Evaluation Question 4

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

In this project there was a range of media technologies that I used for the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. The main piece of technology used in this project was iMovie. The reason for using iMovie was because we use iMacs at school for A- Level media and this is the standard editing software than is installed on the iMacs. Overall i enjoyed using iMovie and found it pretty easy to use and felt that it had a lot to offer when it came to editing my footage. However as this is just the standard software it would not be as good as software that could be brought such as final cut however as we did not have access to this we had to use Imovie.

What i liked about Imovie was how simple it was to edit my footage once i had got used to it this was not only just used in the construction of my music video but in other areas such as the planning in which i had to create an animatic of the video before actually creating the real thing. in Imovie it is really easy to select sections of footage and move them around, crop them and add effects too them. I also used i movie last year for AS so i already knew what i was doing which was different from last year as i had to get used to it but by this year i have become familiar with this software.

However on the other hand even though Imovie has a lot of options such as effects, transitions and titles it is not well designed for precision editing and can be very difficult when trying to match the music with clips such as lip syncing in my video as it can not be edited as precisely as i would like. as mentioned this software is easy to use however that is only after using it for a while as at first the unusual interface can often be difficult to get to grips with.

I also used Photoshop in this project when creating my digipak and magazine advert. Photoshop was not installed on the iMacs at school so i had to download the free 30 day trial and use that for my ancillary tasks. When i first downloaded this piece of software i expected it to be very complicated and difficult to use as i had not used it before, however i quickly gathered how to use Photoshop effectively. After i had got to grips with this piece of modern technology i realized why it is such a popular piece of software in the modern day. This was due to the huge variety of options available when using Photoshop. I also used disclabel for my digipack which is a piece of apple software that you have to pay for but again like the majority of software a 30 day free trial is available to download. Disclabel has a preset layout for designs such as a digipak and there were already templates available. It was really easy to use however the only downfall would be the lack of options available in the program itself when it came to editing images.

When actually filming my video I used a canon legria camera which was provided by my school and these are very basic easy to use cameras. Although they are not HD and the quality is not the best these are still good enough cameras to film with and to create my media project. It was a very simple setup on the camera which meant that I could just use it straight away as I didn't have to figure out how to work it and once i had filmed it was also a very easy procedure to upload the footage to the computer by just putting the cameras SD card into the computer.

When planning and researching my project i used features such as Google and YouTube which were the main outlets for my research. This mainly included researching my genre and the subjects within this such as the target audience. YouTube allowed me to watch videos of bands in the same genre as mine such as The Killers, Kings of Leon and the Kaiser Chiefs. This then  helped me to understand the conventions within this genre and helped in the development of my planning.

The use of blogger was also hugely instrumental in all aspects of this project as blogger is used to record everything that i have done in the project and the reasons for this. I used blogger for every step of my project from the early planning and research to the evaluation and this allowed me to keep track of all the work i had done and it was easily accessible. All of my documents associated with this were stored on blogger and were well organised so i could edit documents such as my filming schedule whenever i needed too. Blogger can also be used to embed images and videos into posts which in the early stages allowed me to analyse existing music video and the later stages i could upload my video and the digipak to blogger.

My Magazine Advert

The magazine advert for my album is shown below and shows the same image that is on my CD cover with added information below the image such as the album being out now and some of the songs available on the album. The image and text is also enlarged so that the advert is more appealing and eye catching to the audience. I believe that by using the same image as the CD cover this creates a familiarisation with the advert and the album itself and the audience being able to link these with the band and their music.

Digipak- CD Insert

This post is to show front cover of the CD insert that will go inside the case of the CD. The image below shows the insert and is made up of four images with three being separate images of the three band members whilst performing with the final image being of the band together whilst performing. I decided to use shots from my video so that there was a clear link between the two and it shows the performance element which is a key convention in an indie rock music video.

Digipak- CD Cover

This post will show the front and back CD cover for my digipak as well as the design on the CD itself. I will then be explaining why I chose the design I did. I took these photos with the intention of using them for my digipak and edited them using Photoshop.

