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

2. I used a wide variety of media technologies during
the research, planning, production, post-production
and even evaluation stages of my Advanced
Portfolio coursework. My skills in using these
technologies, which can be broken down into
hardware, software and online tools, have certainly
improved since finishing my Foundation Portfolio
last year. The following presentation will discuss
how I used different technologies to effectively get
to this final stage. Whilst I will list ALL of the
technologies that I used, I will only discuss the
importance of those which were really vital to me
from start to finish.

3.  PowerPoint – I used PowerPoint a lot when I was creating the skeleton
layouts and site plans. I chose PowerPoint over Adobe Photoshop as it
allowed me to use the Shape Tool with ease and simplicity: I could easily
duplicate each shape, re-size and re-colour to make my site plans and
skeletons more accurate, whilst using Photoshop would have resulted in
numerous layers for each different shape, making the process more of a
hassle, confusing, lengthy and difficult.
 Word – I used Microsoft Word quite a lot during my Advanced Portfolio for a
number of reasons. If I was making a direct blog post for example, I would
often type the text in Word first as this provided a more accurate spelling and
grammar check. I also used word to create all the documentation forms in
preparation for my filming. With Word you have the advantage of being able
to choose from a range of fonts and text sizes, with the additional features
such as shapes and tables which help to make the forms look more
professional.
 Excel – Excel allowed me to apply the results of my questionnaire into an
instant table, allowing for clear analysis, before I was then able to create
charts from the click of a single button which allowed for easier analysis of
the results, thus helping me to make clearer, and more suitable creative
decisions for my products.
Research and Planning

4. Obviously my Production stage didn’t involve any software as it mostly
consisted of the cameras, hence why I have jumped straight to Post Production.
Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro were the two programs that helped me
the most during post-production. I used Photoshop the most during the post
production of my ancillary products. For both of my products, I required images,
which I edited to my liking in Photoshop. A lot of the images I wanted required
to be either black and white or have an orange/sepia effect to them to reflect the
autumnal theme of my chosen song. I did this by adjusting the hue and
saturation of my images which allowed for said effects to be created, whilst
there are very few other programs which would have done so with such quality.
I could then also use Levels and Curves to adjust the tones within each image
to make them stand out to the viewers' eye, whilst I could also rotate and crop
each image to make images smaller and more appropriate for each section of
the Digipak. I also used Photoshop to reduce the image sizes of the JPEGs
which were used in the sequence close to the end of my music video. By not
reducing the image sizes, they were too much for the video itself, causing a
stressful error which prevented my video from exporting in Adobe Premiere
Pro. This was annoying for me as I didn’t know what was causing the error, but
after discovering the issue, Photoshop proved to be the quickest and most
accurate software tool to re-size each of the images.
Post Production

5. Adobe Premiere Pro was probably the most important tool for me to use
throughout my entire Advanced Portfolio. Without Adobe Premiere Pro, I
wouldn’t have been able to make my music video, which is essentially the
main task of the coursework. Whilst I initially started my practice work on
iMovie, Premier Pro proved to be more up-to-date, offering better features
and effects, whilst navigating around the different windows was much more
simpler. Some of the tools built into Premiere Pro were super helpful to
me, especially when I ran into issues piecing the clips together. The Razor
tool allowed me to select a section of the clip at a specific time, cutting the
clip into two different parts, rather than needing to crop the clip down and
duplicate the original to re-use the rest. For example, with my performance
clips, my actor performed the entire song, rather than me having to stop
and start the camera for different sections of the song. Therefore, I used the
Razor tool to shorten the long 3 minute clip into many smaller clips which I
could place at different intervals throughout my music video.
To develop my creativity, I also used Premiere Pro to create different
colour versions of my final video to question my target audience as to which
one they preferred. Premiere Pro allowed me to copy + paste a particular
effect on to all of my clips rather than applying it one at a time, thus
speeding up the process.
Post Production

