media evaluation question two

2. Planning
During my planning stages I used a variety of new media technologies to help
display my work on my blog in innovative ways. This proved effective as it made it
easier accessible when looking back at it when constructing my music video. The
softwares I used would not be around if it wasn't for the coming out of web 2.0, the
fact that audiences, like myself, can upload their own work.

3. Obviously the main new media technology I used to
display all my work was blogger as it allowed me to post my
work on-line, even if the work was originally created in a
different software. I used blogger as it allowed me to keep
track of all my work seamlessly this proved very important in
the pre-production stage of my music video. Blogger enabled
me to creatively display my work as I could embed things
from other software's as well as use the text and image
format that blogger provided. I was also able to personalise
my blog by changing the background, I made it so it fitted
with my theme, the red connoting as sexual and girly. Another
thing I was able to personalise was the format of my blog, for
this I used 'snapshot' which instead of showing the post
showed a picture which you'd click to view the relevant post.
This differed to how I chose to show it last year as I did not
realise you could do this. Last year I had simple text and
image display which didn’t look as innovative and fun.

4. Negatives
There were also restrictions when using blogger as sometimes when
adding a picture to my post it would not let me freely move it around.
This was problematic as it made so the picture may not be in the
relevant part of the post creating confusion to the reader and myself
when looking back at it at a later stage. Also the text would occasionally
appear bulky and often moved around after publishing the post this
proved problematic as it made the post seem unprofessional.

5. Another software I used was Prezi this was an easy software to pick up
as it was based around power point. This software allowed me to
creatively create my work ready for it to be displayed on blogger. This
software allowed me to create innovative PowerPoint-like presentations
using a single canvas, I thought it would be a good idea to use Prezi as it
was a more interesting way of displaying my work. I used Prezi a number
of times throughout my work such as 'Diary Entry- second day of
filming' this was a lot easier than presenting my work straight on to Prezi
as I had more control over the placement of my text and image.

6. Negatives
Some of the tools on this software are difficult to grasp, such as
adding in more 'slides'. It took me a long time to figure that out but
once I had grasped it I could then do it effortlessly. Also unlike
PowerPoint there is a real restriction on the typography and colour
scheme meaning that I could not be as creative as I wanted and it
was harder to get my work to reflect my music video. This was over
come by choosing a more suitable template but obviously this was
still limited making it so some of my templates were unrelated.

7. Furthermore I also used slide share during the pre-production stage of my work.
This allowed me to post PowerPoint presentations on-line and embed them on to
my blog. This proved useful for the work that needed more analysis of description
meaning that it was more text heavy. It also made it so my blog was not took up
by heavily texted work so the condensed form of a power point was very
effective. This programme was simple and easy to use as you created the
slideshare on power point, something I was very familiar to and then uploaded it
to slideshare. Once this was done it gave you the code to embed proving it very
easy.

8. Negatives
A negative of this software was that it made the PowerPoint a lot
smaller so when put on the big screen the quality had downgraded.
It was also slow at times which made it hard when it came to
uploading my work. This meant I had to wait a long time after
the completion of my work to show it and then use it later on during
a later stage.

9. Another new software I used was Wix, this allowed me to create a website
on my chosen area at that time. This allowed my viewers to be active when
looking at my planning as the website had a number of pages. I also had a
number of little things that i could put on to my work to liven it up and make
it more interesting. Also, as I could insert a picture and text boxes
anywhere it allowed me to annotate magazine adverts freely, something
which isn't possible to do on blogger or slideshare effectively.

10. Negatives
As I was new to this quite complex software it took a well to familiarise
myself as there were a lot of editing techniques that I could use to make
the website better some of these tools were very difficult to grasp and it
took me a long time to create the website. At one point I thought I had
finished but the links were not working, this proved very annoying
and tedious. It also didn't turn out as effective as I wanted as there was
no tool to embed it on to blogger, I had to put an address for the viewer to
follow. This is something I felt made it look scruffy which is why I only
used Wix once.

11. Green
Screen
During pre-production Emily and I thought it would be a good idea to have a 'performance
battle' to determine who would be the star image within our music video. We used the
green screen as it was easy to set up, in fact we didn't even have to set it up so we could
go straight in record and see who was better at acting/lip syncing. This was a valuable
piece of technology due to the fact it allowed us to determine who was more suitable to be
the star image.

12. Negatives
The negatives to this were obviously that the green screen would be different and
look different to the wallpaper and fairy lights we would use in the real thing.
Meaning that our action may not have been true to how we would of behaved if it
were the real thing.

13. Construction
I used an array of new technologies when creating my music video and
ancillary task to help me ensure that they are professional and effective.
I also used technologies that I had previously used.

