Question 4 of Media Evaluation

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

2. Final Cut Express
We used Final Cut Express when editing our music video.
We all had a basic knowledge of how to use Final Cut Express
from previous projects, however some members of the group
were better at editing than others. This did mean that we all had
to learn while using the programme. We all contributed to the
editing process so by the end we were all able to use final cut
together and help each other out when one member got tired of
editing. During editing there were some things that we found
difficult as we were still learning how to use the programme for
example we wanted to turn some of the clips sepia, none of us
knew how to do this so we used a tutorial to help us through. We
were able to use the technology to the fullest extent and it really
helped us while editing our music video.
I believe that final cut was the best software we could have used
to edit our video and without it our video wouldn’t look
professional and authentic. It has been very useful throughout
the editing process.

3. Adobe Photoshop
We used Photoshop to edit and create our print work.
Before using Photoshop to create my print work I had
never used it before, this meant that I had to teach
myself whilst making my advertisement and digipak, I
received some advice from friends who use it on a regular
basis at some points for example when installing fonts. I
learnt the conventions of what you have to include on
digipaks and advertisements in the music industry.
Photoshop has been really useful when creating my print
work, without it they wouldn’t have looked half as good. I
believe that it was the best software to use for my print
products.

4. YouTube
We have used YouTube to upload our videos to for
example our rough cut, focus groups and final video.
I have only ever used YouTube to watch other
peoples videos therefore I was new to the process of
uploading them. Luckily other members of the
group had YouTube accounts and knew how to
upload videos. Uploading videos meant that we
could all view them and embed them onto our blogs
whenever we wanted.
This was very useful because it meant that we could
use the videos whenever it was convenient.

5. Facebook
This was used for organising outside of college time
and collecting audience feedback.
This was very simple as I am already on Facebook
and know how to use it, it helped our group remain
organised throughout the process. We were able to
remind each other of certain things we had to do and
share ideas. We all learnt how to be more organised
by using this.
The groups that we have created both as a group
and individually have been very helpful as they have
helped us develop our music video, print work and
blogs. The events allowed us to see who was likely to
come so we had an idea of numbers.

6. Cameras
We used these for creating the music video and taking
photos for our print work.
We have used a variety of different cameras while filming
our music video including a Digital SLR and College camera.
We had to learn how to use the different cameras, the
college camera used tape so we had to learn how to upload
it to the computer. This was fairly straightforward though
and did not take us long.
They cameras were very helpful without them we wouldn’t
have been able to create out video and it would have made
making our print products harder if we didn’t have them.
The change of camera was a drawback, this made some of
the clips different sizes and quality. However the difference
is not very noticeable although it did slow the editing
process down slightly.

7. Prezi
We used Prezi to create our Pitch to show to
our classmate in order to receive feedback
about our concept for our music video.
We had not previously used Prezi though it
was fairly straightforward.
Prezi was useful because it enabled us to
present our ideas in an interesting way, it
allowed us to include lots of images that
helped our audience get a full idea of what we
were aiming to do.

8. Powerpoint
Powerpoint was used to apply theories and
upload to our blogs.
We already knew how to use powerpoint so
using it to discuss theories wasn’t a problem.
It has been very helpful as it allowed us to
upload what would be long pieces of text in
an interesting way.

9. Blogger
Blogger has been used to upload every piece
of research, planning, construction and
evaluation.
We used blogger in AS for our magazine
products therefore I found it easy enough to
use.
Blogger has been very helpful as it is the basis
of our coursework, everything we have done
has been uploaded to our blogs.

10. Media 2.0
Media 2.0 has been incredibly helpful whilst creating
our products, especially for audience feedback.
Facebook has helped us create events and groups to
contact our audience and receive feedback
regarding our print products and music videos,
without media 2.0 it would be much more difficult to
organise our groups and gain feedback. This also
allowed us to respond to any audience questions and
respond to suggestions whether that would be to
explain why they are unrealistic or incorporate them
into our products.
Media 2.0 also helped us contact our artist as we
contacted them via their YouTube channel.