So here is my last post as I have now completed the process of making my music video and its ancillary products. I have really enjoyed this A2 year media course and believe that I have learnt a lot from this experience. Hopefully I can put it all into practice again one day.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
In the process of making my music video, the digipack and my advert I used many different types of media technologies both to help me present my ideas, to plan my ideas and to actually make and edit my products. Below are the different types of technologies that I have used within this process.
Scanner/Printer (Pre-Production, Post-Production)
I used a hp scanner and printer for a numerous number of tasks. The scanner was very useful when I needed to upload images from paper to my blog for example other types of digipacks and adverts plus my storyboard and drafts of both the digipack and poster. The printer helped me with audience feedback as I printed of all of my questionnaires to get a response from the public plus the actual ancillary products themselves to analyse how they would look and see what people thought of the products.
Ipad/Video Camera/Nikon D60 (Production)
I used three types of devices in order to film footage and also take pictures along the way. I used a video recorder in order to film most of my footage for my music video as well as using my iPad to do so also. My iPad has a camera which is very good quality and being so small allows me to take it out into busy places without being noticeable unlike the video recorder. I gained experience in using both the video recorder and iPad while filming a short film last year as well as taking images throughout the last year so I felt very comfortable using these devices. The Nikon was used to take professional looking images of my artist for both the digipack and advert. I believe that these three devices were the most important technologies I used because without them I would not have a music video or the ancillary products.
Iphoto (Post-Production)
Iphoto was an import technology as it allowed me to effect my pictures and make them professional looking. I can use some of the tools I have in Imovie in photoshop however I found it much easier and quicker on Imovie both because it is more user friendly and I have experience of using it before.
Photoshop (Post- Production)
I used this software in order to enhance some of my pictures and superimpose some images. Photoshop is a rather advanced software which at times I found difficult to use even after using it in my As course, however I have come to understand a lot more aspects to the programme and are more capable on how to use more powerful tools. It is such a popular software that if I became stuck I could easily search tutorials on the web and on Youtube which helped a lot in this process. It enabled me to change positioning of text and positioning of images on both my digipack and advert as well as allowing me to crop my artist out of one picture using a lasso tool/magic wand and paste this image onto a different background like a brick wall. It did take up quite a bit of my time but I am really pleased with the results and products that came out of using this software.
Imovie (Post-Production)
Imovie was a technology that I needed in order to create the music video. The video above shows the basics on how it allowed me to import all off my video footage and utilise it in order to make my final product.
Blogger is a technology that I used mainly throughout this process of planning, researching and helping me to extend my thoughts as well as getting audience feedback too. I used this software in my AS studies so I had no problem using it again this year to make post, upload images and photos, make labels and the many more features it offers. I enjoyed using blogger and think it was a great use of technology for me in this media experience and allowed me to get some good audience feedback as without it my research would not have been nearly as good or as accurate.
Youtube (Production, Post-Production)
I made a Youtube account which allowed me to upload my music video and
other videos that I made and that I wanted to be able to post on my blog using
the embedded code. Youtube also allowed me to research other music videos and
tutorials showing how to use some of the other softwares that I used like
Imovie and iPhoto.
All of these technologies were essential softwares and tools that I
needed in order to make my music video plus the ancillary products. I believe
that the technology that was most useful had to be both Imovie allowing me to
physically put together my music video and Photoshop which helped me create my
ancillary products. Imovie and Photoshop allowed me to make my products to the
best standards they could be due to the many tools that they offer. I mainly
enjoyed the editing process of my coursework using both of these softwares and
feel I have demonstrated this with the results that I have produced.
The ipad, video recorder and Nikon D60 were the most important pieces
of technology because without them I would not have been able to actually
record video footage or take images for my main products.
I also think Blogger was an important technology that I used simply
because without it I wouldn't be able to present my media course the way I have
done. After completing this process I feel very comfortable using all of the
different types of technology especially photoshop which I have found very
tricky to use in the past. Due to the experience I have got using photoshop I
have become more knowledgeable about the tools that this software offers and
the different range of features that I can now make. All of the different
technologies came in useful at different times from pre production to
production through to post production.
Pre-Prodution (Blogger,Youtube, Scanner/Printer)
Production (Blogger, Ipad/Video Recorder/Nikon D60)
Post Production (Blogger, Imovie, Iphoto, Photoshop, Youtube,
Scanner/Printer)
Here is the final cut of my music video in which I have moved around some scenes as well as adding and deleting shots. I also made some advanced editing on a few scenes for example overlaying two clips and changing the opacity of different scenes.
After editing my adverts for a while, the above are my final two choices. I decided to change the image of the front so that it would cover most of the A4 page but add a little image of the main album at the bottom to show the artists album. I kept the advert in black and white like the album cover to create a type of snergy between the two products and also due to the fact that I think it is high class. Please could you comment below on the advert you prefer. Thank you for your time. I also have posted a tweet to my twitter followers in order to get feedback on which advert they think is more appealing.
Here are images of my final 6 paned digipack and below that is a template just to show the arrangement of how the digipack will actually work. My digipack will be made out of cardboard so there is no need for a spine, if i had a spine within my digipack it would very plain with just the artists name and the album name "Wonderful". The CD will slot underneath the middle inside pane (page 3) instead of having a pane dedicated to itself.
Above is a piece of work I have made on Photoshop which includes all of the actual features that I want and would expect to be covered in an advert. I have included:
An image of the artist
A review
The record label and Itunes logo
What the album incudes (CD/Limited Edition DVD/Download)
A small image of the actual album cover
A black and white colour scheme
Release date
I will now go on to edit the advert more and improve my design and layout of this poster.
Here is the first design of my advert. It shows a completely new image of my artist. I have kept the font the same as the album cover to give the poster and album some type of synergy between the two. Other features that will be included are the date the album was released, a small image showing the album cover, reviews that the album has had, the records labels Angel is with and lastly what is in the album (CD/DVD)
Here is my second design where my picture is the same as the picture of the album cover. It again has the same style writing which will appear on the album cover to create synergy between the two products. At the bottom again it will show that the album is out now, the record labels Angel is with, a review from The Guardian and what is contained in the album (CD/DVD)
