(GROUP POST) Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Before we started planning and filming our music video we created a blog on 'Blogger' to enable us to continuously update our journey through the making of our music video. We used the blog in our AS course and also in our A2 course. We used the blog to write posts about everything from our choice of music genre, our research and our preferred filming locations. This is a technology which we had previously used in our AS media project so we were well aware on how to use it but this year we became more aware on how to organise our posts so it showed a continuous journey and learnt new skills such as how to embed a video.

Last year we used 'Prezi' for certain posts in our course, such as, target audience research analysis, this year however, we didn't use it. We find 'Prezi' quite difficult to use and prefer to use other technologies such as 'Infogram'. We also created a few powerpoints on Microsoft and uploaded them onto 'Slideshare'.

Youtube was used to conduct our similar product research. We found Youtube very easy to use and very useful as the videos are highly accessible which made the research process quicker for us, meaning we had more time to plan our own music video. Unlike the similar product research in AS, we were able to simply type in the music video we were looking for and it would be there in a matter of seconds, whereas in AS, we had to look on numerous websites to find existing magazine examples. 

The photography and filming part of the task was produced with two LUMIX FZ60 cameras using additional accessories such as tripods. We were already familiar with the cameras and there settings from our AS project so this made the filming part easier but we did have difficulty with the transition from still images to movement but we soon got used to the idea after a few trial takes.

When we produced our risk assessments, call sheets and child permission forms, we used Microsoft Word. We are both very familiar with this programme as we have used it many times before in AS, A2 subjects and wider uses, which made things easier to produce.

This year we used Final Cut Pro X to create our Music Video. At the beginning of this years course, we create a short documentary about sixth form to help us get used to the program. From the first documentary we constructed, we learnt how to upload footage from our cameras and import shots on to the timeline and cut them. We became competent in using transitions and filters on specific shots, which helped us to create a professional looking music video.

Overall we used several technologies to help use create and publish aspects in this year's course. I think without using certain technologies the task would haven proven difficult.