How did you use new technologies in the construction and research ,

planning and evaluation stages ?

Question 4

Technologies used

ConstructionDigital camcorder We used a digital camcorder provided by our media department , to film the footage for our hip-pop music video. Every member of the group already had experience with using this piece of equipment from the previous year when we filmed our opening sequence to a thriller. Our media group used three cameras to make sure we covered three shot angles for footage.

We were able to create many shots and filming techniques with this for example panning , still shots , high and low angles and close ups. However we found the lighting was bad so we made sure we used other lighting sources for example the natural lighting.

The quality of the camera was not the best and was very limited however it was better in comparison to our only other option which was using our mobile phones . Overall the visual quality does not reflect the quality of the work . As media students the highlights would be our use of camera shots and filming techniques in addition to the expense of our equipment.

ConstructionSocial networking To plan the construction of our video ,we also used a range of social networking websites and technologies which gave us the opportunity to communicate with one another . We used Facebook , Msn and blackberry messenger to have group conversations and set dates for future events .

The most useful social network was Facebook . One of our members created a Facebook group where we could discuss issues , plans and set dates and deadlines. The advantages of using Facebook was that we could make the group secret and unseen by the public , we could scroll back through old information and comments left on the wall , we receive notifications when a member has wrote something and every member of the media group had a Facebook account before hand because it is a popular trend for teenagers .

Construction IMovie programme on the iMac

We used iMacs in the post production stage of our project . A programme on the iMac named IMovie was very useful when it came to editing and is only available on the apple computers . I Movie's is a software which allows us to cut and trim footage and add sound , music , transitions , images , backgrounds and other editing elements to the finishing product .

When editing our final music video and other evaluation videos, we used many different transitions sush as cross disolving, the cube, slow motion at the end of the video. We also used different effects such as changing the contrast of the different parts of the video to black and white.

Construction USB Stick A USB drive is a data storage device which holds files on a portable pen . My group each have a USB which is used to transport the media work done at home to a school computer .

We found many advantages using this device for example : • small and very portable • available in different sizes • available in different material • available in many different capacity sizes from 250MB to

32GB • we can print using screen print, laser and diamond

engraving

Research YouTube is a video-sharing website, which users can upload, view and share videos. During our research YouTube helped us find hip pop /rap artists which gave us an idea of what we will be portraying . This also helped when my group made presentations on the conventions of a hip pop / rap video and costumes .

Search

Home page

Images

Videos

Google is a multinational Internet and software corporation specialized in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. It hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products. when My group and I were conducting our research , we used Google as a source for numerous research tasks .Google is a helpful technology because as you can see on the left of the screen you can search a keyword on the homepage and it will allow you to scan through a search , images , videos and more .

Research Microsoft office Microsoft office is a computer software which includes a range of ICT technology . Throughout our music video project My group and I have created power points and made word documents to present in front of our class , to answer evaluation questions, to make timetables and to help us with our research and planning . Here are some examples :

• A word document to make a audience research questionnaire clear and easy .

• Creating a timetable which shows the group when we are filming and editing using an option named table on word documents .

• A power point which presented background information on our chosen artists .

Media groups filming and editing timetable ( word document )

Research Blogger Blogger is a publishing service used to upload text , videos and images . Throughout our coursework we have been posting updates of our latest research and planning . The reason we keep our blogger page updated is because the exam board marks us on our range of technologies and presentational devices used , when answering the questions . To make sure every member in the group does not use the same presentation software we plan it before hand . Examples of ways we have varied our blog is ; prezi , PowerPoint , word , YouTube , text and flash .Every member of the group has experience of using this in the previous year . We got the opportunity to learn skills like importing images and videos and how to change fonts , colours and sizes .

Research Slide share

Another internet service we used during our video project was slide share. Slide Share is a Web 2.0 based slide hosting service used to upload files privately or publicly in the following file formats: PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote or Open Office presentations. Then people can view these files on slide decks via there computer or handheld devices . My group has used slide share in the past to upload PowerPoint presentations and also receive feedback from unknown people . An advantage of getting feedback from strangers is that there feedback is not bias .

Planning Fireworks Adobe fireworks is a graphics editor software . It is an ICT software which allows the user to edit photos , text and animations using different tools displayed . Our group mainly used fireworks to edit our poster and digipak . The picture below shows our poster being created .

Planning Planning the construction In the planning stage My group and I created a mood board to present different images which relate to the music video we are going to start.This mood board showed a mixture of hobbies, fashion and muisc ideas which was in the orginal Rizzle Kicks – When I Was A Youngster and which we wish to portray in ours .

Another aspect of planning the contrusction was making a location comic strip on windows movie maker .

Evaluation We used a software known as prezi in order to present many of our research. We used extensivley during our evaluation question 2 .

The prezi has allowed us to use a range of multi media software in order to present our work in a creative way .

For the evalutaion question 4 , we used another software named powerpoint. This is a great way to present text and images in a slide format .

Question 1 and 3 was presented on imovies . For Question 3 we used a media technology named a green screen , this is where you drop a green strip behind the person/object your filming so that you can edit the background on imovies . Also for question 1 we used a variety of different media texts from youtube .