For A2 Coursework

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

2. We used a lot of different programs and digital
technologies in the research, planning and
evaluation stages:

3. Research & planning
We used the following pieces of technology to do oue research & planning with –
 Blogger
 Google
 YouTube
 Pages
 Camera & phone
 Adobe Premiere Pro
 Adobe Photoshop

4. Research & Planning- Blogger
The main program we used to write down all our research & planning was
Blogger. It was a easy access place to put all that we found out about short films,
music videos, and conventions of each to make sure our product was well
planned and thought out.
Blogger was like our own personal coursework diary where we could note down
activities we had done in lesson and progress we had made of filming & editing &
evaluation. We also posted all the scripts, stage directions, on shoot images,
casting and other planning for our film day & ancillary tasks

5. Research & Planning – Google & YouTube
We used YouTube & Google to search for effects & editing processes that we
wanted to use but did not know how to use. Google was also useful for us to
search for pictures we wanted to use in our blogs, and YouTube was helpful for
embedding examples of music videos. This enhanced our research into
conventions and how we constructed our own media product. We also posted our
preliminary task on YouTube for feedback.

6. Research & planning – Pages (Mac’s
version of Microsoft Office Word)
Like blogger, we used pages to write up notes for the
research we needed. We also used it to copy and
paste anything from blogger posts that needed
printing out like, for example, the lyrics for the song.
We also used it to plan out what we were going to say
for 2 of our evaluation questions, where we did a
podcast for one and a video for another.
A screen shot from
on of our evaluation
plans, made on
Pages

7. Research & planning – camera & phone
 We took advantage of the technologies that we own and used them for the
research we needed. The main thing we used were video cameras and camera
phones for the location research, audience research & casting. We went to
places like Gourleston and Great Yarmouth to look for the right location to
film our music video, and we found out about the re-enactment group on a
phone, and used it to keep in contact with them with information about what
they do. We also gathered video audience research for our blogs to find out
how other people would film certain parts in our video, which helped us plan
out what to do on filming day.
 A smartphone was also very helpful for writing blog post whilst out away from
school. It made the research & planning stages very accessible wherever we
were.

8. Research & planning – Adobe Premiere
Pro
 As well as using Premiere Pro for editing together our actual product (see
“construction” slides), we also used it for editing together our Preliminary
Task & our rough cut. It was very helpful to use Premiere Pro as opposed to
another program because we had used it before for our AS Coursework and
wanted to develop and improve the skills we already had in it in preparation
for the actual product. The preliminary task was important to us for the
research & planning stages as it helped us see what aspects of the music
video were good and what could be improved.

9. Research & Planning – Adobe Photoshop
 Like with premiere pro, we used Photoshop to plan out what our ancillary tasks
would look like, as well as get positive and negative feedback on it. This really
helped us look at what thing we could do to improve our ancillary task.

10. Construction
We used the following pieces of technology in the construction stages of our
media product :
 Word
 Adobe Premiere Pro
 Adobe Photoshop
 Video camera & equiptment
 Blogger

11. Construction – Microsoft Office Word
 We used Word to write up
the lyrics for the song for
the singer to sing, as well
as any scripting/stage
directions needed for
shoot. Having these things
printed off and written up
really helped with the day
of filming, as it meant we
were well prepared for the
re enactment group going
into the day of filming.

12. Construction - Adobe Premiere Pro &
Photoshop
 Premiere Pro was a big part in the construction stage as this is where we
edited our rough cut and our final product. Like stated in a previous slide, we
had used Premiere Pro before in our AS Coursework, so we already had some
basic understanding of how to put the clips onto our timeline, edit them, and
add suitable shot transitions. We did have to learn about lip syncing a video to
a song, and getting that spot on was a challenge in this stage.
 We used photoshop to make our ancillary tasks (poster and digipack). Again,
we had used this last year for some parts of our coursework so we were
familiar and confident enough in it to use it again.

13. Construction – video camera &
equipment
 We used 3 cameras to film our music video battle scene with different
types of equipment to go with it. We used a tripod for 2 cameras and a
shoulder rig for the other. This meant we could get some really
interesting and close up shots whilst also on the move. Below are a few
pictured examples of some of the shots we managed to get (apologise
for the blurriness):

14. Thanks for watching!