Question 1 of my A2 Media Coursework

1. How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
EVALUATION
Question 1

2. Research
Initial Ideas
I used Microsoft Word to list my first
ideas when we were originally
introduced to the task of eventually
making a music video. This was
effectively a brainstorm of song ideas,
music video ideas, potential locations
and a target audience. I found this
helpful because it outlaid my initial
ideas quickly and in an organised
manner. I accompanied these ideas
with photos to remind me of things
like locations for future reference. The
main positive of using word for
instances like this is that it is a good
software to use to write things like
notes.
Music Video Ideas
For my next part of research I used
PowerPoint to display my music video
ideas. I used it to arrange my ideas
under the headings: General Ideas,
Album Inspiration, Potential Album
Covers, my Digipak ideas and Colour
Schemes. This helped my in making a
decision in what I wanted my video
and digipak to look like before I started
my audience research.
Potential Music Videos
A big part of selecting which music
videos I was going to choose between to
use for my final piece was by using
YouTube to view a range of different
videos so that I could decided which
ones I liked. After choosing my ‘shortlist’
I could then embed the music videos
directly onto my blog via YouTube which
was a good way of making my work
interactive and more compatible.
For my research stage I used fairly simple media technologies as I felt there was
particularly any need to use advanced technologies that I didn’t know how to
fully use them to their potential as this stage was just about brainstorming and
getting ideas together.

3. For my audience research I interviewed three
people that go to college to gather their opinions
on music. Each interview lasted about a minute
and 30 seconds and was useful to me because all
the interviews contained a vast amount of
information. Primary information like this is
invaluable as research as it gives you honest
opinions which I can then take into account and
use as proof for ideas when it comes to the
actual music video. The interviews helped me
produce qualitative data, which would come in
handy when analysis all the questions due to
the honest and detailed answers I acquired. As I
also conducted interviews in my AS coursework
(albeit only audio interviews) I still saw the
potential in using videos because it would help
emphasise factors like our target audience as
well as multiple other things.
I then uploaded the interviews onto YouTube as
this was the easiest way of getting them onto my
blog. Uploading videos via YouTube added to my
blog on a more visual level as I feel it can help
get points across more easily instead of just
using text to portray opinions.
Audience research
After I’d watched back all the interviews I went
through all the interviews and made a PowerPoint
reviewing all the answers, including in depth
analysis as well as photos to emphasise potential
ideas and opinions. I used PowerPoint to do this
because it allows you to arrange information as
you want (by using text boxes) and can accompany
this with photos and diagrams which enables me
to add as much detail as I’d like to my analysis.
To film our interviews we used a studio in order to
get the best environment to perform them. We
used a Canon DSLR camera in accompany with a
tripod as this was the best equipment we could’ve
used in this situation.
Research

4. Music Videos – Textual Analysis
To analyse the music videos I once again
used PowerPoint. This was so that I could
include a vast amount of information whilst
also making it easy to follow for the reader.
I feel this was essential because it was
important that the reader knew what parts
of the music video I was referring to so they
could relate. As a result I did this by screen
shotting specific parts of videos so that I
could make an important point in relation.
PowerPoint was the best software to use as
it enabled me to set out a consistent setting
throughout, something I feel the other
alternative (Word) wouldn’t have been able
to do for me. Adding screenshots made my
analysis not as dull because it was done in
an essay style way due to the type of task it
was. These screenshots helped aid the
recognition of typical conventions in music
video, of the pop genre in my case, like the
mise-en-scene ad types of camera shots
used.
Research

5. Planning
Song Permission
A vital part of using a song you would like
to use for your music video is having the
correct permission to use the actual song
itself. My group chose to use the song
‘Thinking ‘Bout You’ by Ariana Grande. As
a group we were required to send an
email to Universal, who are the company
that Ariana Grande. After we’d emailed
them asking for their permission to use
the song we soon received a reply from
them. Emailing was a huge part of
actually gaining the rights to use the song
we intended to use as without doing this,
we wouldn’t have been able to use any
copyrighted songs.

6. Digipak and Advert
Digipak
To plan our digipak we chose to draw it ourselves as we believed we wouldn’t
be able to recreate accurately what we wanted it to look like on any software
perfectly. After we’d drawn it out we scanned it in using a printer, and then
sent a copy as a jpeg so that we could directly upload the original image to our
blogs which enabled to use the drawn version. From this I used PowerPoint to
annotate my drawings which would add even more detail. PowerPoint was
useful for this stage because I was able to use text boxes and arrows to
accurately label features that I felt were important. This is shown to the right
of this text.
Planning
Advert
The first draft of our magazine mock ups were drawn but we replicated them
in Microsoft Word afterwards. We decided that because we didn’t have an
idea that we were certain with, it was easier to design a few ideas that we
could develop. Although this was fairly time consuming, especially with
things like drawing out all the shapes on Word, it allowed us to make a
decision that our whole group were happy with. Because we had an
abundance of different design ideas, we took the best elements and merged
them into one, which would hopefully help us create the best magazine
advert that we could. Our two main designs on the right help us create a
basis that we could then create a professional advert.