6. Post Production
Although I didn’t intend on using it, I did use Live Type to create a text
sequence which spelled out the lyrics of the corresponding music.
Although more conventional in Rap or Pop music videos, I was really
intrigued by the different effects available on Live Type and so I
wanted to be able to build it into my music video to add yet another
different technique into my coursework. Live Type had the benefit of
being fully compatible with Premiere Pro, meaning that I could easily
save my work in Live Type as a movie file and import it into my
existing music video, then cropping and changing the size of the clip
using the tools available in Premiere Pro.
The possibilities with Live Type seemed to be endless, and it was really
interesting to be able to build an animation into my text. I used the
leading and tracking for the text to ensure that my font was clear and
could be easily read, and so that it also filled the frame nicely without
being too big or too small. I was also able to add a ‘handwriting’
animation to the text, which made the text appear as if it were actually
being written directly onto the screen in time with the music. I liked
this effect as it suited my ‘homely’ feel that I wanted to portray in the
rest of the video.
The other benefit was that I could set the background colour for the text. I
initially experimented with just black, but I then discovered an option
for a transparent option which allowed me to overlay it onto a picture
once I had imported it into Premiere Pro.

7. Evaluation
And of course again I used a combination of
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to construct
some of my evaluations in a neat and presentable
way, such as the very presentation. They have the
advantage of having a correct grammar and spell
check whilst they can also be converted and
uploaded to my blog via SlideShare.

8. I used an Apple Mac throughout the entire process
of my Advanced Portfolio, from research and
planning through to evaluation. Opposed to the few
regular computers installed within the college, the
Macs allowed access to the specific software that I
required for creating my music video, such as
Photoshop and Premiere Pro. The other advantage
that the Mac holds is that the resolution in the screen
is much higher than regular computers, allowing me
to see my products in a much more realistic quality.
The only disadvantage I found was that I often
worked from my Dell Laptop at home, and
transferring several documents between the two
different computers often caused complications and
changed the layout of a lot of my work, meaning that
I frequently had to update the documents before I
uploaded them to my blog.

9. For the main section of my Advanced Portfolio – the
construction – the Sony Digital Film Camera was my most
important and vital tool. Obviously, without it, I wouldn’t
have been able to film my video to the same quality.
Compared to the FujiFilm Finepix S9600 which we
practiced the majority of our filming on, the Sony had the
advantage of being more compact and quite lightweight,
meaning that it was much easier to carry around if I went
out to different locations, especially as I would often have to
carry tripods too. The zoom function which was fairly easy
to operate without interrupting the quality of the filming,
whilst it also fit nicely on the tripods we used too, meaning
that all of our footage was steady and in-focus at all times. I
found though that the best option of this camera was the
movement ability of the display screen, as it could be tilted
and rotated so it completely faced the actors rather than
me, meaning that they could see what the shot looked like
themselves, making composing the footage a lot easier.
This was particularly essential in my singing and guitar
sequences as my actors could check that they did not
accidentally move out of the frame whilst they ‘performed’.
The camera also had a Photo Mode which was great for
taking shots of my actors on set for my website. The zoom
ability also allowed for some stunning depth of field within
the still images which I then also imported into my video to
make up the ‘memory’ sequence.
Production
Additionally with the
camera I used a tripod
which insured my camera
was stable throughout
filming. This also had the
advantage of being able to
adjust the height for
different shots and even
supporting the angles at
which I shot at.

10. I relied on a combination of both my phone and my iPod for
internet access and communication on the go. During my
research and planning, I used these tools to post
comments on social networking sites such as Twitter and
Facebook to gain feedback and basic audience research.
With the development of apps for these sites, the access
was quick and ensured much quicker responses then
having to way until I was home to post the information via
the computer. Before I began my construction, I went
location-scouting and relied on these tools to develop
maps for directions and I also used the built-in cameras to
take test-shots of each location I used. The other obvious
benefits included me being able to phone or text actors
when they were needed and to also access the internet
immediately if I required any additional information, such
as opening times for any interior locations or Google
Images for inspiration. On my iPod also, I had a Blogger
app, which allowed me to take pictures of my forms that
the actors signed and upload them immediately. I could
also use the app to type up any initial blog posts that I had
written at any stage during the process instantly.

11.  I also found using my Wacom Bamboo
Drawing Tablet useful, especially when I
was drawing and designing my storyboard
during my planning stage. Usually, most
storyboards would be constructed by
professionals using some sort of drawing
tablet as it allows for better precision and
accuracy. Not only that, but I found using my
tablet an advantage as it meant my work
was instantly neater than what I may have
produced by hand, plus it was a much
quicker process as I could duplicate different
sections if scenes were repeated within my
plot, which was true in the case of my music
video. It also allowed me to use a wider
variety of colours thanks to Photoshop,
which also allowed me the use of different
tools and brushes which were also available
in that software.
Research and Planning

12. There were many online tools which helped me
journey from my practice material, through
research and planning to the evaluations.
Firstly, social networking sites were vital in
helping me to reach and develop my target
audience. I used Twitter, Facebook and
Tumblr mostly to post questions to my target
audience about there preferences over
elements such as colour scheme or themes
to help better my production to ensure that it
suited them. It also meant that I could target
people directly, as opposed to surveying
random people on the street, meaning that
my results were hopefully a lot more realistic
and appropriate. For example, on Twitter, I
purposely searched for accounts which were
dedicated to following my artist, Ed Sheeran,
as I knew that my products would be mostly
appealing to them.

