In conducting and creating my music video, digitak and poster I used many different media technologies; both hardware programmes and software programmes. The following will explain about each different media technologies I used, what I used them for and when, and also the positivities and drawbacks with each.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint
This software programme was possibly something that I used the most throughout my planning and research during my A2 media course; this is because it is one of the most simplistic yet helpful pieces of software to help with a lot of my planning. Microsoft PowerPoint is so easy to use due to the fact that everything is actually already prearranged, meaning that, once a new slide has been created, a title box and main text box both appear. Not only this, but PowerPoint was helpful in the way that there were many different options for a slide layout, i.e. title only, text only, so depending on what I wanted to put on each slide, I knew that PowerPoint would have the layout I needed. As well as this, because it is very well laid out, it is more often than not extremely easy to find what I was looking for. One of the drawbacks, however, is also PowerPoint's simplicity. PowerPoint itself has a very little amount of creativity, meaning that it is impossible to create-high standard projects that look very professional. This meant that for more technical things or if I wanted a more complex background etc, I had to use software programmes like Prezi, or Web 2.0 sites like picmonkey.com if I wanted to edit a photo. Another negative aspect of this software programme is the fact that it does not bode well when wanting to add a YouTube video to one of the slides, which I wanted to do a number of times during my planning and research. This held me up quite a bit, particularly due to the fact I was waiting a while for the video to upload.
Prezi
Prezi was yet another software programme that I used, however this software programme is accessed through Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is defined as a collective term for certain applications of the Internet and the World Wide Web, including blogs, wikis, video sharing services and social media websites, for example Facebook and Twitter etc. Personally, I believe that Prezi is a much more creative alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, and, even though it may not live up to PowerPoint's layouts and desings, Prezi is much more interactive when it comes to sharing. Not only is it more interactive, it is also more entertaining for anyone looking through my blog. Prezi also has many more creative ideas for backgrounds too, and, although PowerPoint, as stated before, is much more layout-friendly (as there is only one layout possible to use on Prezi), it definitely doesn't beat Prezi in this aspect. There are however, many drawbacks when it comes to Prezi, the first being, again, something to do with wanting to upload Youtube videos and images. Again, YouTube videos in this software programme take a while to upload, and, although they may not take as much time and hassle as does PowerPoint's uploading process, it still takes a while to upload a short YouTube clip, for example an existing music video etc. Not only this, but images cannot simply be copied and pasted into the webpage; they have to be uploaded one by one, which is yet another drawback of the programme as it meant I could not get on with my work quickly and efficiently (particularly when the internet connection was slow).
iMovie
iMovie was something I used on my MacBook so that I could edit my music video. I used iMovie instead of Final Cut Pro due to the fact that I already had iMovie downloaded onto my MacBook, which meant that I could very easily edit at ay time i.e. I didn't have to wait for an iMac to become free at college, therefore I wasn't waiting around for a long time. This also meant that I was very productive with my work, as I got a lot done in a short amount of time. One reason as to why I really liked working with iMovie was because all of its features were so easy to find and use, meaning that I could get on with editing quickly and I didn't have to worry about not being able to find certain features. This, to me, was really helpful, particularly because I was most definitely a beginner in editing music videos, which meant that the simplicity of iMovie was definitely the right software programme for me to choose. One thing I did find, however, with iMovie, was the fact that there was a limit on what I could do when it came to editing, i.e. iMovie did not have as many of the transitions that Final Cut did, which, originally, I thought would be a problem, as I realised my music video wouldn't look as technical or professional as other, for example. I then, after doing more planning and research, noticed that most older style indie rock music videos are very basic when it comes to things like editing etc, which meant that iMovie was a lot more suitable for the sort of editing I was doing. One negative in my opinion with iMovie is the fact that it is sometimes very slow when it comes to actually uploading certain clips to edit into its editing box, which did hold me up slightly. I did however, realise that this was partially down to the amount of files that I had on my MacBook. I deleted as many unnecessary files that I could, which did speed up the process slightly, but it was still not as quick as I had first anticipated it to be.
Photoshop
Photoshop was yet another software programme that I used in the production and development of my ancillary texts. Photoshop is a very complex piece of editing software for images and screenshots, which meant that my magazine advert and CD case were obviously both made using this programme. One of the main tools that I used for both my ancillary texts was the blur tool. This was down to the fact that, when looking at existing CD cases and magazine adverts, I noticed that much of the time the backgrounds (especially if they were abstract), had been blurred out so that the artist/s really stood out on the poster etc. Using the blur tool meant that I could create a divide between the background of the poster and CD case and the artist himself, linking to the comparison that, although the male artist recognises that he is in that particular location, to him, the only important thing is how he looks to the girl he is trying to get, hence the emphasis on the artist and the blurring on the background. Photoshop was one of my go to editing programmes because it had endless possibilities of things to do to a photo, whether it was blurring parts of it out, as stated above, or wanting to cute a piece of a photo out neatly, using a tool such as the magnetic lasso tool. In my opinion, there was only one negative to Photoshop, and that was the fact that there were an extremely vast amount of buttons that could have been pressed, meaning that, on the odd occasion, I would press the incorrect button and mess up a section of my product.
