The student used various media technologies at different stages of their coursework project. Blogger was used from the start to document progress and share work from different locations. Mac computers with Photoshop and Final Cut software were reliable tools used to design a digipack and edit video footage. A Sony DV camera was used to film footage for a music video, though some shots had quality issues. YouTube provided a platform for research, examples, and feedback. Web 2.0 technologies like these made the coursework more successful by facilitating sharing and access to information. Overall, the technologies helped complete the project and the student felt confident using them.

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

2.  Blogger has been used since the start of our project for a quick easy way of
presenting our work. It allowed us to show the stages of our work and how are
coursework developed. Blogger was very simple to use and easy to access. It
allowed us to work from different places, such as at home or college, saving us
the cost of printing off our work or even transferring it from different computer
on a memory stick.
 There were only minor issues I found difficult with this website. Posting videos
and changing the layout of your work were the only problems. However I don’t
think we could have used anything better to present our work.

3.  Macs were a reliable and useful piece of technology which helped us throughout
our coursework. They came complete with a set of software programs such as
Photoshop and Final Cut which proved vital in creating our Digipack. Another
advantage of using this new piece of technology was how efficient it ran.
 After using the Macs in AS media, I felt more confident using it for my work.
Having said that, the layout is completely different to using Windows computers,
making it more difficult to navigate around the desktop which slowed my work
process a little. I believe working with Mac computers was beneficial in getting
my design work to good quality.

4.  We used a Sony DV camera to film our music video. We were able to film a
mixture of different angles and shots with ease, as it could be used on a tripod as
well as hand held. The camera itself was easy to use, and wasn't too difficult to
work with. The small features we used for this camera such as the zoom and
adjustable screen were helpful, which allowed us to get the right distance shot
and angles we wanted.
 The quality of the footage wasn't brilliant, once we began editing we realized
that some of the shots filmed had either bad lighting, or appeared grainy.

5.  One of the most useful pieces of technology was Web 2.0. This became a vital
tool for almost everything. Such as research, images, help guides for
software, blogging etc. Web 2.0 made our coursework so much more successful.
We could find similar artists to our chosen genre, giving us examples on what our
Digipack should be based upon.
 Without web 2.0, all websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Blogger wouldn’t
exist. Our work would have to be presented another way and audience feedback
couldn't’t be gathered so easily. Technological determination has allowed society
to become far more social and creative, allowing the use of sharing to expand
rapidly. Its allowed us to have free access to all kinds of information that we have
used for our coursework

6.  YouTube has been an influence on our coursework for finding our chosen artist. It
allowed us to listen to a large list of unsigned music which we could use. It has
also been a large help when researching music videos similar to our genre. With
YouTube we could look at an artists music video and find key elements on
storylines, props, camera shots and angles and choreography.
 I had no problem using YouTube as its layout makes it very easy to find the
searched video your looking for.

7.  Photoshop was one of the most important software tools I used for designing my
Digipack. It enabled me to use various effects and tools to make my album cover
how I wanted it. I didn’t have any difficulty using it because I had used it before
because I'm a graphics student. I felt it could use Photoshop to do exactly what I
wanted with my album cover and advert, it allowed me to experiment with
different styles.

8.  Final Cut allowed me to edit the footage from filming into a music video, it was
useful to use as it was an updated version of filming software which offered more
features. I wasn’t too sure how to use it to begin with but once I got the basics of
it I was able to work with it easily.
 I experimented with some different effects, such as fading in/out as well as
quieting and loudening the sound for particular parts in the video. I found it was
easy to work out because of Final Cut’s simple layout.

9.  Overall I felt that the media technology helped massively toward the completion
of my coursework. I found it particularly useful that all technology used was
linked in some way. Web 2.0 allowed you to converge different
technology, making it easier to access and being able to combine them in tasks.
 I was confident when it came to using all these media technologies. Because I
thought most were simple to use and similar to other website software
programs. Web 2.0 was mainly useful for combining and presenting my work, it
also allowed me to share and get feedback for my promotional package.