How did You use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did You use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Blogger:Throughout my A-level Media course, BlogSpot has been the main source of all planning, research and evaluation stages thus allowing me the ability to refer back to each aspect during the filming process. By maintaining all information on one website, alongside PowerPoints and planning sheets, I was able to keep my research and planning organised and concise, creating a smooth progress to evaluation, where I begin to refer back to these. This is evidenced with the use of labels such as G324 Planning Music Video and G324 Research Into Music Videos, which allows me to categorise all my work thus keeping track and allowing easy access to make any revisions if necessary. Furthermore, the public aspect of Blogger has proven extremely beneficial when receiving feedback. My tutor has been able to offer feedback and improvements to help me develop my work further, thus pushing me to the best of my ability. Additionally, allowing fellow classmates to view it means they too can suggest and share their thoughts and ideas, since they are my target audience and therefore all planning, research and eventually filming, links directly to them. I used this to my advantage to strengthen my work in order to help me during planning, research and evaluation stages.I frequently used websites such as Prezi and other presentation software such as PowerPoint in order to plan and research my ideas for my music video successfully and efficiently. This allowed me to create an organised visual plan that my group and I could easily refer to, but also for my tutor to understand and follow in order to keep up with different stages of our work. Using blogger, I then embedded these onto the html part of it and then uploaded them so that others, such as my tutor, can view it and I can refer back to it.

SOUNDcloud & YouTube:Before starting my planning and research, I had to first find an artist fitting the brief unsigned and British. Therefore I utilised music websites such Soundcloud and YouTube extensively, thus coming across chosen band Coco and the Butterfields. My group and I were then able to choose a song based on what gave us the most inspiration on first hear and immediately Warriors held our attention. I was then able to begin research and planning using YouTube by researching their music videos for their other songs and how they want to be perceived as a band, by their audience. This proved invaluable when producing our pitch by helping my group and I understand the genre of the band through websites such as Soundcloud and YouTube, thus allowing us to make an appropriate music video that both promoted the band successfully and attracted our target audience. Furthermore, the recommendations given from these websites allowed me to explore the genre in depth thus gaining further understanding in order to produce a music video that an audience of that genre would enjoy since our chosen song has that effect as evidenced with the videos posted by the band on YouTube of live gigs with an animated crowd. The use of YouTube was also indispensable when researching other music videos, artists and films. Our music video displays strong themes of fairy tales and magic realism and therefore it was essential that I research how other artists incorporated these themes into their music videos, or similarly, directors with their use of mise en scene in magic realist films such as. Therefore I used this as an implement to research in depth how other artists presented similar themes to that of my music video.

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES:My group and I relied heavily on Facebook to communicate with the actress in our music video, Danielle. Danielle is a crucial aspect to our story in order to reach out to our audience of a similar age, and therefore maintaining contact was essential. Therefore, my group and I created a group chat to communicate back and forth; discussing time schedules where and when to meet and what Danielle was required to wear (her jewelry was an important aspect of our costume in order to present a contemporary twist on classic fairy tales). Therefore, the use of social networking sites proved invaluable in order to maintain constant contact so that each individual group member was equally informed allowing for an organised filming process and coherent teamwork. Having a smartphone also meant I had access to Facebook wherever I went, much like those in my group, and therefore I was readily available if a last minute change had to be made, making the filming and planning process much more smooth. I then used my IPhone 4S throughout the shoot to maintain contact, even with taking photos of my group and I filming, utilising every available aspect of my phone.

CAMERA:The camera my group and I used was a Canon HD Camcorder in which featured a screen with the rule of thirds - a grid of 9 squares. This allowed my group and I to judge the composition of each shot in order to shoot from a variety of different angles. Furthermore, the use of a screen allowed my group and I to review the footage should it need to be re-shot or practised at a different angle. This provides focused continuity that I am able to keep control of, in order to produce a high quality music video using the features we have. Additionally, other features such as zoom and focus provided the ability to film a variety of shots and therefore I utilised every aspect in order to use it to my advantage, thus adding an element of entertainment for my music video in which is a crucial requirement for my audience to enjoy it.For my photographs used in my print productions, I used a Canon bridge camera that heightens the quality of my images, adding an element of professionalism in my digipak so that the attention of my target audience is engaged. Unlike a smartphone, my camera had the rule of thirds allowing for my photographs to maintain focus through composition. For example, the image of Hansel & Gretel used for panel 1 of my digipak was positioned so that the trees were on the outer squares of the grid, whilst Hansel & Gretel standing on the dock was positioned in the middle column. This appeared more organised and neat so as to not distract from the band and song name, thus promoting it successfully. Furthermore, the ability to adjust lighting with the camera gave my images a much higher quality thus producing a more effective CD and Magazine Advert. I was able to manipulate the lighting through adjustments of settings, to create a dramatic effect. For example, on panel 3 with the image of the rose, I heightened the sunlight around the rose to emphasise the light tone of the rose itself.

EDITING SOFTWARE:To edit my music video, I used Premiere Pro which offered a full range of functions that heightened the magic realism theme. For example, I used the razor tool which allowed me to cut a clip in two. With this, I then altered the speed of one half of the clip so that the clip would transition from normal to fast. Then, by using reverse narrative, I was able to end my music video with a fast pace that eventually brings my protagonist back to reality thus creating binary opposition from illusion. I then experimented with different transitions such as dip to black and dip to white to create a smooth transition from one clip to another in order to create a fluent music video. Furthermore, I chose to not start the music as soon as the clip starts as I felt this distracted from the contrast of reality and fairy tale. Additionally, the music couldnt then start abruptly so in order to create a polished and refined transition, I used exponential fade which allowed the music to gradually increase in volume. The music is then able to progress as the music video does, allowing for my audience to follow the storyline with ease.

Print productions:To edit my print productions, I used Photoshop which offered an extensive amount of tools to utilise. For example, I frequently edited the vibrancy on my photographs both the CD and Magazine Advert to heighten the magic realism theme in which is distinct from reality. Therefore in my CD, I edited and brightened the green tones of the trees on panel 1, the blue tint on panels 2 & 3 and the red of Little Red Riding Hoods cloak on panel 4. For my magazine advert, I edited the colour of the trees by adding a pink hue that appears surreal and unordinary to my audience, thus reflecting themes of magic realism in my music video. To follow conventions of a digipak, I had to set the crop settings so that the size of my images were the size expected of a CD. Therefore I adjusted these to 145mm by 125mm, so that when I edited the composition, I was keeping to the correct measurements. Furthermore, text was required on the back panel to promote the tracks on the CD and therefore I used the text tool, selected my font, and aligned the text to fit the image used. My Magazine Advert required many layers including the band logo and text. Therefore I opened the logo in a new file, cut around it using the lasso tool and transferred it onto the file of the magazine advert image. I positioned this and then continued to do the same with the text, aligning this in a neat and concise way so that the advert didnt appear too busy and clustered.