1. How did you use new media
technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation
stages?
One of the new media technologies I used this year in the construction,
research and planning stages included various types of software. These
included Wix, the use of greenscreen, the DSLR for filming and Photoshop.
2. One of the main new media technologies I used for in the construction,
research and planning was Wix. This was my own personal website
dedicated to my media work where all of my research and planning were
put on there so I could see where I was when making the music video,
magazine advert and the website and also it helped me plan ahead for
when it came to actually filming the music video.The use for my Wix page
was responsible for my work and development throughout the year
involving the coursework I was working on which is the music video.The
pages on my Wix showed my ideas and work towards making the music
video but it was also useful as it showed the progress I made from Year 12
to Year 13 in terms of production, planning and evaluation. The pages on
Wix was used to show my work in the build up to the filming of the music
video so everyone can see how I went from step to step in creating the
music video. I used this new media technology as whenever I needed to go
over what I had needed to include or need help, I had the option of coming
back to check on my Wix to help me with my production.
3. These include pages about such as Research and Planning where it included
sub pages such as research of real music videos related to our genre, audience
research (questionnaire), the different audience theories and homepage
research for the website I created for my artist. This helped me in the
construction and research and planning as I had specific research where it was
needed so I knew what I needed to include in my magazine advert and website
but also it helped me develop and take inspiration from some real media
conventions. I also had a specific page for my actual music video planning
where I talked about casting research, the storyboard, the USP for the music
video and themise-en-scene, technical codes and scenes where it links with
Andrew Goodwin's theory of music videos. Wix was very good as this acted as
the base of the music video to make it look professional but also so it aided me
when it came to actually understanding the making of a music video and the
general conventions of a music video such as the relationship between the
music and visuals, the notion of looking, intertextual references.
4. Wix was a new media technology, which was advanced when it came to
linking other media technologies such as YouTube, Final Cut, PowerPoint,
and Word documents. I had used this to my advantage, as I knew I could
do any separate work on these technologies and upload it onto my Wix
easily. This enabled me to keep track of my work as it brought other
technologies together which made it comfortable for me as I had all my
work on my Wix.
Wix was a completely new media technology from last years Blogger that
I uploaded all of my work on when I was working on my film opening.
Blogger was more difficult as Blogger did not allow me to move my work
around such as pictures, it was difficult embedding other technologies
such as YouTube, and I had to change the dates manually and put in order
as Blogger did not have a actual website layout like Wix with a dropdown
menu but rather like a list so it meant that my most recent work was at
the top and my earlier work was at the bottom. This was hard for me to
get used to, as this was a new experience for me as it was my first time.
In comparison with Wix, I feel that Wix was much more easier to use due
to its features and its ability to link other media technologies. It also
looked more professional and appealed more visually.
5. I used YouTube when it came to researching real music videos in my chosen
genre of R&B/Bollywood. This was very beneficial as YouTube is probably
the biggest media technology, which features all the mainstream music
videos. This helped in the construction, research and planning, as I was able
to take screenshots of the music video where I wanted to analyse for
example costume, a particular camera shot, etc. It also helped me with my
research and planning as this was the main focal point for my research into
real music videos and it improved my understanding of my chosen genre
and how my artist should be portrayed in the music video to appeal to the
audience. In addition, this aided me in my planning; as I knew what the
typical conventions were in my chosen genre such as a romance, costume
choices, location such as a house. YouTube was also effective when it came
to uploading videos I had filmed such as lip sync practice, drone shot
practice, draft of our music video. It was helpful as I could link this into my
Wix easily. However, YouTube was also good when it came to tutorials on
how to use Photoshop to create my magazine advert or how to create my
website. YouTube assisted me a lot as these were new software’s which I
had never used before so it gave me a helping hand when it came to
creating the magazine advert and website.
6. Photoshop was another new media technology I used and probably the
hardest one out of all of them. This was a totally new experience for me as I
had no previous experience with Photoshop. Also, the task was very
complicated as it was creating a magazine advert. However, I felt as if my
group worked well together when constructing the magazine advert using
Photoshop as we used YouTube to help us. We also relied on help from our
classmates as some of them had previous experience with Photoshop so
they were familiar with the software. Photoshop was a useful software as it
allowed me to add some effects to my magazine advert such as changing
the filter, using the brush tools to fix anything on the picture, background
changes, change lightings and also adding in more visuals but make it blend
in to give it the natural look. From my research, I learnt that the magazine
advert should be near perfect as it is about promoting the artist and the
single so Photoshop allowed me construct my magazine advert to its full
potential due to its features. It also came in handy when importing different
types of font from external websites such as DaFont. This helped me work
out which type of font suited my artist the best and which one was the
most suitable according to the genre and message I was trying to convey to
the audience through the magazine advert.
