1. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research planning and evaluation stages? Lorna Wooldridge

2. Using Blogger Embedding Word Documents Hyperlink As it was an online diary of my planning and development of my music video, I had to find different ways of presenting the information. When talking of Goodwin’s Principles, I decided to embed Word Documents in the form of a table. It adds variety, ensuring no long pages of text become monotonous. Also, this way it means there is less risk of drifting from the point as everything is refined to the subjects in the table. Instead of embedding the video, it meant I could add a hyperlink to the music video on the name of the track. The irritant with this was to ensure the text appeared the correct size on Blogger, I print screened half and half and pasted them together – this means they are of a variety of sizes. Ensures all information is relevant

3. Using Blogger Mind Maps When evaluating CD covers, I decided to upload them on to the computer the way I had annotated them in lesson – in the form of a mind map. This ensures the person reading the information is directed to exactly where you wish the information to go. It means the reader can visualise as well as read and the picture allows them to agree or disagree with your opinion.

4. Using Blogger Embedding YouTube Videos In my planning, I embedded a YouTube video as an example to elaborate my point. When talking of ‘Having a Niche’ it was important to show Amy Winehouse beforehand, and so having rare footage of her without the famous beehive and exaggerated eye make up would also be interesting for the person viewing my blog to watch. It also adds a variety to this particular blog post as it is mainly images and text, but this adds another form of media with relevance to the text.

5. Using Blogger Slide Share Instead of copying the image and putting text next to it, I decided to use www.slide.com where you can create a slide show of your image. When the images are hovered over, a description is available. I also had the option of how it was presented, whether it would be a basic one image at a time, but I decided to have the images as if they were being dropped like fallen leaves. This relates to the music video and the location shots where the leaves are spread across the floor. To improve, I would change the layout so the text is visible without being hovered over.

6. Using Blogger An Online Diary Two of my posts are in the form of an online diary: Filming Editing These posts record after each time I film or edit the advantages and disadvantages. I feel they include my struggles and torments, but also discuss when I am pleased with the work I have achieved. To improve this, I would include a video diary as I feel the emotion may include more of whether I am pleased or not than written diaries.

7. Using a Still Camera Stop Frame Animation Stop frame animation is hundreds of single photos put together to create a clip that is so smooth it can act as a film clip. I decided to use stop frame animation for the narrative based parts of my music video. To do this, I used a DSLR camera that was also a video camera meaning in one click of a button it would take 16 photos instantly. The movement was smooth and precise. To improve, I would take singular photos because the quality of the ones in my music video is poor at times as they appear quite noisy.

8. Using a Camcorder Performance Splitting my music video in two would be simple – it is half performance and half narrative, often shown in the indie rock genre. The performance based part of the music video was filmed on a HD camera. The weather on the day was dismal and bleak which did not bode well for the atmosphere of the music video, creating a challenge – however, I knew later I could edit the brightness and ignore the weather completely. Another issue was me filming in a public place – people seemed quite daunted by the camera and refused to walk near when really, it would of seemed more natural if strangers were in it.

9. Using Cyberlink Power Director Creating Stop Frame Animation My music video is a mixture of performance and narrative. To show the difference between the two I decided to have the performance as recorded and the narrative as stop frame animation. The stop frame animation had to link to the lyrics to apply Goodwin’s Principles ‘lyrics to visuals’ and so they had to be timed essentially. They also had to be put close enough together for it to flow. This was easy to do on Cyberlink Power Director as I had to just crop it to the correct time.

10. Using Cyberlink Power Director Lighting The day I filmed on was quite a dismal day. This meant the images were not vibrant, so I needed to enhance the lighting. This was simple to do by clicking ‘edit image’ and adjusting the lighting. I put it up to it’s maximum because it made the weather look nicer and therefore added to the happy atmosphere of the song. It lightened the clothing making the green trousers stand out more than before.

11. Using Cyberlink Power Director Pulsating Beats The performance based film clips of my video seemed to only occur mainly during the instrumental parts of the song. This is shown right at the beginning where the introduction has the drum beat and it is then pulsating in rhythm to the song. This was easily done by adding an effect to my video clip. I chose ‘pulse’ and it was then timed to fit the beat of the song.

12. Using Cyberlink Power Director Cropping Film Clip To experiment with angles and placement of protagonist in performance clips, I cropped the image so he shifted from side to side. This was simple to do by cutting and trimming the image to the section I wanted and then selecting the area I wanted to use. I feel it helped add variety to the video.

13. Using Serif PhotoPlus The CD Cover To create my CD cover, I used ‘Serif PhotoPlus’. This software allowed me to edit the photos that were the lyrics to visuals on my music video and use them as the images on my CD cover creating a form of brand identity. The final edited versions were then used in my music video as I felt they linked more strongly to the genre as the colourisation of the background changed from one neon colour to another.

14. Using Serif PhotoPlus The CD Cover Cont. The background of my CD cover is part of the 2D design package on Serif. The idea of it being checked adds an ‘Andy Warhol’ theme to it as it is quirky, which also links to the protagonist’s green and black checked skinny jeans in the music video. The typography is like handwriting and it is used on the artist’s name. The handwriting element links to the handwritten signs the artist is holding.

15. Using Serif PhotoPlus Behind CD Cover A feature of Goodwin’s principles is the notion of looking. This is shown frequently throughout my music video. To link this to the digipack, I took three still images from the protagonist gradually opening his eyes. On Serif, I enhanced the lighting dramatically making his eye colour poignant. I also added similar typography in the form of a quote: half at the beginning of the eyes opening, the other half by the eyes fully open.

16. Using Serif PhotoPlus Behind the CD With a desire to create a strong form of brand identity, I chose to take one of the still images of the protagonist holding the heart and edit it as I felt it would fit perfectly behind the CD. I edited out the background and used the four colours that are shown on the front of the CD cover to link the entire ancillary task together. A problem encountered was the protagonist was holding the heart, therefore I could not remove his arm. This does not create a disjunctive piece, however I would of preferred the hand and arm not to have been there.

17. Using Serif PhotoPlus Back of CD The back of the CD is normally the song titles and the credits. I chose to add the song titles with the same typography as the artist’s name on the CD cover. The spray paint effect was continued as the song titles were painted on the four key colours used throughout. I also included the record label I feel would invest in my product, ‘Island Records’. The issue I found was the smaller the writing on the credits got whilst using the same typography as the rest, it become more and more illegible. I had to make the background more cramped as a result.

18. Using Serif PagePlus Creating my Magazine Advertisement To inform the reader of the magazine of this artist, I used the CD cover as it informs the title of album, their song and the artist’s name. It also creates a link between both my ancillary tasks. The brand identity, and in fact, the star image motif, is then continuous and recognisable to it’s target audience. The layout is clear as the bottom half of the magazine advert contains all the information a follower of the artist would need to see them in a live performance.

19. Using Serif PagePlus Creating my Magazine Advertisement Cont. The typography again is the same as the CD cover creating a consistent image. The writing is black while the spray paint is the colour of the four important ones present in my other tasks. To improve, I would perhaps make more use of the space available, by including more images of the artist or even the artist’s instruments.