1) The student used a variety of media technologies throughout the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages of their media project. This included using the internet for research, social media like YouTube to analyze similar products, and a DSLR camera for filming. 2) Planning involved using Microsoft Word for storyboarding, mobile phones for communication and photography, and email to contact artists. Construction saw the use of a DSLR camera for filming and Final Cut Pro for editing. 3) Evaluation used Word documents, slideshows, voice recordings and Prezi to demonstrate versatility with media technologies.

1. “How did you use media
technologies in the construction,
research, planning and evaluation
stages?”
By Hakeem Wallace

2. Research
• In terms of media technologies that my group and I used to conduct research, the
first and most important media technology that we used was the internet. The
internet played a huge role in the construction of our media product because of
many reasons. Firstly, we used various different search engines such as Bing,
Google and Yahoo as a means of defining and understanding the codes and
conventions in regards to our product, looking at definitions and as a source of
extracting necessary information. The web pages that I felt provided us with
necessary information was Wikipedia, Wikipedia contributed to the final outcome
of our music video as without it my group would fail to comprehend the definition
of things in relation to music videos such as Andrew Goodwin’s theory, the
difference between performance, narrative and conceptual videos and various
other terminology. To confirm that Wikipedia was accurate and reliable, we
decided to double check our searches using a different web page, Dictionary.com
was used so that we could compare and contrast the results of the searches. This
was an effective technique as we could see if the quality of information on these
web pages were legitimate. Accuracy was questioned about Wikipedia sources as
we were aware that Wikipedia is a public site which enables members of the
public to modify it, this contributed to us finding alternative sources.

3. Research
• Secondly, an additional media technology that we used to conduct valuable
research was a selection of social media sites. YouTube was especially vital to the
construction of our video because it allowed us to look and review similar
products that were up for display on the YouTube site. By looking at other media
products that were similar to the type of music video that we wanted to create, it
gave us a more in-depth insight of the details which needed to be included. More
importantly, it enabled me to embed the links to the videos that I compared and
contrasted on my blog. Because of this, I could share videos which allowed a more
interactive use of this technology as the viewers of my blog can gain a better
understanding of what videos I was talking about. Moreover, another social media
site that I used in the construction of my music video was Vimeo and Vevo. Vimeo
and Vevo are both music video platforms for artists to publish their music videos
online. These contributed to the research of our music video because we spotted
trends and correlations between specific videos. For example, we saw that Rap
music videos often conveyed a ‘flashy lifestyle’ whereas pop music video had
elements of high key lighting. We used this as an advantage because we could use
knowledge that we discovered to better our own project.

4. Research
• A Digital SLR camera was a focal point for research and planning segment of the construction of
music video because we used it in many ways. Firstly the digital SLR camera was used when trying
finding a suitable location to record footage. This was important in the planning stage as we had a
better idea of where we were to shoot our final media product. Furthermore, a digital SLR camera
was especially important when discovering our target audience. My group and I create a ‘vox pop’,
this required us to record the opinions of a random selection of people whilst implementing their
feedback into our own media product. The footage was later edited on Final Cut Pro.
• In regards to using media technologies to identify target audience, Google Forms was a beneficial
tool of extracting information. Google Forms is a questionnaire feature offered by Google. This
allowed us to ask a selection people questions about their opinions of music videos which helped
to uncover and categorise our target audience. The results were generated and made into pie
charts and bar charts using the Google Forms feature. Once we gained the desired results, we
created a mood board of the feedback given by the respondents. A mood board can simply be
defined a compilation of images that relate to the media product; this included typical things that
would be seen in a music video, codes and conventions, Mis-en-scene, costumes, actors. Etc. The
mood board was created with Adobe Photoshop CS5. This was a good media technology to use
because of its photo manipulation capabilities.