7. The camera used for filming the music video was a big step up from last year. This year we used a DSLR to
film in comparison to last year when we had a camcorder. The DSLR was a huge improvement from the
camcorder used last year as this enabled us to take clearer pictures and make sure the shots were in focus.
This new media technology was used to construct the music video to make sure it looks as professional
and realistic as possible as the effects on the DSLR were greater than on a normal camcorder. For example,
we had the opportunity of using auto focus or manual focus, it was easier to take pictures, the quality of
shot was much better and overall the camera itself was easier to use when it came to saving our filming
and uploading it onto our Mac’s. This was very helpful when it came to research and planning our
magazine advert and websites as we took a lot of photos of our artist in different locations to decide which
one we wanted to use in the end but also it allowed us to have a good quality of picture as seen in a real
magazine advert and website. Looking back now, it would have been extremely difficult to film with the
camcorder as the music video was much more harder than a film opening and the DSLR was a very good
boost for us as we knew we could film our music video knowing the quality of the shots would be clearer.
The use of greenscreen was another new media technology used when constructing the magazine advert
and website. This again was a complete new experience for me but I felt like I successfully constructed a
good magazine advert and website using greenscreen. The use of greenscreen enabled us to take the
picture we wanted but then use Photoshop to edit any background we wanted to fit in with our music
video. The use of greenscreen was very important when it came to research and planning for our magazine
advert and website as my research into real media products showed that sometimes the artist would have
a themed background or a background edited on with the artist in front. This prompted me to use
greenscreen for my research and planning and just have an idea on how I could use to this to my
advantage as I wanted to take inspiration from real magazine adverts and websites. For example, Wretch
32’s magazine advert featured him with an edited background. I used greenscreen in the construction of
my magazine advert and website as I felt this would be more effective as I could have what I wanted as my
background which in the end, I went for a unique look as I added a colour scheme which flowed and added
photos from the actual music video in the background.
8. Furthermore, Final Cut Pro was the software used for all the editing of the
music video. This was a familiar software as I used this last year when I was
working on my film opening. This was a very effective software to use as I
knew how to use and edit the video quite comfortably which saved me quite
some time learning how to use it. Using Final Cut Pro allowed me to add
effects such as cross dissolve, fade and edit the sound as this project was to
match the lip syncing with the audio. It was also helpful when constructing
the video as I already knew how to cut when it was appropriate and use the
tools such as the blade, scissor and arrow. This aided me when it came to my
research and planning as when I looked into real music videos in my genre, I
found out that when it was a song with a performance side to it, it was very
fast paced to go along with the music. However, due to mine being a mix but
with a clear message, I used these tools to my benefit as I edited carefully to
match the pace of the song and the visuals shown in the video. If it was to
show a scene where the audience was supposed to gather an idea from what
I was trying to show, then it would be a slow cut to give them time to grasp
the message shown. Ultimately, using Final Cut Pro helped with the matching
of the lip sync with the song as it had features of having quick cuts with
transitions to match with the visuals and the lyrics which was featured in
Andrew Goodwin’s theory.
9. For my evaluation, I used Prezi which was a software I used last
year so I had experience with that. This was a unique way of
presenting one of my evaluation questions as it was creative
and appealing due to its animations and features. It is also good
as it allows you pick a template or start from scratch. This
format is very easy to use and is a fun way of presenting one my
evaluation questions. It is also easily accessible on the Internet
and you can embed it on my Wix.
10. Another media technology used for my evaluation was PowerPoint. This was
one of the easiest softwares to use as I had used this plenty of times before.
It is also good to use when presenting an evaluation question as it is normally
used for presentations where you can add animations to make it more
attractive for the reader, you can pretty much import anything from external
places such as photos, text etc, it is very easy to use, and it is again easily
accessible. It also saves a lot of time as it is already set up for you as
individual slides and has many tools for you to choose from depending on
what you want to do.
11. Moreover, Powtoon is another media technology which is a very different
and inventive from other softwares. Powtoon is a software where it allows
you to create animated videos and presentations. This is very effective
when presenting my evaluation as I used this last year so I am familiar with
the software. Powtoon is a completely inventive and fun way of presenting
my evaluation question as it attracts the reader and shows that I can be
creative. It shows off my ability to use different media technologies to
present each evaluation question.
