A slideshow answering one of my evaluation questions based on the technologies used when doing my Advanced portfolio project.

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

2. Introduction.
During the Research, Pre-Production, Production and
Post-Production stages of my Advanced portfolio project I
really tried to vary the pieces of technology used.
I tried to use a variety of different equipment, programmes
and websites to produce something really outstanding at
the end.
I feel by using a variety of different technologies instead of
repeating the same ones again and again allows users to
not feel tedium and get bored.

3. Research and Planning.
Throughout these two stages I used a variety of different
programmes and websites in hope to gain information
which will help me with the production of my Music Video,
Digipak and Artist Website.

4. 01
Mind View.
Mind View is a program which allows you to
create a professional looking mind map. I
used this program to display various
different thoughts in regards to my initial
ideas.
I also used Mind View to present some of
my questionnaire findings - These were the
findings which provided me with different
types of describing words etc, for example,
one of my questionnaire questions was
‘what three factors come into mind when you
think of indie/pop music videos?’. This type
of question obviously produced a variety of
different words so I presented these using
Mind View.

5. 01
Prezi and
Slideshare.
I used both Prezi and SlideShare quite a lot of
the time through this project, this was in all of
the stages.
Prezi and SlideShare both allow me to present
information in a slide show. Both of these sites
work completely different to each other which
is good as the final products vary.
I used Prezi to make slideshows for things like
conventions of music videos to presenting
information in my post production stage.
Likewise, I used SlideShare to display similar
types of information throughout the project. I
presented some convention findings again
using the site. Not only this, I used it to present
digipak and artist website on my blog.

6. 01
YouTube.
I used this website for the majority of my research
as it is a great site to show me existing examples
of music videos. During research and planning I
used YouTube in many different ways.
Firstly, I used it to analyse existing music videos
and to find the conventions seen amongst them.
Also I used YouTube to do extra research into my
chosen artist, this originally being AlunaGeorge
and then this changed to Jack Smallpeice.
Being able to look through their existing videos
gave me ideas on how they use conventions and
also allowed me to gain a wider knowledge into
already used themes etc.
As YouTube is the main website where you can
access music videos, I used it largely to establish
what shots are commonly seen, costumes, props
and all other minor details I knew I had to
consider.

7. 01
Virtual Learning
Environment.
This webspace is where I recorded all of my
information, from research collected, to
presentations, to ideas. Every single piece of
work I did towards my final products was
placed on the VLE.
On my VLE blog, I posted information,
pictures, videos, voice clips, slideshows - all
sorts of different platforms.
However, not only did I use the VLE for
blogging my progression in the course, but I
also used it to create surveys to send to my
target market. The VLE has a service where I
can send all the other users in my school a
questionnaire to answer regarding my music
video. I managed to gain 32 responses from
this which I thought was really good.

8. 01
Microsoft Excel.
I didn't use Microsoft Excel too much in the
duration of this course, however, I still
think it is a significant program to include
as its use was very beneficial. I wrote up
all of the data I collect in my
surveys/questionnaires using Microsoft
Excel as it allows me to put information
collected into bar charts, pie charts, scatter
graphs etc. I feel Excel is the best program
for things like this as the program is
designed to organise and handle data.
The questionnaire data I obtained included
things like ‘should a music video have a
storyline?’ etc.

9. 01
Microsoft Word.
I used Microsoft Word in the research and
planning stages of my project quite a lot.
I used Word to make things like my
production checklist and for writing out
things in tables. An example of this would
be my digipak analysis as I used Word to
express my findings into a table format. I
like using Microsoft Word as it is simple, yet
very professional looking.
I also used Microsoft Word to create some
of my digipak. I did this by adding black
squares (and photos in some cases) onto
my pictures I took the of white card on the
difference surfaces, this giving it the
polaroid effect.

10. 01
Google.
Google has always been my favourite
web browser as it’s so quick and
efficient to use. I have been familiar
with Google since before I can even
remember so I felt it was the safest
browser for me to use. I used the
search engine to gain information about
conventions, my artists, existing
websites and more. Google provided
me with a service which definitely
helped the way I found new sites and
information, this is why if I were to redo
this project I would definitely use
Googles service again.

