The document discusses the use of various media technologies throughout the stages of a media project. In the planning stage, the student used Wix to design their website with ease due to their experience with social media. YouTube and Survey Monkey helped with research by analyzing music videos and gathering audience feedback. Communication during planning was challenging due to relying on technology like phones and WhatsApp. DSLR cameras and tripods improved video and photo quality during production. Final Cut Pro and Photoshop were used for precise video and image editing. The evaluation involved using different technologies like PowerPoint, Final Cut, Prezi and Glogster to thoroughly analyze the project.

1. EVALUATION QUESTION 4
HOW DO YOU USE MEDIA
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH,
PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

2. LOOKING BACK, THIS YEAR THE TECHNOLOGY WAS A LOT MORE
COMPLEX AND CHALLENGING. THE RANGE OF TECHNOLOGIES
USED ALSO INCREASED COMPARED TO LAST YEAR, AS I HAD TO
FIND WAYS TO ANALYSE MY IDEAS AND TASKS ON VARIOUS
PLATFORMS, SHOWING OFF MY TECHNOLOGICAL SKILLS.
• Even though the level of analysis this year was a lot more detailed and
academic, I found the stage of the research and planning the simplest
as this year the coursework was based on Wix.com which is a website
that allows people to design their own version of their websites. At first, I
was not familiar with web designing as I have never done this before but
I believe that because our generation is so used to editing and
designing online programs such as social media pages, we naturally get
used to making new pages online and designing them to our like.
Already knowing how to add things like text, personalized backgrounds,
images and icons to online pages are all skills that I already acquired,
therefore doing my web designing on Wix was not as challenging as I
thought and I was in my comfort zone

3. However, I did struggle with the layout of the page
as it had to be edited manually. This led to a few
complications when previewing my Wix page as
some of the text and images were out of the frame.
Fortunately, it did not take me too long to learn that
there is a setting called “line” that makes sure
everything is in its place when the audience views
the website live from the internet, but other than
that I got on really well and made the most out of
this easy form of technology.

4. YOUTUBE AND SURVEY MONKEY
YouTube and Survey Monkey were also important in the research stage of my coursework
because they helped me learn about the genre better and its forms and conventions and what the
audience expects. Looking at real media texts on YouTube allowed me to analyse real music
videos that inspired me for my own and my ancillary tasks. Especially, looking at Grime music
videos helped me pay close attention to the mise en scene such as the sporty costumes and the
props (phones, cars).
Survey Monkey on the other hand was a really useful and a clever way to ask our target audience
(teenagers ages 16-18) questions that would help us with our research. We made an online
questionnaire that were sent through WhatsApp to a few people to fill out and included questions
about some conventions of Grime and what the audience expects and wants to see in our music
video.

5. COMMUNICATION (PLANNING)
In terms of coordinating and communicating, technology was important because my
group and I and the casting had to communicate online a lot. We were mainly texting
on the phone or on WhatsApp or calling each other which was quite challenging at
times because reach to Dieonte (our actor) he would not respond or he would
respond too late, which led to our filming schedule to be delayed even more. This was
a disadvantage because I think communicating in real life would have been more
effective than using technology because face to face, there would be no lack of
communication or any obstacles stopping us from talking.

6. DSLRS AND TRIPODS
During the construction of my media products, technology was
much needed due to all the editing and filming, which are
basics in Media A level. First of all one of the biggest
technology improvements this years was the cameras and
tripods. Fortunately, we got to use DSLRs, which are really high
quality cameras with adjustable zoom and manual focus. This
allowed us to have a crispier image quality that looks way more
professional and appealing to the audience, especially during
our photography and filming sessions. However, this meant that
I had to be more careful while holding the camera to film
because every little movement is visible to the eye of the
audience due to the high quality. Shaky clips were also a
problem because even the tiniest movement would ruin the
whole clip, which led me to film certain scenes quite a few
times.

7. The adjustable zoom lens and manual focus were a total
advantage while filming because it enabled me to do
different techniques such as “pool focus” or to zoom into
something I wanted the audience to focus on. In fact, I
included two pool focus scenes; one during the actress
starring at the actor drug dealing before meeting him and
another while the actor is in front of the mirror getting ready
for his interview. This technique allows the audience to
focus on two things slowly as the focus goes from one
object to another. This was all new to me because I did not
use a DLSR during my Foundation Portfolio, which meant I
only had the basic skills in this form of technology which
consisted of being able to film with a steady hand and only
do different shots and angles.

8. Tripods allowed me to film and photograph things in a more
professional way. They have helped with how steady the
shots were and doing a lot of establishing shots such as the
slow up and down panning of the estate blocks or the time
lapse of Shadwell Basin. Looking back at the music video I
feel that I should have added a few low angle shots of the
artists lip syncing because it was found a lot on my research.
However I still have a range of shots that are good enough
such as the extreme close up of some props such as the
application form, phones and watch.

9. Micro editing played a big part during the
construction stage because I had to pay attention to
every little detail in the music video and ancillary
tasks. I did not realise how challenging Photoshop is
until this year, as there were a lot more steps that
had to be followed in order for my magazine advert
to look clean and professional. I in fact had to
research YouTube Photoshop tutorials in order to
learn how to edit pictures. This was really useful
because I learnt many techniques such as
duplicating pictures and flipping them to make it look
like it has a mirrored effect or airbrushing the
person’s face to cancel any blemishes and
imperfections. Final Cut Pro was another vital form
of technology I used to edit my music video.
FINAL CUT PRO AND PHOTOSHOP

10. Microediting was again really important because as supposed to last year, in our
Advanced Portfolio we have to match the video to the music and music videos can be
tricky, especially the song we chose as it is quite fast paced. Lip syncing clips are an
example of how micro editing is vital because the lips of the actor have to match the
exact lyrics at the right time. This was challenging for me as I struggled to sometimes
perfectly match Alby Kay’s lips to the words in the song and had to cut back quite a
few times to get it right. Speed changing is another example of how precise I had to
be while editing. This is because it had to be done manually in percentages and
getting the right percentage was difficult as the speed had to match the pace of the
music.

11. MOTION
Motion is the form of technology that I used to create the
titles in the music video. This was the easiest task I
achieved in my Advanced portfolio because nothing
changed since last year. My group and I decided to keep it
simple and chose a clean, thin and plain font that was big
enough to fit the middle of the screen. The “fade in fade
out” movement was also simple and I did not find any
difficulties.

12. The evaluation stage was tough because the use of different
technologies was a must as I had to answer four questions in four
different ways. I used PowerPoint, Final Cut, Prezi and Glogster. These
were all used in my evaluation last year but the reason I found this stage
tough is because of the amount of analysis and details included in each
answer. I feel that the video (question 1) was the hardest to do (on Final
Cut Pro)because I had to add the voice over with images and videos,
along with captions during the video that included all the information,
which was tricky to edit. I had issues inserting real grime music videos to
the video because I initially could not find a way to export them but then
decided to screen record the Youtube videos in full screen (with
Quicktime) which solved the problem.