Evaluation Question 4) How Did You Use New Media Technologies In The Construction And Research, Planning And Evulation Stages? PREZI

Throughout researching and creating I was able to use many new and advanced technologies. To begin with I used a lot of blogger, this made it easier to plan my research and organise them in one place. This made it easier for me to go back over points I has made, which was overall very beneficial as it allowed me to improve any mistakes I had made and in addition to this If there was any crucial planning details I had left out I was able to retrace my steps and organise myself in a way which would be successful to not only me but my whole production team. My media teachers were able to access my blogs very quickly which meant feedback was always reliable and fast for me. This meant that any improvements that needed to be made would be made by me quickly and this allowed more time to concentrate on planning rather than waiting around to make corrections.

One piece of equipment I really enjoyed using this year in my advanced portfolio was the SLR camera. This meant that it was now possible to create something of higher quality. This was because as a whole the music video looked a lot more professional due to the crisp and clear quality. With this particular camera we were able to have the opportunity to play about this the focus to make it appear either sharper or more blurred, this would vary as to what kind of mood and atmosphere we were striving to create while shooting a particular scenes. For example the more emotional scenes where intended to be more blurred as this would create a very dreamlike atmosphere almost as though the artist can’t quite focus clearly on the traumatic experiences she may have to deal with in the music video. The fact that the camera gave me a range of different technological advancements that wouldn’t necessary be available with an ordinary digital camera meant that the advancement of technology in this department overall was successful to us as we were able to view a range of particular and both creative camera shots and angles that may not have been doable beforehand.

When editing the footage that was filmed I was able to conduct the editing process on Final Cut Pro X. This allowed me to use a very advanced piece of equipment which as a result led to us being able to create a very sophisticated finish. This is because Final Cut Pro X has access to a number of different transitions and filters which were needed to create a specific atmosphere. I found that the colours and filter changes where very easy to demonstrate on the software. For example when I wanted to change the gradient of the situation I was able to just like on the clip I wanted to change and then adjust the percentage of situation. On the other hand I felt that Final Cut Pro was much harder to use for a music video. This is because sometimes clips would automatically stick together and when trying to move them around to fit in with the lyrics this became a challenge for myself and my group as we would sometimes add one clip and then have to editing the whole music video again because the timing was now out.

Photoshop CS6 was used to create my ancillary texts. My task was to create a magazine advert and a digipak. Having to use such advanced software meant that if done right I had a chance to create something very original and professional. Although it helped produce very realistic ancillary texts I had to be able to use a number of different tools successfully. For example the paint tool that I had used often on my ancillary texts was sometimes difficult to manipulate, this was because I found it different to know what movement and density would look best. This took a lot of practice to get my preferred look. I wanted it to appear very natural and sophisticated. Although this was sometimes hard to conduct Photoshop CS6 was something that allowed me to complete a very smooth and finalised piece of work.

For the evaluation process I wanted to incorporate as much technology as was possibly needed. This meant that I had to include, Blogger, Prezi and Video/Audio Technology. I found that Blogger was most certainly the easiest to construct as it was the piece of software I was most familiar with. This meant that I was able to make a new post and begin answering question one. When finished I published my work and everything was there on my blog. Now for questions 2 and 4 I found that the digital technology used was slightly more difficult to follow. I had to create an online PowerPoint presentation for these two questions in particular. This meant that I had to write out my answers then edit them into Prezi. I found that this was very fun and creative, but also more time consuming as sometimes it took longer to figure out what to do next as I wasn’t as familiar with this type of technology. When finished I had to save the PowerPoint onto the website through my account I then copied the link into my blogger making it accessible to my teachers and examiners. 

Finally I was able to use my SLR camera and personally editing software (Vegas Move Studio HD Platinum 11.0) I found this question one of the hardest to get completed. This was because I not only had to film myself reading out the question. I then uploaded it to my laptop and then edited out any mistakes that may have occurred. In addition to this I then added particular relevant photo evidence of what I was talking about and following that I then published my video on to YouTube before placing a link in my Blogger. I found that this was the most time consuming use of digital technology and required a lot of patience as most of the time I was required to wait for something to either publish or upload. Overall though I found this number two was still very enjoyable to experiment with as I have always enjoyed editing footage together.

In conclusion, this whole experience in media has been very successful to me. This is because I was able to run deep analyse on what’s to come. By doing this I was all ready to imagine what typical conventions would be present in my music video. As a whole, I felt I was given a good opportunity to make my media media products and supporting ancillary texts as realistic and professional looking as possible all due to my advanced variety in digital technology and planning techniques.