How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
wobbly, which is a structure which allows me to have more control over the camera movement, resulting in higher quality, more professional footage.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Over the A2 media studies course, I used a variety of technologies throughout each stage whilst creating my media products. We began the course by creating a blog via WordPress, which we used as a platform to upload and document all work produced during the course, sectioning each post into the categories research, planning, production, final products and evaluation, allowing me to organise my work and easily navigate around my blog. I felt that this blogging platform was a suitable choice considering that it is a versatile content management system, allowing me to be flexible with my work and involve a range of platforms on my blog, also allowing me to show my creative side, as I was able to play with the layout of the posts. I had previously used Blogger, but found WordPress a better choice as Blogger is primarily used just for writing as isn’t as much of a multimodal platform, also struggling to use this due to its restrictions. On my blog, I chose to create my posts using different platforms, some of which including Prezi, Scribd, Emaze, Soundcloud and Powerpoint. These platforms were primarily used when producing posts during the research and planning stage, as it allowed me to display my research in a more interesting and enticing way, also giving a structure to my work
which allowed me to organise it. Using these platforms was suitable as I could insert pictures or hyperlinks to support the information written regarding the topic of the post. For example, I used Prezi to display my work when creating my post regarding analysis of real music videos, as I was then able to support my points risen with screenshots. This platform enabled me to layout my analysis in an organised way, sectioning each point under different headings, making my work look clean and it also made it easy for the viewer to read it. However, due to the fact that Prezi uses flash, this caused some problems when it came to uploading it onto my blog. Although, I was able to overcome this issue I faced as I was able to insert this document onto my blog by including a screenshot of the Prezi, followed by a hyperlink which then allowed the reader to interact with my blog and open it. I was not faced with this problem when inserting hyperlinks to websites such as YouTube or Vimeo, but when the document was more text based, this issue seemed to occur due to the out dated Flash which WordPress could not work with. Nevertheless, I ensured that the posts inserted on my blog had been created on different platforms to make my work seem more exciting and also to display my creativity and my familiarity with a range of media platforms.
Whilst creating this research in the first stages of the A2 course, I used the internet to conduct my findings and to gather information regarding the topics of the course, one main topic being similar product research which gave me a basic understanding as to what my final products have to look like in order to be successful. After conducting this research and inserting it onto my blog, I undertook the production stages of my music video, digipak and advert. I also documented this process and displayed this on my blog, to show the stages I went through and the progress that was being made. This stage involved the use of more media technologies, mainly involving the use of a camera. I chose to involve the Cannon 550D in the production of these media products due to its professional qualities it possesses, and its ability to be transported to each location I wanted to shoot at. I also used a 50mm prime lens, which meant I was unable to zoom into the subject, but as the lowest aperture of this lens is f/1.8, this enabled me to shoot with a small depth of field. Being familiar with this equipment having used it for photography gave me an idea of how to choose appropriate settings, but I had not used it to produce any video footage before so this was an unexplored area for me. I thought this digital SLR camera was an appropriate choice considering
that it retails at around £400, being an affordable price but it also had the qualities needed to allow me to produce professional footage, whilst also allowing me to play around with the settings depending on the location I was filming in. In this camera I used a 16GB SanDisk Extreme SD Card to store footage and images taken, as this is a large amount of space and is a high quality SD card which would ensure my footage is of a professional standard. The standard settings I selected whilst using this camera was 720p at 50 frames per second rather than 24 at 1080p. It was important to remember to select 50 frames per second as this was advised by media teachers, as then I was able to produce high quality footage that I could edit easily in the post-production stage, being able to slow down my clips and still have smooth footage that isn’t shaky. I was also advised to keep
the ISO as low as possible due to the fact that a higher ISO results in grainier footage, which is not what I wanted. However, the aperture and shutter speed changed depending on each location I was filming in, as if the location was too bright or too dark, I’d have to alter the settings. In the locations that I filmed outside using this camera and these settings, I also used a steady cam to ensure that my footage is steady and isn’t
When it came to my first shoot which was held in the black box studio, I had the choice of using a Sigma 35mm cine prime lens with the Cannon 550D, being of higher quality, costing £375. This lens is more suitable for filming in this location considering that it’s wider and fits more into the frame, having access to a geared focus ring which allows you to control the focus of the lens. This camera and lens was supported by a tripod to keep the camera stable which was then placed on a slider, which enabled me to move the camera whilst filming and still create smooth footage. Another important piece of equipment used for the setup of this shoot are red head lights and smaller lights which I then attached gels to, in order to ensure that my shot was well lit, allowing the quality of the shots to be of high standard. I decided to situate the two redhead lights at the back of the shot, and then the other smaller
lights at the front, close to the protagonist’s face. An issue I faced regarding the lights is that I was unable to use larger, brighter lights at the front as I wouldn’t be able to attach gels to them due to the heat that would radiate from the lights, so I found lighting my shot quite difficult. By choosing a higher ISO than 100 but keeping it under 400 also helped to keep the lighting of the shot professional, but would ensure that the quality of the video is still of high standard and not grainy. Editing is the next process I undertook once I had filmed the appropriate shots. This stage consists of the merging of the clips together, using the programme Adobe Premier Pro due to its creative flexibilities, knowing that professional products have been edited via this software. I thought this would have been an appropriate programme to use as I am aware of iMovie but this isn’t as flexible and professional, not allowing me to produce an as successful music video due to the limitations, and the fact that I did not have access to this programme in school because didn’t use apple products. However, I had practiced using this programme whilst curating other products relating to the exam side of media, so I had a general idea of how to use this, but I also watched tutorials which taught me how to use more complex features of Premier Pro. I didn’t only use this to edit my product, but also to produce videos which showed all my unedited footage in one, after each shoot I had been on. Editing
my music video on Premier Pro allowed me to add certain effects onto my clips which then modified the shots. I inserted each clip onto a separate layer, then cut it down to ensure that I only selected the appropriate parts of it. The main effects that I use during the editing process of these clips were slowing down the speed, using the cutting tool and I also played with warp stabiliser which crops the clips and helps with any shaking, but I found this to not work well which distorted the clip too much. I also had a look at transitional effects, but I wanted each shot to cut in time with the music sharply, so I felt that these fades where unsuitable for the style that I was going for. Once I had put together all the clips for my music video, I then added an adjustment layer and colour graded each clip appropriately. This effect displayed three colour wheels whereby each one controlled either the shadows, highlights or mid tones, allowing me to add a tint of different colours which would determine a specific mood or style that I wanted to reflect in my work. When it came to the production of my digipak and advert, I also used Adobe’s InDesign and Photoshop. I first used Photoshop which is professional image-editing software that I am familiar with, being a frequent user of this as I’m into photography. I inserted the photos I wanted to use for both these products, then created adjustment layers to modify the levels, curves, brightness and also use the spot tool to perfect the skin to make it look like a professional product. For these ancillary tasks, I then looked into finding appropriate fonts online, then conducted a document on InDesign to present those I found, finding which ones that were appropriate. I then used
Nexus Fonts to install these onto my InDesign programme, and add the wording to the products. I selected InDesign to create a digipak as this is a desktop publishing software, typically used to create products such as magazines, posters or books, making it suitable for the creation of this product. I found a digipak template which labelled what each section is for, helping me to layout each side. I then inserted the images which have been edited, and inserted the appropriate text too. Regarding the production of my evlatuation, I have used these programmes to put together media texts for each question, choosing to use a range of platforms in order to show my creative abilities when it comes to the use of different media platforms.