Question 4-Evaluation

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

Blogger

I used Blogger in order to store my research and planning, production of my music video and printwork and for my evaluation and so therefore has acted as something in which I can present all my coursework.

Blogger has been useful because it allows you to upload images easily. It is also useful for keeping all your work in one place as well as allowing you to embed prezis, emaze presentations, vismes, videos etc. It is easy to use and saves your work every so often therefore avoiding loss of work.

However blogger takes ages to upload a video which can only be done one at a time. Also a blog post does not look very creative especially with long blocks of text and it doesn't allow you to express any technological skills however it Is easy to upload presentations created through other sites such as slides via html on blogger. When uploading pictures onto blogger you can't place them wherever you like and you cannot put images side by side which I therefore find as a drawback.

Panosonic HD camera

A panosonic HD camera was used in order to film our music video as well as for filming some audience feedback on our rough cut. I also used this camera in order to take my images for my printwork.

This camera was useful because it allowed  my group to capture good quality shots for our music video and also good quality images for my printwork. The camera could easily be attached to a tripod therefore allowing tracking movements to be used. This therefore shows technological determinism as this technology has allowed society to show creativity as when attached to a tripod it allowed my group to do tracking shots which were very useful and looked professional as the camera was handheld and therefore wasn't shaky. Also due to the updated technology it has led to better quality therefore leaving us with clear and professional looking scenes and images.

However in the music industry they have access to cameras with even better quality cameras then the Panasonic HD camera that we used from college. The professional quality cameras are very expensive but if he had access to these cameras our music video would have looked better such as a Canon EOS M or a Nikon D5200 (DSLR)

Iphone

I used my iphone 5c in order to film the feedback for my pitch, draft of my digipak and print advert and feedback on my final promotional package.

My iphone was useful as it allowed me to take good quality videos. Due to having the youtube app on my phone it meant I could quickly and easily upload these videos onto Youtube. I also have the facebook app on my phone allowing me to get messages through from the group conversation if someone wasn't going to be in as well as allowing me to communicate about clothing and props for our video and arranging days outside of college to film.

The iphone is an example of technological convergence being a phone and a camera as well as containing apps. My iphone has been beneficial as it allowed me to record videos easily and I had my iphone on me all the time meaning it was easy to gain feedback whenever people were available. However I could not upload these videos straight onto blogger without going onto a laptop/computer and I could not access any presentational sites via my iphone. I feel that this new technology hasn't had much of an impact on my promotional package process.

Facebook

I used Facebook in order to communicate with my group, India and Louise throughout the planning process of our music video and the production. Facebook is a social networking site and is therefore a web 2.0 site.

Facebook has been useful as it has allowed me to communicate with my group outside of college to make arrangements for our music video. I used Facebook throughout the coursework as it is easy to use and allows for interactivity with my group. Facebook supports David Gauntletts theory on web 2.0 allowing us to be more creative and share/communicate together. Social media is becoming more popular with society spending a lot of their free time on it and social media was therefore driving the development of our music video due to us using to organise everything . Due to most people having the Facebook app it means we can access it whenever however if you did not have a phone you would have to wait till you can get access to a computer. It is also useful as you know when someone has seen your message and society are very dependent on social media therefore showing technological determinism.

I feel as though I could have achieved more out of Facebook if I had gained some audience feedback by posting my print work for example online or within a group chat with some people who fit my target audience.

Adobe Photoshop

I used Photoshop to create my print work products.

It was useful due to the fact that it allowed me to create professional looking printwork and it was very useful in editing my photos from full colour to black and white as I could also adjust brightness. Photoshop enabled me to edit my photos to a high standard. This technology contains a variety of useful tools however they do require some time to learn how to use them effectively which can be done through watching tutorials. Photoshop allowed me to show creativity in my work so I therefore think that this new technology has allowed me to express that.

However I did find Photoshop difficult to use to start with due to being new to it whereas some people in my media group were familiar with it therefore putting me at a disadvantage so In some ways I found that the new technology hindered my full creativity.

Premiere Pro

I used premiere pro for editing our music video and it allowed my group to edit easily and efficiently.

Premiere pro was useful because its easy to use so therefore as I was new to this program it didn't take me long to work out how to use it. It allows you to slow down clips and cut the size of them. You can add a soundtrack alongside your clips which is why it was useful for editing a music video on.

However it wasn't useful because even after uploading the clips from a camera onto premiere pro you still needed to have a memory stick with the clips on each time you wanted to edit which is quite irritating as each individual member needed to have a copy of all the clips. The quality when editing the music video was very good and professional however after exporting the video the quality was alright but it could have been a lot better.

Slideshare

Prezi

I used slideshare for uploading powerpoint presentations as this was the only way for me to put powerpoints onto blogger. I used powerpoint presentations for time management updates and for my presenting some of my research. Slideshare is useful due to the fact you can upload presentations to be embedded onto blogger however you cannot show any creativity or really create presentations through the site.

I used prezi for presenting my research and feedback. I am very familiar with prezi due to having used it in my as coursework. Prezi is good because it can be embedded straight onto blogger. It also allows you to insert images and youtube videos easily. Prezi also allows work to be presented more creatively and allows blocks of texts to be broken down and illustrated.

Visme

Slides

I used visme for my performers and casting post as well as some other research posts. Visme is a presentational platform which is like slides except it provides a range of fonts. Visme is simple to use and images can be inserted efficiently. Visme allows work to be presented more professionally and interestingly. A drawback however is that youtube videos can't be inserted therefore meaning the link has to be copied into the presentation.

Slides presentation has been used throughout my coursework for presenting research and evaluation. Slides is easy to use and images can be uploaded easily. It has been useful as it has allowed me to use something other than powerpoint presentation. Slides saves the presentations online meaning it can be accessed from anywhere instead of having to save it on a memory stick. However slides doesn't have any variety of fonts and youtube videos can't be uploaded.

Emaze

Powtoon

I used emaze throughout my coursework for presenting. Emaze offers a variety of different themed presentations. It was useful because I could upload images and youtube videos as well as gifs however there was a lack of fonts and colours to choose from but it allowed me to be more creative in presenting my work. Emaze is also free and simple to use.

Powtoon has been used to present my work and you can either choose to present your powtoon as a video or slideshow. Powtoon allows you to be creative in your work especially if you are creating a video as you can include characters and transitions to make the presentation more interesting. It has a range of fonts and colours and images can easily be uploaded. You can also decide how much time you want each aspect placed on the slide to last for.