4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Adobe Photoshop Elements This was one of the main technologies I used when it came to constructing my media products. I found this technology changeling at times because some tools I wasn't used to as the software has changed from last year. But many tools I had to use where in the same areas so I found them quite easily. In the past when working on this software it was difficult to use but after gaining knowledge on how to use the tools and functions as I experimented with the software so over time when going through the construction process it became clearer and easier to use. I believe certain parts of my skills have helped me out a lot this year when it came to the making of my ancillary text but then some disadvantages also came in as the software was completely different this year so I had to get used to the technology again which slowed me down and made the final product not look as professional as I would of hoped for. This technology was used through the construction and research and planning stage when it came to the production process. When thinking of constructing my ancillary text I decided to a play with this piece of software so I knew where every thing was for example the different tools provided on the software and the effects I could also use to achieve the best media product. This way I can look at multiple was I can use the software to construct my ancillary text before making my final magazine advert and digipack. I did plenty of research and planning when it came to the Pop convention on the ancillary text so I knew the kind of layout, text, images and style choice they use on their products so I can get my product looking as professional as possible. Once I had got my mock ups of my ancillary text I got some feedback from teachers and students on it which showed how much my research and planning was used in them and could be seen by my peers. I identified the effects that were pointed out by my audience feedback and made sure I used these on my final products. I then used this software to make my final ancillary text that I felt much more comfortable using as I had good experience from the mock up I did before. Overall I found the use of Photoshop very helpful when designing my ancillary texts and quite easy to construct my products by using the tools shown down the side of the software. This technology made it look effective and professional making my image look unique and easy to change to get the right look for the design I wanted. When it came to laying out my designs on the page it was easy to do as I insert the digipack template I had saved onto my documents and made my images to the right size they would fit on the page. I did this by using the bar at the top of the page where I could chose different tools to re-size the pictures or re-shape them to fit to the size of the boxes on the template. I could also add effects to the images by using different editing properties given to me on the tool section in the software which had a wide range. The colours I had chosen for the background of the band worked well with the Pop genre I was doing and fitted in well with the convention which lead to giving extra brightness as this sort of feature is found on many Pop media products that are sold today in the music industry. Therefore the software meet the requirements I needed to use, allowing me to add the conventions in the digipack and also linking to the magazine advert. This technology came in very useful when it came to achieving the standards I wanted to make the ancillary text as the software is quick and allowed me to use tools to create the products. This year I adapted ideas I had seen from other Pop genre albums and took their ideas as inspiration to make my products as successful as possible. My personal skills with this equipment has changed a lot and has made it much easier to work on this software and have made the products look more effective and realistic to the Pop convention. The technology allowed me to give a higher quality of editing photos, adding texts in when needed and images that were necessary in making my ancillary texts. I could use formatting tools and templates to make my products on a whole look more interesting and professional.
Microsoft WordThis is a technology I regularly used throughout the production and research and planning stage of my media work. This came in useful when it came to quite ideas I had or found on the internet that I wanted to extend my research on. Throughout my research and planning I used the word document to write down rough notes that could be taken further to produce more research. I used this mainly on certain research and planning that I needed to get my final media products to the full potential. This is a very easy bit of technology to use and made my research and planning easy to display and organise. This technology is one that I use everyday so I find it easy to use when it comes to the different tools found in the document. An example of a document we created in the research and planning is shown above including search of the style of digipack I want and a variety of fonts I could use on my digipack and which best inspired me. Therefore I used Microsoft word to layout the information I had found for my research and planning and labelled each document with a different name so I knew what I was looking for when it came to looking back on my research. I included text and images in my word documents so I had many different elements to look at that gave me inspiration and ideas on what to do for my final media pieces. The advantages of this software is that it is easy and quick to access and is good at displaying information and images in multiple ways. By saving my work that I had done in Microsoft document it made it easy to put onto my blog through scribd and by coping and pasting information into my blog. This was a useful source when it came to research and planning as it was always available to use as its on every computer