How did you use new technologies in the

construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

Evaluation Question 4Yzabelle Celosa

For the production process, I had experience using the DSLR Canon EOS 650D camera to film shots for the music video.

Using this camera put me in the role of director and cinematography as it had much complex settings and allowed me to create high-definition footage with controlled image focus.

I was introduced to the rule of thirds grid where I explored with the positioning of images in the shot; i.e where the artist is crouching down in front of the moving buses and cars in the background.

Construction

As a text producer, it was my intention to create convincing

and realistic media texts. Learning and exploring these

techniques, I found strengthened the

cinematography of my music video and therefore, made my

scenes more advanced and professional looking.

(Role as ‘director’)

(Role as ‘cinematographer’)

Construction The more I practiced with the DSLR (Canon EOS 650D), the more familiarized I became with the tools, effects and settings that was available on the camera. I eventually wasable to use these skills to produce specific

shots, such as unfocused shots and panning shots. I experimented with a variety of shots and ensured that I recorded it all so that when it came to the post production process, I would have a lot of raw footage to work with.This camera was also used to

capture photographs that would be used for my digipak and

advert. These would also be edited during the post-

production process, but ensuring which aspects of the

photograph was in focus needed to be considered whilst

taking these photos.

I also vlogged during construction where I used my own hand-held camera to document the process.

(Role as ‘director’)

(Role as ‘photographer’)

Editing : VisualsWhen editing the shots and clips for my music video, I used Final Cut Pro to arrange and move around the raw footage to create verisimilitude with the use of continuity editing. There were many effects, transitions and

settings on Final Cut Pro that I could use for my MV. However, I did not want to over use special effects as it would then not conform to real pop music videos. Some of the effects I used were…• Slow motion (1.)• Layering footage (2.)• Editing/cutting on the beat (3.)• Lens flare effect to match lyric ‘Light

Up’ (4.)• Transitions: fade, cross dissolve, blur

1.

2.

3.

4.

(Role as ‘editor’)

Digipak/AdvertTo edit my photographs, I was then introduced to the program Adobe Photoshop to take my gained video editing skills onto still images and photographs.

I used it to increase brightness, contrast and sharpness on the artist to make her stand out from the backdrop. I also used this programme to add the essential characteristics of a digipak/advert such as text, barcodes and logos. I also applied different filters to aspects of my digipak to create a grainy but vibrant effect to highlight the positive vibe of the music video.

Adobe Fireworks was used to create the production logo for the album.

(Role as ‘editor’)

Before

AfterThe original photo was too saturated, therefore, using Photoshop enabled me to decrease the levels of saturation and increase brightness, contrast and sharpness to adjust the colour and clarity. I also cropped the image so that the artist would become the focus and to shape it into the design of a conventional album cover.

From creating the digipak, it was then easier for me to create the magazine advert as I could then use my new gained skills from using Photoshop to produce the next print product. For instance, the image used in the magazine advert needed edited as well. I used the same filters and effects that I used for the front cover so achieve a similar outcome. I added the front cover and production logo onto the advert too to add a synergistic element that connects the two products. I also experimented with different fonts and since I decided to shape the advert as a landscape design, I was able to make these bigger and bolder which was limited in the construction of my digipak. I also added names of other songs by the artist, the artist’s name itself and the album name.

ResearchFor most of my research, such as audience feedback, focus groups, and recordings of development, I used Photo Booth on the iMac to record the footage and used iMovie to edit these. From my experience with adding text in my digipak/advert and editing video clips in order using Photoshop, it was easy for me to edit the raw footage of my research videos and add text, transitions, music and sound effects to make them not only informative but also entertaining.

I also learnt how to show two clips at the same time so then the audiences reaction was in sync with the screen that they were watching.

AnimaticsFor the planning of my music video, a storyboard was created by drawing each initial shot of the video which was scanned into the computer and edited on iMovie…

The song was then imported and the drawings were edited to the song; focusing on the durations and order of each clip.

In terms of filming, it helped me have a general idea of what shots to collect at what angles. Also, in terms of editing, it acted as a guide/visual timeline to show me the order of the clips and where each piece of footage goes.