YouTube
YouTube, for me, was one of the most useful pieces of software that I used during the planning and research process of my advanced portfolio, due to the fact that I wanted to show a number of examples throughout my coursework, as well as using it to research existing music videos. The fact that YouTube has an endless number of videos to research was really helpful for me, as it meant that there was no limit to the genre or style of music video I wanted to research. For example, even if the video was extremely rare, it was possible for me to find it because of YouTube's vast video selection. More often than not, there are several videos that appear for the topic you are searching for, meaning that I was not left with limited search results. The frustrating thing about YouTube, however, is the fact that videos with strong language in them, or videos that are X-rated cannot be reached because of YouTube's standards. This meant that I was unable to find videos relating to some of the theories that I studied, for example videos linking to Laura Mulvey''s Male Gaze theory etc.
DaFont
DaFont was the software programme that I used to choose the fonts for both my advert and my digipak. For me, DaFont was really appropriate for my genre, due to the fact that, after research into the type of fonts used in the indie rock genre (and my analysis of Lana Del Rey's advertisement), I noticed that DaFont actually had very good replicas of the fonts I studied on Lana's poster. This meant that I used a similar font on my ancillary texts that is on existing products, meaning that my products looked more realistic and professional. However, even though there are a number of relevant fonts on DaFont, it is criticised for being too simplistic in terms of font types. Even though, to some, there might be a vast range of fonts on the site, for me, the fonts were far too limited, meaning that I couldn't actually do much research into specific fonts that link with my genre. Another problem I ran into with DaFont was that the site told me that I had to physically download the font to use it in my work, however I overcame this by screenshotting the text that I had written and then adding it to my product. It would have been much easier if DaFont had let the text be saved as an image file, as it then could have been a simple image drop onto my product.
Google/Google Images
Along with things like YouTube, I also used Google and Google Images to help me in my planning and research stages of my portfolio. I used Google itself to find out relevant information upon my chosen genre, for example existing songs, the lyrics to my chosen song etc, and I used Google Images to physically look up and evaluate existing products, and obtain most of the images that I used within my planning and research, to put them into things such as Prezi and Microsoft PowerPoint. This was an advantage for me because it meant that, particularly with things like images, I could very easily copy and paste them into my work, meaning less hassle waiting for them to upload or having to crop a screenshot etc. I found Google Images in particular a really helpful and handy piece of software to use because it was extremely easy to access (apart from the times when the college Macs were not connected to the internet, however I overcame this issue by using my own MacBook), however the only real issue I had with Google Images in particular was that sometimes I found that the college had blocked one of the websites in which the image I wanted to use was published on, meaning that I was unable to use that particular image.
Web 2.0, Safari and Google Chrome
Accessing sites like Blogger and Prezi etc meant that I had to use either Safari or Google Chrome, both of which are software programmes. I do believe, however, that Google Chrome was a better software than Safari, and this was due to the fact that Chrome was a much quicker site to use when it came to things such as brining up search results quickly and efficiently. This efficiency that Chrome portrayed meant that my work benefitted, as I could get on with it much quicker than if and when I used Safari etc. Both Chrome and Safari are connected with Web 2.0, which does cause some issues, the first and main issue being that, to actually use Chrome and Safari, and internet connection is required, meaning that, if there is no connection, this impacts greatly on my work as I cannot physically get any work done that needs an internet connection for it, for example, when I wanted to upload my finished posts to my blog or visit the college's Moodle page to see what I needed to do when it came to my checklist. Not only this, but, particularly on my MacBook, Safari tended to freeze up on me if I had too many tabs open, a problem which I was never able to solve due to the fact that, even when I closed as many tabs as possible, the webpage still froze. I didn't have this problem with Chrome, particularly because it is a more updated version of Safari, which is why, in my opinion, Chrome was a more efficient way of using Web 2.0.
Nikon D3100
This was, quite possibly, one of the most important hardware devices that I used throughout the creation of my product. Instead of using the college's Canon 1200 DSLR for my filming and having to go through the hassle of renting it out every week, I decided that it would be easier to use my own camera, especially because it is of a high quality resolution when it comes to shooting videos. This high quality shooting resolution means that my video and ancillary texts will actually look more aesthetically pleasing for my audience, meaning they will want to watch the video the whole way through, and feel as though both my ancillary texts look professional. This is down to the fact that many prefer watching videos with a better quality resolution, known as high definition - a high definition music video really helped show both the emotion on my character's faces, as well as showing the specific makeup or hairstyle each characters is wearing. The HD really does help when it comes to things standing out. I also found that, with my camera, because I had used the camera many times before and knew all the ins and outs of it, that it was very easy to use, and I could put the macro effect on for when I was filming my close up shots, for example, meaning that my video ended up looking better produced and as if it had been filmed with confidence because I knew my camera well.
