Evaluation Question 4

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

Having access to the internet for this coursework task was essential because it allowed me to research for each stages of production, as well as document my work for each stage.

Research
Creating a blog on Google Blogger marked the start of my coursework, which I learnt how to use and had to maintain the use of throughout every stage that followed, by updating my progress throughout. I found this a good website to use to create a blog, as Google is accessible on many different platforms, and this meant that I could even blog on my mobile phone if I needed to. It also allowed me to publish my work in different ways, using other technologies such as Slideshare and Prezi, as well as the ability to embed YouTube videos and Soundcloud audios.

I began my research by using YouTube as it provides access to music videos from artists of different time periods and genres, and this allowed me to take inspiration from a very wide range of already existing products. I also could use it to watch other students videos from around the UK, so that I could see examples of videos for each grade. Like Google, I found YouTube a good service to research as I have the YouTube app on my mobile phone, meaning that I could easily watch different videos at any time. In addition, with the 'My History' option, I was able to refer back to videos I had previously watched if I hadn't noted it. It also provides a 'Suggested For You' service, which suggests videos that are similar to those that I had seen, which was helpful when finding videos of the same genre to analyse. However, I used Vimeo as it provide access to some music videos that aren't on YouTube, which widened my research as most people stuck to YouTube for their research.

I used Google Forms to create a questionnaire for my target audience to fill out. I had never used this application before, but I found it extremely convenient and easy to use as I was able to make the questionnaire in a short space of time. It was also very helpful as it provided me with a shortcut link to the questionnaire which I could access on my mobile, and as a result I could simply send the link in a text message where my target audience could easily access and fill out the questionnaire on their mobile phones at the click of a button. This allowed me to access results from a range of different people, rather than a group of friends who are more likely to have the similar interests and ultimately provide me with similar information.

Simultaneously, I was able to review the results I was obtaining on Google Sheets as they were automatically put into a spreadsheet format as the results came in. From here, I could also access the results in graph format by viewing them as a summary - an option provided by Google Forms. This was helpful as it allowed me to simply move this information onto my blog to refer to it easily, rather than creating a graph for each individual question on a software like Edexcel, which helped with time management.

When deciding what song to use, I used Soundcloud and Spotify to listen to different songs and decide between them. Spotify was most helpful as they have a browsing option to find songs from a range of different genres and sub-genres. However, I found both applications useful as I felt it was important to listen to songs without seeing the already existing music video, as it allowed me to solely use my own unique ideas rather than ideas that I have adopted from the original product.

I found Slideshare and Prezi good to use when documenting as it broke up large chunks of research that would have otherwise seemed daunting to read at once. It also allowed me to embed pictures to easily refer to what I was talking about. Slideshare required using Microsoft Powerpoint to make the file, and converted the Powerpoint into a file that can be viewed as a slideshow on my blog. This was very easy to use as it only required uploading the Powerpoint and copying the HTML link, before pasting it into the blog post. On the other hand, Prezi requires you to make the slideshow on the website and has the advantage of more creative choices in the ways that you can display your work.

Planning
In the planning for my video, I created visuals of ideas that I had for the opening for my video, This required using a scanner to upload the images of the post-it note shots which worked well but was quite time-consuming. I then used Adobe Premiere Pro to create a stop-motion video to show the potential opening for the video. I had previous experience with this software for my AS coursework, however I had never made a stop-motion video before so it was interesting to learn how to do this and I picked it up quickly how to edit to hit all of the beats, which helped me during the production stage where I used this editing technique frequently. I used YouTube to upload these short clips which made it easy to distribute the videos to my target audience for feedback, as well as embedding them onto my blog for easy reference.

I tried other filming techniques using multiple iPhone apps, such as PHHHOTO and VHS cam. PHHHOTO is a 'camera app that shoots moving pictures', which can be saved as videos and I had an idea to include these in my video, so I filmed different parts to trial the shots. I did the same thing on VHS cam, which is an app that 'creates videos and photos that seem to come out of a VHS tape, recorded with a Camcorder', before using a USB to transfer the videos from both apps onto a desktop and my blog.

For more trial shots I used a DSLR camera aand compared with shots from iPhone cameras, and I preferred using the iPhone camera as it gave me a better result for the look I was aiming to achieve. I used my iPhone to contact the performers and arrange filming times via Whatsapp as this was the quickest and most convenient method. I also used a messaging app called Slack to contact my target audience for feedback, for example when I wanted to find out about fish eye cameras.

I used YouTube to watch how activities such as dancing, skating and hopscotch was filmed. This was helpful because there are so many videos to watch, however I found it hard to locate the most important videos. I looked at different websites to read about the 1990s and get inspiration for my video, digipak and poster.

Production
Although I had access to high quality cameras, I used an iPhone to film as it added to my desired effect - cameras were not so advanced in the early 90s. To transfer my shots onto the computer at school, I used a memory stick however it didnt have enough GB space to save all of the videos so I was required to transfer only a handful of videos at each time. I thought the computers at school didn't allow me to upload straight from my phone with a USB lead, but I soon found out they can and changed to this method as it was much more convenient.

To edit the video, I used Adobe Premiere Pro which I have used before so I was familiar with the software. However, unlike my AS coursework video, it involves a lot more editing so I enjoyed using it for a different purpose. The problem was that sometimes the software would decide to shut down without warning which meant that the work I had done in that lesson was lost. I had to get into the habit of saving my work after I had completed something, and I found this easy once I learnt the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S to do this.

If I had difficulties with Premiere Pro, the internet was an essential element in helping as I would type the problem into Google Search and it would be met the pages of tutorial websites or YouTube videos, which were both equally helpful. I did this right until the last stage, where I wanted to find out how to export the video from Premiere Pro into YouTube.

For the digipak, I used Google Images to find a template which I would begin my work on in Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with the software and didn't have the time to learn the whole programme. Instead, I used Lucidpress, which is a Google app and provided me with everything I needed to achieve my desired text. The fact it is a Google app meant that I could easy access it at home, which proved very convenient. The only problem was that when I wanted to print off my digipak to see the physical product, it only allows you to print in a low quality unless you have upgraded your account which was a shame.

Also, Lucidpress worked well for structuring my digipak and I picked it up very quickly, but it didn't offer a photo editing service that I required for certain images if I wanted to remove the background etc. Therefore, I had to use Adobe Photoshop to make the background transparent, which I quickly picked up how to do. Once the picture was edited, I opened it in Lucidpress but I noticed that the background wasn't transparent. I searched this problem on Google Search and it led me to a YouTube tutorial video which explained that JPEG, the default setting when saving, isn't compatible with transparent backgrounds so it must be saved as a PNG file and this solved the problem.

Other than that, I decided I liked using Lucidpress for my digipak so I created my magazine poster with this application as well. Throughout the process of both, I searched existing products on Google for inspiration with my creative decisions, but also to find out what sorts of things are generally included on the back cover of albums, e.g. the small print and on magazine posters.

Evaluation

In the construction of my evaluation questions, I wrote up the scripts for each one in Google Blogger rather than in a document on Microsoft Word, as it made it more accessible for me on any computer and even my mobile. This worked well as it has an option to save work as drafts, which meant that only I can see it and it wasn't making my blog look untidy before they were finished. Once I had written up the questions, I then decided what technology I wanted to use the display the information in a fun and attractive way. For example, Prezi worked well for my Question 2, as I could include pictures on each slide to annotate, and it only required me to work with Microsoft Powerpoint which I am already familiar with.