Evaluation Question 4

How did you use new digital technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? (5 marks)

Research and Planning

I have used many different forms of new digital technologies throughout the process of my A2 coursework which all helped and contributed in numerous ways. The new digital technologies used in the research and planning process include:

Research:

• Google – used for general research; e.g. song release dates, etc.
• Wikipedia – used for general research; e.g. history behind certain music videos etc.
• YouGov - helpful for in depth audience & artist research

• YouTube – used to watch existing music videos

Planning:

• Blogger - A place to show my research and progress, helping me identify my next steps
• Facebook Messenger - How I communicated with my actors
• iMessage - How I communicated with my actor
• Excel – How I made my shooting schedule 
• FinalCut Pro - Used to make animatic, which helped me to visualise my storyboard

The research process began by analysing various different types of music video in an attempt to generate ideas for my own music video and also become familiar with different concepts (e.g. star treatment, narrative or concept etc…). I could then gain information about common codes and conventions for different genres. The new digital technology that allowed me to do this research was YouTube. Youtube was perfect for this as virtually any existing music video could be accessed here. YouTube was also used by myself as a platform for my videos which could then be easily and effectively transferred onto my blog using YouTube.

Throughout the process, using research, I managed to generate and finalise an idea for my own music video. Audience research was essential at this stage of my process. Various websites were used to gain this information such as ‘YouGov’. ‘YouGov’ enabled me to gather specific/important information about the audience of Drum and Bass music (our chosen genre) such as their age, gender etc. This research then allowed me to plan our music video around our primary target audiences interests. Additional websites were used in the research process such as Wikipedia and Google. Wikipedia allowed me to gather artist research and Google allowed me to access these different websites.

Blogger played an essential role in the organisation and planning of my production. It allowed me to easily access my work and keep track of my ideas and plans for the future. Blogging allowed me to arrange and organise my plans using a ‘Link List’. Facebook Messenger and iMessage were both new digital technologies that played a large role within communication. They enabled me to effectively keep in touch and inform my actors/actresses and my project partner. More specifically, I was able to create group messages between my actors/actresses which saved time and increased the ease of communication. By communication being effective and easy, it allowed me to efficiently organise and plan the process.

                                       

Final Cut Pro was a new digital technology that enabled me to create my animatic storyboard. Storyboards are commonly made within the planning process of many forms of media (e.g film, music videos etc.) An animatic storyboard is basically a continuous video of still images of a drawn out storyboard. After drawing out our storyboard (traditional method), we then scanned our images allowing them to be inserted onto Final Cut Pro. The animatic helped me visualise our idea and potentially generate more ideas.

(include final cut screenshots)

To conclude, new digital technologies have played a highly helpful and influential role within the research and planning phase of my music video. They have not only enabled me to effectively organise and manage the process, but have also enabled me to gather important research through the use of various websites.

Construction and Exhibition:

In terms of the construction and exhibition of my music video, a numerous amount of new digital technologies were used in the process. These include:

·         DSLR – used to film majority of footage for music video

·         GoPro – used to film sections of footage

·         Final Cut Pro – used within editing process

·         Adobe After Effects – used within editing

·         Photoshop – used to edit photographs for digipak

·         Illustrator – used to form digipak

·         Survey Monkey – used to collect feedback

·         Facebook – used to collect feedback

·         iPhone – used to film audience feedback

The construction process began by deciding which piece of equipment to use to film our music video. For a school project of this size  I would say we were lucky to have the option of equipment to film on. The equipment however is amateur compared to professional level limiting us to what we could produce.  We underwent this decision process by creating some test footage using a DSLR camera and a GoPro camera. By undergoing test footage, it allowed us to seek anomalies before the real filming commenced. This saved us valuable time.  After undergoing test footage, we concluded that both pieces of software included favourable features which led to the decision of using both. The GoPro allowed us to film in 50 frames per second (FPS)as opposed to 25fps. This was beneficial for us because we wanted to include a lot of slow motion shots. 50 fps meant that the footage looked for fluent when moving. The GoPro however doesn’t shoot depth of field which is another appealing factor to us. The DSLR however does shoot depth of field leading us to the decision of using this for certain shots. Both GoPro and DSLR had hugely influential role in the construction of our music video.

