Evaluation Question 3

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

Using Final Cut Pro - Production (Music Video)

This technology was very important whilst making the music video because it had everything we needed to make sure the music video was edited the right way and it actually made it a lot easier. There were specific tools designed for music video making too. I used the tools to crop, edit, slow down, speed up, and add other files such as the track used for the music video.

The use of Final Cut Pro made it look professional and allowed me to see mistakes because we could watch the music video whilst in the process, noticing what was good and what wasn't so good about it so far. It also allowed our audience to watch it whilst we were editing to see any parts they liked or didn't like too.

Using the internet - Research and Planning (Using the internet)

I used Google to research the target audience for our genre and the genre itself. I even looked at reviews for pop artists from very popular music pages such as the BBC and actual artists' official websites. I also used social networking sites such as Twitter and Instagram to keep our teachers updated with what we were doing.

YouTube was also used to look at very conventional and typical pop videos to look at the way they edit their videos and what special effects (if any) they use. It also helped me with costume ideas etc for our performer.

Using Photoshop Elements - Production (Ancillary)

Photoshop played a huge part in the editing process with the ancillary work. It allowed me to remove backgrounds from photos and add text with specific and stylish fonts. It also gave me the chance to make the digipak look more realistic and precise in size using the 2 panel CD template. I used Photoshop Elements 9. For the advertisement, I actually just used Microsoft Powerpoint because the pictures were already made and edited. I added borders, a bit of filter effects and placed text.

Equipment - Filming

We used the Dedo light kit for extra lighting when filming to make sure it was consistent through out the whole music video too.

Using the dedo light allowed us to film even on a different day but still have the same lighting, even if it was less sunny due to weather problems.

The Dedo light in use in the music video.

We used a professional camera for HD 1080p videos. We used the microphone that came with it to pick up sounds, we used the focus (manual and auto) when necessary and we also used the technology on the camera to look back at the media we had just filmed. We saved the media onto memory cards that were put into slots on the side of the camera. We used the zooming lens to have different shot types. (Close-ups and mid close-ups).

 Zooming into the artist for a close-up

Then zooming out for a mid shot