Evaluation response by Ali Fayyaz

1. Ali Fayyaz

2. Research & Planning - iMac
For research and planning the new media technologies I used was the iMac computer and I used
it for researching music videos, planning for our music video and for writing on our blogs. The
benefits of using the iMac Computer over the PC is that the iMac is used more for editing than
the PC which helped me because we already had the software that we needed to edit our
video. The software we used was called Final Cut Pro, which allowed us to cut, add effects and
sync our footage in time with the lyrics of the song. This helped me a lot because it made it
easier for us to edit the video and it told us what she was singing so we could time our artist
in match with the song. The benefits of using this program is that it offered us a wider range
of editing tools and features, for example, split screen, black and white effect and speeding up
action. Therefore, if we didn't have access to final cut pro we would of had to use iMovie
which has much less editing features compared to final cut pro. Another benefit of using the
iMac over the PC was that I had certain useful software's available to me such as Adobe and
iMovie, which is already built in the iMac for me to use.

3. Research – Internet
The internet benefitted me as in this digital age, the internet is commonly used and is now a way
for people to access whatever they want online such as to look at music videos, I just have to
go online on websites like YouTube which is a benefit as it saves me time. If I don't go online I
would have to use the TV and go on music channels and wait for the right video to show.
Another benefit is that online I can re-wind, pause and forward the music video which is so
helpful during researching and analysing. This is because if I miss anything I can go back and
look at it again or even once I see anything I like I can pause the video and then write what I
saw as part of my analysis. For my digipak research if I didn't have the internet I would of had
to go to a record shop and look at the CD's there and buy them just so I can go and analyse
them for my research. This is time consuming and expensive as I would need to analyse 3
digipaks and pay for them. It would be the same with analysing posters of the front cover of
an album and buying newspapers which may show the album inside. Although, this can lead
to a problem as images in newspapers are normally in black and white. This will make it
harder for me to analyse the digipak because if it's a dark coloured digipak I would barely be a
able to see it. But because I have the benefit of using the internet I can go on websites like
Google and type in an artist like Leona Lewis and look at the pictures of her album online for
analysing. I don't have to spend money to see them, I can just save them and talk about them
at the same time. This saves money and time and lets me access it whenever I need to.

4. Research – iMac & (Internet) YouTube
The iMac also allowed me to use internet for going on websites like YouTube to watch and
analyse music videos. This increased the level of efficiency as we were able to understand the
conventions in our genre, which we would then use to help us put these conventions in our
media product. But even before we used YouTube I was a frequent user so I knew a lot of stuff
before hand and this came as a benefit for me because I already knew what to do so it
became really easy for me to use.
YouTube was an important part for our product because we used it for importing our product
onto it, which allowed people to view and give us their feedback on it. But we also used it for
researching music videos that was in the same genre of our song which was the 'Pop' genre.
This let me gain a deeper understanding of what goes in the 'Pop' genre. Due to the way, I
analysed the artist in the pop song and the song itself. I also analysed how both the artist and
song link together to form a successful pop song. I wanted to research some of the
reoccurring themes which appear in their videos in order to help me with my media product.

5. Research – iMac & (Internet) YouTube
In addition, YouTube allowed us to add Pop music videos on our blogs to help support our
analyse from researching music videos using Goodwin’s Theory. It allowed us to embed
the videos on our blogs and also helped me with my analysis by letting me watch the
video and pause it at any time to give me the time to write about what key point I saw.
The benefits of using websites like YouTube is that it is free to use and it has so many
videos to choose from which was good because it expanded my options of pop videos.
The fact that we can access it at anytime on many devices such as on our computers,
phones, tablet and even on our TV (SMART TV's) helped us as it gave us more platforms
to watch on. Moreover, it helped to put music videos on our blogs to help us with our
analysis such as with the codes and conventions of pop songs. Furthermore, If YouTube
did not exist then it would have been harder for me to watch music videos because then
I would of had to go on my TV and wait for the song I wanted to come which would take
time. Also, it wouldn't give me more options of music videos to chose from compared to
YouTube.

6. For research I looked at real pop artists actual Twitter and Facebook accounts to
give us an idea on how to represent our artist online for people around to the
world to see. For Planning I set up a Twitter and Facebook account for our
artist and I used this because almost every pop artist out there has a social
network account. So they were created to help market our artist. There is
even a Twitter feed on the website of live tweets from our artist which was
implemented because from researching websites, all the pop artist had them
on their websites. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook has taken
over marketing online as there are millions of users who own an account. This
form of new media technology was used to make our artist appear as real as
possible and to market her for free in order to get her recognised for our
audience to see.
Research – iMac & (Internet) Social Networks

7. Planning – HD Video Camera
For planning, another new media technology we used was a HD video camera
and we used this to film our storyboard in order to create an anamatic of
our media product. This helped us to visualise what kind of shots we were
planning to use such as close ups, mid shots, long shots and tracking shots,
etc. After filming and editing the anamatic on Final Cut Pro we uploaded it
onto YouTube because we wanted to put it onto our blogs and so we had to
embed it through YouTube. We didn't just use the HD video Camera for our
anamatic, we also used it for more location shots and for filming our
preliminary task.

