1. 4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?
New media technologies have really shaped my project throughout the stages of
construction and research, planning and evaluation, the internet being particularly
useful.
Research + planning:
Video sharing website YouTube made countless music videos available to us,
especially music videos of the pop genre, which allowed us to study and analyse
these music videos as research in order to see what our own video should be
mirroring. This led us to find out what the recourring motifs of our genre were.
Similarly, there were several digipak examples and album adverts available online
which demonstrated the codes and conventions of these products that would have to
be included in our own. Online adverts of other musical artists also contributed to our
research and influenced our planning as we could see how artists are now promoted
through several different media formats. Blogger itself was equally helpful as we
could document our findings and plan our production. Other websites such as
surveymonkey assisted in our planning stage as it allowed us to collect audience
feedback and research into what other people would expect to see in a music video
of an indie-pop artist and discover if they felt our ideas would sell our artist. Prezi and
other online gadgets also featured in our research and planning as we could share
our work with other people and receive feedback.
Construction/production:
New media technologies have had the most influence in the construction/production
stage. We used a Fujifilmcamera to photograph and film what we needed for both
our ancillary texts and main product and for some sequences in our music video, we
used three professional lights and a studio-like background to enhance the
appearance of shot. MP4 players were also very practical when filming our product
as it ensured our lip synching was accurate. We also enlisted the help of new media
technologies such as Photoshop and Final Cut Pro during post-production.
Photoshop allowed me to manipulate my images by editing the colour and
positioning and merging photos together in order to give me the best possible
outcome. By using tools such as clone stamp, the lens flare effect and editing the
brightness and contrast, I was able to create a digipak and advert that looked
sophisticated and artistic whilst still serving marketing purposes. Photoshop was also
used in the creating of our logo and audience profile. Final Cut Pro was key in the
post-production stage as we used the software not just to edit our footage together,
but to achieve our time lapse effect, adjust the speed or brightness and to export our
video via QuickTime which we could then post online. Again, we used YouTube and
social networking to share our video which provided us with helpful feedback and
2. constructive criticism that could then be used to improve our video. This feedback
then influenced my evaluation
Evaluation:
During which I again used Final Cut Pro in order to greenscreen my presentation and
match up some visuals with the audio of myself speaking. I also incorporated Prezi
into the presentation of my evaluation in order to showcase my written work in a
more creative, media-related manner.
In conclusion, new media technologies have been vital to the construction, research,
planning and evaluation stages of our project.