in the school and at home where I can make quick notes and present my work at any time. My skills have developed as iv used this technology a lot through my research and planning stages so I am able to use new tools to make a good piece of work. This made it very easy for me to put ideas down and research I had done as I could put it straight onto my blog. Microsoft Publisher I mainly used this technology when I was constructing my ancillary text as it was easy to put images and text onto as I use this software quite a lot so I know what tools to use and know where to find them. I found out that when it came to finding images for my mock up I could find them on the internet and could save them onto this file which made the whole process less time consuming. I started my draft ancillary text on this software as I found the layout easier and could edit my pictures in Photoshop later on as I just wanted to see how it would look before being in Photoshop and on a software where I know how to use. It allowed me to put fonts I wanted to use onto it as well as images and putting them together seeing what I thought work the best for my product. This software made the production process much quicker and easier for the digipack draft as it gave me an idea on what it would look like and the editing I could do when moving it onto Photoshop. Paint This technology came in very handy when it came to cutting down my images and saving them as jepegs. This technology is very straight forward and I used it when it came to constructing the images I wanted to go onto my ancillary texts. I inserted the pictures I had took one at a time into paint and re-sized them to the shape and size I wanted, cutting out any unnecessary faults that shouldn't be in the image to make it look more professional before editing it. The tools on the page are very easy to use and are found at the top of the page allowing me to change colour of the picture if I want and also adding extra colours. When inserting images I had taken onto my blog I had to have the images saved as a jepeg and by using paint it made it easy for me to do this as I had to click on save and change the settings to jepeg that would automatically show on my blog as soon as I clicked on the image I wanted as long as it had been saved as a jepeg. I used it for research and planning for my ancillary text to show the ideas I had through images and also on my construction as I could play with the colour but it was mainly used for my planning and research stages. Adobe Première Elements I used this pacific technology when it came to making my draft music video. I have used a little bit of this technology before but not fully understanding the tools to make a video. It was quite straight forward as the tools were all easy to see and use which are shown down the side of the software. This year round I found the software very slow to use and it friezed a lot when it came to putting my draft together. The tools took time to get used as I was finding the technology challenging to use. I soon realized I had to place each shot into the line up at the bottom of the screen and then change the time limit I wanted for each shot to make it work in time with the lip syncing I saw it as a challenge to use this software and wanted to give it ago but when the software started to go slow on me I decided to swap technology's so I moved onto the mac computers and used the final pro cut which was much quicker to use and much easier to see what I was doing. When constructing my draft I used this software as it was the one I knew how to use and gave average quality shots but when playing it back it froze a lot so I couldn't completely see how well my video was working. It was challenging to get my draft done as the software played up a lot and I didn't have the time for these altercations so I had to think of a plan B which was using the macs as these were more up to date and I was told they worked much quicker and more affectionately. My skills whilst using this technology have developed as I had little experience of the software before I used it this year but by experimenting with clips and playing with the tools it became easier over time but I didn't have much time to get my video done. I struggled to get the draft together and worried about doing my final video on this software so I had to think of a different technology to use to get the best performance for my video which ended up being final cut pro as this was much easier and the software was more up to date making it higher quality video. Window Movie Maker I used this technology when it came to making my animatic video. This software was used in the construction planning and research stages of my products. This technology was a effective way to show my ideas for my music video before even starting to film my video. I storyboarded all my ideas for my music video on sheets of papers and then I took photos of each story board and down loaded them onto the computer. I then added them all onto the software and had a sound track of the song I was going to use for my music video and set my images to the correct time as the frames changed. This was a prototype of my music video and helped me to identify where the timing was off and if it worked effectively with the music I had chosen. If anything didn't look right then I could change my ideas for my final music video to make them work and look more professional. Once I was happy with it I could then final each shot in stages. By presenting my video in this way made me gain skills by using another type of technology to show are ideas at each stage to show what I was trying to achieve with my video. Olympus Digital Camera
