A PowerPoint detailing my response to Q4

1. Critical Evaluation Q4
Joseph Lee

2. How did you integrate technologies- Software,
hardware and online in this project?
• Integrated technologies spanned a large portion of this project.
• In this presentation I will be going through the various
technologies that helped me achieve my final product. Both
through research and planning as well as my production and
evaluation.

3. Software
• Adobe premiere pro 2015
• Adobe Photoshop
• Audacity sound
• PowerPoint
• Prezi
• Puush
• Internet browser

4. Adobe premiere pro 2015
• Adobe premiere pro 2015 (promotional video) is a timeline based video
editing software which is an app on the ‘adobe creative cloud’ in
addition to a multitude of various other apps such as Adobe Photoshop
and Dreamweaver (cc).
• This was used as my main editing software throughout the entirety of my
project for my music video.
• Having edited on IMovie for my As Media project, using Adobe Premiere
was a significant step up, but a step up that required a learning curve.
However after researching YouTube for various tutorials I was able to
operate the system without any issues.
• Through this software I was able to create the numerous layering effects
as well as the ever present black and white filter (after effects).

5. Layering

6. Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor and is an app on the ‘Adobe
creative cloud’.
• This is an app that is used a lot in the professional world and is a prime
example of a ‘prosumer product’ (meaning a professional product in the
hands of a consumer). This is an idea that could be linked back to Web
2.0 as anyone who has the time, money and dedication can become an
adept Photoshop user and content creator.
• This was an app I used to great effect in my construction of my digipak.
Through this I was able to, saturate, rasterize, and add multiple filters
into my digipak image to create an artistic vision in line with a
conventional Nine Inch Nails digipak.
• Through this I was also able to feature altered images that I had
captured, onto my website.
• Despite not having much prior experience with Photoshop I was able to
quickly use YouTube to find some tutorials which were very useful!

7. Learning the ropes
• Through this I was also able to feature altered images that I had
captured, onto my website.
• Despite not having much prior experience with Photoshop I was
able to quickly use YouTube to find some tutorials which were very
useful!

8. Images before and after Photoshop

9. Audacity sound
• Audacity is a free of cost open source audio editor and recording
software.
• This software was key in my recording of weekly podcasts,
vodcasts as well as my Q2 radio interview scenario.
• Coupled with my microphone this software would enable me to
record my voice and export in mp3 and various other formats.

10. PowerPoint and Prezi
• Coupled with slide share, PowerPoint
and Prezi were both more conventional
presenting software that I used to
create my ‘Shift in the music industry’
thesis as well as certain elements of
the evaluation process.
• This software enabled me to explore in
depth ideas and present them with eye
catching qualities.

11. Puush
• Puush is a free of cost screenshot capturing software that allows
the user to define areas of desired screen capture and convert
said image into a jpeg and online link.
• This was a software which was most prevalent in my music video,
digipak and website deconstructions and analysis. Due to the
software's impressive ability to capture images of choice, this was
a better alternative to Microsoft’s default ‘Print screen’ function.
• I used this software for almost all of my evaluation questions due
to evidencing past endeavours.
• Most images throughout my project have been through Puush at
some point.

12. Internet Browser
• This simple, yet integral piece of software’s importance cannot be
understated.
• Originally limited to Internet Explorer, today, my choice of
browser is Google Chrome, due to the convenience of linking my
google account to my browser.
• Quite simply put without this software, nothing would have been
achieved in this project.

13. Hardware
• My PC
• Sony SLT-A58 (Camera)
• 32gb SD card
• All purpose tri-pod
• High-powered outdoor light
• Strobe light
• Microphone (Vodcasts and podcasts)
• IPhone for competition submissions and video’s from Kristian (Trent).
• Green screen

14. Sony SLT-A58 (Camera) + 32gb SD card + All purpose
tri-pod
• This camera and SD card was used throughout the seven different
shoots which took place, once in school facilities and six times in
my chosen location (Fort Thungen).
• The tri-pod was also used in all of these instances and was a key
piece of hardware to ensure a steady capture of desired shots.
• However on certain handheld shots the tripod was not used due to
the inconvenience of its size.
• The tripod’s adjustable length ensured and accommodated a wide
range of shot variation in my music video.

15. High powered outdoor light + Strobe light
• The high-powered light was an original and direct priotity for me due to my vision
of working in low light conditions. Due to my experience and difficulty of this from
my As media project (horror film set in a forest).
• This light was used to great effect and was used in every scene except for the
outdoor scenes with Kristian and Orla (tortured romance scenes/middle eighth).
• In addition to this I was keen on the idea of utilizing a strobe light early on due to
it’s hypnotic, and distressing connotations within music videos.
• I took particular inspiration from the Nine Inch Nails music video ‘Came Back
Haunted’.
• I was able to purchase both of these items off of Amazon.co.uk for a relatively low
price of around 25 pounds for both items.

16. Outdoor light + Strobe

17. Microphone
• Built into one of my old gaming
headsets (Steel Series X11) lies a
competent microphone that I was able
to use for a variety of different
purposes throughout my project.
• This microphone was used
predominantly in tandem with Audacity
and was used to record my voice for
vodcasts, evaluation, and weekly
podcasts.

18. IPhone
• This was used for the recording of armature style videos such as
the video of Trent (Kristian) sat on the stairway greeting his
Norwegian fans and thanking them for their participation in the
viral concept I employed through my products
• This was also used to capture many of the photographic evidence
for my evaluation as well as many of the competition submissions.

