Evaluation - Question 4 Plan

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

A fundamental technology I used was Blogger. This allowed each piece of work we completed to be displayed on our blog in post format. The advantages of this site were that it kept our work organised, with each post dated. It also connected me to not only my partner George, but also to my teachers and other groups; I was able to give and receive comments on each post from these people. This feedback was essential to our evaluation and research concerning our audience, therefore it was important for it to be kept safe. Blogger does this, as each comment remains on the blog, minimising the chance of it being lost in the same way as it could be lost in paper form.
Scribd was used in my research and planning stages when posting Microsoft Word documents. The site enabled me to upload my work done in Microsoft Word to the internet, and from there, embed them onto the blog. Examples of my use of this include the Coursework Schedule and Shooting Schedules.
Youtube was my main source of inspiration for music videos. It gave me access to music videos that I could gain inspiration from, and the advantage of this over looking on music channels for videos is that I can revisit the videos whenever I wish. I used it for my analysis of existing music videos in conjuction with the site Tubechop (which enabled me to select small sections of the videos I was analysing, that were useful as evidence for the points I was making.). It was also the site which I used to upload my own videos, such as my Pitch, Animatic, Draft Music Video, and Final Music Video.
My pitch was made using a site called Animoto. This is much like a presentation, however it presents the information in a much more dynamic way. Accompanied with related music to my genre, I was able to use Animoto to convey my pitch in an entertaining, more memorable manner.
Google was the search engine I used to research my inspiration for things such as the bands' costumes and looks. It helped me because I was able to find artists similar to what I thought my band should look like (ie, Andy's resemblance to Eminem). I also used it to find images to help convey my pitch to my peers.
Slideshare was also a site I used. Similar to Scribd, it enabled me to upload Microsoft Powerpoint documents to the internet for use on my blog via embedding. Examples of this can be see in my analysis of digipaks and posters.
My main piece of equipment used was my laptop - it granted me access to the internet at home and at school, without which I wouldn't be able to post my work on the blog. As a portable tool, it was useful as I could take it anywhere and use it when I wished. It was also the computer I edited the music video on.
In addition to this, I had my Blackberry for when my laptop was not at hand. This also connected me to the internet and was able to download/upload things to my blog and see feedback posted on it. It was helpful as it is handheld and linked me to my work at all times. It also connects me to Blackberry Messenger, which was my primary means of communication with George (another user of BBM).
My Blackberry also possessed a Twitter app, with which I was able to maintain our fictitious Twitter feed. This was used to update followers with what the band was up to, thus giving a feel of authenticity to the band.
Our video camera was used to film our footage for the music video. It was simple to use, and filmed onto miniature disks which could be ripped from using a programme on my laptop (bitRipper).
Once the  footage was saved to my laptop, I was able to edit it using the software Sony Vegas Movie Studio. After some practice, I was able to use it efficiently and quickly. Upon completion of the editing, Sony Vegas rendered my music video, making it able to be uploaded to Youtube.
My ancillary products required the use of technologies as well; after research done using Google and Wikipedia, I produced my own digipak and poster. The images were taken using a digital camera, from which they were uploaded to my laptop and school computers via USB cable/memory stick. I then edited the images and produced my digipak and poster using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Due to my experience using this software during the AS course, I was able to quickly apply the skills I had obtained to the task at hand.
As you can see, all my use of technologies have links to other technologies, such is the convergence of software present in the world today. Without this convergence, I would have found the course harder, and work would have taken a lot longer to complete. Due to the importance of technologies, it was vital I became competent in each of them quickly in order to optimise the efficiency of my work on the course.