When it came to taking pictures for my ancillary text I needed good quality images to put onto my digipack and magazine advert to make it look professional. I decided to use the Olympus digital camera to take my photographs. This was used on my research and planning and also through the production of my products. I took some test shots when I first stared to film just to see what would work well with the ancillary text. I used backgrounds like graffiti and brick walls that showed their different styles which were shown in the music video so I thought it best represented them in their own way, giving me ideas of images to use for my ancillary text and developing on them to get them to look how I want them to look. By doing this I could decide on what was the best outfits for them to wear in my final photographs. I could see which test shots would work best on my ancillary text as they stood out and linked both of my products back to each other which is my main focus. Overall using the digital camera made my images good quality and looked quite professional as well as the band members working well together in the photographs as they are close friends making the image look realistic. This process made it easy and quick for me when it came to uploading the pictures onto my computer and editing the images to the style I wanted. I think the positioning of the band members in the photos and the way they stood made them look more of a girl band and got their personalities across to the audience. My skills when it comes to taking photographs has developed a lot as I know how to catch light and get the best shot to bring out the groups genre. But when it comes to planning in advance it all helps with the finishing product. Last year I thought about positioning of the band and the costume I used and props I could use with the girls I chose but this year it all came a lot easier as I already knew what I wanted from the girls to get the best feel for their style and personalities. Planning ahead gave me the chance to see what images worked best with the positioning and the people I chose to put in them that might work well on my ancillary text making a decision before making my final product with the highest quality images. HP Memory stick This piece of software came in very usefully throughout the three stages of the coursework to ensure all my work was backup just in case anything got lost while doing my work. By using a memory stick it made it much easier to access my work at home or at school as I could carry it around with me. When it came to having to do things out of school like taking photographs and videoing I could then transport all this information onto my memory stick and bring it into school giving me more time allowance when it came to doing my work. In my frees I could do extra bits of work for my ancillary text as I didn't have the software at home so I had to handle my time well and used up all my frees to get certain parts done for the deadlines given to me. This made the whole of the production process much easier as I could access my work at any time at any place which had the right technology for the work I was doing. CD-ROM I used this technology when I had to give in a hard copy of my final music video saved to the office for the hand in deadline. This technology was used in the production section of my music video and I burnt my final music video onto the CD and signed my name on the cover of the disc to be ready for marking. Youtube/Internet explorer Ifound that I used internet explorer/Google a lot through my research and planning stage. Without this technology I wouldn't of been able to develop my ideas any further. I used Google a lot for quires I had on the genre of my band or any information I wasn't quite sure on and extend the ideas I already had by looking at websites of bands I liked a linked to my band also images that inspired me by the colour or texture they had to them. I used these technology's to research and plan each stage with ideas I had came up with for example bands names. costumes, inspiration, Pop conventions and much more information to reach the construction stage of my product. These technology's have developed my skills when it comes to my ideas growing for my production of my product and made researching planning much easier and quicker as I could access information in seconds. Developing my ideas by researching key words and bands I liked made it easy to pick out key points I would want to use for my product and gave me inspiration to make my product a certain way. Without the use of youtube and internet explorer then the background information for my ancillary text and music video would of been minimal and wouldn't of looked as realistic as they do as my intentional ideas wouldn't of expanded. The internet was a big help when it came to developing my ideas because as soon as I had found one bit of key information I was interested in I could them expand my research and look into things in more depth. I could also find inspiration from videos on youtube and make documents on the information I had found that best worked with the products I was making. I had to rely on this particular part of technology due to me using blogger a lot and youtube and Google. Mac Computer/Laptop I found using the mac computer that were provided for me in school made the process of producing my products much easier and quicker. This was a new bit of software the school got this year and I didn't know how to use it at all at the beginning of the year but after a lesson of using the internet and other apps available I caught on quite quick. I could use the mac computers to do my ancillary text and develop my ideas as it had the right software on it for example Photoshop and the internet. It was useful for accessing technology's for example CD-ROM, memory stick and digital camera as these could all be connected to the computer and used with it so I could work at any time. Their were only five mac computers but they were available to me at any time I wanted through the school day and any work I wanted to do at home I could do on my laptop onto my blog. Having a laptop at home allowed me to do a lot of work out of lesson time which made it much easier when I had work that had to be handed in by deadlines as I could do it at home and doing research outside of school preparing me for work