1. How did you use mediatechnologiesinthe construction and Research, planningand evaluation
stages?
Blogger:
Bloggerisfree online tool whichwasusedtopublishall ourcourseworkontoa digital/online presence.
Bloggerwaspotentiallyone of the mostimportantmediatool duringresearchplanningaswell asthe
otherproductionstages.Withoutitwe wouldn’tbe able topresentourworkstoour teachersas well.By
usingbloggeritalsoenables ouraudience toaccessourwork easilyfromonlineinordertogetaudience
feedback quickly.Bloggerwasmainlyusedtopostourworkon the internetwithnumeroustoolsused
withinbloggertomake itmore presentable and more organisedsuchas,‘labels’were usedtoorganise
each postintoa category inorderto findour postmore easily. Throughblogger,Iwasable topost the
production stagesof eachof my three productsto representthe improvementsmade.Furthermore,
bloggerenablesustocommunicate withouraudience andpresentourwork.Withoutit,itwouldbe
extremelydifficulttocomplete ourcourseworkconsideringourteachersandaudience wouldbe unable
to access mywork butalso, my workwould’ve been extremelyunorganised(bloggerhasall myposts
workpostedinorderetc).Since AS myskillshave developedsignificantlyforinstance,atASIlackedthe
knowledge onthe toolswithinbloggerandas a result,mybloggerlookedun-attractiveandtacky.
However,atA2 my skillshave developedsignificantlyasIwasmore confidentinusingblogger, forwhich
my workwas muchmore organisedandpresentable (learnthow touse labelsandchange fontstyles,
backgroundsetc).One of the problemsthat were encounteredfrombloggerwasthatonsome
occasionsitdisallowedme topostscertaintask ontomy blogwhichincreasinglywastedmytime.
However,thiswasresolvedatschool withanIT techniciansolvingthe problembychangingthe settings
on the computer,stoppingthisfromoccurring.
Digital Cameras:
A cannoncamera was usedtotake photographsformy printproductsand to filmmymusicvideofor
whichI borrowedthe camerafromschool.Borrowingthe camerafrom our school hadit advantages
such as we wasable to use a veryhighqualitycameraforfree however,one of the problemsthatwe’ve
encounteredwasthatdue to itbelongingtothe school,otherpeoplehadtouse it as well forwhichwe
was onlyallowedtouse itfora short amountof time.Furthermore,thiswasalrightconsideringwe was
able to filmquicklydue toourresearchandplanningbeingwellorganisedandwell done (weknew what
shotsto take while filmingetc). The cannoncameraplayedanimportantrole assimilarlytothe blogger,
withoutitwe wouldhave noproductto produce.The camera was veryeasyto use allowingme totake
complicatedandsophisticatedshotseasilyfromtrackingshot/movementstocantedangle shots.Itwas
clearthat from ASmy skillshave developedsignificantly.Forinstance,atASI was onlyrequiredtofilm
an openingsequence hence lesscreativitywasneededcomparedatA2whichmy musicvideorequired
manyunique shots/anglesinorderforme to conformto conventionsof POPmusicvideos.Therefore,
my creativitywhenusingthe same camerahasdevelopedsignificantlyasIwas muchmore confidentin
usingcomplicatedshots,makingmymusicvideolookmore professional andeccentric.
HP Computers/ YouTube:
The use of HP computersat my school hasenabledme tohave unlimitedaccesstothe internetwith
unlimitedaccesstoYouTube whichishighlyimportant,asIusedYouTube inthe stagesof researchand
2. planningtowatchexamplesof musicvideos.Thiswasdone togainknowledge onthe conventionsof my
chosengenre aswell asgaining inspirationsonthe ideasthat I coulduse for mymusicvideo.However,
at the start of my researchandplanningstagesmyschool hadrestrictedmanymusicvideoswhich
disallowedme to accessnumerousPOPmusicvideosthatwere vital forme togaininspirationfrom.
