Evaluation: Question 4

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

In this question of my evaluation I will be discussing all of the different
media technologies I have used during this entire process of creating my
music video and ancillary texts. While doing this, I will be stating how these
technologies have helped me throughout this entire process and what
effect they had on me and my A2 Media portfolio overall. I will split this
PowerPoint presentation into 3 sections, pre-production, production and
post-production. This way I can add each technology into one of these
sections so it’ll be known for sure which part of the process I used it in. But
since I use blogger in all 3 parts of the process, I will
discuss this first.

I’d already had some experience with blogger while doing my AS Media portfolio, so this time around, I was
very comfortable with using it. Its main use was to hold the entirety of my portfolio and publish all of my
development, planning and final pieces onto very quickly and easily. But it also allowed me to embed a lot of
content from other websites I used such as Prezi, Slideshare and YouTube. I liked doing this because it gave my
blog more variety, because I was displaying my research and planning in unique way. This looked much more
effective and readable than just posting the information in a plain text form. Blogger also proved useful during
the production period as I was able to keep a filming log/diary very easily by typing what I had done on a
particular day and then posting it immediately. This helped me keep track of my progress throughout the entire
process of making my video and ancillary texts. Blogger also enabled me to create a poll which I used during my
research period in pre-production. I added six questions with multiple choice answers, and I emailed my blog
link to my participants. The multiple choice options made it very easy for them to answer, so I managed to get
the results pretty quickly and easily as it showed the answers in percentages, this made them easy to analyse
later on. As for the post-production section of the process, I used blogger to keep track of my edits of my music
video, as well as how I was progressing with my ancillary texts. This didn’t only help my teachers see where I
was at in terms of progress, but it also helped me keep on track with
the tasks.

Web 2.0 was very helpful over the course of pre-production, especially during my
research to determine my genre, target audience and type of video I wanted to make.
While researching into the genre of country, I used Wikipedia to look up the history of
the genre as a way of recognising conventions. I put this information into various blog
posts to keep track of it during the production period. This way, once it was time to begin
post-production , I was able to link back to this original research in my evaluation. I found
YouTube to be incredibly useful also, as it enabled me to search and watch country music
videos, old and new. It was with this search that I chose the three videos to analyse for
My textual analysis. Furthermore, this research helped into country videos helped me decide what kind of
video I wanted to make. I stated soon after in a blog post, that my music video would be ‘Tragedy Country.’ I
came to this decision as I was inspired by some videos I found on YouTube. I enjoyed them so much I decided
that I would take inspiration from both of them and replicate some of the conventions used. These music
videos were Taylor Swift’s “Safe & Sound” and Miranda Lambert’s “Over You.”

Primarily, I didn’t use PowerPoint in much detail until the post-production stage. But after I had done
my first set of audience research, I wanted to translate them into a format that would be much easier
to read them in, specifically, pie charts. As most of my audience research in pre-production and
audience feedback in post-production was displayed on a PowerPoint presentation, I made the pie
charts on there. As you can see, it was a little more complicated than I anticipated. I had to insert the
pie chart by first putting the information in Excel and then it created the pie chart for me. After this, I
was able to transfer it to PowerPoint and edit it to my satisfaction (colours etc). This was very useful for
me as viewing my results in this format made it much easier to analyse. I also used PowerPoint greatly
during post-production when completing my evaluation. I had a separate PowerPoint for each of the
four questions. With this format, I was able to link in evidence like images and screenshots to ensure I
was answering the questions to the best of my ability.

