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

In order to carry out our research and produce our media product, we used many different media technologies and platforms. Without these, it would have been hard to carry out research, meaning we wouldn't have been able to carry out as much market research prior to making our product resulting in a poor product. Equally, we wouldn't have been able to produce any of the music video or the ancillary texts as in order to produce these the need for media technologies was adamant.

 

The first media technology that I used was Google Blogger. This is quite a new technology, being released on August 23^rd 1999. This was used during all of the various stages, both post and prior to the construction of our music video. I used Google Blogger to display all of my research that I initially carried out, which helped me to understand my genre which in turn gave me a better understanding of my target market. Once I had carried out all of the initial research, I then used Blogger to show my journey, from research to planning. In the planning stage, I mainly used the Group blog, as the planning was a group task. We used the group blog to make posts on things such as location scouting, prop information and auditions. Without Blogger, this part of things would have been very difficult, finding a platform that everyone in the group could access at the same time, enabling everyone within the group to see what work has been done and what work still needs to be done. This was also true for the construction phase, as we had to upload rough cuts of the music video showing how we were moving forward and showing a transition from our initial cut to our final product.

During the physical construction of our music video, we used a Canon HD CMOS pro camera. This allowed us to produce top quality music video as filming in HD gave it the professional look. To work alongside this, we also used a Dolly and Tripod which allowed us to get stable moving shots. We then uploaded the footage from the camera onto Apple Macs which we then also uploaded our music to, which enabled us to overlay the images we filmed in sync with the music, allowing us to produce the music video.

In order to produce the music video, we had to edit using the Apple Macs as specified above. We used iMovie to produce our music video. This was good because it allowed us to do most of the things we required in order to produce our music video. We did play around with Final Cut Express, however due to limited time and inexperience, despite trying to learn how to use the software, we decided against it because it was very advanced and technical, and we didn't have the time to learn how to use it. This would have been beneficial to us however, as it would have allowed us to do certain things that iMovie didn't, for example the colouring of the clips. This being said, in order for us to get this colouration for the final cut of the music video, we did use Final Cut Express, however didn't use it for the majority of the editing due to the reasons specified above.

 

YouTube was an important technology too in the all of the stages of our music video, in order for us to analyse pre-existing music videos in the research stage we used this platform as it allows us to access a wide range of music videos, from all different genres. When planning, we also used the platform as we looked at other student music videos, as we could analyse them and get an idea of the sort of common trends, what is good and bad and how we can stand out from the rest of the students producing music videos. YouTube therefore allowed us to think outside the box and come up with creative ideas unique from any other. During the construction and evaluating stage we used YouTube as we could upload our music video rough cuts and final product to it, before finally putting the final cut up. This therefore could help us to get feedback on our product, before concluding things we need to change and positives in our music video. Therefor YouTube was a very important platform and enabled us to do a lot of things that without it would not have been possible.

 

Evaluation Question 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Final Music Video: Trials of the Past

Digipack: Final Version

This is our final version of the digipack. We have included various different images that we took when on set. We have included both characters in our digipack which connotes to the audience before even listening to the song that there is two main characters. We also include location shots, which enhances the audiences understanding of the music video. We have added in effects to add colouration in making it look purple, adding to the overall theme of our music video. We have also kept a house style across both digipack and magazine advert, as the text in the top left image is the same as on the magazine advert. By doing this it makes it consistent and helps link all the products together.

Magazine Advert: Final Version

This is the final version of our magazine advert. We used images that we took when filming our music video. The image shows the forest along with our main character. We have also included text on the advert which is very important to ensure that the audience is aware what the magazine advert is promoting. We based our magazine advert (text wise) on existing magazine adverts which I took inspiration from during the research and planning stages. Also, based on research we included website addresses where people can go to find out more about the artist, along with ratings, logos and release dates. We have also included twitter and facebook signs at the bottom to make audiences view our music elsewhere.