However,thiswassoonresolvedafterIreportedthistothe school whichtheysoonresolvedthe
situation. Similarly,thiswasthe same problemthatIaccountedwhentryingto use Photoshopand
Premiere Proastheywere inaccessible foraperiodof time.Thisaffectedme greatlyIwasunable to
complete some of mytaskswhendeadlinesforstagesof myproductionwasnear.However,the main
advantage of usingthe HP computersat school wasthat I had a varietyof resourcese.g.Photoshopto
helpme complete myproductionwork asI didnothave these sort of software’s athome.However,I
founditmuch easiertocomplete myresearchandplanningathome thanat school consideringmy
laptopat home wasmuch fasterto use alsoI was able to focus more at home.AtAS I foundithard to
use the computersat school as I was unfamiliaronthe locationsof the software’s withinthe computer
etc.At A2 my knowledge onthe systemsatschool have developedallowingme toimprove myICTskills
as well enablingme tocomplete myresearchandplanningmore efficiently.
Adobe Photoshop/ InDesignand PremierPro:
In designandPhotoshopwasusedinthe productionstagesof mydigipakandmagazine adverttoedit
photosand produce a template.The twosoftware consistedmanycomplicatedandsophisticatedtools
fromsharpeningtoolsinPhotoshoptoGradientSwatchin InDesign all of whichallowedme tocreate
twoattractive products.At AShowever,Ihadminimumskillsinusing Photoshopmakingme relyon
simple toolssuchas the croppingtool.Asa resultIusedPowerPointandMicrosoftwordinsteadasIwas
much more familiarwiththe twosoftware’s. AtA2 I hadmuch more experience usingPhotoshopand
InDesign aswell asmore informationonthe more complex toolsafterresearchingonYouTube
(tutorials) onhowtouse them.Thistherefore enabledme tobe muchmore creative whenconstructing
my digipakandalbumadvert.Photoshopwasusedtoeditthe majorityof myphotos,usinganadvanced
level tochange sharpen(sharpeningtools)imagesaswell changingthe backgroundof imageswithout
changingthe appearance of my artist(MagneticLassotool).
PremierProCS6 wasusedduringthe productionstagestoeditand constructmy musicvideo.My
partnerand I was slightlyunfamiliaronhow touse the software however,afterlookingatavarietyof
YouTube videos/tutorialswe learnt how tocutvideos,addtransition,create aslow motioneffectand
create a splitscreeneffect.The software became increasinglyeasytouse aswe progressedduringthe
post-productionstages.The software enablesustoexportourmusicvideoveryfastmakingiteasierto
uploaditto YouTube inorder to getfeedbackquicklyandtofurtherimprove ourmusicvideo.
PresentationWebsites:
Presentation websitessuchasCanva,Google Slides,Slideshare,Preziandmanymore wasusedto
presentmyworkduring researchplanningandevaluationtomyblog.Usinga varietyof presentation
toolshas enabledme tocreate a highlyattractive blogasusingthe existingpresentation toolsof the
blog,israther basicand boringforwhichmakesyourwork look ‘unimpressive’.More specifically,‘Prezi’
was usedmultipletimesduringmyresearchandplanningasI was highly familiarwiththe software.
Also,‘Prezi’canbe consideredquiteinteractiveasmyaudience wouldhave tomove aroundonthe
3. presentationwebsitestoviewmywork.Thistherefore makesmybloggeroverall quiteengagingand
attractive to myaudience.Otherpresentationwebsitessuchas‘Canva’and‘Google slides’were also
usedforwhichIt my firsttime wasusingat A2. But the presentationwebsiteswereveryeasytouse
allowingme tobe creative immediatelywhenusingthe software forthe firsttime. However,someof
the problemsI’ve encounteredwere thatsome of myworkthat was done onsome of the presentation
website waslost.Thiswasn’tmyfaultbutthe presentationwebsitesthemselves.The issuewassoon
resolvedaftercontactingthe website inwhichtheywereable toretrievemywork.Itcan be seenthatat
AS mybloglackedattractivenessintermsof usingpresentationwebsite where asatA2, my
presentationskillsinmybloghave beenimprovedsignificantlyasIhaduseda varietyof presentation
websites.