Prezi was also a media technology that proved exceedingly useful during pre-production. I used Prezi
primarily for showcasing my ideas that I intended to use for my music video. Prezi is an online
application which allows you to make presentations online, it is compared with PowerPoint often but I
consider it to be a lot more creative as there are hundreds of templates to use. It also lets you do things
that PowerPoint cannot do, like embedding videos for example. This allowed me to reference music
videos directly opposed to just describing them. I made thirteen Prezi presentations is total during the
process, and they all displayed either information, research, ideas or theories. Since Prezi is very
creative and fun to watch, I felt using it to showcase my ideas and research was the best way to do so. I
couldn’t have displayed my ideas in a more effective way. Below are screen shots of all my prezis, 6 of
them focused on key theories like audience theory I made reference to frequently, 2 of them focused
on artist and audience research, 2 of them focused on formal and genre conventions and 3 focused on
my own ideas for my video and ancillary texts.

I had an opportunity to borrow a camcorder from college which was the SONY Handycam HDR-CX250E. But
after deliberating, I decided to use my personal camera instead. This camera is the Canon EOS 600D. I
decided to use my DSLR for a number of reasons. Firstly, the camera is takes videos in the correct aspect
ratio of 16:9. Secondly, it has a manual focus which enables me to create things like depth of field with the
focus which cannot be done on a camcorder. Thirdly, it performs well in all lighting, even dark, which the
SONY camcorder doesn't. Additionally, it has a complex lens which lets you zoom in and out more
extensively than a camcorder can. Finally, and most importantly, it is renowned for taking not only high
quality photos but also HD videos. As I'm a perfectionist and someone who pays attention to detail, I felt it
appropriate to use my camera so I could have footage in the highest resolution possible so my music video
will look more professional. I used this camera both for filming and to take the pictures for my ancillary
texts, the 18 megapixel resolution ensured that my pictures and videos would be in high quality. The flip
screen also proved very useful in the final filming session especially. Since I was sat in front of the camera
playing guitar, I was able to see if the guitar was in frame or not. Overall I’m very pleased that I used my own
camera for my music video and ancillary texts. The high quality resolution, flip screen, focus and complex
zoom helped me in enabling my music video to look very professional and conventional
to my genre.

The tripod I used was provided by college and it is a Velbon DF-61. This tripod proved to
be very useful as its big structure matched the balance of my heavy camera very well. It
was very easy to use and I was able to use it to do a variety of different angles. There was
a lever that tilted the mechanism that the camera was on up and down, which made low
and high angles. Also, there was a lever that moved around the mechanism that the
camera was on in order to make smooth panning shots. It was also very sturdy, which
enabled me to use it as a makeshift steadicam . I held on to the legs of the tripod and
walked back slowly on a flat path, I used this a lot in my video as I loved the effect of the
camera moving along with my actress who was walking. Finally, the legs of the tripod were
adjustable so I was able to make the tripod as low or tall as I would like.
Overall, I’d consider this tripod was very
effective in helping me film the footage
needed for my music video. It’s weight
complimented that of my camera
perfectly which made the tripod easier
to use as a steadicam for walking shots
as well as making the footage easier to
capture.

Final Cut Pro was the main component to creating my music video, installed onto an IMac. I had the
option of using Adobe Premiere Pro, but I chose Final Cut Pro instead as it is easier to use and there
is a bigger variety of effects and filters. Final Cut also had the option of exporting my video in full
HD, this was something I wanted to do as I filmed on a DSLR and I wanted the footage to look as
professional as it could be. First I imported all of my footage onto the IMac, and transferred them
into one ‘event’ on Final Cut – enabling me to be able to access the parts I wanted easily and
quickly. This programme allowed me to cut and re-size clips, add special effects and filters, add text
increase and decrease the speed of clips, adjust the volume etc, to enable me to create the slow
motion in my video as well as some reverse effects. I had no previous experience with the system
so found it difficult to get used to, but thought by beginning filming early (October) it would give
mediums such as Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Premiere as it was a much more complex, intricate programme which enabled
the precise cutting and placing of clips, overall enabling my music video to look as professional as possible. I experimented with
filters in some of my video clips, but after experimenting with them, I realised none of them fit with my genre of music
video, country. Country music videos are full of nature, the outdoors and vibrant colours, and using a filter would take that away.
Although I did use two filters in separate parts of the video because they enhanced it. The first was 'cold steel' which I used on the
first two clips of the music video which represented a dull setting, but I bring back the full colour once the fire is lit, adding a dark
and mysterious tone. The other filter I used was 'glory' which I added to various sequences in the graveyard when my actress was
standing in front of the sun, which created a dark silhouette. 'Glory' enhanced this footage by fixing the exposure and giving it a
very supernatural tone. Finally, I added a text shot to be inserted at the beginning of the video, which featured all of the details
required for the examiners when marking (my name, college, board etc). Overall, I felt Final Cut Pro was the perfect program to
edit and create my music video.
me the chance to upload everything as soon as possible and get used to the programme. I chose this programme

