The document discusses the research process for a music video, advertisement, and website on the alternative rock genre. The student used various multimedia tools to enhance their knowledge of media presentation, including PowerPoint for organizing research, YouTube to analyze music videos, Wikipedia for background on bands, Prezi and Voki for creative presentations, Vimeo and Animoto to incorporate multimedia, Paint for image editing, Google for general research, and Blogger for blogging their findings. The student found most tools effective for researching and presenting their work, though some like Voki and Prezi had limitations.

1. Research
The most important part of creating my music video, advertisement
and website was making sure that it would be as close to a
professional product as possible. This meant that the research and
planning was vital to achieve this; as it would allow me to increase
my knowledge of the ‘Alternative Rock’ genre. During this I used as
many multimedia product as possible to enhance my knowledge of
media presentation.

2. PowerPoint Presentations.
I used PowerPoint presentations frequently throughout the
research and planning stage of my coursework.
I first used PowerPoint to present what I had found on
Goodwin's theory. This product enabled me to present all the
research I had found on this particular topic, then present the
information; it allowed me to show my understanding and
knowledge on this particular theory and apply it to the song
‘Monster’.
I then created 5 PowerPoint's about website designs and what
aspects of them related to my ‘Alternative Rock’ genre. I found
this product particularly useful during this piece of research as I
could effectively create a layout, which allowed me to screen
grab website views and comment my thoughts and feelings
around them.

3. How effective was PowerPoint?
PowerPoint presentations were extremely helpful to me. It
allowed me to successfully highlight the important parts of
particular subjects and refer back to important information when
I needed to. For example, my PowerPoint on Goodwin’s theory
was full of the relevant information that I could easily relate to
other music videos.
I then put all my PowerPoint's on to my blog. To do this I used
Slideshare, this website allowed me to upload my
PowerPoint's easily.
I found this product useful as it was convenient and easily
accessible.

4. YouTube
YouTube is a popular website that it used by millions and contains
thousands of videos. This is why I chose this product to find official
videos of songs that related to my genre.
I used YouTube for the first time when analysing music videos for
my genre. When doing this I was able to pause and re-watch the
videos numerous times to note what aspects were important and
inspirational.
I then went on to using this product when analysing music videos
shot by shot. Once again, the videos were easy to pause after each
shot . The timeline bar at the bottom of the video helped me move
easily from one shot to another; I could then easily screen print the
picture crop it and analyse it further on my blog.
YouTube became particularly important when identifying the
conventions of ‘Alternative Rock’ in music videos from specific
bands that linked to my genre; as it enabled me to search for any
song I required.

5. How effective was YouTube?
Due to YouTube being an extremely popular video search
engine, I found this product very helpful. It allowed me to search
for thousands of videos of the ‘Alternative Rock’ genre; which I
could then go on to analyse, either briefly or shot by shot.
However, I did not only find this product useful just for its
popularity, I found the small aspects of YouTube extremely
helpful. The timeline below the video appears when you hover
your curser over it. This was particularly beneficial for me as I
could easily go back to the shot I required. For example, in my
shot by shot analyse, I could pause and analyse shots then
easily go back to a previous shot to compare them both and
how they relate to my genre.
I also found the quality of the videos were to a high standard;
which means I could effortlessly point out aspects that linked to
the conventions of my genre.
Finally, an interesting aspect was the link to other songs that
were relevant to the one I had just played. This allowed me to
find songs that I may have not considered or thought of when
concerning the ‘Alternative Rock’ genre.

6. Wikipedia
The main reason I used Wikipedia was to find bands that linked
to the ‘Alternative Rock’ genre. Once I had found these bands, I
used this product to research key information about them.
The first piece I researched through this product was ‘Alternative
Rock’. I did this as, although knowing a few bands from this
genre, it was hard for me to give a clear definition of what the
genre actually was. Once I had identified this however, I print
screened it and presented it on my blog. This way, the audience
could understand what the ‘Alternative Rock’ genre was about.
After this, I researched into particular bands, such as Biffy Clyro,
by doing this I got key information including his record label. This
was quick and convenient and allowed me to develop and
understand the type of people who were involved in the
‘Alternative Rock’ genre.
After discovering the record label, Wikipedia enabled me to
research key information about the bands and who their record
label was. After I had several record labels to refer back to I was
able to chose which was most appropriate for my ‘Alternative
Rock’ artist.

7. How effective was Wikipedia?
Wikipedia was an effective tool when finding information and
researching particular bands, subjects and labels. The process
was quick and convenient and allowed me to gather numerous
amounts of information on a particular band; which would
influence the style and background for my artist. For example, I
was influenced by Biffy Clyro after researching his life style and
origin.
I also found this site useful as it presented links to related
subjects; which allowed me to jump form information about
‘Alternative Rock’ to Biffy Clyro to his label Beggar Banquet.
The only downfall that Wikipedia had was its reliability, as
anyone and everyone can edit a post about certain subjects.
This meant I had to question whether the information given is
accurate. This then means I then had to back up the information
you have just received by checking whether it is correct on
another site. This is ineffective but the information I had
researched was correct and therefore did not create any
inconvenience .