19. Green Screen
• Although this was not used directly in my video, this was used in
an activity for a school Christmas video and was evidenced as such
on my blog.
• This use of green screen helped me become accustomed to the
fast paced tempo of a shoot, in addition to the notions of how to
effectively set up a green screen situation (IE without creases and
spread out).
• This experience also taught me how to edit around this, rasterize
and change backgrounds for performers.
http://josephtomlee.blogspot.lu/2016/01/christmas-video-slade.html

20. Online
• Blogger
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Soundcloud
• Wix
• Reddit
• Imgur

21. Blogger
• Blogger played an extremely important role in the development and tracking of
my products. My blog allowed me the capabilities of updating content with blog
posts with embedded content, ranging from PowerPoints, imagur slideshows, slide
shares, YouTube videos and sound cloud links to support texts.
• The use of links lists was also very important in encouraging users to see my
content in a manageable and visually appealing manner.
• In addition to this blogger acted as a conduit hub of my operations as it has top
links to my social media, website, YouTube, and NIN fan forums.
• This would be highly synonymous with the Web 2.0 theory which states that we as
the audience can now collaborate and produce our own user generated content.
• This would be due to the ability to leave comments on posts as well as reference
other works within your own work (weather that be a YouTube video or PhD thesis
is regardless!).

22. YouTube
• YouTube was a tremendous online site in the research and planning
sections of my project. This was due to the wealth content in terms of
of music videos in both the general and specific genre aspects.
• This site was particularly useful as most music videos (Some explicit
music videos can be found on the more artist friendly ‘Vimeo’) could be
found in one place, and this made for easy referencing in my blog posts
for analysis and deconstruction.
• This website was also very user-friendly meaning that instant comments
and ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ could be made on any of my videos regarding
the project, whether that be a behind the scenes footage video or a cut
of my music video.
• YouTube also allowed me to create a media A2 playlist which was very
useful for quick navigation amongst all of my associated videos to the
project.

23. Twitter
• Through the use of Twitter I was able to solidify my across the board
branding and tie a lot of my products together directly for my audience.
• The account would be regularly updated with band news and notable
occurrences such as when the final cut of my music video was released
or when my digipak artwork was completed. This was also a place for all
picture and video submissions for the viral concept of #NINTAKEOVER
where I received four different submissions two from Oslo, one from
Cuba and one from Luxembourg.
• I made good use of the hashtag system to get my tweets seen by the
community and the NIN fanbase.
• I also featured a live twitter feed on my website so that all posts and
action regarding the account could be seen from the website.
• This integration of technology is was pivotal in my connection with the
audience and fanbase.

24. Twitter feed

25. Sound Cloud
• Sound Cloud is a global online audio distribution platform that
enables its users to upload, promote, and share their originally-
created sounds.
• I used sound cloud as a medium for my weekly podcast series that
kept followers of the project updated.
• These podcasts helped me organise and plan my time more
effectively throughout the duration of the course.

26. Wix
• Wix was an essential online technology that allowed me to design my website the way I
wanted to.
• This was a highly effective tool for templating as well as integrating social media,
merchandising and news.
• With it’s very own built in blogging system, I was able to set up a blogging style news
feed on my home page similar to that on my personal blog and twitter feed.
• I was able to integrate social media with ease, a prime example of this would be my
use of a live twitter feed as well as my links to streaming services such as Spotify and
Apple Music.
• Although at first a live tour date system was used in my ‘live’ page to track the real
Nine Inch Nails, this was changed due to the dormant status of the band (not gigging
right now). And in it’s place I created a fake live set of tour dates with venues and
locations.
• In addition to this Wix allowed for extensive image galleries where the audience and
fan base could be treated with various shots of ‘Reznor’ and co.

27. Reddit
• The Reddit Nine Inch Nails fan forum were a key place for primary
audience feedback as it is a hub where most NIN fans aged 15-30.
• Throughout my project I submitted various cuts of my music video for
direct feedback and I received around five different comments some
negative, some positive.
• In addition to this utilising the reddit '/nin' fan forum was an important
aspect in boosting my YouTube and projects viewership as well as gaining
feedback on my various music video incarnations as they evolved and
were tweaked with time. In total I received five comments from fans
and six up-votes on the thread on both posts (Fourth draft and Final
draft), detailing how I could improve.
• These points were mostly that the video was too slow in the mid-section
and that some of the shots were out of synch. This interaction with NIN
fans directly greatly reinforces the notion of my products engaging with
the primary target audience.

28. Reddit
• Reddit is a prime example of
UGC theory as well as Web 2.0,
due to it being a home for
audience creations and
discussion regarding music acts
(In this context).
• In addition to this, users can
easily ‘up vote’ or ‘down vote’
(recommend or un recommend
any content as well as leave
comments.

29. Imgur
• Imgur is an online image sharing community and image host.
• Through this I was able to upload and collate some of the images
of the Eche-Sur-Alzette Steelworks that I photographed for my
digipak.
• With this the collection was made public for any of the fans and
viewers of my project. In addition to image sharing, the
community aspect (Web 2.0/ UGC) meant that people could up
and down vote this content as well as leave a comment.
• In addition to this, this online service allowed me to embed a
gallery in my blog which was very useful as it allowed for an
accessible experience to anyone navigating my blog.

30. Embed and online album