11. 01
Outlook.
I didn't use Outlook that much during the
project but I still think it is significant to
talk about it as it did play an important
part.
I used Outlook to get in contact with my
artists in hope to gain their permissions to
use their music. Although I am familiar of
using Outlook, I have never really had to
compose something so formal as this, so
I did feel this was a bit of a learning curve
in its own way.
I used Outlook to transfer work from my
school account to my home computer as
well so I could finish work out of lessons.

12. 01
Wikipedia.
During the research and planning
stages I used Wikipedia a lot to gain
information about particular factors,
these included information on:
Digipaks, artist websites, music
videos, musicians, etc.
The only problem with Wikipedia is
the fact that the information on it can
be edited by the general public, this
meaning the information found on the
site may not alway be accurate
and/or valid.

13. 01
Scanner.
I used the scanner during my research
and planning stages only a few times.
The only times I used the scanner was
to scan my storyboards onto the
computer, and likewise with my camera
plan. Scanning these onto the computer
is far more efficient than taking pictures
as you can guaranteed to come out with
a straight and well aligned picture.
I also used the scanner to scan my
annotated version of the lyrics onto the
computer, again scanning it made it
clearer to read.

14. Production.
During the production of my music video, artist website
and digipak, I used a variety of different programmes
and equipment to produce the end product I did.

15. 01
Windows desktop
and Mac.
During all stages of this project I have used both a
Windows desktop computer and a Macbook to
complete my tasks.
The Windows based computer monitors were the
main computers I used as they were the
computers accessible in school. The Macbook
was really only used at home for the research and
post-production stages of the course.
At school the computers gave me access to
Adobe Premier and Photoshop which were both
key programs in the creation of my products -
Adobe Premier as explained later was the editing
program used to create my music video for Jack
Smallpeice’s song ‘Movie Scenes’.
They also gave me access to Mind View as
explained previously, this was used mainly
through my planning and research stage to
illustrate my ideas.

16. 01
Video Camera.
I used a Panasonic video camera to do all
of my filming within the construction of my
music video. This I found very simple to
use as we had the opportunity to use one
last year for our Preliminary task.
The video camera we were provided with
to use was not the best of quality,
however, if we used it to its fullest
capability we could end up with a really
professional looking film still.
The camera was quite small so it was
easy to transport to all of the locations
used within the music video e.g. the beach
and arcade.

17. 01
Adobe Premiere.
The use of Adobe Premiere was another main piece of
technology in my construction stage. Premiere was the
program we used to edit all of our shots together in hope to
creare an amazing looking music video.
This program I feel was really efficient in making short
movies, however, it did have a lot of blips where it would
completely crash on us mid-use.
Premiere allowed us to no only organise clips and put them
in the right order, but, it gave us the option to crop shots,
slow shots down to give them a ‘slow motion’ effect and
also filters in which you can add over your film.
In my music video I used the ‘Tint’ effect over the majority
of my shots this added a slightly duller light to my scenes
so they all blended in together a bit better. Tint also helped
the shot colouring fit in with the feel of my music video -
having a bright and colourful music video really would not
look right against a slow and emotional song.
Premiere allowed me to add transitions between my shots
giving my music video a bit of ‘flow’ and continuity, the
main transitions I used were the fades: fade to black, fade
to white and dissolve.

18. 01
wix.com
wix.com was the main piece of technology used
when constructing my artist website. wix.com is a
website which allows you to create a website of
some variety. I have never used this sort of website
before so at first I was quite hesitant and
unconfident. However, I slowly got to grips with the
way it works and managed to produce a really
professional looking website.
wix.com allowed me use all different types of
features when creating my website these varying
from adding a merchandise page to my store to
adding YouTube clips on whatever page I’d wish.
wix.com had all sorts of features which made my
construction of the website far more efficient, for
example, you could choose what sort of page you
wanted to create and it would allow you to choose
from a variety of layouts/templates to add your
information into - I did this on my gallery page.

19. 01
PhotoShop.
I used Photoshop only a little bit in the production
of my advanced portfolio project.
I used Photoshop to create the merchandise to be
shown on my website - this was because the artist
I used did not have any existing merchandise. I
use Photoshop to transfer plain objects from
Google images into something which looks
personalised to Jack the singer. For example, I
found an empty keyring image on Google and
used Photoshop to edit an image of Jack onto it.
I also used Photoshop in combination with Paint
and Microsoft Word to create my digipak. I used
Photoshop to edit the images I took of the
cardboard on the different surface. Photoshop
allowed me to enhance colours or completely
opposite that it allowed me to dull down any bright
colours.

