Question 4

1. Harry Chappell
How did you use media
technologies in the construction
and research, planning and
evaluation stage?

2. During my A2 work I used a series of different hardware including:
Camera
Tripod & Steadycam
Lighting kits
Hardware

3. We used a Cannon DSLR when filming the majority
of our shots. Although I did not film all the shots I
did use the camera quite a lot of set and took some
of the shots especially the ones outside including
the performance shots. I felt the camera was easy
to use and since I had had previous experience of
using the camera from previous projects I was
able to use it with ease and my group was able to
get professional looking footage. We made sure
the camera was always charged on set and made
sure the SD card was able to store the footage we
took.
Camera

4. The lighting kits that we used when filming were
easy to set up and use. We used the lighting kit
for the majority of the inside shots as it helped
make the shots look more sharp and helped keep
a consistent lighting. Some of the inside locations
like the bathroom and Ben’s room were quite
dark to begin with so tactical placing of the
lighting kit really helped us get the shots we
wanted. I feel like I used the lighting kit very
successfully throughout the project and would
defiantly use it again in future work.
Lighting Kit

5. We only used the tripod a couple of times during the filming as we
wanted the camera to be moving most of the time to help give the
piece a nice flow and fast paced feel. When we did use the tripod it
was easy to use and adjust in order to get the shots we wanted. One
time that we used the tripod was when we filmed the time lapse shot
and it was very helpful to make sure that the camera stayed in the
same place the entire time. I felt that I used the tripod well during the
work and would think of ways to incorporate more still shots in
future.
Tripod

6. We wanted to make most of our shots non-stationary so we used a
Steadicam in order to get moving shots whilst still keeping the
camera from shaking to much. Although I had used a Steadicam
before I had never had to use it to film such long takes as some shots
were around two minutes of performance. I felt that the shots came
out well and any small errors were able to be fixed during the editing
stage of the project. I would defiantly use a Steadicam again in future
work as it helped keep a continuous flow to the piece and quite it at a
fast pace which we intended to do.
Steadycam

7. I used lots of different programs during all stage of the production
including:
Adobe premier pro
Adobe Photoshop
Microsoft word
Software

8. Adobe Premier Pro was a very important program when making a
music video as it allowed us to cut the shots and arrange them
correctly. We were also able to add effects to our footage to add extra
or hidden meaning. Although Ben did most of the editing for our
group I still observed what he was doing and gave many ideas on
what we could do and gave feedback on what worked well and what
could be changed. Through this I learnt many new skills on the
program and improved on the knowledge I had gain for previous
projects were I had worked with the software.
Adobe Premier Pro

9. Before this project I hadn’t had much
experience using Photoshop however I
decided to still use the software when it
came to creating the ancillaries for my
project. I felt I did a good job using the
program and managed to learn a whole
range of new features that I was unaware
of before. I would defiantly use this
program in the future as it was very
helpful and helped me to produce a good
magazine advertisement and digipak.
Adobe Photoshop

10. I used Microsoft word throughout the research and planning stage of
my work as it easily allowed me to store notes and ideas on what I
wanted to do. It is a very simple program to use and so it allowed me
to be much more efficient and creating notes and doing research into
other texts. It was also easily accessible on all computers that I used as
they all had the program downloaded, this allowed me to easily
transfer work from different computers which made the work easier
to control and complete.
Microsoft Word

11. I used Wix to help me create my main website for my
A2 project. I have used the site before to good success
but when using it this time I developed my skills and
used a wider range of feature available on the
website. I felt I did a good job at using Wix and since I
have previous sue of the website I was easily able to
complete the tasks quickly and did not have to waste
time learning new website tools. The problem with
Wix is that it can sometimes be quite slow to use and
take a lot of time but I would still use it in the future
due to my knowledge of the site and its available
tools.
Wix

12. I used survey monkey to help me gain
audience research on my project. I had
used the site before and find that it is really
easy to use and send your survey to the
people you want to. I felt I used the site
and its features successfully and was able
to create a good survey which was really
helpful when it came to the planning of my
production. I would definitely use this site
in the future as it really helped me and I
feel my skills on the site are very good.
Survey Monkey

13. YouTube is a very helpful site especially during the research part of the
project as it allowed me to watch other music videos and tutorials on
what I could do to improve my own work. YouTube is a site I use
quite a lot in my free time and I feel very comfortable using it. I was
also able to use videos from YouTube and upload them on to my
website easily which helped create variety on my website and make it
interesting for people who are viewing it. I would use YouTube in
future work to help me research new ideas and help me be very
creative in my own work.
YouTube

14. I used the site Prezi which allows you to present your work in a
creative way. I used this during the evaluation stage to help me
evaluate my work. I had used the site before so I was aware of how to
create the Prezi which saved me time. I felt that my work was also
presented very clearly and the site is defiantly something I would use
in the future to present my work and findings.
Prezi

15. The use of technology was very significant in the production process as it
allowed me to add greater detail and depth to my work and allowed me
to create a better finished product. Over the course of this project I have
experimented and used a wide range of new and old programs and tech
which has really allowed me to improve my work and develop my skills
with these tools which I did not have before. It was very helpful in the
research and planning stages as it allowed me to easily record my work
and discover new ideas of how to develop my own skills and work. It
was also majorly important in post production to improve the quality of
the footage and add effects which gave more of an impact to the viewers
and made my piece a success.
Conclusion