The document discusses the various media technologies used at different stages of a project. Macs and web browsers like Safari and Google were used for research and planning. Blogger was used throughout to upload and display work. Prezi was used for presentations to embed videos. Cameras, tripods, SD cards, and YouTube were used to film, store, and upload footage. A portable speaker helped with lip syncing during filming. Final Cut Pro was used to edit footage, applying effects like black and white, slow motion, and layers. Photoshop was used to create professional-looking packaging and advertisements using tools like text, layers, and layer masks.

1. Evaluation Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the research and planning, construction
and evaluation stages stages

2. Intro
 Within the process and development of my product I have learnt and
improved many skills, in particular skills in media technologies. I
will be evaluating the different technologies that I have used send
whether I found them easy or hard to use and the reasons behind it. I
will also discuss the different aspects of each technologies such as
the pros and cons of using Finalcut pro to edit and create my music
video.

3. Basic tools
Apple Macs
 I mainly used either a mac book
pro or a desktop mac to do my
research and planning as it gave
me access to Microsoft word,
that allowed me to type up my
findings, and the internet that
allowed me access sites to
research and to access blogger to
publish my findings
Safari/Google
 Safari is the Apple equivalent to
Google, I used these search
engines to research the theorists
and access sites like blogger and
Prezi

4. Blogger
Throughout my whole course,
both As and A2,I used Blogger
to upload and display my work
as I have used it often I felt
confident with my skills. This
was very helpful as it meant
that I didn't’t need learn to
learn how to use a completely
new program (like I did with
final cut).
Blogger was very useful as I
could put all my work in order
and separate them into specific
tags it also work in conjunction
with other media such as
Youtube,Prezi and Slideshare.

5. Prezi
I used Prezi as a alternative to PowerPoint
as it allowed a more fluid for presentations.
It allows you to create a dynamic and
entertaining presentation. It also allowed
me to embed YouTube videos so it was
easier to watch however it didn’t allow
Gifs or videos uploaded via my personal
files, I worked around this by using other
software such as blogger. I used Prezi
briefly last year so I wasn’t an expert but I
had a little bit of previous knowledge.

6. Cameras
I originally used a hand held camera handheld camera to film my preliminary
task It was a lot cheaper than the Dslr that I eventually used but it was easier to
use. I had never used a camera for filming before so I had to practice as I already
knew the theory side (which I had learnt from my film studies course).The
biggest Issue we had was that the camera saved the footage into a format that the
IMacs couldn’t read. This completely messed changed our schedule as we
needed to convent the footage via a windows pc this took many hours so we had
to leave it over night to convert. We learnt from our mistakes as we researched
the file type that Macs use and made sure our cameras could film in that format.

7. YouTube
 Once I completed the editing, I uploaded it to the video sharing site
YouTube we came across multiple issues as the upload would take
quite away as it was quite a large file continuing on this point there
was quite a few issues with bugs and other glitches that rest the
upload time. However when we finally uploaded it the rest was easy
as I could embed the video straight onto my blog.

8. Personal speaker
To make the lip syncing easier we would play music out loud via our phones, however this
wasn’t loud enough. I combated this by buying a portable speaker, this allowed us to play
the music at a much louder volume making it easier for the actors to keep in time with the
music. However this did cause a problem as the sound was picked up in the music video, I
worked around this by editing out the sound in Final cut pro a software that I will be
discussing later.

9. SD card
 Once I had all my hardware setup I need some sort of storage. The
best option for this was a removable SD card as it could work on
most software without being converted this made it easy to drag my
footage from the card into Final cut to be edited. As we planned to
get an excess amount of footage we decided to use a 16GB card this
wasn’t enough so we ended using two 16Gb cards this made a bit
slower as we would often confuse the cards so in the end we marked
them ‘A’ and ‘B. When moving large pieces of footage from the card
to the Mac this took some time however we worked around this by
doing other work as it transfers the files.

10. Tripod
 During our filming we used a tripod as it allows a steady shot. The
tripod had an adjustable height allowing us to adapt to the specific
circumstances. For example when we need to get scenes in which we
needed long continues shots the adjustable height allowed the camera
to be still in a single position where as if we filmed it by handheld
then it would of picked up our hand movements. Believe this allowed
us to crate a still and steady shot thus making it more professional.

11. Final Cut Pro
 I used this software to edit and organize my footage. I have never
used this software before so there was a lot to take in I decide to
watch tutorials on YouTube to try and learn the basics, I also sought
help from the I.T technician. In my preliminary task I learnt how o
use effects and used an execs amount of them this made it look
unprofessional and fake so in my final piece I decide that less is
more and used barely any effects thus making it look better.

12. Final cut pro- Effects
One of the main editing techniques we used was the Black and White effect. We used
it when we showed past imagery as it gave a sense of time and of the overall mood of
the music video so this ultimately reinforced a clearer narrative. We decided to use this
as it linked in well with the narrative and progressed it.
Applying the filter:
1.First we selected the bit of footage that we wanted to
2. We then drag the selected effect
3.The drop it on to the clip

13. Final cut pro – slow motion
 We used the slow motion effect as a tool to create a dramatic effect, most
noticeably when the the pills spill, we believe this added a sense of drama
and mystery to out production thus complying with Roland Barthes theory
of enigma code. It also add to the narrative. The thing that we had to be
most aware of was that the slow motion would extend the length of the clip,
this sometimes made it difficult to slot in we worked around this by
selecting only the best bits and fitting it in to the designated spaces.

14. Photoshop
On the right is my digipak and advert, to create these
products I used the software Photoshop. I used
Photoshop in my foundation portfolio finally piece. I
decide to use it as it gives the sense of professionalism
and gives a industry level product.
I used a range of tools to create my products from text
tools to layers. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the
software so it took me a while to learn how to use it to
its full extent, to help me with this process I watched
many tutorials that helped developed my skills and aid
my creative progress. I fell that once I got the hang of
the process I did a decent job of creating an advert and
digipak to a industry standard.

15. Photoshop- text tool
In all my products I used the text tool, for example
the name of the band and release date. It was a very
simple tool to use, to add in text all you need to do
was click and drag to create a text box from there
you can type the designated text. We decided to use
a simple minimalistic font to ensure it could be
read easily and so it complies to the generic
conventions.

16. Photoshop-Text
We also got some additional fonts for
Photoshop, we go this via connections as I
know a graphic designer he gave me
additional fonts that where industry level.
This added the extra sense of
professionalism and also meeting the
specific conventions.

17. Photoshop-Layers
On the right is all of layers that we used in
order to create the advert. In order to get a
industry level piece of work I had to create
all these layers so I could combine them to
create a professional piece. This allowed
me to add to put different images and texts
on top of each other without damaging the
original photos. This could get confusing at
times especially when the amount of layers
increased, this is why I started to name
each layer. Over all I believe that this
helped me create a more professional and
industry tier work as the combination of
images worked well and showed skill.

18. Photoshop- Layer Mask
A layer mask is something that you
apply to a given layer to control the
transparency of that layer. I used this
mainly in my advert so I could fade the
main image with the background .This
allowed me to create flowing images
that synergies with my other images.
Over all creating a more professional
look.

19. Conclusion
I believe I have used a range of different technologies in all stage of my production. I have
used some that I was familiar with, however I pushed myself and developed myself in the
process by using software I was unfamiliar with such as final cut pro, in which I feel I
developed m skills the most as I had to use high end editing techniques.I also used industry
level hardware such as the dslr camera, this took a while to learn how to use but I believe it
was worth it as it allowed me to create a more professional piece.