1. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning
and evaluation stages?
Media Technologies I used in my Research
Throughout the project I have used blogger to record my audience research, genre research,
aspects of the pre and post production and to present my evaluation. Using blogger has
enabled me to include photos, videos and links within my coursework to present my ideas and
research.
Youtube has also been a tool I have used throughout my coursework
project . I originally used Youtube to watch music videos from the indie
genre, I used these to analyse and further my understanding of indie genre
conventions. I analysed in depth three of Bastille's videos to understand
the common themes used within their work and conventions of specifically
their music videos, as these can differ within the indie genre.
After carrying my genre research by analysing both indie music videos,
and Bastille single covers I then began to carry out my audience research.
To do so I created a survey with survey monkey, this enabled me to
include ten questions of my own choice in a survey which I could then
send to members of my target audience to get their feedback and
opinions of what they would like to see in a music video and digipak. I also
carried out an interview with a member of my target audience which I
then posted to Youtube and shared onto my blog. Carrying out an
interview with my target audience meant that I was able to ask more in
depth questions with open ended answers unlike the survey where
people were only able to pick from a list of choices.

2. Media Technologies I used in my Planning
As well as using hand drawn plans for the digipak
and poster I also used photoshop to create a digital
mock up. This enabled me to use multiple layers on
the images to create the style of the image I wanted
to use. I used blue filters and experimented with
the fill and opacity of the layer to create a cold feel,
much like the images often used on Bastille covers. I
also experimented with the fill and opacity of the
band logo which I wanted to include in the ancillary
texts to appeal to the audience. I also used the
black and white and filter and experimented with
different fonts on photoshop.
As part of the planning process my group had to contact
the artists management to ask for approval to use the
song. To do so we used hotmail to email the bands
management to explain that we had no intention of
making money from the video and that it would be used
only as part of our coursework.
I used word to type up a
detailed shot list for the
video. Using word enabled
me to number each shot in
order and was clearly set out
and easy to follow.
My group used google maps to plan out
locations for our music video and add
these to our shooting schedule. Using
google maps enabled us to look at the
location before going to make sure it
was a suitable location and also meant
we could find out the exact address of
each location.
Throughout the planning process our group used
social networking sites such as facebook to stay in
contact with each other. This enabled our group to
tell each other about new ideas and send images of
props, clothing etc… and also to share links of music
videos we enjoyed and thought we could take
influence from. We also used it to send address
locations.

3. Media Technologies I used in my Production
One of the most important media technologies I used
in the production process was the camera. We used a
canon 600d DSLR, which enabled us to film the video
and take the images for our other ancillary texts. The
flip screen of the camera meant we were able to place
the camera in difficult places and still make sure the
actors were in shot and that the shot was in focus. My
using the manual focus of the camera we were able to
move the focus within one shot, this added to the
artistic style of the video.
I used photoshop to create the digipak and the
poster. Using photoshop meant I could use different
filters to create a cool tone like other Bastille covers
and also make the images black and white. I used
the magic select tool to change the colour of the
text I used on the digipak as I had taken this text
from the official cover for the ‘Of the Night’ single.
Another vital media technology we used in the
production of the video was Adobe Premier. This was the
software we used to edit the video. I had not used any
editing software previous to this and I know have a basic
understanding of how to use Premier. The software
enabled us to cut shots down before editing them all
together in the right order. We were also able to use the
fade tool to fade shots into each other this meant the
change between each shot was not as exaggerated and
made the video feel more continuous. We were also able
to import the soundtrack and include this as another
layer which meant we could check that the shots match
the rhythm as we were editing. We also were able to
create another layer of the video which we used text on.
The large range of fonts for the font tool on premiere
meant we were able to choose a font most like the
recognisable font used by Bastille on all of their covers.
We were also able to use different filters on adobe
Premier and edit the brightness and contrast as you
would be able to on photoshop, this was useful as on one
of the shots that we were using we had used an ISO that
was too high therefore making the shot far too bright. By
changing the brightness on Premiere meant that we were
able to keep the continuity of the video.
I also used dafont to download a font that looked
most like that used by Bastille for the digipak and
poster.

4. Media Technologies I used in my Evaluation
As part of my evaluation I had to gather as much audience feedback
as possible. To do this I sent the video to a group of people who were
part of my target audience in a private message via facebook and
asked for their opinions and any constructive criticisms. I also shared
the link to the video on facebook and twitter to get as much feedback
as possible. I also used Youtube as a form of feedback I rated this on
the amount of views, thumbs up and comments on the video. Using
youtube also enabled me to post the video to gain the maximum
amount of views. I was able to simply send people the URL of the
video and they were able to watch it if they had access to the
internet instead of having to send dvds of the video to people or
making a group of people sit and watch the video at once. Using
youtube may have also increased the views the video gained as our
video showed up as a suggestion on other videos.
I have used slideshare to post my
evaluation onto blogger. As I used
powerpoint to create most of my
evaluation because it is easier to
experiment with the layout and use images
I had to use slideshare to share it. Using
slideshare meant that I was able to name
the presentation and can post it to various
social networking sites.