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

Research and Planning

(THIS VIDEO ALSO INCLUDES MY CANON WHICH WAS USED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION)

SOCIAL NETWORKS

For my research I used YouTube channels of artists from my chosen genre such as the 1975, MSMR, Foo Fighters and a few more to watch their music videos and look for comparisons/similarities within their different music videos. YouTube is also linked in with sharing videos on Facebook and Twitter on my laptop. I visited these pages of some artists to look at images they had posted for the promotion of their latest album/single. From this point, I used Web 2.0 and google to search and find images for my research into posters of tours, singles, and clothing for that particular genre iconography as inspiration for my models outfits in different scenes.

I used Facebook to look at how bands and artists post their posters and photographs of their CD for my research into ancillary texts. I chose to do this as in AS media, artists would post if they were on the cover of magazines or mentioned in an article to pick up a magazine. I thought it would be a good idea look at where I researched for my AS media for an ancillary text for a magazine advertisement as it is the same form of media. By incorporating the same inisheative I has in AS now, I thought I would be managing my time well when researching as I knew where to look for my research. 

PREZI

To present my research, I used Prezi to present my thought process in a creative mind map like style to make it easy to understand and pleasant to look at rather then a large piece of text. When using prezi I came across a few propblems such as when using the prezi app, it wouldn't save it to my online account (on my laptop) therefore I wasted time as this was unable to be uploaded to blogger other than facebook which is't where this was needed. From this point I wanted to create the same prezi but on the laptop using web 2.0, however, my account wouldnt allow anymore images to be in a prezi file other then text as I met the copastity for the amount of MB the account used. This was due to using this account for my AS media studies too, so I therefore created a new account to over come this technical difficulty.

WEB 2.0
I used web 2.0 and search engine "Google" the most to quickly find images and existing media texts. I used Google because it is a user friendly search engine and caters for a mass audience therefore, it seemed the most appropriate to use rather then any others. The use of different tabs at the top of the search engine allows searching to be much quicker. For example, if I typed in an artist into Google, it would present me with the Twitter, Facebook, magazines they have featured in and etc. Furthermore, if I click on images rather then web, it presents me with loads of images of the artsist. This is the same for the video tap and etc. By explaining this you can understand why it is a good search engine for my research and planning due to the features it consists of. 

Construction and Evaluation stages

GO PRO

When I constructed my filming and some images I used my go pro for the underwater scenes, time laps, and in the night club. This camera is a wide angle lens with a low lighting enhancer. This was beneficial for all locations for my work and without it, I don't believe I would produce the outcome I have with my other camera.

Along with the camera itself, I used the GoPro App to upload my videos and images to my ipad/laptop. By doing this I am organising my work and making sure I don't loose my files with using more then one computer; These being my laptop at home and Mac computers at college. 

CANON

The canon I used was my 650D Dslr camera which has a 50mm lense. This camera is good for my fimling as I can use it in a number of settings when filming, for example, manual and auto. Furthermore, with my lense, I can change the option of auto focus or manual focus. For a lot of my music video I used auto focus to have a depth of feild within my music video which would differ mine from other peoples videos. An example of this is when the lights are turned on and off in the "crazy" scenes which allows the depth of field to occur with the camera lense looking for something to focus on.

ANCILLARY TEXTS

For my construction of my ancillary texts the main form of technology I used was my cannon 650D SLR and photoshop. To begin this construction, I set up my studio having two box lights or just one depending on  what shadows I wanted to create. For this technology, I connected my camera to the box light so that it flashed when I pressed the shutter rather then just using a dull light. His required me to set my white balance to flash so that my own flash on my camera did not active when the picture was taken and the usual studio settings of aperture on F 9.0, shutter speed on 1/160 and the ISO onaround 100/200.  I took all my photographs in manual to get the correct amount of light and dark in my images rather then on auto. When out of the studio in the local woodland known as the Westwood, I used a tripod, and manual settings again however these settings would be different to hose in he studio as the lighting was completely different. When I then took my photographs to photoshop, I used many different editing techniques such as adding a textured layer to my images, removing a stool and removing imperfections to my model. These tasks were carried out by using these tools on Photoshop: 

- spot healing tool 

- levels 

- curves 

- clone stamp tool 

- use of layers - for text overlays 

- bending techniques/tools 

- exposure/contrast 

- amount of grain 

- feathered effect 

- eraser 

Photoshop Technology used 

I have produced different videos as my camera ran out of charge so I used my iPad - another technology I mentioned I used in the video above and uploaded it to YouTube by using the app "Capture".

Here is a print screen I have mentioned earlier in my work. This is detailing where the tools I have used are located in photoshop. This will help to understand what im talking about in my videos above.

This is an print screen I created earlier on my blog to show where the tools are that I used when constructing my ancillary texts. As you can see, this is an older version of photoshop to the one I used in my video above, however, all the tools i've used are in the same place on this print screen as the new version does.

 

SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT 

To get as much work done at possible, I thought It would be a good idea to use scuba diving equipment to produce my underwater shots and footage. This is a lot of equipment to produce a small outcome, however, I believed it was worth it. 

For the task in hand, I didn't need a full wet suit as this was carried out in a swimming pool, however, i still needed to wear a wet suit to prevent the BCD  (Buoyancy control device) from rubbing on my skin. The buoyancy device along with weight belt will allow me to float in the pool and control my depth. By using this I will be able to have continuity throughout my short film clips. I will be using fins to allow me to swim as it is difficult to swim without fins. 

This is my license to show I  am a qualified open water scuba diver. My Dad who will be my dive buddy, will help me by holding my cameras and assisting me with equipment and for safety purposes incase anything were to go wrong.  My Dad is a qualified PADI Diver Master and has logged many dives in his lifetime and therefore will be a good person to help me throughout this task in hand. 

FINAL CUT PRO

This is the program I used to create my music video. The green section on the time line is the music I have chosen and the blue sections are all my different clips which make up my music video. The large image to the top right is where I can view clips/my video.  The drop down sections to the left of the viewing section is where all my original files are found. To add effects to my clips, I used the section to the bottom right of this print screen. This shows a selection of different effects final cut pro offers and the two I have used are black and white and 50's TV.  I have also sped up or slowed some clips down and I do this by clicking on the drop down tool next to the wizard/wand tool. Other elements to final cut pro I used were the blade, trip and selection tool. These were used on almost every clip to create the outcome I wanted. By using these I can make the clips as long or as short as I want.

I found this program very easy to use in comparison to using the other editing suite as the program is much more user friendly. By choosing this program over the other, I was able to used much more exciting and abstract filming which I was able to edit quickly and easily using this software.

DIARY

Throughout my time filming and carrying out photo shoots, I have kept a brief diary of my time. This is not a technology but it has helped my organise my blog and my self. This has helped me keep up to date with work or if I have forgotten to upload something, It reminds me of what I have done to jog my memory.