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

Digital technology refers to hardware, software and online technology. So the camera's, computers, the packeages you used and the prograqms online you have worked with.

Panasonic HC-V500 Video Camera

In the construction of producing my music video, a professional camera was vital. The Panasonic camera that we had chosen had a 50x zoom, which meant we could really take advantage of the different types of camerawork and produce a successful piece of film. The lens was 32.4 mm wide, this meant we could get an accurate shot. When we filmed the 'home video' scene we deliberately used a different camera; Panasonic SDR-515. This camera had a 10x optical zoom, this meant that it could not zoom as far as the Panasonic HC camera. The camera has a 23mm width of lens, this again is a lower lens that the other camera we used, which lead us to get a smaller shot. We used a different camera that had different functions deliberately, as the home video was set a long time ago, the effect we wanted to create was an 'ancient feel'. When uploading the film onto Final Cut Pro, the group was extremely pleased with how the film looked.  We also used a tri-pod with the Panasonic camera, the tri-pod was extremely important as we had to make sure the filming was accurate and looked professional. With the tri-pod I could then vary the shots of film. For example, the shot overlooking the artist on the piano, I took the tri-pod down, so it was small, put the camera on top, then I could get a close overlooking shot of the girl on the piano.

iMac


The iMac was extremely important when researching other videos, the use of safari and especially keeping updated on my blogger. To produce a successful video, I had to analyse many different videos, to recognise their successful conventions. Also on the iMac it has Final Cut Pro, this was where our group completed all of the editing. With this editing site we could cut all the unwanted pieces of film and change the duration of the film to fit into the backing track.  In our video we have tried to convey a 'home video' of two younger girls, with the use of Final Cut Pro, we have added an older date at the bottom left of the screen, this suggests the past. Final Cut Pro also allows you to change the effects of the film, as a common convention of a music video the film isn't a natural light, in our film we have enhanced colour at the start and used black and white nearer the end of the film. 

Nikon Coolpix s3100

We had to use a camera when creating a recce. We used the Nikon Coolpix s3100, which is what the school offered us. This was great for us as the camera has a wide 5x Zoom, which meant when we were taking pictures for our recce's we could get a wide shot, so then we had an idea of the real shot for the video. The camera is also 14.0 Megapixels, this means the camera is at a high quality and allowed me to get high quality shots. The image of locations let the group see whether the location would be ideal for filming. The images that we took were very useful as we could clearly see the shot we wanted to create for film. We could also identify the background of the shot. As we wanted to film in the school hall, we could see from the images that we took that there were a lot of tables, and the actual canteen behind the shot. This meant we had to change the position of the piano to get a clear background, the shot of location was extremely useful. After the recce shots, we felt ready to proceed with filming.

Youtube
Youtube was a reliable source that our group used regularly. In order to create a successful video we had to analyse different music videos to identify their conventions. The track that we use for our music video, is also on Youtube, we had to use the backing track when designing the story board, we could choose the different shots and the narratives direction. This caused a slight problem when completing our video, as we had filmed to the 'Youtube version', we asked the artist to record the actual song so we could a better quality of sound. When we had put the recorded backing track and the film together, we realised that due to filming against the youtube version of the song, the recorded version had a completely different time, this meant we had to completely re film. As time was at the essence we thought about just using the youtube version for the real thing, however we thought we had put a lot of time into preparing the video, we wanted to make sure it looked its best.

Blogger 

Blogger was extremely important in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. When I completed my research, I would always upload the work that I had done to Blogger. Also, Blogger was extremely reliable, I knew that the documents uploaded onto the site would be safe. When evaluating the work that I had done in my blog posts, I would then realise what was the next step for me, it helped me keep organise and on top of things.

Tri-pod
Although the tri-pod isn't actually classed as a media technology, it does contribute towards the camera in making sure the shots looked professional. It prevented me for having the 'shaky' effect, when filming the shots for the video. I could also put the camera at a different angle, to produce different shots, which adds more interest to the shots.

              iPhoto

iPhoto was the site where I edited the photos for my ancillary tasks. iPhoto helped me a lot to make sure the images look professional, and were ready to be advertised. Without the editing site, I would never of been able to change the colour of the images, put them at a different angle nor add text to the image. iPhoto really made me achieve the image I wanted for advertisement and the overall product.