8. Prezi
Prezi is a presentation website that enabled me to present
important information in a more interesting way.
I first used Prezi to present my information when researching
the logos that ‘Alternative Rock’ bands had used. I chose to
use this particular product as I wanted to emphasis the
pictures and this allowed me to highlight them as they were
the main subject of my research.
Not only did the product present the pictures as the most
important aspect, it also allowed me to analyse them after in a
way that was imaginative.

9. How effective was Prezi?
Prezi was effective as it successfully allowed me to present my
ideas in an inventive form. Rather than creating lengthy essays,
this product enabled me to split the information up into particular
and relevant sections and show it in a way that easy to read and
understand.
However, I found this product slightly ineffective as putting all
the information on to Prezi was slightly over complicated and
time consuming.

10. Voki
I only used Voki once throughout the research
and planning stage. I used this to talk about the
record label; as it allowed me to apply multimedia
to present my information.
How effective was Voki?
Aspects of Voki was effective as it allowed me to
present my information in a varied way. I also felt
that the person I chose to speak reflected the
characters that would be associated to the
‘Alternative Rock’ genre; although this is a small
aspect I found it effective as it gave a sense of
who my target audience was.
Although, I did find Voki was ineffective as once
one Voki had been added to a post, it did not
allow any others to be posted; as it would replace
the original automatically. Unfortunately, I could
not fix this problem and only used the product
once.

11. Vimeo
Vimeo is a sight smaller that YouTube, it has several movie and
TV openings on it, so, that is why I chose this product to have
on my blog when showing my ‘True Blood’ opening.
How effective was Vimeo?
I found Vimeo effective. The site enabled me to get the ‘True
Blood’ opening; which I was unable to find on other sites, such
as YouTube. I also found the opening was of a high quality and
easy to watch. This meant that I could show what my inspiration
was easily and quickly. I also felt that this product was effective
as I could easily share the videos on my blog by using the
embedded code, this was easy to find and worked straight
away.
The only downfall to Vimeo was that it didn’t have music video’s
relating to my genre on. Regrettably, this meant I was unable to
use this again as that was vital.

12. Animoto
During my research and planning I had to chose and highlight the
clothing common in music video’s based around the ‘Alternative
Rock’ genre. Once I had picked all the photo’s that I felt portrayed
the costume used in my genre I uploaded onto the Animoto sight.
This put both ‘Alternative Rock’ music and pictures together and
played them in a slideshow. This enabled me to combine all my
thoughts and ideas about costume together; so I could see and
understand my genre in more depth.
How effective was Animoto?
I found Animoto effective as not only did it present my idea in a
creative form, it combined all my thoughts and ideas; which then
highlighted the important costumes I could refer back to when
making my music video. For example, I referred back to my artist
wearing a suit.
Animoto only allowed me to use a small clip, though. I felt that this
was ineffective as a longer clip would have benefitted me more as
more of my ideas could have been shown.

13. Paint
Paint was only a small part in my planning and research but
very useful. I used Paint to create print screens into JPEG
pictures and crop them to the correct size. Once I had done this
I was then able to add my pictures to my blog.
How effective was Paint?
Despite the fact Paint is only a small product and did not create
any significant changes to my work, I felt it was extremely
effective. Without Paint I would not have been able to add
pictures to my blog quickly. For example, Paint became very
useful during my shot by shot analysis as this required several
print screened shots to justify my thoughts. I also felt that paint
was convenient as it did not require any downloading and is
found on almost all computers and laptops.

14. Google
Google is one of the most popular search engines and I used it
constantly during my research and planning. Google allowed me
to search questions or quires; which then enabled me to get the
vital information I needed to complete my in-depth research into
‘Alternative Rock’.
How effective was Google?
I found using Google very effective. As Google is one of the
leading search engines. Because of this I was able to find and
use information/pictures quickly and without any hassle. Google
also enabled me to check the reliability of my information from
other sources; so I knew that my information was accurate and
dependable.
Altogether, Google was the most informative and educational.

15. Blogger
Blogger was my choice when deciding which blog site I should use
for my A2 Portfolio. The reason I chose Blogger was the security; as
blogger was linked to my Google account, I believed this site was
the most secure to upload my work onto. I had also used this site
during my AS studies. As I already had in-depth knowledge on how
to work Blogger, I felt overall, it was the best site to use.
How effective was Blogger?
Using Blogger throughout this process has been extremely effective.
I found making posts and uploading different information, in several
multimedia forms, was easy and simple to do. I also found that
throughout the process none of my work had been lost and therefore
did not create any unnecessary re-writes.