QUESTION FOUR (Transcript)

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

Research
The majority of my research consisted of using google, which is a search engine. This was to conduct research such as my target audience, for example before creating a media product such as a music video, I believe it is important to find out how it is aimed at. I also conducted research on google, for information such as the following conventions which are found in a music video or any digipak and advert relating to any genre, then further one in the research stage I matched these conventions to my specific genre I have chosen. I also furthered my research using other popular websites, such as YouTube and slide share. The purpose for using YouTube, was to ensure the song I had chosen had a video, and if so that my video was created with no similarities. YouTube at the beginning of my research, was also very popular as this website was used to watch a range of music videos, to grasp an idea of what is expected of a music video and the range of ideas into different genres, artists and types of music video. This was extremely beneficial to me, as I did indeed grasp various ideas and learnt a significant amount about music videos, just by viewing them. The intention for using slide share, was because it is very informative, for example on slide share you are able to access a range of PowerPoint which students, like myself, have created. Therefore, you gain information and ideas from other pupils work but also this is where information such as conventions of a music video and ancillary tasks are rooted. As a whole this is where I obtained my information from for my research.
These media technologies,which I used on my Toshiba laptop and the school computers, was beneficial to me as a student and almost any information can be gained if you hard enough, for example this search engine was very straightforward and easy to use, as you can simply type any question into the google search bar, and within a matter of seconds you gain the answer. Other websites which I used for planning, were also very beneficial to me as a student, as numerous students use them, so as I previously mention you can gain an idea or a tracking progress. to know where you are and should be, just by viewing other peoples work.

Planning
Of course blogger was the most used website throughout my coursework, as this is where I posted every stage of the process and all my ideas and the progress I made. Blogger is the most straightforward website I have used, as a student who frequently uses social media, this website is significantly similar to websites such as Facebook and tumblr, therefore as a student and an individual this website caused no difficulties when using it and is so simplistic, therefore easy to get used to. This website allowed me to produce effective work, as I knew what I was doing and was easy to use. Web 2.0 sites, such as social media sites also assisted me whilst planning for my media products, as websites such as Facebook was where I posted my ideas and my created work to gain feedback, of course the results of this were effective as I had already used these sites, but nevertheless they assisted me whilst planning, as it allowed me to obtain feedback from peers and the target audience, resulting in making my ideas more effective, as I took into account others suggestions and allowed me to finalise my ideas, by knowing peoples opinions of my ideas was that it was successful. This also assisted me, as the suggestions made my work better and more effective, as I took on board the improvements suggested for my media work.
I also own an iPhone 6, which I used whilst performing all stages of the process for my media product, as there is an app of blogger which can be accessed through my iPhone. This was beneficial to me, as it was much simpler plus easier to upload pictures which were saved on my phone, for example screenshots of feedback. This was easier than uploading videos from the website, as the difficulty faced was the picture should never be shown whilst writing the post, it was a blank square, only seen until the post you were working on was published. My iPhone was also used to take pictures which was quite straightforward as I use my phone and the camera on my phone on a regular basis, these pictures were taken for the purpose of planning as I took pictures of my models when writing their profiles and also took pictures of the models outfit and makeup.
I also filmed a make up trail on my iPhone which was successful, and easily uploaded to YouTube.
To take pictures and film my video, I used a Cannon Camera, to take pictures was easy after I experimented with the different filters you could apply and found which one suited my skills and needs best. However, I was faced with certain difficulties when taking moving pictures, for example my model jumping was difficult as I used the sports filter but because the flash could not be used on this filter, the picture resulted in being blurry and unsuccessful. I overcame this difficulty by changing filter and pose of the model, the pictures I ended up with were even more successful and professional looking than what I hoped for. Another major difficulty I found with the cannon camera was that every time I attempted to focus the shot, the camera just either zoomed or resulting in being even more blurry than what I had started with. I overcame this by changing filters to best suit what I needed, and has to manually focus the camera myself, rather than the lenses being focused automatically. Furthermore, a final difficulty I faced with this camera was trying to film long shots, as it was hard to get the whole of the performer in whilst dancing, plus in my first video I made, I had the same problem as when filming I could not get her whole body in, as a body part was cut off, mostly the top of her head.

Construction
For the construction of my digipak and advert, I wanted to use the same font to create consistency. I used a font off of the website, Da Font. This was a easy website to use, as it was done in a matter of a few simple steps; find the font you want, type what you want the font to say and then screenshot, crop and use the magic wand tool on Photo Shop to erase any bits around the font you do not want. I was faced with no difficulties whilst using this website, as it was easy to use and also useful for creating my digipak, as it had a range of fonts anyone can use, there is not even a signup.
To create my digipak and advert, I used software such as Photo Shop, this caused me no difficulties as in my opinion once you have the hang of the software it is straightforward to use. This is successful for photo manipulation and creating ancillary tasks as there is every tool to alter the picture in any way possible. This helped me to create the best work possible to my ability, as I was able to grasp every tool and its use. This was easy to use when creating things such as a CD, or an album front cover, as the tools are straightforward, for example there are shape tools such a circle to create a CD. A few new things I did year on Photo Shop however, which i did not previously know how to was, layer pictures which after teaching myself was pretty simple, after adding all the pictures you can simply change or alter the opacity, to which pictures stands out the most. Another thing which I learnt on Photo Shop, was how to change the colour of the digipak, for example my digipak is enhanced and has a blue background, which was previously white. All that had to be done was change the adjustments of the image.
This year, I did use a view software to edit my music video named Premier Pro. This was extremely difficult to understand at first, but just like Photo Shop it was easy to get the hang of, for example the tools were straightforward, as to crop a video by using the razor tool. The videos were easy to import, as was the song, as you converted the clip from YouTube into a MP3. A difficulty I did face however, was to export the video as a YouTube clip, however I overcame this by using clips from YouTube to teach myself how to do this. To make adjustments were also pretty simple, as the video effect has to be dragged onto the clip then experimented with until successful enough, for example the brightness of the video.

Evaluation
To conduct my evaluation, I first used slide share as it was an easy and straightforward method to use. I firstly made a presentation of the question, then simply uploaded it to slide share, then used the embed into the HTML of blogger on a post, then composed it. I was faced with no difficulties here and would recommend as it was so simplistic to use.
For my second evaluation question, I used an apple mac to write it out onto to blogger, here however I was faced with some difficulties. This was because I had never used one before and was not used to difference. For example, even simplistic things such as screenshotting certain parts of my video, or of my digipak or feedback, you could not doing this as easy as an everyday laptop, as there was no button on the keyboard, but after googling how to do such a simple task, it was straightforward from then on. I also found difficulty in saving images and importing images, as to scroll down it is not as consistent and easy as a normal laptop. This meant I spent more time trying to work the laptop, than working on my question, but nevertheless got it done to the best of my ability.
For my third evaluation question, I used a new website, called Padlet. This to me was like a blank canvas, which made it easy to write, add or change on. The only difficultly I was faced with and was not aware how to overcome, was when I attempted to upload my music video to demonstrate what was meant by my feedback, but after waiting fifteen minutes for it to uphold, it was not able to upload such a video.
I have always found Prezi hard to work with, as I feel like it has a mind of its own, therefore this year I decided to use something different, such as something new like slides, which is similar to slide share, therefore easy to use and navigate.