Q4. HOW DID YOU INTIGRATE TECHNOLOGIES - HARDWARE, SOFTWARE AND ONLINE - IN THIS PROJECT?

By: Muhammad Faraz Malik

Technology is quickly progressing and advancing, which makes it more vital in the world of music, and not just music, it's making a grdeat impact on our lifestyle.

Now everyone is learning the use of technology which later on will be conveinient for everyone to use, like us students. With technology even the simplest of things could be presented in an extraordinary way, while one can be in the solace of his/her home.

And just like that, technology helped a great deal in the creation of my project through the utilization and application of different hardwares, softwares and online platforms.

Introduction

Hardware

Laptop Computers

HP Pavilion/Macbook Pro

My laptops allowed me to use all the different software such as Adobe Premiere & Photoshop were utiized for our editing, as well as different online platforms to create my presentations and blog my journey of research, planning, and production. Moreover, I was able to store all my important documents, pictures, vidoes, music, notes and other work files and had an easy access to them all the time.

After we were done with our shoot, my laptop allowed me to view the clips and photos before editing it. I was able to create a folder on it which contained all the organised, selected footage which was needed for the final music video.Since I had two laptops, one HP pavilion and the other being Macbook it was much easier to organize and plan stuff since we had a lot of work files, my laptops always came in handy. The portability and the lightness allowed me to carry it everywhere easily. Since it had internet access all the time, I was able to work in my free periods, school cafeteria or whenever I was at my home. On top of that, they had a good battery life so I did not have to face many interruptions while doing my work. Along with my laptops, I also occasionally used my desktop computer at home and aswell as in college which were extremely easy to use and contained all of my backup files.

CAMERA

FOR OUR SHOOTING WE USED " SONY A7 II " WHICH IS A FULL FRAME SENSOR CAMERA. THE VIDEO QUALITY WAS HIGH AND FULLY STABILISED. IT HELPED US A LOT IN SHOOTING IN LOW LIGHT ALSO, BECAUSE OF ITS ADVANCED FEATURES.

MOREOVER THIS PROJECT HELPED ME IN LEARNING ALOT  ABOUT THE CAMERA ANGLES, MOVEMENTS, RULES & SETTINGS WHICH IN TURN ENABLED ME TO BECOME MORE SKILLFULL WHILE USING A CAMERA WHICH IS A TRAIT THAT WILL PROVE USEFUL THROUGHOUT MY LIFE FOR BOTH, PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY.

LENSES

THE LENSE WE USED WAS " SONY 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS ". IT HAS LOWER VIGNETTING, DISTORTION, MAKING IT GOOD VALUE. IT WAS PERFECT FOR OUR SHOOT AND IT WAS PRETTY EASY TO HANDLE FOR US AMATEURS. WE ALSO USED " sigma 30mm 1.4 lens " WHICH BASICALLY HELPS SHOOTING IN LOW LIGHT AREAS, AS OUR SHOOT LOCATION WAS INTERNAL ( INSIDE A HOUSE) SO IT WAS PRETTY HELPFUL IN ADJUSTING THE LIGHTINGS.

CRANE

WE USED THE " ZHIYUN TECH CRANE V2 " FOR STABILIZING OUR SHOTS. IT IS A THREE-AXIS HANDHELD GIMBAL STABILIZER OFFERING 360 DEGREE ROTATION ALONG ALL THREE AXES. IT OFFERS BUTTON POWERED CONTINUOUS  ROTATION ALONG THE PAN AXIS AND MANUAL NONSTOP CIRCULAR ROTATION ALONG THE TILT AND ROLL AXES. IT HAS A STEPLESS JOYSTICK AT YOUR FINGER TIPS THAT ALLOWS SWITCHING BETWEEN DIFFERENT MODES. WE ATTACHED OUR CAMERA SECURING IT WITH A SIMPLE THUMBS SCREW  WITHOUT ANY TOOLS, AND FULL STEPUP WAS ACHIEVED WITHIN A MINUTE.

Tripod

We used a tripod to keep our footage steady and to have good and better results. It also helped in shooting our establishing shots and ensuring easy, smooth camera movements. The leg extensions also allowed us to shoot from a variety of angles.