14. Camera
To record my work I used a standard digital camera, this when put with a tripod allowed me to film effortlessly. This
camera had the basic recording tools such as to zoom in and out, edit the picture by adjusting things such as the contrast
as well as take pictures The footage could be simply uploaded to the mac by removing the SD card and placing it in the
mac meaning that I could record and upload efficiently. I was already familiar with the camera as it was the same one I
had used when filming my AS work.

15. Negatives
The cameras although effective were obviously not the best, this then
meaning that the quality of video was not sufficient enough for that of
belonging to the pop genre. This then meaning that we had to add
effects on to the video during the post production stage. Also the
booking system at my College was not the best and it often took a
while to get a camera. They would often make a lot of mistakes with
this as well meaning that I would have to take it back and get a new
one for silly reasons such as no battery or no SD card- something you
would of though they would of checked!

16. Lighting
To go hand in hand with filming in the studio we had to make sure the
lighting was effective. Lighting is a very important aspect when shooting as
it can create the atmosphere, mood and style of the piece. This then proved
an important piece of technology therefore we took great care when it came
to the positioning of this.

17. Negatives
As the lights were quite big they were rather hard to move
therefore positioning them correctly proved quite difficult.
For this reason we had to ask a strong male friend to come
and lift them and put them in to the position we wanted. If
this had been neglected the lighting would of just looked off.

18. Iphone
I used my iPhone to take pictures of what we were doing for diary
post, this proved easier than using the camera as we did not have to
keep taking it off the tripod and switching it on to camera then putting
it back on etc.. This meant that our time was used effectively. It also
allowed us to take pictures for the ancillary tasks, this proved useful as
I was able to add different effects to fit in with our vintage theme.

19. Negatives
At the same time as being easier than using a camera it also proved more
difficult as both Emily and I lost the USB cable meaning that we had to email
the photos from our phone to our email to then get them up on the mac. As the
internet at Weston College is not the best it often took a long time for this to
happen. Although once done the pictures could be simply downloaded and put
on to the appropriate software this usually being Photoshop.

20. Post-Production Stage
This refers to everything during the editing stage and what
software I used for this.

21. Final Cut
The most obvious software I used was Final cut Pro, this was the
editing software I used to create my music video. This software as
previously mentioned was very easy to use as I had already used in
when creating my frame by frame and for creating my
as coursework, a titling sequence. This software enabled me to
easily edited my work by uploading them through the SD
port, uploading it straight to final cut, ready for me to crop and cut the
shots to the length I needed. I then could effortlessly drag them down
and move them to make them fit to the music. This made sure that
my lip sync was correct as this is the most important aspect of a
music video. This software also enable to me to add a variety of
effects on to my work such as the kaleidoscope effect and the
mirrored effect.

22. Continued…
These effects enhanced my work as the they help it fit more with the theme
and look more exciting making the slow beat of the song seem more
exciting. I also used this software during my evaluation stages, question
one, this enabled me to be able to present my work as well as giving
examples of my work to further reinforce what I was saying. This then
proved effective as if my speech did not create a full understanding of what I
was trying to put forward the picture would then clarify this. This style
of presentation is also a lot more interesting than viewing text and image. I
also used final cut during my diary entries, this was to show what I had done
during the construction task.

23. Continued…
I used out takes to do this as well as clips I had specifically recorded to
show equipment and reasoning behind my construction. I then edited this
on final cut to put my attempt at either close-ups or the long shots against
Emily’s so we could really see who was doing better. I also used final cut
to create my animatic, this is where we put the story board we made to
the music. This proved very useful as it showed Emily and I that we did
not have enough cuts and that the slow pace of the cuts made the song
seem to drag on a lot. I also used it to put together my performance
battle. This enabled me to clearly see the contrast between Emily and I
so we could then see who was the better performer making them better
fitted for the music video. I could then easily share my work on social
networking sites like YouTube at the click of the bottom then whilst this
shared I could simply and easily carry on with other work.

24. Negatives
However this software can also be quite slow, lagging at
times making it quite difficult to complete work efficiently.
This then means that a lot of time was wasted waiting for the
work the render or even catch up with what I was doing.

25. I used Dafont to locate the chosen font I wanted. This
web address allows you to download fonts to your font book for
free, unless they are being used for company reasons. This
relates to what John Norton said in his newspaper article -25
things to do with the internet you didn't know' in guardian about
the internet not being truly free. However as we were using
this for educational purpose and were not a business we could
use it for free. I had previously used this website as well, during
my as year within media as well as without meaning that i was
familiar with the website so no time was wasting in figuring out
what to do.

26. Negatives
A negative not for me but the company would be as you can
download it free it runs the risk of piracy as the fonts can be easily
stolen. However a negative for me is the it took a while to
download the font as my college has a block on downloading
things meaning that we had to wait awhile for this block to be
lifted and then downloaded it during the short period it was
unblocked, this was obviously slightly annoying but nothing that
effect our work gravely.

