Evaluation Question 4 for Media Studies A2 Coursework

1. How did you use new media
technologies in the construction,
research and planning and evaluation
stages?
Evaluation Question 4

2. Research + Planning
• I used the Internet a lot throughout the research stages. The main examples for
when I used it was for finding out the history of the alternative/ indie rock
genre, and to find information about the band that produced my song. This
allowed me to get a better understanding of everything when it came to
planning my project.
• I used this online programme to create an audience survey which I distributed
to try and find out what people wanted in a music video. The programme was
very easy to use, and the results I got allowed me to make a lot of creative
decisions regarding my music video.
• I used various social network sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to distribute
prototypes of my ancillary tasks in order to get the opinion of people of my
target audience. This method proved to be really helpful as through the
comments I received I was able to determine which products would be most
popular and would therefore sell the best.
Internet
Survey Monkey
Social Networks

3. Research + Planning
• The use of emails was very key in my research and planning stages, in particular
when it came to requesting permission from the record company for the rights
to use their song, and also to distribute my audience survey. Due to the fact that
my emails are connected to my phone it allowed me to receive responses
immediately and act on them as they came in.
• I used Photoshop when creating a moodboard of pictures that I wanted to use as
ideas for my music video. This task proved to be very helpful as not only did it
serve as inspiration, but it also allowed me to get to grips with the programme as
I had never used it before but would have to do so when it came to creating my
ancillary tasks.
• I used the camera on my phone to produce a short video in which I
experimented with the slow motion features on Final Cut Pro. Although the
camera does not produce great quality footage it was still good enough for what
I needed it for, and the experiment proved to be very successful as I used similar
techniques in my final video.
Email
Photoshop
iPhone

4. Research + Planning
Final Cut Pro
Prezi
• I used Final Cut Pro to complete, edit and publish the slow motion
experiment I carried out. I used this opportunity to get to grips with the
process of putting footage into slow motion but still maintaining the
quality so it didn’t become to pixelated. This exercise proved to be really
helpful as when it came to producing my final product I used a lot of
slow motion features.
• I used the online programme Prezi a lot during the research stages of my
project as a way of presenting my research findings in an more visual
and interactive way. They are also very easy to embed into a Wordpress
blog which made it an ideal alternative to simply writing up my research
in a blog post as it was more interesting.
• YouTube was a very important feature in during my research stages. I
used the programme as a way of accessing pre-existing music videos so
that I could analyse them, find patterns and differences in the various
genres, and see what is most popular and successful so that I could
ensure the success of my product too. I also used YouTube to create an
animatic which helped me to plan my music video.
YouTube

5. Construction
• I used Final Cut Pro to edit all of my music video. This ranged from tasks
such as cropping clips and fitting them together to coherently tell the
narrative story I had filmed, to changing the colour balance of shots to make
them darker or brighter. Thee programme was very easy to use, but was still
possible to create a professional looking product.
• I used my Nikon D5200 camera to shoot all of my music video, and for
taking the pictures I needed for my ancillary tasks. The camera produced
excellent HD quality images for both pictures and film which allowed me to
maintain a level of professionalism in all of my products.
• I used an Apple iMac computer at home and at college to upload and create
all of my products. On the Mac were the necessary programmes required to
edit publish my music video and ancillary tasks, such as Final Cut Pro and
Photoshop.
Final Cut Pro
Nikon D5200
iMac

6. Construction
• I used Photoshop a considerable amount during the construction stages
of my coursework. This was mainly when producing my digipack CD case
in which I edited and joined together pictures that I had taken myself to
form a professional looking album cover. The programme was rather
tricky to use at the start, but after a lot of practice I was able to use it
with ease.
• Wix is the online programme that I used to create my website ancillary
task. The website was free to use which was great, and the design tools
were very easy and simple, making it possible to create a professional
looking website.
• I used the website Dafont.com to test out and create different logo’s for
my band, which I then received audience feedback on, allowing me to
be left with a final logo/recognisable font which I then used across all of
my ancillary tasks.
Photoshop
Wix
Dafont.com

7. Construction
• I used YouTube to distribute a rough-cut version of my music video in
order to gain some initial feedback on what people thought of the
narrative and how it was presented. This was really helpful as it allowed
me to produce a final product that was much easier to understand in
terms of the story that was being presented, particularly through the use
of flashbacks that I had incorporated.
• I used the internet a lot during the construction stages of my project. It
played a particularly key role in the production of my website ancillary
task, as the programme I needed to make the website could only be
accessed online. I also had to use the internet to provide the pictures I
needed to add to my website to make it look more authentic. I also would
have struggled a lot more to produce a good logo without the internet, as
although it would have been possible to produce one simply using the
fonts available on Microsoft Word, I would not have found the one that I
wanted without having accessed the internet and dafont.com.
YouTube
Internet

8. Evaluation
• I used Final Cut Pro as a way to add visuals to one of my evaluation question
answers. I produced a video showing all of my products that accompanied
an audio of myself answering the question. The use of the video made the
audio more engaging as it gives the listener reference points that match
what is being said on the screen. It also allowed me to demonstrate what is
being talked about as it happens.
• I used the microphone app available on my phone to record my response to
one of the evaluation questions. The phone recorded the audio at a
relatively high standard, and the format of the audio file allowed me to
easily upload it onto the computer in order to publish it into my blog with
an accompanying video.
• The video I produced for this evaluation task had to be uploaded to YouTube
in order for it to be embedded into my blog. The video upload at a lower
visual quality that it had been made in, but due to the size of the file it was
necessary for it to be uploaded at a lower quality.
Final Cut Pro
YouTube
iPhone

9. Evaluation
• I used Microsoft Power Point to create another of the evaluation
questions. Using Power Point allowed me to present my answer
clearly and colourfully, however due to the format I was unable to put
it directly onto my blog so had to go via another programme before
that was possible.
• I used my blog on Wordpress for my evaluation to display my analysis
of the grids of pictures I had produced which compared my music
video with similar professional products. The blog format allowed me
to present my analysis clearly as I referenced back to the grids.
• I used Slide Share to upload the Power Point I had made onto the
internet. This allowed me to share it on my blog so that it was still
viewable in the same slide format.
Slide Share
Power Point
Wordpress

10. Evaluation
• I used Photoshop in my evaluation to produce two grids that compared
my music video to professional music videos that already exist. Using
Photoshop allowed me to customize the grids so that I could put the
pictures in a relevant order, and also to number them so that I could
refer to them in my analysis.
• I used Prezi to present one of my evaluation tasks that showed how I
had used audience feedback throughout my project. Because of the
layout of the programme, it allowed me to present screenshots from
things like Facebook and Twitter in an interactive way as I analysed
them.
Prezi
Photoshop