Websites/Social Media

I used Microsoft Excel to record information that I received and to

display it on a much clearer and informative way.

to edit the raw footage i.e. genre research

Used public/official websites to research news and popular events of contemporary pop. i.e. Capital FM

In today’s modern society, social media is now one of the easiest modes of communication. Therefore, when I wanted information from others, I used Twitter, Facebook etc to communicate with them.To access the

real music videos of the pop genre, I used YouTube to research these and to guide me in my own music video production.

As I was analyzing real music videos, I used Prezi as an element for my research…

In this, I embedded music videos from YouTube by pasting hyperlinks so that they could be played on the Prezi.

I used Google to find images of the artist albums so that I could paste them onto the Prezi.

I used screenshots of YouTube clips to aid my analysis and evaluations…

Although I found it difficult to use at first, as I got the hang of it and was familiar with the different tools it offers, I found myself using it more and more to present my research.

It was important to understand and take into consideration the consumers’/audience’s opinions on my products to ensure that if it were a real media product, it would do well in the market place and be popular with the target audience. Fortunately, I found that my music video was successful in terms of this as when I showed this to my target audience for feedback, I gained a lot of positive comments on the realism and continuity of the overall video. To do this, I recorded my audience watching the music video on the Photo Booth program on the iMac and imported this into iMovie for editing. By using the 'Picture In Picture' setting, I learnt how to show my music video and the audience video at the same time so that the reaction is in sync with my product.

Audience Feedback

I used an online poll maker to receive votes and opinions on my own products from others.For instance, I conducted a poll to help me decide which digipak design to use for my print product. I wanted to use design A but I was not sure about it. However, after seeing the results of the votes, design A did win and it became clearer that this was the design that I should use.

Also, what helped me through this process was my audience feedback. After completing a few drafts of my print products, I conducted a few questionnaires and polls on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook to gain different feedbacks and opinions from my target audience, causing me to choose which designs and layouts were the most effective and suitable for our print products.

Audience Feedback (Print Products)

A lot of research was needed in order to create this product as it provided me with guides and structures to make my final outcome as conventional and realistic as possible. In order to keep track of my research and development, I used Blogger to record all of the sources that I had collected in visual and creative ways.

It enabled me to explore different platforms of digital technologies to record and present my work from Prezis and Slideshares to podcasts and videos. It was incredible versatile from pre-production to post-production as I was able to access all of the research into media products as well as my primary research like audience feedbacks and focus groups that helped me create the final product. In doing so, I learnt how to embed links onto posts and share relevant videos from other websites (like YouTube) and post them onto my blog.

Not only did it help me access my own research, Blogger also allowed me to share my individual posts with the rest of my group and vice-versa.

(Role as ‘publisher’)

PlanningI constructed a moodboard to show the different visual motifs that would be seen in my music video giving me a general outlook on what the appearance of the video would eventually be.

Before creating a digital and final version of my digipak and advert design, I drew it out first and used a scanner so that I could compare the two and use this plan to guide me in creating my print products.

Font planningFinal font outcomes…

It was important to make the fonts clear and bold especially in the digipak (such as for the album name "Light Up The Sky" and the artist name "Ada Satka") in order to catch a buyer's attention. Although it was difficult to structure the digipak and magazine advert to appear realistic, it became easier once I researched real artist digipaks and adverts. Again, I used the Internet to research real media products (particularly pop artists such as 'Lana Del Rey' and 'Rihanna') to inspire me with my designs. I constantly recorded my observations on Blogger, so that I (and the rest of my group) can follow the development of the digipak and magazine advert construction.

Evaluation1. I created a video using iMovie where I included clips from

my own music video and compared it with clips from real music videos (from YouTube) in the pop genre to help demonstrate the similarities and differences as well as how I conformed/challenged the conventions of the pop genre/conventions of a music video.

2. I created a Prezi as it allowed me to import images to compare my main and ancillary texts as well as add text explaining how effective they are when they are linked together. Prezi also allowed me to add YouTube videos of my audience feedback on my print products.

3. I created a video with a voiceover where I explained what forms of audience feedback I conducted and what I had learnt from them. I also had images that were relevant to what I was explaining during the video to make it a visual and eye-catching presentation.

4. I created a presentation using Microsoft Powerpoint, then I used Slideshare to share it onto blogger. It includes images and text that work together to create a visual and informative presentation.