1. A R A N G E O F P R O G R A M M E S W E R E U S E D I N T H E
C O N S T R U C T I O N O F O U R M U S I C
V I D E O , A N C I L L A R Y T A S K S A N D I N T H E
R E S E A R C H A N D P L A N N I N G B E H I N D E A C H O F
T H E T A S K S . I H A V E E M P L O Y E D D I F F E R E N T
T E C H N O L O G I E S W H E N P R E S E N T I N G M Y
E V A L U A T I O N .
How did you use media
technologies in the
construction, research, planning
and evaluation of stages?

2. RESEARCH
One of the major use of research for videos was YouTube as it
allowed us to access to numerous videos meaning that I could look
generally and specifically at a variety of videos. YouTube also has a
suggestion column that makes it easier to find similar genre’s or
music videos by that particular artist. However there were
limitations to accessing YouTube as at school we were not allowed
to do so on our own user so with the help of the technicians we had
to log on to the YouTube account and carry out our research and
uploads there.
The main website for carrying out research is the search engine
Google which allowed me to look at different styles to
DigiPacks, magazines and adverts of different artists as well as
clothing ect. In addition there were similar limitations to this
research as many sites were blocked however I could access these
sites at home which was overall useful towards the production of the
music video.
In addition magazines such as Rolling Stone and Vibe were useful in
the construction of the digipack and non music magazines helped us
look closely at clothing and make up to create similar conventions in
our music video.

3. To make our music video we used a camera but the recorder
option called Lumix Fz48 instead of borrowing the school’s
camera as we preferred the quality on this camera. We found it
quite easy to use and made use of all the features such as the
black and white filter built into the camera, the change in
contrast to create different tones and moods. We found it easy
to operate and carry around. However, it was quite hard to
convey birds eye view without the use of a tripod. The tripod
helped to keep it steady and when it would have been held for
a long time for example when Niamh walks in Dartford Heath.
MAKING OUR MUSIC
VIDEO

4. EDITING THE FILM
To edit the music video we used Serif Movie Plus maker
which enabled us to cut down the clips, add effects and
insert transitions to give the music video a professional look
however keep a realistic aspect to the video.
Before doing this media A2 coursework I had not used this
programme before and was rather unfamiliar with the way it
worked. However Mr McRae gave us a short tutorial in order
to make it easier for us to use it.
In addition I learnt how to use certain effects and overlap
things with the help of the group and trial and error as it was
quite challenging and time consuming waiting for assistance
or help from the technicians or the teacher.
One if the main problems we experienced with the
programme was trying to rewind things as clip and making it
look effective .

5. CONSTRUCTING
ANCILLARY
TASK
One of the main technological
equipment used to construct
our ancillary task was a
professional camera to carry
out our photo shoots.
We used Lalita’s Lumix fz48 camera, the same camera we used for the video to
produce clear, un-pixelated images. I learnt how to adjust the exposure
time, sensitivity and the flash to get the type of photos we wanted both outside and
indoors.
We also had to separate flash which could be used from different angles along with
the camera flash so that if we wanted to create shadows we had the choice whether
to do so or not.
Furthermore we used two large lamps but mainly used one lamp in the process of
our photo shoots to in/ decrease the light when needed.

6. To make our ancillary task using the photos we took at our photo shoots we
found Adobe Photoshop to be extremely useful and appropriate in
effectively presenting our digi pack.
All the ancillary tasks included some use of Adobe
Photoshop software as we could insert and duplicate
layers then lock them in order to make sure we do not
affect the original copy. We also inserted
texts, icons, barcodes that reflected what we saw in our
research and planning in order to create a similar
conventions.
These are some of the tools we used whilst editing the ancillary
task photo’s. They have been labelled but the main ones we
found useful was the clamp tool and the hand tool to grab and
catch specific shades and colours we were unable to get on the
colour picker.
However the only problem I had was when
we originally forgot to add a layer an edit
on the layer instead of the original.
Thankfully when we realised we were not
far into the editing.