8. Planning – 3G Phone
Another new media technology which help me a lot and was
useful during the planning stage was a 3G phone. This allowed
me to take photos of the locations and upload them directly to
my blog by using the Internet on my phone. The advantages of
using 3G phones is that it has a camera installed, fast speed
internet and has easy to use features. Also, the way it allows me
to upload a file straight onto YouTube through the internet.

9. Planning – iMac & (Internet) Blogger
For planning, the internet helped me write blogs by letting me access Blogger
(www.blogger.com) which is a website where we had to make blogs before,
during and after our media product. It was there to help us get inspiration
and figure out how we are going to film, etc. I accessed blogger through
the iMac, my PC at home and even through my Mobile Phone. For planning
it let me upload my plans onto my blog such as showing how the digipak
was going to look. I also let me add images of location shots of where we
were planning to shoot. Allowing me to use Blogger for planning benefitted
me because once I save it I can access my posts anywhere that has the
internet so if I need to change something I can go online anywhere and
change it without any hassle.

10. Construction – Adobe Photoshop
For Construction, I used Adobe Photoshop for creating the digipak instead of using the more
simple software called Paint. The reason I used Photoshop was because it allowed me to do
more effects, edit and design the images better as it would give it a more professional look
than Paint would. I had never used Photoshop before and to use it for the first time on an
iMac was hard at first because I'm used to using Windows but I have really expanded my
knowledge, skills and have developed an expertise in creating images in Photoshop.
At the beginning when I started using Photoshop I did struggle but as I started using it every day
to create the digipak, my skills became better. The first cover I created was the front cover and
when I made it, it was not that great but the more I was using Photoshop the more it was
benefitting me as I was improving. After, I recreated the front cover after learning some
techniques and using the different tools that where available to me. The tools were extremely
helpful to me because if it wasn't for them then the images wouldn't have looked so great.

11. One of the tools I used was the 'Clone Stamp Tool' which I used a lot throughout
creating the digipak. This tool allows me to copy anything and implement it
anywhere on the image, but it was very useful for blending in the background and
extending the background. The panel that used the 'Clone Stamp Tool' the most
was the back cover because the image I originally used for it wouldn't take up the
whole frame as it wasn't wide enough. So I used this tool to copy the background
and to extend the width of the image so it would take up the whole frame. At the
end it proved to be effective as the extended area on the background looked as it
was already part of it. Also, this tool doesn't make it obvious that it has been copied
on to fill the frame.

12. A tool I used to blend the background was the 'Content Aware' tool, all this did was
help me for certain areas of the image. In the photos I took, the date and time was
added on the bottom right of the image and there were two ways to get rid of this,
one was the 'Clone Stamp Tool' and the 'Content Aware' tool. I chose the 'Content
Aware' tool because it was a faster and easier approach. However, the reason I did
not use it for the extending the back cover was because it was sometimes copying
the wrong areas so I had to do it the long way which was by using the 'Clone Stamp
Tool'.

13. Another tool I used was the 'Gaussian Blur' because this type of blur is used to blur
around an area I selected. This effect was used many times on the digipak such as
in the front and back cover. It is easily noticeable on both covers especially in the
front cover. The reason we used the blur tool on the front cover was because from
my digipak research one of the covers I looked at had this effect. I chose to develop
it by making the background fully blurred in order to make her stand out. The
reason I used the 'Gaussian Blur' on the back cover was because the background I
extended looked more unnoticeable with the blur effect on. Therefore, I chose to
challenge and use it this for the back cover, to cover up the Clone effect and to help
make the track list stand out and look bold.

14. The 'Text' tool was also used throughout the background for
adding the artist and album name on the front and back cover
and also the spine. I also used it for adding the track list,
signature of the artist and for the copyright information on the
CD and back cover. This tool was really easy to use and it
allowed me to change fonts and change the colour of the right
to help it link it with the rest of the digipak.

15. Furthermore, I used the 'Polygonal Lasso Tool' for the front cover
to cut around the artist so I could have access the background.
The reason for this was so I could use the blur effect and blur
the background without getting the effect on our artist. It
allowed me to make the artist stand out and show her position
of her pose without any distractions in the background.

