New media technologies were used throughout the construction of a music video. A WordPress blog was created for communication and research was conducted online using sites like Prezi and Scribd. Filming used a DSLR camera and flycam, and editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro. Mobile phones facilitated meetings and uploads. Photoshop was used to design packaging, and presentation technologies like Prezi and WordPress were employed for evaluations.

1. EVALUATION TASK 4
HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES
IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH,
PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?
When making a music video it would be hard not to use
various types of technology, the technologies can be
used for a variety of different reasons.

2. BLOG
• When we first started this A2 year and the coursework itself, we had
to make a blog. The blog is used as a platform of communication
between examiner and student. When choosing our site we had to
take this into consideration, the ergonomics and aesthetics of the site
would be marked, so we used WordPress as we are all familiar with
the use and how to embed onto the site. We also downloaded the
WordPress app from the App Store enabling us to upload from our
mobile devices.

3. RESEARCH AND PLANNING
• After making the blog the research for the final cut began. The research stage
was prominently looking at the codes and conventions of the genre of song
we were going to choose. When researching into media, books may not be
the best answer, so instead we chose to use the world wide web as a source
of information on artists, conventions and videos.
• When presenting this research we had to use different platforms of
technology, so instead of just copying and pasting onto the blog we had to
use different mediums. This is when we began looking at programs and
websites such as ‘Prezi’ and ‘Scribd’. These are great ways of displaying
information because you can input screenshots/videos onto these programs
and annotate them underneath.

4. FILMING
• After all the research we had to start thinking about the filming of the
video, this is where different technologies come into play as it is not
all on a computer anymore. In the filming process we used a Nikon
D7100 we chose this because it is very easy to use and the
focus/picture is very good on DSLRs. Alongside this camera we used
a Fly-cam 5000, of which there is a tutorial of on the blog and some
photos of us setting it up.
• We also used a tripod for several shots where the camera was
required to be still such as the time lapses.

5. EDITING
• After the filming process comes the editing; this can only be done once the files on
the SD card are transferred onto a desktop.
• We used Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 to edit the music video as I felt it was more
sophisticated and technical than other software such as Final Cut pro. This would
enable me to do more with the video and ultimately make it look more
professional and neat. I am familiar with Premiere Pro after my various editing
practice videos posted previously on the blog.
• Adobe comes with various useful tools and effects such as the trim tool and also I
placed the crop tool on every shot. Rendering the footage is also much simper on
Premiere Pro and adding effects such as adjusting brightness and contrast and
slow motion.
• Throughout the video the two prominent editing techniques I have used are jump
cuts and parallel editing in order to maintain the pace and energy of the song
whilst allowing the narrative to run swiftly. To do this I efficiently used the timeline to
put shots on different layers. This allowed me to cut shots to the beat and switch to
one on another layer and then return to the original shot.
• Another technique I utilized was split-screening where I took two shots and a black
screen and had them appear on the screen to the beat by cropping all of the
parts of the shots which weren’t needed and slotting the rest together (Shown
Below).

6. EDITING CONTINUED
• At the start and the end of the song I used the key frames tool to
change the levels of sound and opacity on the time-lapse shots as
the titles were revealed. The titles were made on Premiere Pro as well
as the time-lapse involving speeding up a 20 minute shot to create.
• At the start and end of the video I implemented sound effects of
birds chirping which I downloaded from freesound.org and placed
onto the timeline. This helps remove unwanted sounds and also fill in
silences as there is no music playing.
• Once completed the video was converted into an mp4 file in order
to upload it to YouTube. We then embedded this video from
YouTube into our WordPress blog.

7. MOBILES AND EDITING BLOG POSTS
• Through the whole process we were using our mobile phones, this
technology was imperative as we required It to meet up with each
other on various occasions whether it be to edit in the Easter holiday
or to film. We could also use our mobiles as the source to upload
some photos we took, for example; photos of us doing the animatic
or photos of us editing. This new technology is very helpful because
without this, the process of uploading a photo would be a lot longer.
• Other technology used was how we edited blog posts; for example if
there were multiple photos on a single blog post we would make
them part of a slideshow of photos. This would also allow us to
caption these pictures individually.

8. DIGIPACK AND POSTER
• The main program used for producing the digipack was
Adobe Photoshop CS6 because it is the best quality photo
and image producing software. Using it is not as easy but for
the best results it must be used. The variety of selection tools
(e.g.-lasso, magic selection and the square selection tool) are
very helpful to highlight specific parts of the layer then
transform the image or change the colour. Various other
techniques are needed to create the 8-bit characters such as
altering tools.

9. EVALUATION
• In these final evaluation stages of the coursework we are
using all kinds of formatting technologies. Such as
Microsoft word, Prezi and WordPress. In terms of
displaying written work these are the best and we all
have lots of experience using them.
• To answer the question in short, we used new media
technologies in the construction and research, planning
and valuation stages to our advantage. Without all
these kinds of advancements in technology this whole
process would have been a lot harder, and we used
these advancements to their full potential and to our full
potential to hope fully produce the best product and
get the best grade possible.