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

2. During the construction and research, planning and evaluation A newer technology that I did not use in my
stages of my coursework, I used a number of technologies to help AS year was ‘TubeChop’. I did not know
the flow of work. about this technology although after using
The main technology that was involved in all of these processes was it, I felt that it was a great way to show a
Blogger. Blogger allowed me to archive all of my ideas, drafts and point in an existing media text that I was
final products as well as allow feedback to be given from my peers trying to analyse which was very useful
via comments. when showing clips from ‘Factory Girl’.
When researching, I felt that to show my research and present it in Slideshare was another technology I used a
an aesthetically pleasing way was key as I could look and be inspired lot during the research and planning stages
by the research I found. I also believe that by doing this, anybody of my coursework, especially to show a
reading my blog would have the vision I have and understand where series of images or cover artwork. I felt that
I was heading in creative terms. For example, I used Animoto when this way, the covers and images were
presenting my 25 word pitch which also explained the evolution of easier to analyse, which is something I
my solo artist into a band aswell as show imagery from my AS learnt from my AS year and wanted to
project which proved well when pitching my ideas to the class. I also continue with at A2.
used ‘Animoto’ as an almost virtual mood board when discovering During the planning stages, I created an
lost photographs of ‘A Warholian Factory’ and the people involved in animatic using Windows Movie Maker. This
making Andy’s world so famous and desirable.
was a program I was familiar with and felt
that it was a quick and easy way to create my
animatic as it allowed me to upload
numerous sketches of shots with descriptions
and panning markers. The program was
simply laid out which helped me to see the
timing and get used to the track I would be
listening to for the next 6 months or so. By
creating an animatic, it was at first strange to
be sketching shots out and visioning them in
my head beforehand but it seemed to help
visualise the changes I should make before
was a program I was familiar with and felt that it was a quick and easy way to create my
animatic as it allowed me to upload numerous sketches of shots with descriptions and
panning markers. The program was simply laid out which helped me to see the timing and
get used to the track I would be listening to for the next 6 months or so. By creating an
animatic, it was at first strange to be sketching shots out and visioning them in my head
beforehand but it seemed to help visualise the changes I should make before wasting time
re-shooting during the filming stages. This also helped to order the shots during the editing
stages, as I could use this animatic as a guideline and change anything I did not feel worked
A newer technology that I did not use in my AS year was
well.
‘TubeChop’. I did not know about this technology although after
using it, I felt that it was a great way to show a point in an existing During the researching stages, I wanted to embody the feel of a Warhol underground film
media text that I was trying to analyse which was very useful when and the raw hand-held camera he used. So, I thought the best practice would be to create a

3. test shoot, just as he would, with Catherine who would be When editing the shots, I used Adobe Photoshop
playing one of the band members, in order to practice using the CS5.5 which was a program that I have been
camera aswell as editing on the software I had chosen, Adobe using for quite sometime before my A Levels
Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. I found the program quite which gave me an advantage as I could really be
similar to Adobe Photoshop, which I was used to using, as it used experimental. I wanted to re-create a cover for
the same types of tools I was used to, which saved time my album artwork in homage to an image I had
found of Andy Warhol which showed five shots
of Warhol layered up with the transparency
lowered. This proved harder than it looked
although I managed to achieve what I wanted
with a silkscreened effect, multiple layers and
lighting flares.
When it came to the final editing of my music
video, my Windows computer that I was editing
on with Premiere Pro had been infected by a virus so all of my draft footage had been erased
with the added bonus of the Adobe program trials expiring. To fix this dilemma, my good friend
Chloe leant me her MacBook Pro so that I could use iMovie to edit my video on. The
transferring of the files was easy and so was the program once I got used to it. Although I don’t
think the video looks as good as it would if I continued with Premiere Pro, I am still happy with
the results as the program still enabled me to edit the colouring and lighting etc.
When creating and promoting my fictional band, I wanted to use the same types of technology
a real band uses to advertise so I settled on a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a Website
which I created on Wix.com. These all helped the fictional band seem a reality aswell as allow
audience feedback with people following and liking the pages. These technologies also enabled
experimenting with new ones. Premiere Pro was extremely well another place for me to post and tweet my final music video and ancillary tasks.
laid out and I enjoyed using it, as I did with After effects, which I used Scribd to post my final ancillary tasks to my blog as I learnt from my AS year, the program
allowed me to edit the colouring and saturation as well as allows a viewer to zoom in and see the details of the images rather than just posting a JPEG
stabilize some of the shots and add a vintage blur to others. image to blogger. I liked this as I didn’t want the quality of the images to pixilate and seem less
When filming, I used my OLYMPUS PEN E-PL1 which I was used professional.
to shooting with however hadn’t had that much experience with My final music video was uploaded to YouTube which I
the HD video feature. The ‘test shoot’ was a learning curve for also used for my Draft, animatic and Test Shoot. I think
me and this technology however I think that the overall outcome that YouTube is a great technology used in today’s society
wasn’t so bad and I was pleased with the quality of the footage I to promote artists or anything out to the world as a video
got. I also used the camera to take the band promotional shots from YouTube can be embedded again and again to
for the advertisement and album artwork on the studio location. numerous webpages and trend to an audience, creating a
The studio was a very professional environment which I wasn’t fan base and an exhibition of artwork.
used to in all honesty. The owner helped me set up my camera’s Finally, my iPhone made all of the processes slightly easier
aperture and hook it up to the lighting so that my white balance as I could access any site wherever I was aswell as
was set correctly etc. I was on my way and I felt that this added communicate with my band members and show people
technology to my camera gave me some really professional the work I had finished. This also came in handy when
looking results which made the editing processes easier. filming as I could play the track in the
background, allowing lip syncing and dancing to be in time.