Adobe Photoshop CS5 was the technology I used to create both of my ancillary texts. I had
used this programme to create my final texts for my AS media studies portfolio, so was
confident with how to use it. With this programme, I was able to edit my photographs
effectively using colour adjustment tools, crop and re-size images, create numerous
amounts of text using layering and overall create my ancillary texts the way I wanted to.
This programme enabled me to make my ancillary texts look professional and realistic
overall and in comparison to other mediums such as Microsoft Publisher it was a much
more complex programme that enabled me to edit images in a much more detailed and
thorough way. While I adjusted most of my images in PicMonkey (colour, saturation etc), I
used Photoshop for most of the placement, including the text and sub-images (like the barcode) on my ancillary
texts. With this, I used Photoshop to remove the white background from a lot of my sub-images. These tools
include the magic wand, quick select and eraser, all of these were effective in achieving my objective. Photoshop
was also responsible for helping me put together my digipak, as once I had completed each individual cover using a
combination of picmonkey and Photoshop, I opened the template in the programme and began placing all my
covers in the appropriate places while making a simple spine. The tool I found the most useful out of all was
probably the opacity tool, which makes an image translucent while over another image. I used this tool while
creating the back and inside left covers, I wanted to make the setting look more eerie and mysterious, so I found an
image of some clouds and overlaid it on top of the main image, I adjusted the opacity and it instantly gave an effect
of mist and eeriness.

Picmonkey is an online service that lets you edit photos for free. It contains many different
tools from basic to advanced. While I used Photoshop for the majority of my photo
editing, picmonkey was very useful at giving my pictures unique and creative filters, which
Photoshop did not have. I also found it very easy to use as instructions pop up every time
you click on a tool. The majority of tools I used were in the effects section, this contained a
huge amount of filters for you to apply to your images. You could also control the effect with
the ‘fade’ button, this helps you determine how much or how little you want the effect on
your image. There is also a ‘touch up’ section which I found very useful, these tools removed
any blemishes on my actress’ face and enhanced her features. The last tool I used was the
text tool, I decided to use it on picmonkey rather than Photoshop because there was a wider
variety of fonts. This enabled me to find fonts that worked best on my ancillary
texts, especially the front and back cover. Overall, picmonkey was very useful in providing
some effects that weren’t available on Photoshop and it helped enhance my images to their
full potential.

Slideshare is an online service that allows you to upload PowerPoint presentations.
The service then transfers them into a digital format which you can link and embed
into various websites for viewing. I had used this technology while doing my AS
Media Portfolio, so I was very confident with using it once again for my A2 Portfolio. I used it primarily
for my evaluation as I felt it was a very professional yet unique way of presenting it on my blog.
Plus, once the PowerPoint it is uploaded, it is presented in a format where you click an arrow and it
goes to the next slide. I deemed this much more effective and advanced than just print-screening each
slide and posting them as pictures on my blog. Aside from my evaluation, I also used slideshare to
present the images I had taken during my filming sessions for my ancillary texts. Again, I considered
this more effective and viewable than just posting each picture individually. Finally, I used it to present
my completed storyboard as it felt more appropriate to do this slideshare is able compacts a lot of
information in a small space. This is much better and space-saving than just posting the 60+ pages of
storyboard in a row. Overall, slideshare was incredibly useful during post-production as it enabled me
to keep a lot of information compact rather than it taking up a lot of space while still looking
professional.