Lights

We used LED lights to shoot for the part where the singer is singing the song. Key and Fill Light were used for shooting. It gave a really nice and dark aesthetic look when the singer sat infront of the light and we took shots from the opposite side. Other than this we used a flashlight from our phones to show the burning pictures.

MOBILE PHONE

My Samsung Galaxy Note 9 proved extremely helpful whenever I wanted to contact my other group members and communicate with my music video cast. It was also used to create notes, put on alarms and reminders as well as to use the Wix, Word, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhattsApp and Chrome app. Furthermore, I used it to take evidence pictures and location pictures, as well as the mock-up. The screenshots of the feedback were also taken from this. I used the Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat applications to ask the audience for feedback on different platforms. Whenever the internet was not working, I used my phone to note down important ideas, reminders and notes. The shopping lists were also made on them so I did not forget what to buy.

Furthermore, I used it to take evidence pictures and location pictures, and record the bts. The screenshots were also taken from my phone. The prop list etc was also made on the notes of my phone. In the part where the photos are burning, we used our phone’s flashlight too.

USB

I used two USBs (both 32 GBs) to help transfer all of our footage and pictures into it so we could easily transfer it to laptops and desktops and work on it whenever the internet was not working or if we forgot our SD cards at home.

Hard Drives

 I also used 2 hard drives (both 2 TBs) to help transfer all of our footage and pictures into it so we could easily transfer it to laptops and desktops and work on it whenever the internet was not working or if we forgot our SD cards at home or if the usbs got corrupted. Also all our research and saved work waswas save in these as backup. The backup files were also stored in this in case our laptop or desktop got damaged.

SD Cards

We all had our own SD cards, as well as some extra. Our cards already had pictures and videos stored in them, therefore, these extra SD cards were kept as a backup if we ran out of storage, rather than deleting our previous clips, we easily used our extra cards to keep recording and shoot as many clips as we could.

BATTERY

We also had extra batteries on our shoot day as we knew we would not get enough time to recharge our battery. This proved useful whenever we had a long day of shooting. However, we also took our camera chargers in case the need for charging arose.

INTERNET ROUTER

My internet router ensured that I had access to internet all the times as I needed access to it throughout the whole year - be it research, planning, production or post-production. This made sure that my time was not wasted.

ZONG 4G DEVICE

Me and 2 of my team members also had a Zong 4G Device which helped us a lot when we were not home, we had access to the internet at all times. Using mobile data consumes a lot of battery so to stay on the safe side we carried our protable devices along.

Earphones/Headphones

This was an extremely vital hardware used throughout the year. During research, analysing and planning, I used it to listen to different music videos so others won't get distracted. During editing, we used it to cancel out background noises as we needed to accurately match the beats to the visuals. Some beats were as short as one second, therefore, these made sure all my cuts and matches were perfect and accurate.

Speakers

We used a portable speaker during our shooting of performance to ensure that the lip-syncing was correct  and accurately matched, other than this we used it so the actress could actually feel the song and act accordingly.

Software

Adobe Premiere Pro

This was the software we used to create and develop our entire music video. We did a lot of research before selecting our video editing software. We  achieved our final project using "Adobe Premiere Pro" mainly because it's one of the best softwares for amateurs and for professionals also. It helped us assemble, cut and edit our shots, just the way wanted them to be without any interruption in our workflow. The navigation and preface were user-friendly, moreover, we watched many tutorials on YouTube to get used to it. We were also able to use different tools such as selection tool (to select the clips and drag them on the timeline), razor tool (to cut and trim), rate stretch tool (to slow or fasten the clips) and we learnt how to use different transitions, effects and insert titles at the beginning and end of the music video. All these helped us in creating a professional looking music video.

Adobe Photoshop

I already had prior knowledge and experience of using this software in another subject, Information Technology, therefore, it was easy for my group and me to construct our Digipak and mood board on this. It aided in editing and manipulating our images for the Digipak as well. I used previously learnt tools such as the move tool, text tool, polygonal tool as well as new tools such as masking a layer and further manipulating pictures using different effects.

Microsoft Word

All our rough drafts, notes and important ideas and posts were written on this. We also stored our written posts as a backup on this in case we accidentally lost our work.

Notes

I used the notes application on my phone to jot down all the equipment I needed to buy so I did not forget it.

