Evaluation 3: How did you use media technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation stages?

MUSIC VID - Research, Planning, Construction & Evaluation

• RESEARCH

Throughout researching I had to look at other similar artists to ours that were in our chosen genre. A few of these artists were people such as Rita Ora, Katy B, Mz Brat. We looked at their music videos for inspiration for our music video and also to see what the conventions were of our genres music videos. Throughout this process we used sites such as Youtube, also we used the website Vimeo to view previous students work. Examples of videos were R.I.P  for Rita Ora and Broken Record Katy B.

• PLANNING

Throughout planning our group used the Macs to record videos/vlogs where we explained what we were doing to prepare for filming. We also recorded vlogs using the flip cameras. We also used our mobile phones throughout to upload picture of possible locations that we thought of filming in.

• CONSTRUCTION

For the actual making of our video we used high quality cameras to record our music video. This was a vital piece of technology in making our music video as without it there wouldn't be a way of making a professional music video. We filmed all three base tracks on the video camera and also other locations that appeared in the video. For the editing of our footage we used a programme on the Mac computers called Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro was also very important as we did all our editing on this. To edit the video we layered each piece of footage we had and then cut into base tracks. Without this we wouldn't have a professional look to video as there was a lot of parts that needed to be cut out. Also the change of colour from black to white on the rose wouldn't have been possible without editing. When all our base tracks were cut and we had muted the sound from our videos, we then had to sync our video with the song which was played over the footage we took. We often had to use the lock tool to keep parts of our footage in place as if they moved out of place it was not in sync with the song.

• EVALUATION

We also used the flip cameras to record feedback throughout. We recorded people's opinions straight after they came out of the cinema and we also showed people from our class the video and asked them for feedback. The flip cameras were easy to use and are very convenient and they are easy to carry around and operate.

ANCILLARY- Research, Planning, Construction & Evaluation

• RESEARCH

Once again for research we used the internet. I used the search engine google to search for information on similar artists to mine. I started off by researching into the artist that sings our song which is Ellie Goulding, I looked at both her album cover and any adverts promoting her album. I also looked at Rita Ora's album cover and advert for her album.

• PLANNING

When planning the construction for my ancillary work I practiced making a mock up on Photoshop. This was very useful as it helped me to get familiar with the programme before using it for my real album cover and advert. I also looked and different filters and ways of sharping images. I also learnt to keep the font simple so that it was easy to read. Also I used the same font on my artist's name as the font of Karma's name when it appeared in our video. I ended up using a filter on both my album cover and advert.

• CONSTRUCTION

I used Photoshop to make my album cover and advert. I found this quite easy as I had practiced with my mock up and was quite familiar with the programme. I used tools such as the eyedropper tool to make sure I used the same shade of red throughout my ancillary work. I also used the shape tool to make a circle and create the image of a CD disk. I used the quick selection tool to fill in carina's lips to red on my black and white image used inside my album. I thought the contract from the deep red colour to the black and white background worked well, and also emphasised on our synergy with Karma's red lips.

• EVALUATION

For the evaluation of my ancillary work I asked my classmates what they thought of both my album (cover and inside of it) and my advert. I then recorded it using the flip cameras and uploaded them to the blog. Many people gave positive feedback saying that they recognised the synergy used throughout,  a few constructive comments were also made. This was useful as I could make changes and improvements based on what people said about my ancillary work.