7. PRESENTING AND EVALUATING MY
COURSEWORK
• Blogger is the main program I
used to present my
coursework, other websites have
ben used and involved which I
believe can make my blog more
interesting and more eye-
catching.
• As I used Blogger for my as
coursework I knew the different
features of the program. However
the program recent updated and
initially I found it hard to put
labels on my work as I had to
figure some of the applications
out in order to put the labels on
my work. This became time
consuming however when I
found out how to do it, it became
easier and I was therefore able to
help everyone else with labels.
• Another issue I had was the fact
that I had to upload videos only
through YouTube in order for them
to work so I had to wait to either go
home or use the YouTube account
to upload the videos. However in
AS it was a lot easier to upload but I
was able to overcome it
nonetheless.

8. • Slide share also allowed me to insert PowerPoint presentations but
make them look a bit more classy and put them into posts. These made
the posts look more interesting and easier to compact them rather than
putting pictures which makes it look more professional.
• This website can not be accessed on our school users so we had to use
the YouTube account. I saved these documents on my memory stick and
I decided to use it on the YouTube account.
• Furthermore I decided to use picasion to upload some photos but in an
effective way. As picasion allows me to post multiple photos in one go
which is effective for the layout of my blog as posting many photos
individually can become rather monotonous and boring to look at. The
pictures flick through like a slide show.
• However this was only useful with a few pictures, five for example, as
when I was explaining each picture it became hard t0 go back to explain
them individually if there were more than five. So in order for picasion to
be effective four or five pictures had to be the maximum limit or the
effectiveness of the program.

9. • I mainly used Microsoft Publisher to present during my
research and planning and my evaluation. This program
proved to be extremely useful as I was able to insert and
lay my work out the way I wanted as at times the
Microsoft Word format did not help as much as I would
have liked it to.
• Furthermore for comparing research with the photos I
produced or the film I produced, Microsoft Publisher
helped me compare my research well and use arrows to
show the progression and the final choices I made.
• I also found Paint to be very useful as there were certain
aspects of my planning that I could not show on camera
specifically and therefore had to draw.
• For example, I drew the layout of the bathroom and
Niamh's, room ,our actress, to show the layout of the
lighting and how we would control it so that it would be
effective.
• Despite all the things in the bathroom and Niamh’s room
we removed them and made the scene look as convincing
as possible.

10. • Prezi is the program I used which allowed me to
make presentations but in a brainstorming way. It
also allowed me to jump from one bubble to another
displaying the trail of thought in either my research
or planning which ultimately came down to a final
decision.
• I found this form of technology quite effective as it
can be hard at times to show the thought process in
planning and research. Prezi, however helped me
present my work in a professional way.
• For my evaluation question I decided to use
Glogster to present the feedback I received
to show how it varied from one another and
how effective the video really was.
• In addition Gloster helped me present my
evaluation question as I had to show what I
had learnt from my feedback which was
initially hard as I tried to simply use
YouTube. However Glogster helped as I was
able to upload an image of video and
respond to it with an audio or text.

11. Other technological forms I
used to evaluate
• I used my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone to record my voice
whilst showing images of what I was discussing.
• I decided to write a script of what I wanted to say so that my
voice would be coherent and fluent and to ensure that I did
not ramble on and make the evaluation boring.
• When I attached it to my computer I had already made the
voice note an MP3 which was in my music section and began
my presentation.
• I decided to make the presentation using Moviemaker which
included my voice and publish it through YouTube so that the
words linked with the images just like a video.

12. • For evaluation question number 2 we used the camera
on my phone and we used lalitas Lumix fz48 to record
ourselves collectively evaluating what the work we
did, both the magazine poster and the CD pack to see
the similarities between video and the ancillary.
• In addition we posted the video on YouTube and
Twitter as I have not used my twitter account for
approximately 2 years it was hard to get much
feedback. However I overcame this obstacle by asking
my friend to post it on her twitter as she is currently
quite active and she managed to post it on her Twitter.
• I put the video on my friends Twitter
account and got a few responses that
aided me in response for the
evaluation question.