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FINAL PRODUCTS

Final music video:

   

Final digipak:

Final magazine advert:

EVALUATION QUESTION FOUR

EVALUATION QUESTION THREE

EVALUATION QUESTION TWO

EVALUATION QUESTION ONE

SCRIPT FOR EVALUATION FOUR

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

During the research stage of creating my products, media technologies played a vital role.

YouTube was the main media technology we used from beginning to end. We first used this during the research progress to find the song "Teenage Fantasy" and we carried on using it to research further into the contemporary R&B genre by watching similar music videos, as well as videos from other genres. This helped us know what conventions from this genre we wanted to follow and challenge. We also used YouTube to download the song so that we could start editing in iMovie.

I also used Spotify because it has a "similar artists" section on musicians' accounts. This allowed me to find other singers that are part of the same genre as Jorja Smith which gave me a wider variety of music videos to watch. As well as this, I looked through playlists that are made either by Spotify or other users to find similar songs and artists. Having a wider range of musicians to research also gave me more digipaks and magazine adverts to look at for my ancillary tasks.

Also, I used Google throughout my coursework to research into artists, music videos, genre conventions, what digipaks consists of, examples of magazine adverts, along with other information we needed to research. Google images was also useful when it came to looking at inspiration for colour palettes but for this I also used social media sites and other music videos mostly on YouTube but on Vimeo too.

When planning, blogger was used from the beginning to the end of the year as it was crucial for putting all of my thoughts together. This website allowed me to create blog posts explaining my inspiration, ideas, and plans. With an easy-to-use layout, it was very simple to organise everything I needed in the labels I want. I was also able to change the look of my blog so that it includes handy links on the side, which includes the school youtube channel (where I uploaded most videos). 

Another software we used to plan was Microsoft PowerPoint to create a pitch for our music video idea. This simple application allowed us to explain our ideas mostly through images. We then presented this pitch to our class to receive feedback which turned out to be extremely helpful.

Furthermore, since we were using someone outside of our group as an actor, we needed to make sure that we were organised with everything. We mostly used Microsoft Office Excel for this as it was easy to organise the timetables for shooting days, locations, what actors we'll need on what days, what costumes, and the props we will need on certain days. Since Excel is easy to share with other people, it meant that we could all be connected in the plans which allowed us to be more organised. In addition to this, we also used WhatsApp to create a group chat with the three of us who were working on the music video together, along with the actor. This meant that we could let each other know if we were going to be late, have to cancel, if we needed a spare SD card, or any other last-minute messages we might have had to send each other. We also messaged each other on WhatsApp to share inspiration and ideas throughout the year.

When it came to the construction of our products, we used different hardware as well as software. Originally, we wanted to film our portrait shots using a camera called "Super 8". This would have achieved the perfect look we wanted and other music videos that include this camera are Dodie - "You". However, Super 8's are extremely expensive and difficult to use so we had to find an alternative that was more realistic. After researching on Google, we then came across the app "Fyuse" which allowed us to create short videos that go back and forth, making a 3D feel to the portrait shots. Unfortunately, this app was downloaded on Julia and Lucy's phone because it's only available on iPhones which became an issue as I couldn't film any portrait shots if I wanted to whilst I was out on my own. Although it was possible to do this without me filming on my own, we could have got it done quicker if I was able to have it on my own phone too. The only other downside to using this app was that it decreased the quality of the videos. However, the rest of the music video was filmed on DSLRs cameras which meant that the high quality hugely contrasted to the low-quality shots of the portrait shots. Since there was a clear difference anyway, it didn't become a problem because it seems as though we purposely wanted it a lower quality which is an effect used in quite a few music videos, for example, Tigers Jaw: "June" (although this quality is a lot lower than our Fyuse shots)

The other hardware media technology we used are mine and Julia's DSLR cameras which were a Nikon D3300 and a Canon 60D. Using these cameras gave us the quality of video that we wanted and having two DSLRs also meant that we were able to capture a lot more footage throughout the day. Since Julia and I had our own cameras, it also meant that we could film whilst we were on our own. For example, I took a few filler shots of trains whilst I was in central London without the rest of the group. This allowed us to take advantage of the limited time we had, rather than sticking to the few days we could all film together.

Once we had footage for the music video, I started to edit it all using iMovie. We had the option of using this or Final Cut Pro and although to begin with, I wanted to use Final Cut, I ended up deciding that iMovie would be a better option. This is because I used iMovie for my AS film opening so I was already confident in using it. This meant that we wouldn't have as wide of a variety when it came to editing techniques because iMovie doesn't come with much but with the variety of cameras and software we were using, we didn't want to use too much "fancy" editing.

When it came to editing on iMovie, I used a range of editing techniques including cropping, split, rearranging shots, saturation,  and contrast. Another editing technique I used in the majority of the shots was stabilization because since we filmed mostly handheld rather than using a tripod, I had to fix the shots that were extremely unsteady. Finally, I downloaded the song from a YouTube to MP3 converter website to be able to insert the audio onto iMovie.

To create my ancillary tasks, I tried out a range of software before finding the ones that I felt comfortable working with. I first tried to edit the screenshot I took from the video on an app called "Afterlight" however since I have never used this before, I quickly went back to the app called "VSCO" which I use regularly for my media work as well as for editing other photos. After this, I took the screenshot to "Picsart". This was going to be where I would design my digipak and magazine advert. I've used this app a few times in the past but I've never needed to use it for anything important, or anything that I wanted to be extremely good quality. Once I finished editing my album cover on there, I sent it to my laptop to then find out that since it was done on my small phone screen, the quality was nowhere near what I wanted it to be. This app also adds a green tint to photos which wasn't the look I was going for. This meant that I had to find another software that would enable me to design my ancillary tasks. After a quick google, I found a website called "Fotor". Although I've never used or heard of it before, it was extremely easy to design exactly what I wanted. It also had enough fonts available for me to use that meant that I didn't have to use the apps I downloaded on my phone (which included "Phonto", "Font Studio", and "AppForType"). Overall, Fotor was extremely enjoyable and is definitely a media technology I will be using in the near future.

To receive feedback to help with the progress of creating my ancillary tasks, I first used a website called "surveymonkey.com" which let me create surveys that I could easily share with whoever I wanted, to receive as much audience feedback as possible.

When it came to creating the evaluations, I used different media technologies for each question.

Since I don't have iMovie at home, I downloaded an application on my HP laptop called "Animotica - Video Editor". This allowed me to put voiceovers over videos and pictures which helped me create evaluation questions one.

For my second evaluation, I used a website called "Powtoons" which although takes a while, I think it's worth it. The problem I came across when using this, is that I didn't realise before that the free trial means I can only have a video of 5 minutes maximum. Since my voiceover was roughly 8 minutes, I knew that I couldn't cut it down to 5. To fix this, I realised that I had to do it in two parts but the only way to export the videos was to upload it to youtube so I then had to use a youtube to MP4 website again and edit the two together.

For my third evaluation, I used a website called "Prezi" which is similar to powerpoint but it's more complicated and looks a lot better.

Finally, for this evaluation which is the fourth, I'm filming it on my Nikon D3300 which is the same camera I used to film the music video.

In conclusion, I used a wide range of media technologies through every step of my A2 coursework. I went back to old technologies that I am familiar and comfortable with, such as iMovie and VSCO, as well as trying out new technologies that I now love, such as Fotor.