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

I began my A2 production by carrying out a variety of research using Google as the main platform. Google’s search engine enabled me to establish the codes and conventions of both music videos and documentaries carry out research based on the target audience, theorists and gain knowledge of the artist that created the audio to my video. 

Whilst analysing a variety of videos and carrying out research I used one of Googles many subsidiaries, YouTube to watch a variation of videos. YouTube is a video sharing website allowing users to upload and view videos and subscribe to one another. I was able to view artist's music videos such as 'Logic' and 'Stromae' to analyse them during pre-production. The majority of content on YouTube is uploaded by individuals, however corporations such as BBC and CBS provide some of their material on YouTube. The content uploaded by corporations or individuals consist of video clips, TV shows, movie trailers, vlogging and audio recordings.

I did the majority of my research on a MacBook Air enabling me to use it anywhere whilst connected to WiFi. This was much more suitable than a PC as the thin lightweight laptops mobility was beneficial. It also consisted of 128GB flash storage allowing me to save the work I did for a long period of time, I also kept all of my work on a spare USB stick to ensure I had a back up if there were complications with the laptop. The only restriction I had with using a MacBook Air is I had to be connected to Wifi to access the internet, if I was located in a place that did not offer WiFi I was restricted to what I was able to do regarding my pre-production research.

 

When deciding on a song to use to create my music video I used the most common streaming services Spotify and Apple Music to listen to a variety of songs. These two services have easy access to music, podcasts and videos on both mobile and computer hardware. Spotify provides a basic featured free membership that includes adverts and limitations of how many songs you can skip, it also requires internet to use the streaming service. However, having a premium membership allowed me to listen to songs without having access to the internet, I was also able to create playlists in order to access the chosen songs quickly. Apple Music works similar to Spotify, however Apple Music doesn't offer a free membership. Both costing £9.99 a month or £4.99 if the member is a student.

 

I uploaded all of my research onto another Google subsidiary, Blogger. This platform enabled me to document the progress of my production from start to finish. Although there were issues with inserting images there were advantages of being able to embed YouTube videos and Prezi presentations. Blogger was easy accessible from both home and sixth form giving me no restrictions based on when I completed the written work.

During the planning part of my production I heavily relied on Microsoft, using excel to construct a production schedule and using word to construct an initial questionnaire and print the lyrics to analyse and for the cast to review and learn. 

 
 

 
I also used Prezi to conduct a final proposal, prezi enables to audience to engage more compared to using Microsoft PowerPoint. Prezi has a variety of effects, fonts and colours that are more advanced. This developed my skills and knowledge regarding media technologies during the process. I also used email during the planning process; this was to contact Parlophone Records Ltd to request permission to use the song ‘Sign On’ by Ratboy for my final production.

 

Within the construction process I began by switching from Apple Mac’s to PCs for a faster and more reliable process. Connected to the PC was an external harddrive due to having issues with storing all of my recorded footage onto the computer alone. The harddrive enabled me to keep all of my footage is one place rather than using several usb sticks.  

 













The footage I recorded was either recorded on an canon powershot sx420 or a iPhone 7 recording 1080p at 30 fps and to contact the cast I used a mobile phone using texts or phone calls.

 
 










I then edited the footage on Adobe Premiere Pro, this was due to gaining a vast amount of knowledge during my AS production, however my skills have continued to develop during A2. 

Before editing and inserting the recorded footage I downloaded my chosen song, edited the song and exported the song as a wave file using Cubase Elements 9, ensuring the master volume was at 0db. I then converted the file to an mp3 online. I also edited my evaluation question voice overs on Cubase Elements 9 following the same process as I did in pre-production.
 

 

After finalising my video using Adobe Premiere Pro I exported the production (what format did i export in?)  and distributed it using YouTube. YouTube users can upload videos up to 15 minutes each in duration. It is said that those who have a positive track record of complying to YouTube's community guidelines may be rewarded with the ability to upload videos up to 12 hours in length as well as live stream. This was not an issue for me as my final product was only 3-4 minutes long and my evaluation visuals were less than 15 minutes long. 

I then used social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to make the target audience aware of my production.

When creating my print artefacts I used Canva, which is a free graphic design tool website. Canva provides both a poster and CD template, however when creating my full digipak design I downloaded each individual design and combined each segment using Adobe Photoshop. Canva allowed me to insert a variety of pictures, layer them and export them. Using a digipak template on Adobe Photoshop allowed me to create a conventional digipak that fits with the requirements. 

Evaluation : What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation : How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation : In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Creative Journey : Progress Report (January)

I filmed my production during November and December and had finished editing and exported my media product at the beginning of January due to strictly sticking to my production schedule and having good communication with the other members involved in the production. I have exported and uploaded my finalised music video onto YouTube via TamworthTV.

Music Video : Rat Boy - Sign On

My final media product : Rat Boy – Sign On

Creative Journey - Progress Report (December)

During December I continued to film my production and began to edit using Adobe Premier Pro. I also created a variety of print artefacts and digipaks and selected one of each to be my final design. I used a variety of platforms to create my designs but eventually decided to use Canva to create all of my prototypes and my final design.