When researching, planning, constructing, and evaluating my media project, I made use of various technologies. For research, Blogger allowed me to store research and YouTube helped me analyze conventions in music videos. In planning, Blogger, iMovie, SlideShare, and PowerPoint helped me organize my ideas and receive feedback. Final Cut Express, Photoshop, iStopMotion, and cameras supported the construction. Finally, Facebook and a Flip camera facilitated gathering feedback for evaluation.

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

2. Research Stages When research my work I made use of various media technologies such as: Blogger Youtube

3. Blogger Blogger was extremely useful in the research stages of my project as it provided a place to store all of my research. Blogger grants easy access to all of my saved work allowing me to go back and look at it when ever is necessary. Because it allows videos to be posted blogger was also useful in that it allowed me to analyze multiple music videos and find conventions in these videos which would help in my final product. One disadvantage is that without internet all of my work would be inaccessible.

4. Youtube Youtube was very useful as it allowed me to view other music videos from my genre in order to denote what the conventions of that genre were. This allowed me to create my video based on these conventions. It also allowed me to research other media students work and see what they did well and what was wrong which influenced my own video. One problem is that because there are so many videos it could have been easy for my video to become to similar to those.

5. Planning Stages When I began planning my work there were various technologies that helped the process: Blogger Imovie Slideshare Powerpoint

6. Blogger Blogger was especially useful when planning the work as it allowed me to store it all in one easily accessible place. Blogger also provides various tools for constructing documents meaning it was easy to type out a shot list etc. It was also useful as it allowed others to view my planning stages and leave feedback on my ideas. This influenced my planning and allowed me to make any necessary changes to the work.

7. Imovie iMovie was useful in the planning stages as it allowed me to construct an animation of my storyboard making it easier to upload and share on Blogger enabling audiences to leave feedback. iMovie also allowed me to play the storyboard to the song and see how long each shot should last. A con of iMovie is that it is very simplistic. It features only basic tools for editing and isn’t particularly professional. This is why we only used it in the initial planning stages

8. Slideshare Slideshare was very useful in the planning stages as it allowed me to upload various PowerPoints to the internet and then save them to my blog. These powerpoints e.g. pitch, artist research, could then be viewed by others who could then leave feedback on my ideas. One problem with slideshare is that it could be unreliable, causing difficulties in uploading the powerpoints.

9. Powerpoint Powerpoint allowed me to present my ideas in a simple accessible way. Each slide could contain a specific section of information which made it easy to understand. One problem with powerpoint is that thepresentations are more difficult to upload to blogger. To do it I had to use slideshare which could be unreliable.

10. Construction During the construction of my video I used various technologies that made it easier: Video Camera Final Cut Express Photoshop iStopmotion Stills camera

11. Film Camera/Tripod The film camera was the most essential piece of technology when constructing my video. Using it I could shoot all of my scenes relatively quickly as it was simple to use. The tripod allowed me to steady the shots to give a better quality picture. The cons of the camera are that the tape and battery have limited space meaning I could only film for a certain time without replacing them.

12. Final Cut Express Final Cut was one of the most useful technologies when constructing my video. It allowed for complex editing unlike iMovie which only provided simple tools. Final Cut also allowed me to add effects and use green screen filming to great effect. One problem with final cut however is that it was often very slow to load and was also very complicated to use.

13. Photoshop Photoshop was very useful in constructing my digi pack/poster. It allowed me to create various complex images and backgrounds and use various fonts in order to create a poster that was well suited to my music video. It was also quite easy to use once I had gotten used to it. One problem is that it was initially complicated to use before having practiced with it.

14. iStopmotion iStopmotion was useful when creating my claymation. It allowed me to effectively sync the claymation to the song which would have been difficult without it. It was also very easy to use straight away. One problem is that the tools available were not very complex and it only allowed for simple animation.

15. Stills Camera The stills camera was very useful in the construction of the digi pack/poster, as it allowed me to take the photos I would need. The camera allowed for clear, high quality photos that made the digi pack and poster look much higher quality. One problem with the camera is that the battery and memory card have limited space meaning I could only take a certain amount of photos.

16. Evaluation When doing the evaluation for my final product there were a few useful technologies that allowed me to obtain feedback: Facebook Flip Camera

17. Facebook Facebook was useful as it is a social networking site. It allowed me to upload my final products in order for others to view them and leave feedback on them. It was a very easy way to obtain feedback as it is used by so many people. One problem is that it is useless without an internet connection.

18. Flip Camera The flip camera was very useful in collecting feedback. It is small and portable and allows for quick videos of people giving their opinions on my video. Using it I was able to quickly film multiple people giving feedback on my work. One problem is the limited space on the camera which prevents it from being used for long films.