1. Gemma Lovitt A2 Media
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
One of the very first technologies I used within my media a-level consisted of the
internet. Before creating and producing and of my research and planning tasks I was
told to create a blog on blogger.com. This was a useful task as it allowed me to keep
all my notes, planning and ideas on one resource that was easily accessible. Similarly
I found this was helpful due to not having to rely on folders and loosing bits of papers,
therefore it helped when keeping all my work organised. Although this was a new
experience as I had never used the programme before it took me a while to understand
all the different features and elements such as video transitions, lighting changes,
video effects etc. However once I had played around with it I gained a clear
understanding very quickly. Similarly the program has had many benefits when
underlining and emphasising my multimedia skills due to uploading my tasks in a
variety of ways, for example Prezi, Powerpoint, Slidshare, Issuu etc.
When I first began my A-Level in Media I was lucky due to having previous
experience. As I took Media Studies for GCSE I gained a basic knowledge and
understanding on all of the relevant software and tools. Therefore this was beneficial
when coming to start my A-Level course as I was one step ahead of many others in
my class. One of the first tasks we were made to complete included making a front
cover for a school magazine. Therefore the relevant software that was needed to do
this consisted of InDesign, Photoshop and a camera. This Primarily task was
reasonably simple due to the teachers only needing to see the basic such as including
a masthead, barcode, sell lines, main bleed etc. Although I was aware of how to use
many features of the software there was always extra support from my teachers, video
tutorials etc. Although I had the basic knowledge I did not put 100% into this task and
made a very standard piece of work, however this was appropriate when referring to
the improvement I had made from AS to A2 as I was able to emphasise the
improvement and changes I made when producing a digipak and music advert.
Furthermore when shooting all my photos for the ancillary task I used a Canon 550D.
This camera was effective when getting the quality I aimed to achieve as it was
equipped with a cinematic shutter speed with a 1.8 aperture lens. This lens was
effective when getting a shallow focus effect, however this was beneficial when
achieving a professional look. This helped when producing an effective album advert
as it allowed the audience to focus primarily on the artist due to the background being
out of focus. Therefore this engaged the audience as they can link it to personal
identity as they can make relations from the artists body language, facial expressions,
clothing, make up etc. After taking the photos I was pleased with I placed them on the
software appropriate being Adobe Photoshop as this allowed me to edit and crop the
photo accordingly. The crop tool was the most important tool when cropping my
photo to the size of the digipak and magazine advert. Similarly the effects that I was
able to add to my photo were interesting as it gave a professional and attractive vibe
to it. When adding an effect I finally decided with a vintage, instagram look due to
brightening the picture whilst giving it a warm glowing feeling.
Showcasing my work in a variety of ways was vital as it allowed both my teacher and
my examiner I had further knowledge of different programmes instead of consistently
using word displaying essay formats. One of the main internet resources I used when

2. Gemma Lovitt A2 Media
uploading my work in a variety of ways included the use of Prezi. This was an
effective form of displaying my work due to engaging the intended target audience in
an entertaining way e.g. using an abstract presentation. To finalise my presentation I
had to get the embed tool as this is what allowed me to place my work onto my blog.
This was beneficial as it was a form of back up as I could access my work on two
different internet sites.
Additionally I had a tendency to use Microsoft PowerPoint when analysing and
producing some of my research and planning tasks. This was because I found it quick
and easy when creating tasks in a timed condition as the programme is very easy and
straight forward to use. Although it is time effective making a Powerpoint the
uploading of the document isn’t as effective as you are not able to directly import it
onto your blog. There are two ways of importing it onto my blog including through
Scribd or Slideshare. At the beginning of my course I uploaded the majority of my
work on Scribd however during the year it encountered many problems meaning I
then turned to Slideshare as this worked perfectly. Scribd was a website where you
could upload digital documents on a library that allowed published presentations to be
viewed and accessed. To finalise my presentations I had to get the embed tool as this
is what allowed me to place my work onto my blog. Similarly Slideshare was a
successful internet resource as it allowed me to view worldwide publications on a
range of different topics for example ‘Who are Indie Pop target audience?’
Further into my Media A-level I was given a task where I had to produce a music
video. This task had to be completed in the final year of my course. I used many
programmes when completing this and came across many in which I believed were
more successful than others. For example I found Vimeo was particularly good as it
allowed me to publish and upload my music video in HD. However I didn’t realise
this success straight away as I handed my first draft on YouTube. Although YouTube
is a very successful video sharing website I found the quality of the video wasn’t all
that good as when the screen was maximised the viewing went very blurry however
Vimeo utilised the high settings and presented a high quality music video. Similarly
due to making my music video on Premier Pro I was aware that I was unable to
directly export my projects straight to blogger. This was because all my file sizes
were generally over 100MG and files over this size were disallowed on blogger.
Therefore after researching different formats of showcasing my video I finally came
across a program in which I was satisfied with.