that I could do each week. I was a bit limited to the software I could use at home as I didn't have Photoshop or final cut pro but I made enough time in my free lessons to experiment with the technology making it easier to use for my final music video and ancillary text. Blacberry My blackberry came in handy when it came to making dates to meet up with my band members to record my music video. I also set my self tasks to get done in a matter or time so I would have all my work done on the deadlines that were given to me. This improved my organisational skills as I could plan ahead and keep on track to my deadlines and if anything went wrong I could rearrange meetings with the girls and make sure all the work was done on time. This technology came in useful as it kept me working to deadlines and made doing my work much easier as I spread it out over the weeks allowing me not to get to stressed. Final Cut pro This was the technology I used throughout the production of my music video. At the beginning of making my music video I didn't know what to do as I hadn't used this technology before so I had to have the teacher show me how to use the software but it was quite straight forward and after one lesson I knew how to work the whole software. I started editing my shots as soon as I had filmed them by uploading my shots off the video camera by inserting the SD card into a memory stick that connected to the computer through the SUB hole which automatically uploaded all the clips onto the software. I began by editing a single clip by dragging it into the timeline at the bottom of the page where I could play with the tools given to me that cut the clip and changed the timing of each shot. This was pretty easy and the more clips I added made it a bit more difficult to line them all up together by getting the lip syncing right and making sure I had the right clip for the shot. Also the timing had to be right for each clip when they changed so they had to be in the right order and position on the timeline for it to run smoothly. My skills have developed throughout using this technology as I had no knowledge on how to use it at the beginning of making my music video but by experimenting with clips and practising a lot with the tools and software it made it much easier for me to use and also I enjoyed using the technology. When it came to using final cut pro for my final music video I felt confident using it so I played with the editing to get a more professional look for the final video. For example I was going to use lyrics from the song in the video and I found a tool that allowed me to type in the words I wanted to use and cut the timing so it would fit in with the music which made it look very effective. I also played around with different effects on each clip either with the colours or with the actual effect given to the clip but they didn't look professional and didn't go with the sort of music video I was making so I didn't use any of these effects in the end. Without final cut pro I wouldn't of been able to create my music video as this technology helped me a lot throughout the construction of the product. This particular technology was the best piece of equipment in the college and enhanced my work as this technology had the best editing software. This technology allowed me to cut clips to fit into the timeline, edit the brightness and contrast of each clip, alter timings and add clips into the timeline which allowed me to follow my story board as best as I could with a few changes. SD Video camera I used this technology whilst producing my music video to film each shot. I borrowed this camera from the school library and had to sign in and out when using it. I found this device quite easy to use but the quality of the shots weren't to the best standards. The shots I did take looked average in the end and because I wasn't fully aware with the editing on the mac computers I didn't make the shots look better quality. I used this technology a lot throughout the construction of my video and it made filming much easier as I could shoot each shot in order or just tick off the shots I had done and because I had planned the shots in advance it meant I could get straight on with filming by looking at my story board that made the process a lot quicker. My skills developed a lot when using this technology as I had never used it before but it was quite straight forward to use so didn't take me long to get use to the software. I had to think of a range of shots I could do before filming as I didn't want to waste time on shots I wasn't going to use as they didn't look effective or weren't going to fit in with the genre and my final music video. When looking back over the shots I did for my draft I had done the same shots about four times to make sure I got the best quality shot to use in my music video but I realized this just wasted more time and wasn't necessary. This was also an advantage because if one shots didn't work well I could change it for another shot that was better quality but this was very time consuming as I had to go through all the shots to pick out the best ones. As my skills have developed using the camera I feel more confident when using it as throughout the filming process I could identify the shots that didn't work to well but then also see the ones that looked more effective. The camera functions were very handy as I could replay shots to see if they were what I wanted and if not I could delete them straight off the camera, also I could zoom in and out to get better focused shots depending on the angle I wanted. Zooming in and out was very useful as it allowed me to get different shots that worked well in my music video. By using a variety of shots it would make my target audience more interested and make them keep watching. I didn't use the camera to take photographs even though it was useful to have just because I wanted better quality images for my ancillary text. SD card This was another useful piece of technology I used when constructing my product. I