This is question 4 for my coursework evaluation

1. Question 4:
How did you use new media
technologies in the construction
and research, planning and
evaluation stages?

2. Premiere Pro
• Throughout the production of our music video, Premiere Pro has been the foundation to it’s
creation. Without the software we wouldn’t have been able to create the piece we did. It helped
us with our planning and research as we were also able to put together our first focus group,
which helped us establish exactly what to film. Whilst editing each of our focus groups we used
minimal tools as we just placed the clips together in an orderly sequence (this allowed the
discussion to flow freely and truthfully). We used the software to create a professional looking
edit for our main task of creating a music video. The program allowed us to experiment with
different colour filters and lighting options, which created the indie vibe of the music video we
imagined it would have before filming. We corrected the clips which were filmed under natural
light by using the ‘colour balance’ and ‘colour correct’ tools, which allowed us to make the
surroundings of the clips appear much darker than what they were originally (therefore
creating an artificial night time). As Premiere Pro offers an array of different tools myself and
Katie were able to extend and cut down clips, allowing us to fit each clip to the beat of the song.
We wanted to do this as many of the music videos we watched and analysed did this perfectly,
this alone added to the professional nature to which they were made. As our music video
begins and ends with the same clip, just at different times, we though a fade to black would
also help establish a present and past effect (as if our protagonists is telling a story). We didn’t
use any other transition effects, however used multiple fast cuts to establish a montage effect.
As we wanted the similarities of both relationships shown through the imagery of the music
video, we thought a split screen with choreographed movements would represent this nicely.
We did also use Premiere Pro to put our animatic storyboard together. The software allowed
us to place each clip to the bit of the song which matched the lyrics , which helped in the long
term as we knew where to place everything when it came to editing the main task.

3. Photoshop
• I used Photoshop to create both drafts and final pieces of my
Digipak and Magazine advert. After I took all my images for both
products, I was able to import them onto the software and edit them
to look professional and to conform to the indie genre, I had tried to
show through out this whole project. I began by desaturating all
images, leaving me with a blank base to get creative. As the
desaturation made the images quite flat I decided to use the ‘curve’
and ‘levels’ tool to deepen the black and white effect, leaving with
deeper shadows. This made the pictures look more edgy, which I
noticed to be a theme throughout an array of indie digipak covers. I
wanted to create a smoke effect, which I began to do by rending the
filter to the ‘cloud’ option and making it’s opacity layer lower (which
faded the harshness of the clouds) I then imported smoke images I
downloaded from the internet in an alternating pattern around my
model in the image. I followed the same step as before and made
their opacity much lower. This created a smoky effect as if the model
was walking through smoke. I did the same technique for my advert.

4. Camera and Equipment
• The camera we used for filming was the Samsung NX1000. We decided to use this
camera over DLSR 3200 as our storyboard showed an array of close ups, and we felt
the Samsung camera would give the best pay off. The camera itself also adjusts itself
to the lighting in which it’s being used. Although some of our clips were edited to look
darker, the majority of the day time, outdoor scenes have been left with this beautiful
muted filter which looks to be edited (simple sepia tones, making our mise-en-scene
look as pretty as it can be. We did however use the DLSR to film both our focus group
clips. As we didn’t need to pick up on lots of detail, which the Samsung does well, we
thought the DLSR would be suitable as it still gives a great picture quality. I did
however find the DLSR more difficult to focus, as if someone moved it would blur,
and there is a whole clip which in not in focus in our first group meeting video. This
is another reason we decided to use the Samsung camera as the manual focus is good
and reliable. In my main task and Preliminary last year there were times where the
camera was unsteady and noisy in the clips. I didn’t wants this to happen again, as it
made the final pieces look less professional, so this time around I made sure the
camera was securely placed onto the tripod and filmed with 5 seconds before and
after the clip begun and finished to ensure I could cut away any movement or noise
when it came to editing. We also used the Samsung to capture behind the scene
photographs. We did also use our mobile phones to show development of our
production.

5. Tumblr, YouTube, Slideshare, Prezi ...
YouTube played a big part in planning and researching for the production of
our music video. It allowed us to look at other music video’s artist have
created to accompany the release of a song. This was helpful as we could
look at the ways indie artist in particular went about creating something
that conformed to their genre. From this we gathered that many indie
videos include dark, muted colours, indie clothing, an illustrative nature,
with some kind of performance. This allowed us to gather and come up with
ideas that we could put in front of a focus group for their feedback. When it
came to distributing our music video, we used YouTube, by uploading it to
our schools channel. This allowed us to later link it to our coursework blogs.
Tumblr was our main format to distribute our coursework. The blogging
site allows students to share their research, planning and final pieces with
both their teachers and the exam board. To keep my blog interesting I
wanted to use a range of different formats to publish my work. Slideshare
and Prezi helped me develop and present my ideas in a creative way. I used
Prezi whilst researching, and found it to be very useful as I was able to
gather information and lay it out all in one place. Prezi was also useful when
it came to evaluate as I didn’t want to answer all my question via blog posts.
Prezi allowed me to insert clips and images, and is an easy format to use.

6. The Music Video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S2_zFosU4
This is the final music
video, which was
edited and put
together via Premiere
Pro. The link below
will take you the video
which is uploaded on
the Chew Valley
School YouTube
channel.