HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE RESEARCH, PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION AND

EVALUATION STAGES?

By Alana Abrahams

Media Technologies Used in Every Stage◦ I used the wix.com website for my research, planning, construction,

production and evaluation as it is enabled me to create my own website to upload all of my pieces of work onto. It created a good platform to upload work onto and keep it all together and organised. As a group, we shared the website and created our own labelled sections that we could design how each of us wanted. It allowed me to be creative and design how pages were going to be laid out. I tried to keep a common theme throughout all of my pages and sections so they remained linked together, using colour schemes, keeping the font the same and matching the pictures.

◦ In order to create my advanced portfolio, I needed a computer to use for each of the stages and for the creation of my website. The computer I used was an Apple Mac. The Apple Mac was the most important media technology, as without it I would not have been able to complete any of the stages within the project. I used it to browse the internet, create my website, upload videos, edit photos, edit my digipak and advert and save important pieces of work or media.

Research◦ In my research I used multiple media technologies in order to complete different pieces of work. These technologies included Google,

YouTube, and Prezi.

◦ To begin my advanced portfolio, I had to decide what genre and what song I was going to choose for my music video. After discussing song ideas with my group, we decided to choose a song called ‘Really Don’t Care” by Demi Lovato. I then used Google to find out what genre this song was categorised as and discovered it was under the dance-pop genre. I had little knowledge of that genre so I used google to research its conventions, other songs from the genre and typical audience type. This helped me greatly with my research because it enabled me to get more background information to decide if I wanted to keep the song and made it simpler when analysing other videos from the genre.

◦ The main technology I used is a site called YouTube. YouTube is a popular video streaming website that is available to everyone anywhere in the world. Music artists use the site to upload and display music videos so their fans can watch them at anytime they want. For my music video analysis, intertextuality and audience theory music video analysis pieces of work, I used YouTube in order to put them onto my website as well as for my own viewing. Without the videos I would not have been able to analyse them for my research.

◦ Another technology I used frequently throughout the research section of my advanced portfolio was a website called Prezi. Prezi is a website on which you can create a slide presentation, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. I used it for my audience profile, history of the music industry, conventions of a music video and all three of the theorists. It is easy to create, and you can upload it straight onto the website using the embed code. I preferred using Prezi because it made my work look more professional and interesting. You can create different styles and backgrounds to suit the theme/topic of the presentation and choose what specific colours or shapes you want. This was useful because for a topic such as the history of the music industry, I used a vinyl record player as the background and as you move through the slides, it looks as if the record player is turning around. It creates a good effect and makes it appear more entertaining to the reader/viewer.

Planning◦ In my planning I used multiple media technologies in order to complete different pieces of work. These technologies included a

Canon camera, Slideshare, Microsoft Word, Google images and Lyricswikia.

◦ For both the location shots and costumes list, I used a Canon digital camera. I wanted to use a professional camera for these pieces of work as I knew it would produce high quality photos. Once we had fully finished the planning of the music video, I went to the locations we were going to film and took multiple photos of each location. Next, I uploaded the photos on to the Apple Mac computer and chose the best ones for the website. I took the photos of the costumes while we were filming the music video so we didn’t have to change in them more than once.

◦ I created the shooting schedule on a Microsoft Word document as it was easier to create a table on there rather than the website. When I had finished the shooting schedule, I came across a problem as I didn’t know how I was going to get the word document onto the website. After searching the internet for a solution, I remembered a site that I used last year for my foundation portfolio, called Slideshare. I went onto the site and found that I could upload my document, take the embed code and then upload it onto the website using the HTML input.

◦ I used Google images for the digipak and digipak advert analysis. In order to analyse the digipaks and adverts from other artists, I had to collect the images of them. I google image searched for the ones I wanted and had access to all of the pictures I needed. Google images allow you to copy pictures which enabled me to put them on the website so that the viewer could also see what digipaks/adverts I was analysing.

◦ One of the pieces I had to complete for the planning stage was a lyrics analysis of the song I had chosen. Using Google, I found a website called “LyricsWikia” which had the lyrics for millions of different songs on it. I searched for the song on the site and it had all of the lyrics that I could copy onto the website in order for me to analyse them. By doing it this way I didn’t have to listen to the song and transcript them myself. I was slightly worried that the lyrics may not be 100% accurate so I compared them to the song and other websites to be certain.

Construction◦ In my construction stage, I used multiple media technologies in order to complete different pieces of work.

These technologies included a Canon camera, stage lighting, a tripod and a handheld camera.

◦ For both my digipak and digipak advert ideas, I drew them out on a piece of paper so in order to get the ideas onto my website I had to take photos of them with the Canon camera. This camera connected easily to both the MacBook and iMac, making it easy to upload the photos and put them on the website.

◦ To film the music video I used a handheld camera and tripod. The handheld camera was very practical as it was easy to transport and was easy to handle. However, the camera did not create the best quality shots because of its small screen and low megapixels. If I were to film the music video again I would change what camera we used so ensure better quality shots. The tripod keeps the camera still to ensure there is no shaking or the shot does not lose focus. It also enabled me to reposition the camera, and create panning or tilt shots.

◦ During the filming of the music video, I used the stage lighting in the studio for the performance parts of the video. The studio in which we filmed the performance part was dark and had a black curtain background that made the room look shadowy. I could not have filmed the video in a room like that as it did not show up very well on the camera. This is when the lights became very convenient and I lit the room to brighten it for the video. I also used them for the costumes list pictures to make them appear more professional and of a higher quality.

Production◦ In the production stage, I used multiple media technologies in order to complete different pieces of work.

These technologies included a Microsoft Publisher, a MacBook, iMovie HD and YouTube.

◦ To create my final digipak and digipak advert I used Microsoft Publisher. Publisher provides better tools to edit and finalise pictures. I imported the photos I wanted to use for the digipak and inserted them onto a 6-panel template that I had created. After choosing the font and colour of the writing, I added all of the writing I had chosen onto the digipak, along with the pictures and logos for the back cover. This program enabled me to finalise both my digipak and advert.

◦ I used the MacBook for the uploading of clips and editing of the music video. First I uploaded the clips from the handheld camera on to the MacBook and imported them into the iMovie HD software. The iMovie HD editing software was easy to use and . You can add effects, change the transitions between clips and edit the audio, which were all useful tools for editing the video. An example of one of the effects I used on the narrative clips is the darkening/dulling of the picture to make it look negative. I would definitely use iMovie HD again because of all the tools it has and the simplicity of using the software.

◦ YouTube was used to upload our video onto, in order for people to view it on our website. On the website, we created a video link to YouTube which means you can view the video from the website, without actually going on the YouTube site.

Evaluation◦ In my evaluation I used multiple media technologies in order to complete different pieces of

work. These technologies included a Microsoft PowerPoint, Slideshare, Microsoft Word, a Canon camera and a tripod.

◦ For the first evaluation question used Microsoft word to write up the answer to the question and the Slideshare to upload it on to website. I did the second evaluation question on the website so I could import pictures that I had used previously. As a group we filmed the third evaluation question together with the Canon camera and tripod. For the last evaluation question (this one) I used Microsoft PowerPoint to create my answer and then Slideshare to add it onto the website.

◦ I tried to use something different for each question, so it did not appear as boring for the viewer of the website.