you zoom)
VERY annoying pre-installed settings which are
difficult complicated to sort out, just generally an
inconvenience to use

11. Adobe Premiere Pro was the chosen software used to create the music
video. Premiere was very easy to use after previous experience with it
from last year. Over the year I have gained a lot of knowledge through
using the software.
Advantages of using Adobe Premiere Pro Disadvantages of using Adobe Premiere Pro
Easy to use Very complicated and fiddly to animate on
Many features enabling video and audio
manipulation
Massive file size meaning a limit on what you can
do with the file
Ability to layer multiple video and audio files Very particular about file location if moved
Ability to export to compatible file formats to allow
for uploading to YouTube
Can be very lengthy at times to get just one thing
done
Satisfying when you successfully complete
something
Rendering takes an extremely long time
Can stabilise wobbly shots very easily Exportation takes a while
Alteration of colours Very hard to eliminate shadows from shots

12. “Eye-Lid Blink” Effect
Adobe Premiere
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13. “Time Lapse” Effect
The time lapse effect was very easy to achieve. I simply set-up a video
camera on a tripod to make sure the shot was still and filmed the sky at
7am each morning. I then placed the video footage onto Premiere Pro.
I then increased the speed to 10,000% the speed via right-clicking the
footage.
Adobe Premiere

14. Adobe Premiere
“Change to Colour” Effect

15. “Animation of text” Effect
Adobe Premiere

16. “Reverse Speed” Effect
The reverse speed effect is found
when you right-click some footage
to highlight it on the timeline.
The effect essentially switches the
footage back-to-front, running
backwards.
Adobe Premiere

17. “Warp Stabiliser” Effect
Adobe Premiere

18. “Additive Dissolve” Effect
Adobe Premiere

19. “Black and White” Effect
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Adobe Premiere
“Brightness and Contrast adjust” Effect
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