Evaluation Question 4- draft

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

BLOGGER- This was used frequently throughout the process of completing my coursework as I was constantly posting ideas for inspiration and research to ensure all my though processes could be tracked by the examiner. I also used this application to view several other well regarded blogs to comment upon effective posts and view and compare progress of myself and peers. Two of the main blogs I used predominantly included Mr Ford and Mr Smith's Blogger accounts and these provided details around set tasks and deadlines for the completion, I wanted to ensure that I was on time and focused on task at all time. 

MICROSOFT WORD PROCESSOR- This was used to present my analysis of existing music videos and review details such as genre characteristics, etc. This helped me display my analytic information in a more presentable way which is organised.

TWITTER- I used this form of social media from my iPhone accessible via the app. This contributed towards making Parables seem a more established and known band through tweeting details around schedules, shooting, releases and information about the band to be shared with 'fans'. This replicated the Twitter activities of real bands.
This application was also helpful in terms of personal scheduling and feedback given from peers and teacher accounts.

ANIMOTO- I used this as method of presenting my 25 word pitch to the class, showing ideas around the genre, storyline and song I intended to feature within the music video. This was very easy to use and an efficient method of getting ideas across in a creative way using imagery and minimal amounts of descriptive text.

GOOGLE CHROME / INTERNET EXPLORER- I frequently browsed the internet for pre-existing forms of media which were relatable to my idea. I gathered inspiration and basic research using the internet which I posted on my blog to present ideas.

YOUTUBE- This media platform allowed me to view inspiration in terms of pre existing contemporary dance music videos. through viewing many examples of these style videos, I was able to get a clearer idea of how to portray the expressions effectively using the appropriate shots and angles. I also used this to my advantage as I researched the current music video for Arcade Fire- My Body is a Cage, to find interpretations of the song. To the benefit of myself and the rest of the group, the current video shows edited clips from the movie 'Once Upon a Time in The West' and had no relevance to the lyrics within the song. This was something which pleased me as I wished to not be influenced by another individuals intake of the lyrics and portray my ideas boldly with no question of the storyline in my mind. the draft and final version of our music video was uploaded onto this platform and allowed the public/'fans' to view whenever and wherever they wished.

UKTRIBES- During the research stages, I needed to identify the main target audience of the digipak, advert and music video. To do this, I used secondary research listed on UK Tribes website describing the typical characteristics of different audiences. This research confirmed the target audience of Parables music and features to be indie/alternative individuals.

SOUNDCLOUD- I created a playlist of the typical target audience, including indie tracks which had meaningful lyrics, etc. This helped me use different forms of media to establish a target market.

PUBLISHER- I used this software to create moodboard documents displaying a collage of inspiration and ideas surrounding the music video. These documents were then uploaded to Scribd as a more presentable method, allow the mood boards to be viewed on Blogger.

EMAIL (Hotmail and Gmail)- This form of technology allowed us to communicate with others to organise the filming process. We contacted many studio companies to organise room hire for our filming location, however many of these turned out to be out of our budget or unsuitable for our desired outcome (pure white and appearing 'boxy'.) Eventually we were able to contact Yellow Bean Studios via his email address being displayed on the website. Following our emails we were able to organise a set date, times, equipment and prices for our filming slot at the studio.

iPhone- Used to communicate with members of the group via iMessage /text message and phone calls to share ideas and organise times which we would dedicate to working as a group in our free time (usually free periods on school timetables.) This was also a key technology enabling us to discuss filming details with studio managers.


DIGIPAK AND ADVERT

PUBLISHER- My analysis of pre-existing digipaks and advertisement were presented on publisher documents as this was the easiest form of displaying the information in one place in an organised and creative way.

SCRIBD.- Documents which I use for research were uploaded to Scribd as a form of neat presentation on my blogger page. I was able to upload files onto this website and copy the embed code onto a blog post. I found this an effective and creative way to show elements of research and ideas, much more presentable than a basic blog post.

IPHONE- The use of the camera on my phone was key to creating the draft as I was able to take photos of interesting scenery at short notice which I went on to incorporate into my draft design for the digipak and advert. (I intended to retake these images using a professional camera to achieve a more stylish, industry standard product, however this was not necessary as my idea changed all together following the feedback given.) My phone was also used to access personal and Parables Twitter account related to the tasks.