My IPhone 5s proved exceedingly useful throughout both production and post-
production. During production while I was filming with my actress, I played the
song through the music application on my IPhone. The speakers were very good
which meant that my actress had a guide for her lip-syncing of the lyrics and it
ensured that her timing was correct. I also used to take pictures during filming
sessions for my logbook. During post-production I used it for a number of
reasons, both of which contain the camera. Firstly, I used it to take pictures of my
ancillary texts in the real world, for example, I placed my poster advert in Q
magazine and took an image of it for my blog. I also took pictures of my paper
digipak so it looked like a real life physical CD. The other thing I used my IPhone camera for was for the
collection of my audience feedback. While interviewing the four people separately, I filmed them
answering the questions I set. This was effective as it provided evidence for my audience feedback and
ensured that all of their answers were valid. After I had finished filming them, I used the airdrop tool on
my IPhone to send the videos to my IPad Air for further editing. Overall, I found my IPhone very useful in
collecting data and images for my portfolio, especially because it is light and portable, so it was easy to
carry around. I decided to use this software over others due to convenience, as I always had my IPhone
with me so was able to easily take pictures and videos on the move.

Another IOS device I found useful during both pre-production and post-production was my IPad Air. In
pre-production, I used it to create my animatic and storyboard with an application called Concepts.
Concepts (bottom left), allows you to draw and create images using a variety of tools and colours. After I
had drawn all the shots for my storyboard, I imported them into the IMovie app and edited them
accordingly to the song I had chosen for my music video. After this, I uploaded it to YouTube and also
put the images into a PowerPoint presentation to create a storyboard. I also used my IPad to edit my
audience feedback videos. After filming the videos on my IPhone, I imported them to my IPad through
the airdrop tool and edited them accordingly using the IMovie app. To make the videos smooth, I cut
out any pauses or hesitations using the split tool so we heard their answers and nothing else. Also, I
used the title tool to add captions of the questions I asked them, so anyone watching it will be able to
know what the questions are if they can’t hear me saying them in the video. After I had exported the
videos, I uploaded them to YouTube with an appropriate title. Overall, I found my IPad very useful in
creating my storyboard and editing my audience feedback videos. I did have an opportunity to edit
them on my IPhone but I felt my IPad was more suited to this task as it contained more space. Plus, it is
light and portable so I could edit on the go instead of having to use a computer.

Web 2.0 was very helpful over the course of post-production, especially during my collection of
audience feedback to determine what y target audience thought of my music video and ancillary texts. I
used YouTube to distribute all of my videos including my animatic, audience research, drafts, completed
music video and audience feedback. This system was very useful as it allowed users to like, dislike and
post comments on any videos, as an interactive service and enabled my video to be easily accessed by a
large amount of people, as YouTube is a very popular service to share and post videos. I also shared my
final music video onto the social networking site Facebook to receive more feedback from my target
audience, as this way I was able to share the video and receive continuous comments on it, enabling me
to receive feedback quickly and easily. From this, 14 people 'liked' my video that I posted and
commented positive feedback such as “Good job, Louise!”, “Well done!” and “This is SO good!” This
demonstrated that my video was effective to my target audience (the majority of my friends on
Facebook are within the age of 16-20) and that the video appealed to them. Overall, I feel I have
received positive feedback from my target audience on my music video and ancillary texts, so I feel I
have created texts that appeal to them successfully.

Overall, I can say that the new technologies I have used in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation stages have all
contributed in a successful way to my final three
products, especially Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. These
technologies have thoroughly helped me throughout the process
and they have also kept me on schedule with my work. If I were to
go through this process again, I would without a doubt use these
technologies all over again.

Evaluation: Question 4

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Evaluation: Question 4