evaluation

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

2. Media technologies
Media technologies consist of many different
types of software, programs, and other forms
of digital technology that contribute to the
creation of media texts and supporting
material.
Examples of media technologies include:
 Photo editing software (Photoshop,
iPhoto, etc.)
 Video editing software (Final Cut Pro,
iMovie etc.)
 Publishing programs (Microsoft Publisher
etc.)
 Presentation programs (Microsoft
PowerPoint, Prezi etc.)
In addition to those already mentioned, other
examples of media technology I engaged with
whilst making my A2 music video are:
 Bitstrip (online comic-making program)
 Spotify (music streaming service)
 Slideshare (presentation-sharing website)
 Pinterest (social network with online ‘pin
boards’)
 PowToon (online presentation/video
maker)

3. Construction Research Planning Evaluation
Photoshop ✔
iMovie ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Final Cut Pro ✔
PowerPoint ✔ ✔ ✔
Prezi ✔ ✔ ✔
Bitstrip ✔ ✔ ✔
Spotify ✔ ✔ ✔
Pinterest ✔ ✔ ✔
Powtoon ✔ ✔ ✔
What I used media technology for:

4. Summary
From the grid I made, it is clear that the photo and video editing software was
mostly used in the construction of my product. I used iMovie to make a few
videos for my planning, research and evaluation, but mostly used Photoshop and
Final Cut to put together my ancillary texts and video.
For planning, research and evaluation, I used presentation software and websites
like Spotify and Pinterest. I did this because planning, research and evaluation
requires a lot of written explanation and examples that are easier to understand
and view on some sort of presentation.
The more creative forms of presentation, Pinterest, Powtoon and Spotify, were
used to get ideas across in ways other than writing. Pinterest used images whilst
Spotify used music. I used Powtoon to make a fun video that would make
planning and research a bit more interesting than just more writing.

5. Photoshop
Photoshop is a photo-editing
program created by Adobe. It is
used both professionally and
casually for everything from
magazine covers to simple family
pictures.
The best thing about Photoshop
is it’s wide range of tools and
features that make it simple for
everyone to edit images the way
they would like.
I downloaded the 30-day free trial
of the program in order to edit
my ancillary text pictures at home,
as well using it at college. I have
had previous experience with
using it during GCSE
Photography and AS Media
Studies, so I got to apply my
knowledge for my ancillary texts.
It was perfect for putting
together my magazines advert,
as the layers feature allowed me
to really fine-tune the different
parts of the image and focus
on individual sections.
It helped when constructing a
simple structure, and then
laying everything on top to
create the finished magazine
advert.
As my 30-day trial finished, I
had to find another way of
editing my ancillary texts at
home.
I did some research into which
photo-editing programs
opened .psd files and found
Gimp, which worked very
much the same way as
Photoshop but was free.

6. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Ability to have different
layers – can change parts of
the image without
accidentally ruining the
whole thing
 Tools are easy to use and
very extensive
 It adds a professional
element
 Allows you to layer images
and add interesting effects
(once you get the hand of it)
Cons
 If you’re not careful, you can
end up accidentally deleting
everything
 The above is due to the
attention you have to pay to
the layers you are isolating
 Can be really confusing if
you haven’t used it before
 Has a lot of features that
could be useful but are
difficult to understand

7. iMovie
iMovie is a video-editing program
created by Apple. I used the
program at home as well as on the
Macs at college to create videos
that didn’t need a lot of precise
editing.
I used iMovie to make a slideshow
of pictures for behind the scenes
posts on my blog and text shots.
These were compilations, and they
were better for iMovie because I
just need to create a simple
montage.
iMovie is easy to use, with a lot of
templates already built in for
quickly putting together a video. I
was able to make short videos for
my blog without all the hassle of
using professional editing
programs.
Although iMovie has lots of
good features, such as pre-
designed themes and
transitions that create a
template for you, it isn’t
precise enough for music
videos.
This is why I chose to use
Final Cut to edit instead, as
iMovie is only good for
quick, simple videos that
don’t require an extensive
range of tools and effects.
The precision is needed
when making something like
a music video or a film, but
a lack of it is okay when
making a quick video that
doesn’t need much change.

8. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Ability to choose pre-set
themes and transitions
 Easy to use and quick to
make videos
 Allows you to make
something creative out of
something simple
 Quick to process and
upload videos to YouTube
Cons
 Not enough features to
edit a music video
 Can be frustrating if you
haven’t used it before
 Not many fine-tuning
tools to use on video clips
 Doesn’t do much to your
video apart from put clips
side by side and add
transitions

9. Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is another
program created by Apple
used for video editing. It is
used professionally as well
as at home and in schools.
I chose to edit my video
on Final Cut because I’m
used to using the Macs,
and I’ve never used any
other type of video editing
software.
It was easy to use and
understand, and I got the
hang of it straight away.
This made editing the
easiest part of the A2
project.
The good thing about
Final Cut is the ability to
pay attention to detail.
There is an extensive range
of tools hat are especially
significant and useful when
making a music video or
film.
It allows you to focus on
the precise elements of the
video clips and put them
together exactly how you
imagine in your mind.
This is something I
couldn’t find with iMovie,
so I tried Final Cut instead
and was satisfied.

10. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Wide range of tools like
‘blade’, ‘trim’, etc. that
allow you to edit the
smallest of clips and
details
 Lots of effects that are
easy to apply and adjust
 Easy and quick to use
once you get the hang of
it
 Easy to process and
upload videos to YouTube
Cons
 Can be tricky finding what
you want to do to the clips
 Can crash if too much
data is on the computer or
being edited
 Can be frustrating to edit
if using for the first time
 May take a while to
process the video,
although it isn’t difficult to
do so

11. PowerPoint & Prezi
PowerPoint is created by
Windows and is a program used
for making presentations. I used it
a lot for my planning and
research, due to the fact that it is
an easy and creative way to display
lots of information.
Prezi is similar, but is available in
web browsers. It is more of a
‘free-flowing’ presentation, with a
lot more choices of templates that
make the presentation look like a
video rather than just slides.

12. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Easy to use and quick to
understand
 Lots of themes to choose
from
 Makes information
interesting and fun to read
through
 Doesn’t take long to
upload in photo or
embedded format
Cons
 Can be repetitive, as there
are only a few ways of
presenting text
 Can be frustrating to use
Prezi if you are used to
using PowerPoint
 Not much to work with
except simple slides

13. Bitstrip
I found Bitstrip on a friend’s
Facebook page, and I find it
interesting because it allows you
to make comic strips incredibly
easily.
I used it during my AS planning
and research, and again this year,
because of how simple it is to
make something so fun and
creative.
It allowed me to put information
into cartoon form – making the
research a lot less repetitive.
It allows you to create
characters – this was useful
in creating myself and
actors in the video.
You can then place then in
different scenairos, all of
which are included for free,
with props and other
things.
You can add speech
bubbles – which was a
great way to present
information for my
research.

14. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Easy to use and quick to
understand
 Lots of characters, props,
scenes etc.
 You can start from scratch
and build anything you
want
 It’s a great way to present
information visually
Cons
 Can be frustrating getting
the tools to work
 A bit tricky to embed the
images onto a blog
 Only so much text can fit
onto a scene and still be
legible
 It can be time-consuming
getting the details right

15. Spotify
Spotify is a music streaming service
that is available in web browsers and
for downloading onto devices like
computers, iPods and phones.
It allows you to make playlists, listen
to albums and browse what’s new for
free. I used it to make a playlist that
related to my music video narrative,
and listened to it whilst writing up
research and planning.
It gave my work a ‘soundtrack’ and
helped me a lot with working through
research.

16. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Easy to sign up for and
use
 Lots of playlists already
created
 Easy to make a playlist
 Millions of songs available
– some aren’t on it but it is
very rare
Cons
 Can crash when going
through updates
 The embedding feature
may not work at first
 You can only use it if you
have an account

17. Pinterest
Pinterest is an online ‘pin board’, where
you can search for images, recipes,
designs and everything else that people
form all around the world have
uploaded.
It is a great place for inspiration and
free to use, so it was perfect for finding
inspiration for the music video and
displaying my ideas.
I used it to make a mood board online
and pinned quirky and fun images I
found that related to my narrative.

18. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Easy to use and quick to
understand
 A massive online database
of images connected to
websites and everything
else
 An easy way to find and
display inspiration
 A good alternative to a
simple moodboard
Cons
 Sometimes the embed
feature doesn’t display the
pins the way you intended
 Might be hard to find the
exact image you want
because there are so many
 You have to sign up to use
it properly

19. Powtoon
Powtoon is a website that lets you make video presentations using
templates and themes. It involves lots of cartoons and creative
aspects that make it a great way to display planning and research.
I used it to make a video to present my work, and it was extremely
easy to use once I got the hang of it. It was fun and interesting for
people reading my work to experience something new.

20. Pros and Cons
Pros
 Fun and interesting to
make and watch videos
 A more creative and
dynamic way of presenting
information
 You can make really
interesting transitons or
use the pre-set ones
 Easy to use once you get
used to it
Cons
 Can be confusing at first
 Frustrating to use certain
tools because of how
different it is to typical
video-editing programs
 Have to use it in a browser
and so have to sign up
 It can be time-consuming
making the perfect video

21. Equipment
I got to grips with using a video camera and tripod
whilst filming. I’ve had experience before, but not that
much. The cameras I booked out were easy to use, so
I didn’t have a problem with them.
I used tripods a lot to provide stability for shots, so
that they didn't look unprofessional and like I had
been unprepared for filming.
I also used lighting and backgrounds in the green
room for photographing (although this was just a
minimal part of the project, because most pictures
were taken during filming).

22. Planning & Research
Planning and research was started with a checklist given at the beginning of
the year, but as I progressed down the list, I did a lot of independent blog
posts to add to my work. I didn’t have to use much ‘advanced’ forms of
media technology whilst doing my planning and research, because all I
needed was a way to present my ideas than a way to change or edit them. I
needed different ways to present large amounts of text and analysis, and so
presentation programs were the mot important things I needed to find.
PowerPoint was an obvious and classic one, along with Prezi, both of which
allowed me to choose different themes and layouts. However, Bitstrip was my
favourite to use due to the fact that it was so fun and creative: with minimal
effort on my part. All I had to do was use the resources that were already
available to me on the website and arrange them how I wished. Powtoon was
also very fun to use, as the end result made me appreciative of the work I put
into using it (after struggling with controls at the beginning).

23. Construction & Evaluation
For construction, I needed to edit my work. This would involve a
lot more media technology than just presenting m work. I needed
to find things that would be suitable for the fine-tuning and drama
that came with making a video or ancillary text. the classics came
to mind – Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. These were the simplest
for me to use, and the most efficient at editing the video and
ancillary texts, and putting them together from scratch. Evaluation,
on the other hand, required more presentation: much like in
planning and research. I decided to look at the four questions
different and see what I needed the most. for example, questions
that required a lot more text in response would be best presented
on Prezi or PowerPoint, as well as in Blogger post alongside
various forms of evidence and accompanying research.