During the research, planning, and construction of a music video, the student used various media technologies. These included YouTube to research music videos in their chosen genre of rap; Blogger to record information, upload images and videos, and embed links; Microsoft Word for drafting documents; and Wikipedia and record label websites to gather background information on the artist 2Pac. Communication apps like WhatsApp helped the group coordinate, and presentation tools like Prezi were used to share ideas visually. Photoshop and Final Cut Pro were utilized for editing album artwork and assembling the final video. Filming equipment like a DSLR camera, tripod, and mobile phones also supported the project from start to finish.

1. HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH,
PLANNING AND EVALUATION
STAGES?
By Reanne Fernandez.

2. During the research and planning stages I used a
number of different programmes and websites.

3. • We used YouTube for a lot of our research and planning. We had to look up different
music videos from our chosen genre and analyse them. For example, we chose the
song Only God Can Judge Me by 2Pac, so we analysed music videos by 2Pac and
similar artists. We learnt how to embed videos off YouTube and on to Blogger.
• We also used the videos we researched to come up with ideas to use for our music
videos, and see what sorts of shots we needed to use in our particular genre and
what sort of props we needed, like fast takes.

4. • In our planning, research and construction we also used Blogger a lot,
as it is where we recorded all our information from location ideas to
videos from YouTube. I have used Blogger to upload images on to
so I can show my different ideas for our music video. I have also
uploaded images of potential actors, locations, print screens of
graphs we made showing different results for things. As well as this I
have learnt how to embed videos, presentations and links.

5. • Microsoft word was one of things we mainly used during our planning
and research stages as it is where we made drafts of things before
putting them up in to the blogs. I also used word to write up a
shooting schedule to make it more presentable and easier to
understand. Word was also used when we needed to type up lyrics
we needed, certain ideas we had for our videos and our target
audience questionnaire.

6. • Wikipedia wasn’t our most essential tool used when we were doing
our planning, but during our research I found that it was good for
information about 2Pac. I had to find out things like his full name and
some of the different songs he had released to type up on to my
blog. It also came in useful when I needed to find out what record
label 2Pac was with and what previous albums he had made.

7. • During my research and planning, Google was constantly used as it is
my favourite web browser to use. I used Google to find out
information on 2Pac, as a link to get to YouTube and Google Maps
to get print screens of some of the locations we might have been
using. Google was one of the most important technologies that I
used during my research as it allowed me to have no boundaries
when finding information of 2Pac.

8. • This is 2Pacs record labels website. We used this to get bits of
information we needed about 2Pac that wasn’t on Wikipedia. The
website also gave us an idea of what style we needed to make our
music video, as the font on the website showed the genre rap quite
well.

9. • My college’s moodle page allowed me to have access to templates I
needed in order to plan my filming process. Such templates
included: Photography call sheet, Risk assessment, location reece
etc. These templates helped me as all I had to do was provide
information in the format given to me.

10. • Whatsapp was key in allowing my group to communicate. As a group
we decided we would create a group chat ‘TRC Media’ this allowed
us to plan filming dates, share ideas and communicate and work
outside of college which was important as we needed to meet
deadlines and finish a media product within a certain time frame.

11. • Prezi, Emaze and Slideshare were all used to create short
presentations during the research process of the task. By using
these media platforms allowed me to present my ideas the way I see
them, by creating my own moving presentations made my work
stand out as it wasn’t boring but also allowed me to embed key
pictures and videos.

12. During the construction stages of our music video, we
used a lot of different technologies and equipment.

13. • Photoshop CS3 was used during the construction of out Digipaks
(album covers). We downloaded a font n our genre off the internet
and had to use it on Photoshop to type in our album name. When
making our digipaks we edited the photos changing them into black
and white, and increasing the contrast. We also used the tool
‘threshold’ to edit the back cover of the digipak.

14. • We used a Canon DSLR camera. The camera was the main thing
involved when it came to construction, as this is what we used to
capture all of our shots for the music video. We took the camera to
all different locations, for example, Leake Street. The camera helped
us get the professional looking type of music video as it had
professional qualities. As well as the camera we also used a tripod
to balance the camera on whilst filming, this created steady shots.

15. • We used Final Cut Pro a lot during the construction stage, as it is
where we edited all of our music video. We used different effects like
‘crossfades’ which is when it moves from scene to the next and over
laps each other. We also used final cut pro to speed up some of our
shots to fit in better with our chosen genre of music. Final Cut pro
was a very easy program to use, once I had got used to it and knew
where each tool was.

16. • We used IMac’s to carry out research and planning but also to
construct all of our products. The computer had Photoshop and
Final Cut Pro on them, which helped produce professional looking
work to industry standard. The IMac also enabled us to surf the web
during research and planning – helping us find out more about the
rap genre, 2Pac and his influences. I found the IMacs easy to use as
I found them to be fast and reliable.

17. • When filming, the tri-pod was a very good thing to use as it ensured
we got a good clear shot, that wasn’t moved making the shot
wobbly. We used the tri-pod a lot when we filmed because we
wanted to make sure our shots looked quite professional and were
up to the best standard we could get them. We used the tilt device
on the camera for one shot in particular to make it look different a
effective.

18. • Mobile phones were used a lot during the planning, research and construction
stages as we used them to contact each person in the group, and the actors,
to let them know when we were planning on filming and where. I sometimes
used my phone for research purposes as well when I was out filming and
needed to know certain things, like when we were filming at the train station, I
had to look up the train times on my phone to ensure we were going to be
safe when filming there.

19. By Reanne Fernandez.