DISK WIZARDS- The template used for the digipak itself was taken from Disk Wizards website; a site which provides templates available to be downloaded for users to create their own digipaks and similar pieces. Having the template ready with correct, appropriate measurements made creating a digipak much easier as this allowed me to immediately focus on the design and get a better idea of how the product will look on completion.

BLOGGER- Again, I used my blogger account to post images of inspiration referring to pre-existing digipaks and designs which suited the look I was aiming to achieve. This allowed the viewers to see some background to the completed product.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP- This software was used primarily during the actual creation of the digipak and analysis. I found this an efficient way of achieving professional, industry standard outcomes as the available tools allowed different elements of design. My digipak journey file was also created using this software as I felt the final product would have a slicker appearing design and layout than other forms of presentation (such as Publisher, etc.) I was able to turn Photoshop PDF files into JPEGs to allow viewing in an image format, which I could then upload and display on the blog.

INTERNET EXPLORER- Allowed me to find inspiration around pre-existing indie digipak and advert designs, for which I was able to analyse and present on the blog as a form of research. Also, the internet gave me the ability to find and homage a version of Bombay Bicycle Club- Flaws digipak and advertisement promotions as I initially came across this on the web and took an instant liking to the appearance and layout.

CAMERA (Nikon DSLR)- I used the school's camera to photograph a female classmate to feature on the cover of my final digipak and advertisement in the attempt to achieve a homage/ similar outcome to Bombay Bicycle Club Flaws album. This camera was very high quality and enabled me to get images which contributed towards a stylish, modern design.

LIGHTING- In the school's AVS room I choose to use the white screen behind the female I photographing for my cover and advert image. To gain the best possible photos I chose to use three bright lights belonging to the school to ensure there were no unwanted shadow effects shown in the shot and to make the process of editing the image much simpler.
 
MUSIC VIDEO

iTUNES, iPHONE, iPOD, iPAD- These devices allowed us to efficiently and effectively film for the final music video through playing Arcade Fire- My Body is a Cage (our chosen audio) to gain shots which fit with the music including dramatic dance, expressions and in-time lip synching footage. We also filmed short clips of dance footage from Sophie and Cameron (male and female dancers featured in the video) to practise filming and present ideas at early stages of planning- filming via iPad and the song played in the background via iTunes on an iPhone.

PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING- For both the draft and final versions of the music video, we hired out the studio with three 'bright white' lights included in the price. These pieces of equipment dramatically improved the look of our video as, without the extreme lighting and use of various lighting techniques (such as the 'three point lighting effect'), we would not have been able to achieve the harsh, sharp shadows shown on the walls of the bright white studio room. We feel this emphasised our storyline and enhanced the element of drama within the video.

HAND HELD VIDEO RECORDING CAMERA- We used this piece of equipment for capturing the footage of our draft music video. This was often placed on the tripod or shoulder stand to gain the best results, however for close up shots as well as high and low angles, etc. As a group we did not feel this allowed us to get our desired effects such as blurred shots and high quality footage.
CAMERA (Nikon DSLR)- This was used to film our final version of Parables music video. We felt this enables us to capture flawless, more edgy shots. We also chose this camera out of the two as it gave us the ability to gain blurry, disorientating effects on filming, which we felt further expressed the storyline of disillusion effectively.
SD CARDS- Two 16GB SD cards were used for the filming of our draft and final music videos. Despite not filing the total available storage completely, we felt this was necessary. Having overestimating the storage limit of a single SD card when filming for the final video, we resulted in borrowing another 16GB card from the studio manager. This was crucial as we intended to capture much more footage after the first SD card was full. These enabled us to store the footage and later upload the files.

APPLE MAC- This desktop computer was available for use at school for us to import the footage stored on the SD cards and create our draft and final music video.
 
FINAL CUT PRO- Editing software on the Mac''s allowed us to view and edit our clips. We were able to creatively put footage together, also adding I special effects where suitable. After being happy with our video, we were able to use Final Cut Pro to export the finished versions of the draft and final music video to YouTube- where teachers and peers could watch and give feedback on.