The document discusses the various media technologies used by Abigail Downes during the research, planning, construction, and evaluation stages of a media project. Survey Monkey, YouTube, Premier, and Google were used for research. Blogger, Google Maps, and Word were used in the planning stage. A digital camera, Photoshop, and Premier were utilized for construction. Finally, SlideShare, PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat assisted with the evaluation.
3. Survey Monkey
During my research I used Survey Monkey to create surveys which I then
displayed on my social media to gain responses. These responses helped me to
gain information on what audiences like about music videos and digipaks. The
responses I gained helped inform my design decisions and what codes and
conventions we followed when making our music video.
Survey Monkey was helpful because it was free and easy to use but it also
analysed the responses and gave statistics which helped me prioritise the
answers chosen.
4. Adobe Premier
I used adobe premier to put all the interview clips together. This allowed me
to see everyone’s opinion in one clip. I also added titles to the video because
it made it easier to understand what the individual is answering.
By having the clips altogether it made it easier to analyse the qualitative
audience research we had gathered, by analysing the clips we gained a better
insight into what our audiences were wanting from a music video and they
had given examples of their favourite music videos which allowed us to look
at the music videos as a group and decide what elements we liked and could
incorporate into our music video.
5. Prezi
I used Prezi a lot when researching music video codes and conventions to
include in my music video because it allows me to view lots of different
presentations which all offer different interpretations therefore I can gain a
wide variety of theories and conventions from different perspectives.
I also used Prezi when researching how to analyse digipaks and the codes and
conventions that they follow. Prezi was helpful because the information is in
small pieces which are clearly explained and usually supported with images.
6. YouTube
We used YouTube because it has an extensive library of music videos. It
allowed us to find videos from similar artists, letting us pick out the
conventions from other videos and gain a better understanding of these
conventions, enabling us to create a more genuine product. Also Using
YouTube allowed us to play the videos as much as possible, pause in specific
places, replay sections of the video and skip to specific sections of the video
which helped us to write in-depth analysis of all of the music videos.
Also YouTube gives suggestions of videos to watch which are similar to the one
you are currently watching this allowed me to view lots of indie music videos
and gain a clear idea of what they include and how they are shot.
8. Blogger
We used blogger when planning because it allows us to display our work in
chronological order so we can keep track of my planning progress.
It is also a place to write up work therefore we used it to analyse the
qualitative audience research we collected.
9. Google Maps
This was useful for planning the locations for filming because it meant as a
group we didn’t need to visit the areas personally saving time and money.
Maps also gave reviews for the locations as well as a website link and contact
numbers. By giving the contact numbers it allowed us to ask permission to use
the location for filming.
10. Microsoft Word
We used Word to create a shooting schedule for the filming of our music
video. This involved putting the roles, times and locations for the filming of
our music video. We printed these out and gave one to each member of the
group so they knew what was expected of them at each location at a set time
during shooting. This made the shooting process much smoother and run more
efficient as no one was confused in what was the next step in filming and
what needed to be filmed.
We also used word specifically for our band overview and response to the
brief because we can positioned pictures more closely by changing the
wrapping options and you can place text into text boxes which gives you more
space on the page for photos.
12. Digital Camera
We used a Canon 600D SLR and a tripod for taking images of the band and filming
the music video. To film the music video effectively; I learnt how to focus the
camera which allowed me to film clear shots so the audience can clearly see what
is going on. I also learnt how to zoom in with the camera this draws the audiences
attention to specific facial expressions and objects helping to build meaning in the
music video.
The camera has 2 functions, photos and film. Therefore using the SLR meant we
didn’t have to obtain two pieces of gear for the two different jobs; instead it was
used for the both of them making the process much easier.
13. Photoshop
Using Photoshop allowed us to manipulate and edit images so they followed
conventions of the indie genre and the precision of the tools allowed us to
create a digipak to a professional standard.
We changed the levels of the images of the band to create a two-tone effect
on the images which we then re-coloured the images mauve and black which
made the band look different and eye catching however the stylised image
suggests mystery, a convention of the Indie genre.
14. Premier
I used premier to make the music video. I did this by putting all the filmed
clips into premier and clipping them together and placing the clips in order
according to the storyboard. I also over laid our chosen song ‘1996’ so the
clips matched with the lyrics, this helped to build meaning and follow the
codes and conventions of music videos.
I also made titles for the start of the music video to introduce the band and
the song title.
16. Slide Share
I used slide share throughout my
coursework but mainly in my
evaluation. I used Slide Share to
upload power points onto my
blog.
Slide Share allowed me to use
different mediums to present my
work, this makes my blog look
more interesting.
17. PowerPoint
We used PowerPoint to present our evaluation because it allowed us to have
sub topics per slide making our work more organised and simple.
PowerPoint still allows us to insert images and charts on the slides so we used
PowerPoint to analyse the feedback we got from our audience and how our
products were effective and had synergy.
18. Adobe Acrobat
Unfortunately, during our coursework we made an error with our research but
the presentation was already uploaded. Therefore instead of redoing the
PowerPoint, we used adobe acrobat to export the PowerPoint which was
exported out as a PDF back to a PowerPoint. This was useful because it meant
we saved time by not having to create a new presentation but we also learnt
a new skill.
