Evaluation - Question 4

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

A wide range of new media technologies have been used throughout the advanced production. Some of these media technologies I have used in previous projects. Some of the new media technologies have been used for the first time in this project. I have developed many of these new media technologies in this advanced project to make a good quality music video.

Construction

The programs that were used regularly during the construction of the advanced portfolio were Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Flash and Adobe Premiere Pro. 

Adobe Photoshop was used to alter images and add effects to images and text. I have used the Photoshop a lot in previous projects and in GCSE. I am very confident using this software, such as cutting images, raterizing images, altering 'Hue/Sateration,' adding an outline and more effects on images or text. In order to create the tour date/ album poster, Adobe Photoshop was used as it helped to alter and manipulate the images. Above is a video that shows how Adobe Photoshop was used to alter the images 'Hue and Sateration.'

Adobe Illustrator was used to help make the text for all of the ancillary tasks and to make logo (above image). Using Illustrator made it easier to create the text, alter the shaping and space of the letters and merge them into the composition desired. Adobe Illustrator is one program that I was not comfortable with using before the start of the advanced portfolio. However, as I progressed through the project my knowledge and skills in the program started to grow and at the end of the project, I was confident using the Illustrator enough to actually help others. 

In order to create the website for the band, part of the ancillary task, Adobe Dreamweaver was used. I was confident going into this section of the project as I have used this program in previous subjects. Adobe Dreamweaver helped to create the initial layout of the site, I then used Adobe Flash to create the buttons, slideshow and other multimedia aspects of the site. Above is a video showing how Adobe Dreamweaver was used to insert the logo.

The most important program that was used was Adobe Premiere Pro. This program allowed the group to upload, alter and create the music video. This was a program that was hard to get to grips with, several lessons were spent learning new skills from other pupils, teachers and from tutorials on YouTube. The above video shows using Adobe Premiere Pro, using the cutting tool to alter the video. 

In order to take shots for the video a Sony HD Handy-cam was used, this allowed the group to take good high definition filming, which made the final product much stronger. These sections of the project have made very confident using new Adobe software.

Research

A huge part of the research of the advanced portfolio was the use of YouTube. As well as using YouTube other new media technologies that were used include Google and DropBox. Each of these media technologies helped to develop my understanding of the conventions and forms that are associated with the genre, music videos, magazine adverts and websites. Below are a few videos that demonstrate how each of the media technologies were used to help with the project. Some include looking for existing band logos, Adobe Premiere Pro tutorials, the codes, conventions and forms of a music video, magazine advert and website. 

YouTube was also used to upload videos and help to upload them to 'Blogger.' Above the video shows how YouTube was used to locate a music video similar to the genre focused on in the project, by locating this video I was able to use it develop my understanding of the genres codes and conventions. Google was very useful during the research stages of the project, below the video shows how google was used to find existing band photos. This helped to develop my understanding of the conventions and forms that are associated with band photos. 

Dropbox was used to help share documents between computers. Which helped when working with my group and then when I wanted to complete some work from home. Below the video shows how Dropbox was used to share the album cover between the whole group to evaluate and develop.

Planning

To help the group share work at ideas at the start of the project a Dropbox folder was created to help everyone share documents with each other easily and efficiently. However the main new media technology that we used was Powerpoint and excel. Powerpoint was used to help create a slideshow, which stated our plans, ideas etc. This was used to present our idea to the class, and gather feedback on our narrative ideas and initial song choice. Excel was used to create a plan, which was used to help the group check on track of the project and know what aspects we needed to complete. 

Evaluation

I used my iPhone during the evaluation in order to record audience feedback. This made it easier to capture feedback then carrying a camcorder around. I then used YouTube to upload the videos and then upload them to Blogger. I also used my iPhone to take the videos you see above and YouTube to upload them.