HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE

CONSTRUCTION & RESEARCH, PLANNING & EVALUATION

STAGES?

RESEARCH stageSurvey monkey

Survey Monkey is an online tool which allows you to create questionnaires, and then interpret the responses given into graphs andeasily comparable data. We decided to use closed questions in order to get quantitative data that pointed us in the right direction whenplanning our music video, as well as the ancillary texts. The biggest benefit of this type of survey is that it’s incredibly quick and easy tosend it out to large quantities of target audiences via social media, such as Facebook, or email. The link can also be posted on blogs orwebsites to be accessed that way.

For example;

You can see from the response to this question that 90%of participants said they likes to see a correlation betweenthe lyrics and visuals in a music video, so therefore wetook this on board and ensured there was both literal andinterpretive links between the lyrics of All Star and thenarrative in the music video. Using digital technology wasthe most successful way to gather responses quickly, andin a format where they were instantly comparable.

We also used a DSLR camera, along with a tripod to ensure a steady shot, to conduct some informal,semi-structured interviews, in order to expand on the quantitative data gathered on SurveyMonkey. We then used windows movie maker to edit these clips together to create a structuredseries of questions and answers, again making it easier for us to analyse but also more viewerfriendly for those accessing our blogs.

Abercrombie suggests that ‘part of the pleasure is knowing what the genre rules are’ and that‘audiences derive pleasure from the way in which their expectations are finally realized.’ In thissense YouTube played a key part in the research stages, as this allowed us to access existing mediaproducts (music videos) and analyse them, finding conventions and codes which we then chose touse or challenge.

PLANNING stage

Technology played a huge part in the planning process, as we used Facebook groupchat and iMessage to communicate as a group throughout the whole process. Thisallowed us to bounce ideas off one another outside of limited lesson time, andkeep updating one another with any issues or questions that cropped up along theway. By utilising these group chats it meant that everybody was aware of what wasgoing on at all times, keeping us all in the same boat and spreading the work loadmore fairly.

CONSTRUCTION stagePremiereAdobe Premiere was the programme we used to construct the music video. Having never used it before it took a bit of trial and error but we found it allowed us to manipulate the footage quite extensively and allowed our creativity to show through, creating a sophisticated, none linear video. Video transitions such as cross fades were used to transition more smoothly between opening shots, giving that feeling of passing time and making it softer on the audiences' eyes.

Another feature of this programme we utilised was the ability to layer footage using the different video platforms, meaning two clips could run simultaneously. This meant, by using the cropping and moving tools, we were able to create a split screen effect- a typical convention of music videos. This meant we were in keeping with the genre conventions, as well as creating a more interesting visual experience for viewers.

Photoshop was another media technology utilised within the production process of our promotional package.

We were able to play around with different layers and text tools to create amagazine article that we felt met the conventions of existing music magazines andsold the album clearly. As well as this, features such as levels, contrast, vibrancylevels and the dodge and burn tools in Photoshop came in handy when producingthe cover artwork for the digipak, as we wanted a very pop art/cartoon like style.

As we were conscious of maintaining a house style across all elements of the promotional package, we used a websitenamed ‘dafont.com’ to find an ideal font which matched our theme, and could become a recognisable aspect of thegreatest hits branding. This was then imported into Photoshop using the programme ‘run’, allowing us to place it intoboth the digipak and advert documents.

EVALUATION stageBlogger

One of the most important technological tools I used was blogger.com, as I used this as a space to collate all the informationfrom my advanced portfolio. It’s easily accessible through the internet, and the flip card feature allows you to jump straightto a specific post, rather than having to scroll through the entire blog. It also allowed be to embed videos that I used foranalysis, as well as images, both scanned from a printer and taken from the web. This convergence of technologies meant itactually helped me to organise my work, as well as making it easier for examiners and tutors to access my work and givefeedback.

Slideshare & Powerpoint

This leads on from the point above, as another feature ofblogger is being able to embed power points through asite called Slideshare. This is something I was familiarwith from my foundation portfolio and used thetechnique again as it was so successful. Sometime writingstraight onto a blog post results in a lack of structure andwhole chunks of heavy text. By using Powerpoint, I wasoften able to break down my analysis and ideas intomore manageable sections, and then just place this intomy blog for easy access. Again, his utilises the benefits oftechnological convergence, being able to access anumber of different areas from one platform.