13. Additionally, to help my research, I created an online survey this year as
opposed to my physical copy back in my Foundation Portfolio. I used
Obsurvey.com to create the document as it allowed me to create as many
questions as I liked, and I could also separate them into sections/pages
which was useful to ask questions dependant on either the main task or
my ancillary products. I also chose Obsurvey other others such as
SurveyMonkey.co.uk because there was no limit on the number of
questions I could ask and it was really simple to share the questionnaire
on my social networking sites which I explained in the previous slide. The
other handy element was that they stored an analysis of all the results as
they were collected, showing graphs of details such as response times and
which responses were the most popular. All of this information was also
able to download straight into an Excel document. When my target
audience answered the survey, it was automatically filled in as
‘anonymous’ which was useful also as it made the responses more
confident and hopefully less biased.

14. This year during my Advanced Portfolio, I used Blogger to present
all of my work. I had previously used WordPress, but I had
found Blogger easier to use after also using it for two years for
my Photography Coursework. I felt like Blogger was easier to
navigate and I preferred the additional features of pages and
tabs/labels which made organising my work clearer and easier,
making it look more professional. Having the labels meant I
could group all of my different posts according to the subject of
the post as well as what stage of the entire G324 process it
came under, making it easier for myself also to go back and
refer to other work I had done earlier on in the year. Powered
by Google, Blogger is also more commonly compatible with
other sites I have used such as YouTube, SlideShare and
Twitter, meaning that it was much easier to share my work –
no matter what format it was in – to my blog. I also generally
preferred the layout and design of Blogger to Wordpress,
meaning that I could completely customise my blog to suit me
and my coursework. I could also change elements such as the
width of the text box and the fonts to ensure everything that I
posted was legible and also looking professional. Blogger also
has it’s own app for Apple products, meaning that I could also
constantly update and change my blog wherever I was – with
my phone!

15. YouTube is essential in the efficient marketing of any
musician or artist, thus it was just as important for me in
order to share any video/film work that I constructed.
Whether it was my final video or any practice material I
shot way back in September, YouTube was essential in
being able to upload and share my work as it can be
accessed by millions of people around the world,
wherever they are! YouTube was really simple to use
and I could simply upload my work with the click of a
button. Also, as it is the internet’s biggest video-sharing
device, it is so simple to share the video, again by
clicking a single button and the URL code could simply
be pasted anywhere to allow my target audience to also
see it. YouTube also has the advantage of having a
comments section, allowing simply anyone, to leave
feedback, which would be extremely helpful during the
evaluation stage of my coursework. Another advantage
which was extremely helpful during my other evaluation
questions was that you have the option to add subtitles
or annotations to the video. I used this feature to
comment on specific elements of my final production to
give a different take on an evaluation.

16. Making my entire blog neat, tidy and professional has always
been important, and by using Slide Share, I was enabled to
upload all of my PowerPoint and Word documents so that
they could be embedded into my blog. The advantage of Slide
Share is that it makes your documents still accessible and can
be clicked through like you would with a normal presentation.
It was also helpful as I was able to embed YouTube videos
into the presentation as they were uploaded to Slide Share
which was another useful tool for making my presentations
more interesting and adding more depth into my research.
Prezi was an online tool I had used briefly for my Foundation Portfolio, but
using it in G324 has definitely allowed me to learn to use it more efficiently
to make sophisticated interactive presentations. This year I learnt that I
could also embed my different types of documents such as PowerPoint
presentations into the Prezi, which allowed me to help explain my ideas in
more depth to my target audience if ever I were discussing them. I felt like
Prezi was a much more creative and entertaining way to present my
ideas, and I especially found it useful when discussing my evaluation
question concerning all three of my products and my target audience as I
could take the viewer on a visual journey through all of the different
stages.