Camscanner

We used camscanner to scan the storyboard, we've used it before too so it was'nt really a task for us.

Snipping Tool

This was very helpful in taking screenshots of my inspiration while I was researching and planning. Moreover, it allowed me to take evidence of my work and include them in my posts to act as a proof.

WhatsApp

I used this application to communicate with my group members and cast. We also created different groups to notify about updates, notifications and important information. I could also easily send the evidence of my group members to them through this application. Moreover, our class had a WhatsApp group on it so our Sir could easily update and communicate with us regarding the timing of our classes or if we were facing any problems or wanted to update him regarding our progress.

Google Chrome

This was the main browser I used throughout my Portfolio. I could easily use all online presentation tools as well as open multiple tabs without the danger of all my tabs crashing or closing. It was always stable and steady which ensured that none of my work was lost.

Snapchat

I used Snapchat to be connected with friends and to publicise our surveys and put a caption on them easily. Moreover, I also made ten-second videos through this application.

Instagram

I used this application to research on different artists and bands and see how their star image is highlighted and promoted for the audience. This helped me research and plan for the star image of my own band so they could be strongly portrayed in a competitive market.

Facebook

This application present in my phone enabled me an easy access to facebook, rather than going over to my laptop and logging in every time I wanted to use it. This was easy to use as we only have to log in once  and open it anytime we wanted to. We used it for research purposes and to share our surveys with our friends and families.

Wix

This application present on my phone played an extremely crucial role as I could easily make small posts and changes on my blog through my phone instead of opening my laptop and logging into my account through the web which would've cost me time.  It was free to use and had a plethora of tools and features which proved really beneficial for us as we were students and did not have funds to pay to create a website. At first, it was difficult for me to adjust to the new platform, but soon I became comfortable and managed to create a dynamic and interactive website which had several web pages.

We also used Wix to create our singer's final website.

YouTube

We used YouTube to upload our videos including the final music video. It didn't ruin the quality of our video and got uploaded very swiftly. Along with that, I also used YouTube to research about my genre and look through multiple videos similar to it which allowed me to identify the codes and conventions.

Online

Google

This was the main search engine I used during the time I was doing my research and finding information about various topics. It helped me find accurate and appropriate information that was required within seconds.

G-Mail

I made my Wix account from a G-Mail account. Moreover, I used it to email my group members important notes, information, pictures, music and videos (so the quality of the pictures don't get ruined).

Facebook

I used this to communicate with my group members and inform them of latest updates and information. We also used it to post our music video and receive feedback from the target audience.

Instagram

I used Instagram Browser to communicate with my group members and inform them of latest updates and information. We used it to share our Survey for audience feedback. We also used this browser to post our music video and receive feedback from the target audience.

YouTube

We used YouTube to upload our videos including the final music video. It didn't ruin the quality of our video and got uploaded very swiftly. Along with that, I also used YouTube to research about my genre and look through multiple videos similar to it which allowed me to identify the codes and conventions. This proved beneficial as I knew what to include in our music video and what the audience wanted to see. Moreover, I also drew a few inspiration shots regarding the angles and mise-en-scene from various videos.

Slides

This online platform allowed me to present my work in an interesting and colourful way. Moreover, it made my blog more interactive and visually pleasing. I was able to add as many slides as I wanted and could also easily incorporate audio, text and images.

Canva

This is my favourite online presentation tool as it is extremely simple to use. There are no paid memberships required, so I just had to use the free account to start working on it. I already had prior knowledge of the different tools and features which included several free themes and fonts, so I easily worked on it to create vibrant and entertaining presentations.

Prezi

Emaze

We used emaze this time to create the script as it was easier to create it on emaze to change the colours, designs, effects etc and because i had much experience with this already, other than this I used it for making presentations as well.

Survey Monkey

Our target audience survey was administered on this. All of our questions were included in this survey and at the end of the process, we got organised results in the form of charts and tables which made our work much easier and allowed us to know more about our target market.

Pic Monkey

I used this online tool to create different collages for my blog and presentations.

Scribd

This allowed me to attach several Word Document to my blog without having to write it on a simple, boring text post. I wrote my Shot List on it . This platform made the text shorter and much easier for the readers to read.