16. The 'Smudge' and 'Eraser' tools were the two including some of the others tools that I
knew how to use from different software's like Paint. I used the 'Smudge' tool on
backgrounds to cover some of the areas that were left plain. I didn't want to show
that I left some areas unfinished so I 'smudged' the colour around the plain part to
make it look finished and to prevent any areas that have been left plain. The
'Eraser' tool was to rub out mistakes made and to make the background a plain
colour because I wanted to use a different colour. This was the best way to erase
the colour that was already there and it implement the colour I wanted which was
the colour Black.

17. The 'Magic Wand Tool' was used to help me select certain areas in the image.
It was used to either remove that area or for adding an effect to it such as
the 'Blur' effect or a colour effect in making the contrast more brighter. This
is also one the main tools I used which cannot be found on software's like
Paint. As this tool allows you to change areas you want which really
benefitted me in some stages such as for the making the artist look a bit
brighter in order to make her stand out.

18. For the CD design in the digipak, I used a lot of tools because I had to make it look as
real as I could and look professionally done. I used some of the tools I previously
mentioned but the other key tools I used was the 'Stroke' tool. I used this because
looking at my research the common convention was that the CD's had an outline.
So I wanted to use this convention and therefore, I added a white outline which
helped the CD outline stand out from the background.
Another tool I used was the 'Bevel and Emboss' tool and this was used for giving the
CD a 3D look. To make it look as real as possible and it also gave the CD shadows of
the inside rim which helped make it more real.

19. The final tool I used on the CD was the 'Gradient Overlay' tool and this was
used for the colour of the CD. This tool gave it a 'fade in colour' effect by
making it light at the top and dark at the bottom. I used this tool because it
goes well with the overall colours which are used throughout the digipak,
these colours being Grey and Black. Also, because the artist's name was in
red and it didn't go well with the light grey background so I added this fade
effect using the 'Gradient Overlay' tool. Which helped create the dark
bottom, this now goes well with the red writing used and with the actual
background on the CD panel as the colours on it is darker.

20. Construction – HD Video Camera
For construction, I also used the HD video camera to film our media product. This allowed
us to capture videos and images of our artist for our media product, digipak and
website. The video camera was used to capture various shots such as close ups, mid
shots, long shots, tracking shots, etc. As I was Director for the music video I used this
video camera because it was lightweight, portable and digital which benefitted me as it
made filming easier for us. It also helped us making full use of natural lighting when we
filming. In addition, it was easy getting the videos and images that was on the camera,
by using an SD card and putting them on iMacs where we could start editing the video
and designing the digipak. This helped me and my group because it was a simple and
fast process. All of our footage and images were stored on an SD card where we could all
put our work on each of our computers for us to use and work from. For example editing
the images for the digipak.

21. Construction – iMac & (Internet) Blogger
For construction, the use of blogger helped me to show my changes that I
made to the digipak and the process of creating the digipak. With Blogger, I
can upload images of the digipak and explain about why I chose those
images and how I edited them. But the best part is that I can save my work
and come back to it later to finish it off if I don't time to finish my work that
day. I also embedded our media product onto my blog from YouTube so I
can show it's on my account as well as on my groups. The website for our
artist is also on my blog by embedding the URL onto my blogs in case I
needed to access it.

22. Evaluation – iMac & (Internet) Wix
For Evaluation, I used the internet to create and use Wix. In order to
use as the base for where my answer for each question is located.
Wix is website that allows you to create a free website where you
can upload images, videos, Twitter feeds, etc. Why I chose to use
Wix was because it's a good piece of new media technology and it
allows me to implement other pieces of new media technology. This
is useful for when I want to answer all the evaluation questions such
as by use of voice, a video response and presentations from Prezi
and Slideshare, etc.

23. Evaluation – iMac & (Internet) Prezi
For Evaluation, I used the internet to create a new Prezi presentation to answer two of
my evaluation questions. The reason why I used Prezi twice was because of the way
it lays out my answer. It gives it a flow towards it which is nice as it gives the viewer
a better visual experience. Prezi is a website that allows you to create an online
presentation for free where you can upload images, videos and add different
movements in how you want to change your slides. This is called changing Paths.
Why I chose to use Prezi was because it's a good piece of new media technology
and it allows me to implement this presentation to other pieces of new media
technology like Wix and Blogger.

24. Evaluation – iMac & (Internet) SlideShare
For Evaluation, I used the internet to create a new SlideShare presentation to use as a
way to represent one of my answers for my evaluation questions. The reason why I
used SlideShare was because it allows me to implement my original slide show
straight online in the same appearance it looked offline. It’s a good method of
uploading your work online and it can be embedded so I can on put it on websites
for me and for others to view. SlideShare is website that allows you to upload a
presentation online for free where you can view it and even share it. Why I chose
to use SlideShare was because it's a good piece of new media technology and it
allows me to implement this presentation to other pieces of new media technology
like Wix. And Blogger.