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

2. Research
• In the research stage of my coursework project I used many
different technologies.
• I frequently used web 2.0 services such as YouTube to research
existing products and discover the conventions of my chosen music
genre.
• I also used online blogs and forums to discuss ideas with fans of
country music. I read their posts on what they like and dislike and
what they have come to expect from the genre. I also posted my
own discussion topic during later stages to gain audience feedback
however unfortunately got no response. The Forum site I used was
truecountry.com
• I used ‘Premiere Pro’ to create test videos. This enabled me to try
out different techniques such as ‘green screen’.

3. Planning
• I used a digital slr camera to take some test shots
of location and to try out different camera angles.
• Again, I used ‘Premiere Pro’ to create various
video sequences. I placed hand drawn images on
the timeline along with my track to visually show
a plan of the storyboard. I also removed the
sound on an existing music video whilst the file
was an uncompressed audio visual type on the
timeline. I then replaced it with my own track
‘Waiting On You’ to get a clearer idea of what my
video may look like.

4. Production: Digipak
• I used a digital slr camera to take many photos that could be used
on my digipak.
• I then used Photoshop to manipulate these images and position
them carefully as a digipak design.
• One of the main tools I used was the ‘opacity’ tool. I lowered the
opacity in order to make the images look more ‘real’. I did this most
effectively for the graffiti imagery.
• I displaced the image of graffiti over the horse. To get this effect, I
had to first create a ‘map’ by using the magnetic lasso tool to select
the area I wanted to use and then desaturating the image. I altered
the shadows and highlights to make the outline more vivid. I then
opened this map with the image of graffiti and joined the two
layers together. I altered the opacity to make the image of the horse
show through the graffiti.

5. Production: Magazine Advert
• Similarly to my digipak, I used a digital slr camera
and photoshop to take and edit the images.
• I used the magnetic lasso tool to select the horse
image and place them on the background.
• I used the slider tools to alter the shadows and
highlights within the text. This made the images
blend together to soften the lines where the two
images were joined.

6. Production: Video
• I used a video camera to record the footage within the
video.
• I then edited the clips using Premiere Pro.
• I used techniques such as speeding up a clip or slowing
down to create interesting visual effects. In order to
achieve this, I used the speed/duration option in the
drop down menu. I also used this tool at the end of the
video to reverse a clip. In the settings box for
speed/duration, I ticked the reverse speed box to flip
the clip and make it run backwards. This gave the effect
of the paper ‘unburning’ itself.

7. Production: Video
• I used the crop tool to make images smaller within the
frame. This allowed me to create the split screen effect as
now I could fit more than one image in the frame. I used
this to put both band members in the frame at once and
also show three different images of mouths singing.
• I also used the movement tool to make the image move
within the frame. This technique is used a number of times
within the video, sometimes in conjunction with another
technique. For example, the split screen of the band
members was created using both crop and movement. I
toggled points within the video where the movement
would change. I was able to easily manipulate this to make
it flow with the music.

8. Production: Video
• Another interesting technique I used within the
video was the opacity tool.
• I used this to overlay images and have them in
the frame at the same time but on top of each
other rather than side by side.
• This technique suggests anchored meanings to
the images as they are placed together.
• I also used the toggle tool to fade the opacity in
and out and blend clips together more subtly.

9. Evaluation
• The media technologies used for my evaluation
are heavily focused around web 2.0 services.
• The include internet sites such as Blogger and
YouTube.
• I also used Prezi and Slideshare to present my
ideas in a more interesting way.
• I used a video camera to film myself responding
to one of the questions. This allowed me to be
more descriptive as I could discuss verbally in
more detail much easier than in writing.

10. How useful were these technologies?
• Whilst the technologies made all the work easier for the
most part, I did come up against some struggles.
• I found it easiest to use Photoshop for the production of my
ancillary texts as I have previous experience of this
software and so was familiar with the tools. This meant
that I was able to experiment more comfortably and more
successfully to achieve effective results (such as the
displacement of graffiti imagery).
• I found that relying on the internet to conduct production
or research can be limiting as it is not a consistent service. I
had to delay creating my ‘prezi’ because of issues with the
software and internet connection. It would have been
easier to produce my evaluation if I didn’t need to rely so
heavily on technology.

11. Technological Determinism
• The quality of my work was heavily determined
by the technology I was using and my knowledge
of it.
• Had I been more experienced with Premiere Pro,
I could have created more interesting effects and
therefore improve the overall video.
• However the technology helped to enthuse my
creativity. By watching YouTube tutorials on using
Photoshop, it inspired me to try out new
techniques and manipulate images in innovative
ways.