7. Construction
Editing
To edit our music video we used the editing
software Adobe Premiere Pro. I had a basic
understanding of Adobe products after using
Photoshop for my AS year coursework. After
having success with Adobe Photoshop I
acknowledged that Premiere would be the
best software to edit the music video on. Even
though this software was fairly complex, it
allowed me to make an extremely
professional looking video. I knew how to do
fairly straight forward things like importing
and cutting but I realised I needed to grasp a
wider understanding of Premiere in order to
achieve the best results. It took a while to get
used to the software and working out what
certain aspects did, but in the general scheme
of things it was worth it because it developed
my skills on the software as a result.
Using YouTube
As Adobe Premiere Pro is an advanced software with endless editing options, we used YouTube to find ways to insert specific
edits and effects. We watched tutorials that would show us how to do certain things that we were unsure on. The videos
provided step-by-step details on how top do something which was really helpful because it helped us follow it easily. This
aided us as it made our music video more professional due to the effects we were now able to access that we couldn’t
previously. Using YouTube helped us edit our video in a much shorter time than it would’ve done without using step-by-step
guides.

8. Photography
Photography
For our photography planning and production for our digipak
and magazine advert we used a Canon DSLR camera. I had
already used this camera in the production of last years
coursework, when making a music magazine so I was aware of
the basic settings I would need with the camera. To help
matters both this years and last years photographs were took
in the photography studio so I knew which settings were
required for this environment. At first, some of the photos we
took were overexposed due to the brightness of the room.
However, after changing the exposure, the quality of the
images improved and allowed us to take a range of different
shots that could be potentially used for the final digipak or
advert. We got a range of different types of shots (medium,
long shots and close ups) of our artist, to emphasise that we
knew how to use different shots effectively even if they didn’t
all make it onto our final product. The photos we didn’t use
came in handy on our contact sheets regardless which
displayed our camera skills. The settings we used throughout
were very similar. This was because we wanted a common
theme running in both our digipak, advert and final music
video. Using the memory card inside the camera, we then
uploaded ALL our photos firstly onto the computer and
secondly onto a contact sheet, which would then feature on
our blog to show how we used the camera and its
technologies to create a solid piece of work.
Construction

9. Filming and Editing
Filming the music video
We knew from the start of our project that the part
we had to get spot-on, was the filming aspect. This
is because it is the final piece of our work and
displays our knowledge we have gained over the
coursework. Soon we realised it would be the most
time consuming part of the project and would need
to go on a number of separate shoots in order to
achieve the outcome that we were aiming towards.
Using a Canon 600d DSLR was extremely useful
because of it’s instantaneous ability to stop and
start filming, meaning we could get more filming
done overall. Another pro of using this camera was
that we could use it in any of the many
environments, from a well-lit unnatural
photography studio to a dusky cows field, the
camera was able to capture everything to a high
standard. Because we used one camera throughout
the filming, it meant that during the edit everything
linked together well and hence created seamless
transitions from one shot to the next, which gave
our video a realistic tint to it. This is what we were
striving towards and we achieved it.
Construction
Editing and Uploading
To upload our music video one of us used
YouTube to make it public so that everyone
could view it. By making it public on YouTube
it allowed anyone to view the video, even if
they wouldn’t normally listen to/watch this
type of music video. This was important to us
because it allowed us to collate opinions from
the public, which is helpful because it’s an
honest and unbiased view so it is extremely
useful feedback. A benefit of uploading the
video to YouTube is that people from all
around the world can comment directly on
the post, giving us instant information and
feedback on our production. We also posted
the video on Facebook which would reach our
friends instantly so they again could comment
and give their opinions on our video. All of
this information was key because it allowed
us to base our evaluation and conclusion off
it.

10. Evaluation of my use of technologies
Digital technologies have helped me massively
throughout my creation of a music video. Whether
it has been using software or using a camera to film
and take photographs. My blog is the perfect place
to look to see my progress as everything is ordered
chronologically, and shows clear development as I
use a range of software throughout my coursework.
All my research was done before I actually made
the product so this all featured at the beginning of
my blog allowing me to evaluate everything more
easily.
I have gained a wider knowledge of technologies
over the past 2 years which I feel has enabled me to
make a good overall product including the ancillary
texts and the music video. I felt comfortable using
any software. This is proved by the fact I used
Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my video, as it was an
advanced piece of software but I felt suitably able
to use it with success. A more basic option was to
use Windows Movie Maker which still would’ve
allowed me to edit but to nowhere near the
standard that Premiere did.
Overall, I feel that the way in which I have used the
technologies in my coursework has improved over
time. I also feel that the technology I used were the
right ones as they allowed me to complete my work
to the best of my ability.