Closing Post

Finally I have complete all of the required work for my A level Media Studies advanced portfolio. I really enjoyed researching, planning and creating my music video. All of the processes I followed ensured me that my music video would be up to a good standard. I hope you thoroughly enjoying browsing through my blog and that you have enjoyed my music video.

Alex

Final Music Video

https://youtu.be/QyXp9oLzIz0

Hi it’s Alex, I will be discussing my answer for Evaluation question four within this video. The question i have been asked is; How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

For my construction I used a canon EOS 5D, SD Card, Adobe Photoshop, imovie and an iphone 6S. Half of the filming and photos that can be seen associated with my music video and ancillary tasks were filmed or taken with the digital SLR camera. All of the filming footage I took to create the music video was recorded over the course of 9 days. I used the automatic settings for filming on the camera as it made it easier and quicker to film. Due to the camera being of an excellent standard and quality I was able to gain high quality footage quite easily. However, on 3 of my filming days the quality wasn’t as good. This was due to bad wind and rain. The shots weren't as clean cut and clear. I had to edit these scenes as the quality was affected. By doing so I improved the footage quite substantially. Overall, I was very happy with the footage I produced using this camera. It was a very important piece of technology throughout the production of my music video. It gave it a high quality, professional look. Furthermore, the canon takes an SD card. This was a massive benefit as I used it to transfer some of my footage across to the mac, I did this with ease. This was very straight forward and a really vital but important process.

I used the SanDisk 16 GB card to store all my footage on. This was a very safe and convenient way to save and hold my work. I only used one SD card in the construction process as I only filmed half of my footage on the Canon camera.

I used iMovie to cut and edit my music video. This ensured that it was up to a very high standard. I wanted my video to look as professional as possible. It allowed me to add many different filters and effects to my footage. Also, it let me explore different looks and styles of presentation. This was massively beneficial.  I was able to use different transitions to improve the standard of my video. In addition to this, I was able to change the speed of my clips. This was really important and successful because it made my emotional clips slower and more powerful to the audience. I learnt a lot from using iMovie like how to use different techniques. This advanced my  knowledge and enhanced the level of work that I produced.

I used Photoshop during the creation of my digipak for my artist (Bethany Taylor). I captured four different photographs with my camera (Canon EOS 5D) which I then used on my digipak. This made it look more professional and to a higher quality. This also made me want to emphasise my artist and her look even more. I was able to portray my artist in a way that looked professional and realistic to my target audience. An example of this would be the use of the effect ‘Slumber’ which I used on all my pictures. This gave them a unique style and made them look more professional.

I first learnt how to use photoshop to a high standard is AS. This was when I was constructing my music magazine. In A2 it was much easier to use the site, I was then able to use it quicker and more professionally because of my previous practice. I had more time to experiment with different type of effects and styles. This meant I spent less time on the basic elements of editing photographs. Through learning the basics in AS I was then able to improve my work significantly and improve my work in A2 much faster in comparison to last year.

For research and planning I have used google, blogger, YouTube and survey monkey. I used YouTube to look through existing music videos of my favourite artist Taylor Swift. This was part of my research and in order to successfully understand music videos I needed to use this site. I gained creative, unique ideas and got some valuable inspiration. This was vital to making my music video professional and to a high standard. I looked through many of Taylor’s videos as I wanted to see how the star portrayed herself. I wanted to especially focus of the relationship between the characters and which different shot ranges had been used. In relation to my genre I was interested in how Taylor fed back to her pop genre within these videos. I also wanted to look at how my ideas would relate to her past productions.

I used Blogger during every stage of my production. This made it quite simple and easy to complete posts and post them. I was able to post planning and research quickly and easily when using Blogger. During my research I collected evidence such as different pop music videos I presented and reviewed these on my blog. This helped show change and progress within my research. It helped to construct and plan my ancillary tasks and final music video. When I was in the planning stage, I uploaded all my work to Blogger, this ensured that it could be seen by my teacher. I then gained feedback on ways to change and improve my work. When using a blogging site I knew I was able to work online safely and securely. This allowed me to access my work from wherever I went. Also I was ensured that my work was up to date and easily edited.

When it comes to being able to conduct precise research Google was always there to help. An example of me using google is the research I did on different theorists such as Andrew Goodwin to gain more knowledge on his views and theories. Also I was able to look at the development and views other people had on his theories. I have learnt many things from this such as how to find appropriate things and ways to post new posts on my blog. Furthermore, I ensured that I selectively chose which information and which information to not post. I wanted all of my research to be simple and relevant so it was then easier to read for my audience.

Survey Monkey was used to create an online questionnaire which I could send out via email to my audience which they could then easily complete. This software was a great use of my time. It allowed me to collect data and keep it all in one place instead of sifting through lots of pieces of paper. It also increased the differences between responses, this was because people were able to quickly answer using just their phones. This made it much more easier and convenient.

For the evaluation I used google docs, YouTube, Facebook and  Slideshare. I used google docs to easily type up my evaluation questions easily. This was a very easy way to keep all my typed up work in one place. Also I was able to save things very easily. This made it very quick and simple oto access my work when I was out and about.

I used Slideshare to translate my work which I had produced on Microsoft PowerPoint. It gave me an accessible way to upload PowerPoints which I had created on my home computer when I was out and about to the public. It made it much easier to embed my files onto my blog.

Facebook was a great way of gathering audience feedback quickly and effectively. I was able to send all my work out to the public. I made a post and inserted the link of my music video and asked my friends for feedback. It was easier than individually asking people to find the video for themselves. This provided me with quicker responses than if I had waited for people to messge me their views and opinions.