27. I used Photoshop to create both of my ancillary tasks a
software that I had no previously used. This software allowed
me to edit the pictures with an array of professional effects. It
also allowed me to edit my chosen typography to make it
more readable. I did this by downloading a font from Dafont
into my font book which could be accessed when using
Photoshop. To start with you could not clearly see the font
but by using different effects, one of these effects was called
Liner Light. This then enhanced the visibility of my work
making my work look more professional.

28. Negatives
However Photoshop was quite difficult to get my head around as I was not
familiar with it. This then meant that I often had ask for external help. This was
often hard are the person familiar with this, Mark, was often not in. Therefore
we resort to the trial and error technique to get our head around the software.
This then meant we were wasting time trying to figure out what to do instead
of actually doing it. However this in a way is positive as it taught us how to
use the software so later on in life when it is needed to use it again we will
then have the prior knowledge to do so.
Sure I will help
you :)

29. Distribution
We distributing our work using web 2.0 software such as YouTube. This is because this is
what are target audience use due to the fact they are digital natives rather than digital
immigrant.

30. I used YouTube to distribute my music video as on final cut I was able to
export it straight on to there and embed it on to my blog. I was also then
able to post this on to many other social networking sites to easily gain
feedback. YouTube enabled me to title my work, write a description and
add tags to it so that viewers can/could easily locate it. This then making
YouTube one of the most useful pieces of soft-wares that I used
and defiantly is the most useful distributing software I have
used. YouTube also allowed me to look at the statistics surrounding my
music video post so I was able to see who was watching and how they were
viewing it. This proved effective as it enabled me to realise if i had
correctly targeted my marketability of which I had this was evident through
the way in which my video was viewed, mostly on Tablets this is a product
that mostly 17-23 year olds have, my target audience.

31. Continued
They could also leave various comments and like the video
this would then help me make modifications to my music video
especially when they commented on my draft work. This also helped
show me that my marketability liked my video as they were
leaving positive comments showing that my music video must
be successful to gain this. As well as being used in this stage it was also
used in my research and planning stage to look at already exciting
music videos to see what made them so good. This was useful as it also
helped me gather information on the conventions of music videos and
in particular the conventions of my chosen genre, pop. This then
enabled me to create a professional music video which is what I
originally set out to try to create.

32. Negatives
However as the internet is a ‘free for all’ anyone could document
on my work therefore I had a few people commenting on my video
with things that were irrelevant, what they thought was funny. This
was in actual fact tedious and annoying as I wanted constructive
feedback to help make my music video the best of its ability.

33. I then shared this YouTube link on twitter to help broaden
my feedback as it is said on the channel four 'Urban Tribe'
website that my marketability, RAHS and Trendies, will
often visit/use this website. Twitter now has broaden its
marketability as well as it can be a useful website enabling
people to meet others with the same interests through 'hash
tagging' meaning that it opens it up to a wider audience of
different tribes.

34. Negatives
A negative of using Twitter is that it is unlikely that someone
that you are not friends with to comment no matter how many
followers you have, unless you are famous obviously!
Meaning that even though I tried to gain a wider range of
feedback I was still stuck with getting feedback from friends.
Although a few different people did comment each time I
posted something meaning that I still gathered more feedback
to help ensure my end products were professional and
effective.

35. I also shared my work on Facebook, this enabling family and friends
to comment on it. I posted my draft work as well as the final pieces so
that I would get constructive feedback to I could improve my piece to
make it to the best of my ability. This was easier than gathering
feedback from Facebook and Twitter as different urban tribes were
able to comment on it all from different age groups, as I have family
members on there who are older than my marketability. So I would
then increase my chances of getting more feedback from a diverse
audience. They were also allowed to simply 'like' the post a lot easier
than commenting and my music video received a lot of likes meaning
that it was well liked by my audience.
6th February 2014
6th February 2014
6th February 2014

36. Negatives
Again, like Facebook it enabled for anyone to comment on it so
occasionally I got the odd 'funny' comments. However the
positive comments outweighed this. Again it was mostly friends
that commented on my post, however a few family members
also did so making it so my audience was widen. They left
positive comments meaning that my video also appealed to
them. However as they are family there is an element of bias in
there as they would not want to upset me !
6th February 2014
6th February 2014

37. Overall I used a range of new media technologies
that are only available to me today because of web
2.0. Which without would have prevented me from
creating products that look realistic and
professional. That I also felt proud to have created.
However I feel that if I was not a digital native I
would not of been able to achieve what I have
because the new software would just be too new
and complex for someone born before the internet
era to understand.
Ne

38. Also the ability to use all this new media technology
comes at a price, all the work I have posted to the
internet now belongs to the internet and anyone
can download/use it. This also means that anyone
can comment on it, even abusive language. As
even though the big corporations feel they have the
most control, I personally feel they do not have the
time to troll through every comment meaning
some are left unnoticed. So far this has not
really happened to my work, well besides
the ‘jokesters’!
Continued