How
did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
Media technology has been a vital element
in the completion of this course. From the research, planning, construction and
evaluation, technology has been a key tool in completing these tasks to the
best of my ability. The first thing I did at the beginning of this A2 course
was create a blog on blogger.com, and I would use this throughout the year and
keep the blog up to date about what I’ve been doing as well as using it to
present completed tasks. Blogger allowed me to track my progress, and the use
of labels such as ‘diary entries’ and ‘research’ kept the blog clear and
accurate. I found using the blog to be extremely helpful and efficient, and it
made me much more organized when it came to putting all my work in to one
place.
On my blog, I had to present all the tasks
I had completed in a variety of ways, and various computer websites allowed me
to do this. For example, I used Prezi, PowerPoint and Slideshare to show all my
documents in different ways, and this allowed me to have a much more
interesting blog, and also exposed me to the many ways in which a document can
be presented.
Furthermore, I used the equipment available
to me to film myself several times for diary entries. I used a Canon 550 DSLR
and tripod to film myself talking to camera about what I had been doing
recently. I then used a SD card reader to transport this footage on to the
computer and uploaded it straight on to my blog. This was efficient and quick,
and could be easily accomplished in a matter or minutes; showing just how
important new media technologies are.
In terms of research, media technology was
an essential tool as it allowed me to explore the Internet to find out more
information about the Indie/rock genre, as well as provide me with the history
of music videos and various other tasks. Access to internet sites such as
YouTube (through Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox) also gave me the
opportunity to see what professional music videos looked like and what they
included and thus gave me inspirations for my music video. I also researched various locations for my
music video through the use of Google.co.uk and then presented my findings on
my blog. Also, when I was considering using t-shirts with lyrics printed on
them I used Google.co.uk to research various shops I could purchase these
t-shirts from, which was very useful because I could quickly discover which
shop would be the cheapest and most useful. In addition, as part of the
planning process I had to complete drafts for my magazine advert and digipak.
In order to put these on my blog I used a Scanner which quickly uploaded the
paper drafts as images on to the computer.
In terms of construction, there were
various pieces of equipment and software available for me to use. At the
beginning of the course I researched possible equipment I could use, which
included a Canon 550 DSLR, tripod, steady cam, fisheye lens and jib. I went on
to use the Canon and tripod multiple times for diary entries, and I used both
pieces of equipment and the steady cam during production of my music video. I
investigated using the fisheye lens also, however later decided it would not
fit well with my narrative. Knowing these pieces of equipment were available to
me at any time was very useful and encouraged me to learn more about the
equipment, and I even completed a Prezi detailing the equipment and details
about it.
When constructing my print tasks, the main
software I used was Adobe Photoshop CS3. In my previous AS media course I used
this software constantly to edit my magazine, therefore I was well experienced
with it. This software allowed me to add filter effects to background images,
which I took advantage of constantly. Specifically, I added the filter ‘Conte
Crayon’ to the background image used throughout my print tasks, and this gave
it a more unique and recognizable appearance. It also allowed me to cut out
images and use drop shadows on fonts to make them stand out more. These
elements enhanced the final product and made it much more appealing.
When editing my music video, I began using
Adobe Premiere CS3, which I have much experience with. However, due to it unexpectedly
crashing and not saving my files, I decided to switch to Adobe Premiere CS6
which proved to be much more reliable. Using this piece of software I input all
my footage in to the document and added the mp3 of the song in to one file. I
then proceeded to edit and cut my footage in order to make it cut in time to
the music, as well as edit out pieces of the footage that were unusable. I also
altered the speed/duration of various clips in instances where the length of
the clip was not long enough. This software also allowed me to add a fade
transition to the beginning of the video, which I found very helpful and
useful.
I have also used media technologies in the
process of the evaluation. For one of my evaluation questions I presented it in
the format of PowerPoint and uploaded it
on slideshare, then putting the embed code on to a post on blogger. I also used
Prezi for another question, which had a similar process; I created a Prezi file
and copied the embed code on to a post on to my blog.
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