1. Question 4:
How Did You Use Media Technologies in the
Research, Planning, Construction and Evaluation
Stages?

2. Research
To start with I had to find an unsigned band to use for this project. To do that I used the Google search
engine. I typed in ‘unsigned UK bands’ and looked at lots of different websites. One of the websites I
found was called redbullbedroomjam.com. Its a competition for unsigned bands to win the chance to
play at music festivals in the summer and also potentially a contract with a record company. On this site
I found lots of promising bands but I finally found The Hype Theory. After finding them I used YouTube
to see some of there videos on their page and also found other similar bands that are recommended by
YouTube when you watch a video. I also looked at the band’s profiles on Facebook and Twitter, this gave
me a much clearer idea of who the band were and also who their influences are. On their Facebook I
was also able to contact the band and find out if it was ok for me to use them for my work. This was a
faster way of contacting them as the message went straight to the band rather than just a fan m e-mail
address, I also got my reply much quicker and was therefore able to get on with my work sooner.
(L-R) YouTube Suggested Videos, Red Bull Bedroom Jam Video, The Hype Theory Facebook

3. Research Continued
After establishing which unsigned band I would use for my work, I focused on researching the music
industry and other similar artists. Again, I used YouTube to get an understanding of bands such as
Paramore, You Me At Six and All Time Low. I analysed their videos from their Vevo channel and also
looked at other videos that YouTube recommended and also looked at their pages on Wikipedia which
listed tour history and also their discography. Facebook and Twitter were again useful as I was able to
take a look at the band’s target audiences so that I had a rough idea of what the target market for The
Hype Theory was going to be like. As well as looking at similar bands I did some research into women
in the music industry, to get information I used Google mainly, it led me to sites such as Wikipedia and
iTunes as well as other people’s blogs and newspaper sites such as The Guardian.
(L-R) Paramore’s Wikipedia Page, All
Time Low’s Vevo Page, You Me At Six’s
Facebook Page and All Time Low’s
twitter Feed.

4. Research Continued
I researched the target audience in more depth by filling in the questionnaire on FindYourTribe as if I
was a fan of the band, this website showed me the places the fans might shop, what magazines they
would read, etc, which gave me a greater insight into the fans of the band. Although, part of the task of
using FindYourTribe was to alter the results from the questionnaire and tailor them to our band more
specifically. Another way I researched the target audience was by looking at a festival website that my
target audience might attend, I looked at www.readingfestival.com by looking at the Reading Festival
website I was able to understand what sort of print productions appealed my target audience but also
what other bands my target market would be interested in listening to and seeing live.
The last part of research I did was into print productions, I looked at lots of similar artists albums on
sites such as Amazon.co.uk, HMV.com and iTunes. These sites allowed me to look at lots of different
album covers from many similar artists and after looking at the various pieces of artwork I had a much
clearer idea of what sort of layout I would need on my digipak and also what sorts of images would be
good to include. Google Image Search also proved quite helpful because I managed to find extra images
on there when researching bands and the albums.
(L-R) Find your Tribe, Reading
Festival, Amazon.co.uk, Google Image
Search, HMV.com, iTunes.

5. Planning
Planning my music video would have been much harder without all the technology I used. Firstly, I used
my camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 to take some shots to give me ideas for my music video and
also location shots so that I could show where I was going to shoot my video. Not only was it a stills
camera it also had a function on it which allowed me to record in HD at the touch of a button.
Blogger was a big part of my planning, it allowed me to keep work in a safe place as well as being a good
way of displaying my work so my teacher could look at everything easily when using the labels and
comment box on each post I made.
Google Image Search was something else that I found easy to use and it gave me lots of results, I used it
to find images for my mood board mainly but it also helped me get ideas for possible camera angles and
ideas for different locations.
When I was planning rough ideas for my print productions I got some ideas for fonts from Dafont.com,
this was a really useful website which allows you to download a huge range of fonts. I found quite a few
which might have been suitable but in the end I choose one which were already installed on the PC.
(L-R) labels on my Blog, Panasonic Lumix DMC – FZ38 , Google Image
Search, dafont.com

6. Construction
When constructing my music video I only used my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 camera as it was able to
capture the stills but also film in HD at the tough of a button. This made it much more practical to carry
to location than a still camera and a film camera. Also, as it was my personal camera it was easier for me
to use and get better results with as I knew what the camera was capable of and also the best settings to
use.
When it came to editing I used the software on the school system as I don’t have any on my laptop. The
software on the school system is called Adobe Premiere Elements 1.0. Its very basic and simple to use
which meant when I was editing my footage it was quite quick for me to get the shots lined up with the
music and also add in transitions and cut clips.
For my print productions I used Adobe Photoshop. It’s the best photo editing programme around and
was so useful when I had to edit and adjust the photos and also add the text. One of my favourite tools
was the filter that I could add to the magazine advert which made it look as though the image was made
of paint daubs. Also, I was able to add a shadow behind text to make it stand out on the front of the
album cover.
(L-R) Panasonic Lumix
DMC – FZ38, Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe
Premiere Elements 1.0

7. Evaluation
To complete this evaluation would have been a lot harder without the technologies available. Firstly, Blogger,
as you can see from all my posts, enables you to embed images and videos within your post with just a few
clicks of the mouse. This makes post much more visually exciting, more interesting to read and also allows you
to get your point across simpler because you can just embed the picture or video rather than having to just put
a link or describe to article.
Another great technology I have been able to use while completing my evaluation is YouTube, the videos can
be embedded into posts so that the video is right there instead of the reader having to click through to another
page, it is also more convenient for my work to be marked as its all in one place on one page.
To collect my target market’s opinions on my music video and print productions I used an online survey site
called SurveyMoneky, it allows you to create surveys online that can be distributed through just a link. I used it
when collecting audience feedback last year for my thriller opening and it worked really well but this year I
haven't had enough as many people answer the surveys although I have had enough to use for my audience
feedback section of my evaluation but I would have liked more.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint and Word have also been very useful in writing my evaluation because they have
allowed me to create interesting PowerPoints to make my work more interesting to look at and also allowed
me to check my spelling and grammar
(L-R) Blogger Post, Survey Monkey,
Microsoft Office, YouTube.