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Media technologies
- 1. How did youuse media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
- 2. Research • In theresearch stage of my coursework project I used many different technologies. • I frequently used web 2.0 services such as YouTube to research existing products and discover the conventions of my chosen music genre. • I also used online blogs and forums to discuss ideas with fans of country music. I read their posts on what they like and dislike and what they have come to expect from the genre. I also posted my own discussion topic during later stages to gain audience feedback however unfortunately got no response. The Forum site I used was truecountry.com • I used ‘Premiere Pro’ to create test videos. This enabled me to try out different techniques such as ‘green screen’.
- 3. Planning • I useda digital slr camera to take some test shots of location and to try out different camera angles. • Again, I used ‘Premiere Pro’ to create various video sequences. I placed hand drawn images on the timeline along with my track to visually show a plan of the storyboard. I also removed the sound on an existing music video whilst the file was an uncompressed audio visual type on the timeline. I then replaced it with my own track ‘Waiting On You’ to get a clearer idea of what my video may look like.
- 4. Production: Digipak • Iused a digital slr camera to take many photos that could be used on my digipak. • I then used Photoshop to manipulate these images and position them carefully as a digipak design. • One of the main tools I used was the ‘opacity’ tool. I lowered the opacity in order to make the images look more ‘real’. I did this most effectively for the graffiti imagery. • I displaced the image of graffiti over the horse. To get this effect, I had to first create a ‘map’ by using the magnetic lasso tool to select the area I wanted to use and then desaturating the image. I altered the shadows and highlights to make the outline more vivid. I then opened this map with the image of graffiti and joined the two layers together. I altered the opacity to make the image of the horse show through the graffiti.
- 5. Production: Magazine Advert •Similarly to my digipak, I used a digital slr camera and photoshop to take and edit the images. • I used the magnetic lasso tool to select the horse image and place them on the background. • I used the slider tools to alter the shadows and highlights within the text. This made the images blend together to soften the lines where the two images were joined.
- 6. Production: Video • Iused a video camera to record the footage within the video. • I then edited the clips using Premiere Pro. • I used techniques such as speeding up a clip or slowing down to create interesting visual effects. In order to achieve this, I used the speed/duration option in the drop down menu. I also used this tool at the end of the video to reverse a clip. In the settings box for speed/duration, I ticked the reverse speed box to flip the clip and make it run backwards. This gave the effect of the paper ‘unburning’ itself.
- 7. Production: Video • Iused the crop tool to make images smaller within the frame. This allowed me to create the split screen effect as now I could fit more than one image in the frame. I used this to put both band members in the frame at once and also show three different images of mouths singing. • I also used the movement tool to make the image move within the frame. This technique is used a number of times within the video, sometimes in conjunction with another technique. For example, the split screen of the band members was created using both crop and movement. I toggled points within the video where the movement would change. I was able to easily manipulate this to make it flow with the music.
- 8. Production: Video • Anotherinteresting technique I used within the video was the opacity tool. • I used this to overlay images and have them in the frame at the same time but on top of each other rather than side by side. • This technique suggests anchored meanings to the images as they are placed together. • I also used the toggle tool to fade the opacity in and out and blend clips together more subtly.
- 9. Evaluation • The mediatechnologies used for my evaluation are heavily focused around web 2.0 services. • The include internet sites such as Blogger and YouTube. • I also used Prezi and Slideshare to present my ideas in a more interesting way. • I used a video camera to film myself responding to one of the questions. This allowed me to be more descriptive as I could discuss verbally in more detail much easier than in writing.
- 10. How useful werethese technologies? • Whilst the technologies made all the work easier for the most part, I did come up against some struggles. • I found it easiest to use Photoshop for the production of my ancillary texts as I have previous experience of this software and so was familiar with the tools. This meant that I was able to experiment more comfortably and more successfully to achieve effective results (such as the displacement of graffiti imagery). • I found that relying on the internet to conduct production or research can be limiting as it is not a consistent service. I had to delay creating my ‘prezi’ because of issues with the software and internet connection. It would have been easier to produce my evaluation if I didn’t need to rely so heavily on technology.
- 11. Technological Determinism • Thequality of my work was heavily determined by the technology I was using and my knowledge of it. • Had I been more experienced with Premiere Pro, I could have created more interesting effects and therefore improve the overall video. • However the technology helped to enthuse my creativity. By watching YouTube tutorials on using Photoshop, it inspired me to try out new techniques and manipulate images in innovative ways.