5. Planning
• The media technologies that my group and I used in the planning
stages of constructing our music video was a wide range of
technologies consisting of a mobile phone, social media, Microsoft
word and various others. Firstly, when storyboarding we used a 6×6
template designed on Microsoft Word 2007, which was later
printed with a HP Printer. After applying our ideas on our
storyboard, a mobile phone camera was used to capture the picture
which was later upload to my blog. A mobile phone was also quite
beneficial as a means of communication. My group and I used this
technology to interact with each other, as majority of this project
was group-based, communication was vital. By sending group
messages between each member of my group, we were kept
updated about the next task that we were to do. Moreover, a
mobile phone was also used for showing evidence of me working
on my blog. I took several pictures of myself behind the scenes of
the video shoot, my storyboard and several other images.

6. • For the planning of the costumes and actors, I used web pages such
as Adidas and Nike as we discovered a typical convention of a UK
rap music video contained actors dressed in baggy clothing, hoodies
or tracksuits. These websites helped as they specialised in selling
hoodies and sporty clothing such as tracksuits.
• Moreover, an additional technology that my group and I used was
Email. Email was partly important because we used it to ask
permission of the artist to use a soundtrack. We contacted the
producer of the soundtrack to ask if we could use their creation for
non profit school purposes. This was an effective method because it
was a straight forward, easy and simple method that the whole
group was familiar with. In terms of software that we planned to
use, we concluded that ‘Final Cut X’ was suitable editing software as
we were all familiar with using it from last year and we could use it
to create a professional standard product that would conform to
the typical views of our target audience.

7. Construction
• A media technology that we used when constructing our music video was, firstly
and most importantly, a digital SLR camera. This was simply because of the HD
quality whilst recording, my group and I wanted to make a product that was at
professional standard. Also, as we used a Digital SLR camera in the past, we are
much more familiar with it. We implemented a wide selection of shots and
techniques including wide shots, close up, mid shot, pan, and shaky editing for
atmospheric effect. We ensured to have a spare memory card when shoot as a
backup plan just in case of running out of memory.
• When editing, the software that was used was Final Cut Pro. This was the software
that we had previously used in the past for our AS media product. I felt quite
comfortable when using this as I was able to remember some of the techniques
that I used last year and applied them to the current project. The techniques
consisted of adjustment of the brightness and contrast, transitions and rapid cuts.
This improved the way that the product look and correlate with other products
that were on the market. Certain scenes were editing to correspond with the
soundtrack. For example, the snare drum pattern changed and I edited according
to that. Slow motion techniques were also used to create an atmospheric effect for
the viewer. This was vastly better than the original footage as the visuals were in
time with the song and created a visual connection to the audience.

8. Construction
• When constructing my ancillary tasks, the software that was used was Adobe
Photoshop and Wix.com. During the research and planning process, I discovered
certain conventions of UK rap posters and websites. To edit my poster, the
software that was used was Adobe CS5 which I was quite familiar with. The way in
which I create the poster was by layering filters on top of each other and drawing
images that would relate to my product. I also used a ‘Hue saturation’ technique to
modify the colours which conform to the theme that I was going for. As
mentioned, I used layers which made the task of designing the poster less difficult.
Constant experimentation with each part of the software benefitted the final
outcome of my media product.
• When creating the web page ancillary task, I used a template from Wix.com – ‘A
website builder’. Wix.com was a suitable choice because it conveyed a professional
looking web page that would be suitable for an artist. The theme of the web page
correlated with the poster that I previously designed. This used the same colour
scheme was used to show the audience a pattern in terms of branding the artist
that we were designing the web page for.

9. Evaluation
• In my evaluation stages, I decided to use four different kinds of media
technologies. This consisted of a Microsoft Word document that was later
upload to my word press blog, a slide share presentation, a voice
recording and Prezi document. I believed that these four different kinds of
media technology would demonstrate how versatile I was with using
media technologies. For the ‘Vox Pop’, I used my mobile phone to write
down the questions and any notes that I felt would be necessary to my
group.
• Overall, my group and I used a wide variety of media technologies through
the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages of this course.
Some technologies were new to us and required us to practise with them
and others we were very familiar with which saved us valuable time.
Media technologies were quite important to us as they allowed us to
identify target audience; it was a tool of market research and a means of
learning. I strongly believe I have learnt a great deal about the media
technologies available and can now implement them into my many
elements of my work.