20. 01
Paint.
I only really used paint during the
production stage of my project.
I used Paint to save screenshots in a
JPEG format so I could easily post
them straight onto my blog. I also
used Paint to when creating my
digipak - Paint was needed in the
creation as it allowed me to add extra
details that Microsoft Word couldn't
provide, the use of Paint let me have
the opportunity to create my poster
on the back of my digipak.

21. 01
SoundCloud.
I used the site Sound Cloud only
really to gain access to my artists
music. Most of Jacks music and
covers are only accessible on
Sound Cloud as he doesn't really
use his YouTube channel
anymore. I used Sound Cloud
purely to add music to my artist
website, and used it to add links
in.

22. 01
Social Networks.
The main two social networking
sites I used were Facebook and
Twitter. I only really used social
networking sites to link together
the artists website and their
existing social media.
I also used the site Facebook to
get in contact with my musician
and my actors to make important
decisions and schedules.

23. 01
Printer.
I used printers throughout all the stage of this
project. I mainly used the printer to print out forms
etc I needed to fill in and rescan back onto the
computer. This included my storyboard, audience
feedback, song analysis etc.
I also used the printer to test whether my digipak
design would work. After creating my draft digipak
on the computer I printed it out to check that it
actually worked and fit together - Luckily it did.
I also use a Kodak printer within a supermarket as
well - It was used for the construction of my music
video as I had to print of the photos which were
used when the boy was looking back through past
times. The Kodak printers allow you to print off
photos from your smartphone using Bluetooth at a
small charge.

24. 01
iPhone.
I used my smart phone a lot during all stages of
this project.
In the research and planning stage I used my
phone to email pictures to my school email
account as you cannot upload them in any other
quick and efficient way. I also used it to take
location shots and evidence shots whilst planning
and filming.
In the production stage I used my smart phone to
take the pictures of the piece of cardboard on
different surfaces for my digipak. I chose to use
my smart phone instead of my digital camera as I
was able to gain a better focus and better quality
of picture when comparing them both.
The Post-Production stage was similar to the
planning and research stage - I really used my
mobile phone to transfer information and pictures
to and from school again.

25. 01
Tripod.
I used a tripod whilst filming my music
video as they allow you to gain really clear
and steady shots. Although within my
music video I featured a number of
handheld shots, I still feel using a tripod is
essential.
When using a tripod you are able to get a
constant pan without the camera wobbling
everywhere. For example, when doing a
pan of the tree, without using the tripod
that shot would’ve looked awful due to
shaky hands.
Using a tripod allowed me to create a
really professionally finished music video.

26. Post-Production.
During the Post-Production stage of my Advanced
portfolio project, I used quite similar programs and
equipment as previously mentioned. These mainly being
Prezi, SlideShare, Microsoft Word etc.

27. 01
Microphone.
I used a microphone in the
evaluation stage in hope to gain
four completely different looking
evaluation answers.
I used a microphone to verbally
explain the answer to the question
provided. I could do this through
my mobile phone or through my
laptop, so I knew this would be
quite an easy thing for me to
produce.

28. 01
Microsoft
Powerpoint.
In my evaluation stage of this course I used
Microsoft Powerpoint a lot, for example, I
produced this current slideshow using it. I
also used the Apple equivalent to
Powerpoint which is called ‘Keynote’, these
both work exactly the same and seem to
work nicely with each other when
transferring data between the two.
I used these two slide show programs as
they really allow you to create a
professional and well organised piece of
work. I could change the layout, colours,
theme etc to suit me and also it allowed me
to not only add writing, but pictures, videos,
sounds etc to the slides.

29. Conclusion.
Overall, I feel I have used a huge variety of different technologies during my
research, planning, construction and evaluation stage. As you can see a lot of
these technologies overlapped into different stages, for example, I used Prezi
during all four stages. I did this because some of the technologies I used were
better than the others, and I wanted to use nothing but the best to produce a
really good Advanced portfolio.
If I were to do this again I do believe i’d like to use a few new pieces of
technology just to widen my knowledge and to show that I am good at working
with unfamiliar software/equipment. As during this project the only piece of
technology which I had absolutely no experience with before was the website
builder wix.com. As I have hopefully displayed, I overcame this issues of not
knowing how to use it and created a really efficient artist website.