SD Card
Another critical piece of hardware that I used throughout my planning and research process was a 32GB SD card, and this was extremely helpful for me because of the size and memory of it. 32GB of storage meant that I could store any shots that I filmed on the card, as well as being able to film for long periods of time - the maximum filming time on my camera was 10 minutes, and because the SD card could deal with a file this big, it meant that I could re film any shots that I needed to without having to stop the recording each and every time. This also meant that I did not have to worry about my SD card not being able to save any filming that I did because the size was too small. I also cut my clips during the editing process, meaning that there was even more space on the SD card if I found that I needed to go out and do more filming. One of the drawbacks, however, was the fact that the SD card was tiny, meaning that it got misplaced easily, however, I overcame this by making sure that I always put it in my pencil case after using it to ensure I didn't lose any of my work.
Memory/USB Stick
Another piece of hardware that I used to store some things on was a USB stick. I found that this was key, particularly during my second year course, as it allowed me to save any work that I did at college onto it, so that I could upload it when I got home. This could have been in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, a word document I was going to type up etc. Again, it was very small, so I made sure that I put it into my pencil case after I was done with it so that I did not lose any critical work.
MacBook
During my foundation portfolio, I did most of my production, planning and research on a PC. During my A2 portfolio, I realised that I was likely to get more professional looking results if I used a MacBook, and I also felt that I would get more confident upon using iMovie before it came to actually editing my product for my final draft. I also felt that using a Mac meant I would have less of the technical issues that came with the PCs, and the fact that I used my own MacBook meant that I didn't have to deal with the issue of other students using my Mac when it came to editing, and the Mac's in my college's Mac Suite were shared, which meant it was almost impossible to get on a Mac and edit without booking one out in advance. Not only this, but, from past experiences with college's Mac's I have noticed that because of all the student's work who use that particular Mac is saved onto it's database, meaning that it slows down the Mac's performance. Using my own meant that I didn't have to deal with this inconvenience, and could get on with my editing in particular quickly and efficiently, making me feel a lot more positive about getting my editing done on time.
Tripod
I used a tripod when filming my actual music video, and, although a lot of my music video was shot by hand so that I could easily pan around my characters, I still decided upon having some still shots, for example, medium close ups of my characters smiling at the camera or flipping their hair etc. The fact that I had used a tripod meant making zooming much more simple when it came to needing to zoom into my character's faces or parts of their body, etc. I already had my own tripod from last year's AS media course, meaning that I used that instead of college's that they were offering; I felt it simpler to use my own instead of booking one out. I did, however, run into a problem when using my tripod on the second day of filming, and this problem was that part of the tripod had chipped off which meant that my filming was delayed a lot (as well not filming at a straight angle), meaning that the weather, after sorting the problem out, had changed, as was not as similar to the first day of filming. To overcome the problem with the chirping, I actually took the tripod back to Argos where I had bought it from, and they swapped it free of charge for one that was not chipped. I found that using my own meant that I could use it when and where I wanted, and, if there were any problems, for example the problem with the chipping, I could get it sorted straight away, without having to wait. I believe that, if I took out a college tripod and there was a problem, it was likely that I would take it back to swap it and find that all the tripods had been taken, hence why I used my own.
Survey Monkey
Survey Monkey was a software that I only used once throughout my planning and research, and that was during the audience feedback research I did after I had shown some people my music video and 2 ancillary texts. Survey Monkey, in a nutshell, collects a set of results of question that you put in, and then displays these results in a graph once all the results have been collected. I had major problems with Survey Monkey, however, as I had many emails stating that I had a number of results from my questionnaire, however, when I went to collect these results, Survey Monkey displayed a warning that no results were present. This meant that, any results I had collected within the space of 3-5 days had disappeared, and, theoretically, I had no results. Because of this, I had to create a paper copy of my questions and hand them round to a selection of boys and girls at college and then get them to, after completing the questionnaire, hand it back into me for me to physically look at the results. I feel that Survey Monkey was a complete waste of time, and I shall not be using at again to collect any results.
Social Media Sites
Finally, I used social media as another piece of software during my planning and research throughout the year. I used it firstly to contact people to see if they felt able to be a part of my music video, and also to get feedback on things I did, for example the first few drafts of my music video and my final ancillary texts. I contacted people through an app called Messenger, which was already downloaded onto my phone, and is connected to Facebook. Although contact through Messenger is fast, I do believe that it is not the most reliable, as, if a message is sent and someone's phone is turned off, that message will not get delivered until the phone is turned on, and they will not get a notification through to say that they have a message, meaning that, although it is quick, it may not be the most reliable form of contact.
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