The main piece of software used to edit our footage was Final Cut Pro which we were strongly familiar with after using it for our AS film opening. We used Final Cut mainly for cropping and arranging clips into the correct order. It was seen more as a mechanical function as opposed to a creative function. We also used it to match the colour (using ‘balance colour’ tool) of all the clips to add continuity to our clips. Many of our shots were slowed down to half the speed using Final Cut. An important convention found out through the research phase was the pace of editing (beat of song matches pace of editing). Based on this convention, using Final Cut, we could effectively change the length of certain clips to match the beat of the song. Due to us being familiar with the software, this process was quick and simple, saving us on a lot of valuable time. This new digital technology also allowed us to review our footage on a mush larger scale, displaying any obvious anomalies that we wanted to get rid of or re-shoot - it was helpful in this aspect. One example of us scheduling a re-shoot was because of the lighting. By shooting on different days, with different lighting, it impacted on the continuity of our clips resulting in a re-shoot.

 Here is the composition, whereby footage is ordered and cropped to size

One new digital technology that was completely new to me was Adobe After Effects. This was a vital piece of software required within the editing phase of our construction process. A large aspect of our music video involved editing emoji images onto the characters within our production. The key feature we used within this software is 'motion capture'. Motion capture allowed us to track the movement of our characters to the emoji images. Before the editing could commence, PNG images of emojis had to be downloaded off the Web 2.0 through websites. The process of motion capture began by importing the footage that required editing. After doing so, the footage was individually dragged down onto the composition to create a new composition. A 'new null object' was then required which would produce track points. This could be accessed within the layer bar located at the top of the software. This would then give me the option to select 'motion capture' located bottom right. The track points were then placed onto the areas that were required to be tracked. We specifically designed masks with dots drawn on them. The dots were then used as tracking areas for the tracking points to be placed on. Once the tracking points were in the correct place and stayed in the correct place throughout the footage, they could then be 'applied'. An emoji PNG was then imported and dragged into the composition area layered above the footage so it was visible. The emoji image then needed re-sizing using the 'shift' key to downsize in proportion to the original image. Once re-sized, the emoji image could then be parented to the 'null object' using the 'pic whip' tool. The  would then present me with an emoji faced character whereby the emoji moves accordingly to the character. Some shots were significantly harder to do that others and some required an addition feature of a 'tracking matt'. This feature basically allowed the emoji images to disappear and reappear behind objects. Another complex feature was the use of 'scale' which basically judged the distance between the camera lens and the character. It meant that the emoji image would enlarge and downsize accordingly to the distance away from the camera.

 Tracking points the the black dots

Using tracking points, the emoji image was tracked to the dots on the white mask

Another software we used within the construction process was Illustrator. Illustrator was used to construct our DigiPak and our Magazine Advertisement. I have full, in depth, detailed descriptions of the process of creating my DigiPak and Magazine Advertisement (MA, DP, Basic Learning).

In terms of exhibition, I used YouTube and blogger as platforms for viewing my product. For audience feedback I used 'Survey Monkey', Facebook and videoed various people (both primary and secondary target audience) using my iPhone.  The feedback I collected was extremely helpful as it allowed me to consider changes based on the opinions of my primary target audience. Vital and essential changes were made based on the opinions and recommendations of others. Considering other peoples viewpoint is important to consider in many forms of media (music videos, films, television etc...) .

Overall the new digital technologies I have decided to use have helped me greatly through the research, planning, construction and exhibition of my product. They have enabled me to bring my creative and innovative ideas to life and have helped overcome problems and obstacles put forward.

Evaluation: 

 

For my evaluation of my media products the new digital technologies used were as follows:

• SurveyMonkey - Created questionnaires to obtain constructive audience feedback
• YouTube - To display my work
• Blogger - Where I displayed my products, logged all my feedback, and evaluated everything

 For all my evaluation answers I used new digital technologies in some form or another. New digital technologies were proven highly useful and essential in the entire construction of my media products and evaluation.