The image shown below is the ancillary task part one the front cover of my CD. The image shows the band members as the clear focus with them sitting down. This gives the cover a serious and professional look which links to the seriousness portrayed in the bands music. In contrast to the back cover this is lighter and even though there is still a dark background the image is of a brighter nature with the lighting used for the image however the band members juxtapose this bright background. The font is also clearly shown by putting it on a darker background so that it clearly stands out.

The net image shown below is ancillary task part two the back cover of my CD. This is a basic design however I feel that it is very effective and meets its intended purpose. The band members are clearly shown as the main subject with the lower section of the cover a plain black background. However the top half is lighter and it seems like a light is shining on the band to reveal them. This can also be seen as the moonlight which can be linked to the song 'Midnight Wanderer'. The band members appear more relaxed here which juxtaposes the dark and serious background.

The image below shows the actual CD and the design that will be on the CD. This is a basic design with the black background which makes the writing the focus of the CD and I also added the lines to give the design a slight edge as if it was just the writing on the black background it would be too plain.

The image above shows the actual CD and the design that will be on the CD. This is a basic design with the black background which makes the writing the focus of the CD and I also added the lines to give the design a slight edge as if it was just the writing on the black background it would be too plain.

Album Adverts

This image shows the advert for the Kings of Leon album 'Only By The Night'.The advert contains the same image from the album cover which helps the audience to clearly recognise both the advert and the album cover. Therefore allowing them to link the two together. Above the image the band name is clearly displayed and the use of the white font on a black background  makes this easily visible. The name of the album is also shown as well as the names of some of the more popular singles from the album. This again helps the audience to recognise the album by these singles and helps the audience become aware of the album. The release data of the album is also shown and again the use of a large font makes this stand out to the audience. This also allows the advert to be easily visible from a distance.

This shows the advert for the Killers album 'Day and Age'. This advert again shows the same image that is on the album cover itself. This is a very common feature for album adverts as it allows the audience to clearly recognise the advert and link it to the album. This is shown in this advert and the kings of Leon advert above, however this image is more basic than the one on the kings of Leon album. The album again clearly displays the title of the album and the name of the band which clearly stands out due to the bold font used. The advert also names the main song that is featured on the album, this makes the album recognisable and may encore sales due to the advertisement making it clear that this song is on the album.

The third advert shown is advertising the Kaiser Chiefs album 'Off With Their Heads'. This is a simple yet very effective and professional design which again displays the basic features expected in an an album advert. This gain includes the same image that is on the album cover and is presented on a plain white background. This is a very effective technique as the image clearly stands out when on this background and the title of the band and the album is also clearly displayed. The release date of the album is again displayed and is again shown clearly for the audience to see. There is also a slim banner line down the left hand side of the advert which works well to add colour to the advert. The banner contains what is seen as logos and images of the kaiser chiefs combined with a mood board style.

Rejected Shots

This post will shows some or the shots that I had filmed but decided not to put into my video. I will also briefly explain these shots with the reasons that I rejected them.

The two shots below shows a shot that I rejected of the protagonist walking out of his front door. The reason I rejected this shot is because there was already shots of the protagonist walking out of the door and I had better angles of this so therefore I did not use this particular angle.

The shots that are shown below were also shots that i did not use in my video. I video this type of shot of the feet walking on a range of surfaces and put the best ones into my video. These two shots were not as good quality wise and also due to the height of the camera when compared to the other shots.

Hardware/ Equipment Used

In completing this project I had to use not only a range of software but a variety of Hardware/ Equipment that has greatly helped me along the way. The first example of this is the Apple iMacs that we have access to for our project. This is due to our school having a separate a-level media suite with students who are studying media to have the access to these computers to get the best we can out of our ideas and music video. The iMacs are a very good piece of hardware to use as they are simple yet professional and the software upon these is of fantastic quality.

When filming my music video i used a Canon Legria FS200. These were the cameras that we could borrow from school to film our projects. The camera is of a simple design and is easy to record and upload footage via and sd card. However these cameras are not HD and this is clearly evident in my video as the quality is not of the highest standard. Although it is not HD this is still a good reliable camera to use even if the quality is not amazing there is nothing that can be done to change this on mine or anybody else's video that was filmed with these cameras.

I also used a tripod when filming a number of the shots in my video which helped to add stability and professionalism to my project. This again was borrowed from school as they allowed us access to this equipment to help the progression of our projects.