used this through the construction of my media video to store all my clips. I found this portable device very handy as I could store them on my laptop at home and also in school so I could look at them and start editing them too. This made the production process much quicker as I could import them instantly on to the computer to view them and decided on which ones to keep as they were the most effective for my music video. This way I could label each shot and put them straight into final cut pro. After putting them onto the computer I also transferred them onto my memory stick so I had them in more than one place just in case they got deleted. Disc wizard This was a useful technology to use when it came to my digipack. I inserted this template that I got given from the website into publisher and Photoshop to use as a simple template for my construction, planning and research stages when making my digipack. This template made sure my digipack would be a reasonable size and look a realistic as possible before continuing to do further development. My digipack was much easier to construct with this template as it gave me a basic lay plan of how each panel would be shown. When constructing my draft digipack I used this template on publisher as I knew the software better and used images of the internet for each panel as these photos inspired me because of the colours and the position the artists were put. This was my research and planning stage making it quite straight forward and simple as I was just looking on how to lay it out and get the best colours for my genre. But when it came to my final digipack I used Photoshop as there were many more tools I could use to make my images look more realistic and professional. The template made the production process of making my digipack much easier and quicker as I could see where I would put my images on each panel and how big they could be. This made the planning easier to see instead of rushing into making my final album and it not looking professional and up to my stands. Slide share This was not a technology I used very often when it came to my media work just because I didn't make many power point presentations. I used this to upload one of my evaluation questions onto my blog as I had been asked to present my questions in different ways and this is one im familiar with and can do quite easily. This made the process of putting the power point onto my blog very easy and quick as I could upload it then use the embed link and copy it straight to my blog. When using this technology you don't need any technical skills as its simple to use as you just upload your work onto the site and then embed it onto the blog. This made my evaluation stage which was constructive very easy as I could layout pictures and text in different ways and put them on separate pages that made it easy to see how the question was answered in the layout I used. Animoto Animoto is a great way to present my work as this technology allows me to show it in a visual context making it more interesting for the examiner when it comes to looking at my evaluation questions. I produced a video for one of the evaluation questions I was told to present and did this by using both images and texts. I like this website as you can add your own music as the backing track whilst information you put up and pictures come up to show a over view of the subject im talking about. This technology is quite easy to use and also very interesting as you can play around with different words and sentences you want to use that a sort and snappy, also images that relate back to these words that make it interesting to watch. This was a easy way of putting one of my evaluation questions together as the format is simple to use. Without the use of this technology then a lot of the ideas I had would of looked dull and boring as they would of been on a normal word document format which can be interesting but this way gives a more appealing presentation to my audience. By adding this technology to my blog it gave me a variation of different technologies I can use to present my work making it more appealing as it produces a video. This made the evaluation stage easier as I could narrow down the ideas I had when doing my research and planning and showing how I used them all as well as the technologies that can in useful when making my media products. I had used this technology last year but my skills have improved as I can use a wider range of images and text and lay it out better to get a more interesting finishing look. It only allows you to used brief notes and text which is useful and clever as this means your not boring the viewer and works well by showing images. When it came to my evaluation stage I thought it was very helpful piece of technology as I could present my ideas in more of creative and fun way. I thought this technology was appropriate as I had a lot to say and by using short notes and images it explained it quite well. Prezi I used prezi when it came to my evaluation stage as it is a good bit of technology to use when constructing a question together. The software is very easy to use and I learnt I could do many things with it to make the layout look interesting and exciting by including images text and also videos. This technology is very interesting and visual like animoto and slide share as it can display information in a variety of ways, depending on how I want it to look to my viewers. I feel my skills from last year have increased as I knew were the tools were and knew how to add images and text on to the page and make it look interesting to the viewer. The main feature of this software is that after putting all your information onto it and images you can label them in a order and this is were the text will be zoomed in on and will move on through out the page until it gets to the end. This makes it easy for the viewer to read through the information as its put in order for them and all they have to do is click the button and it'll move them on. This software was more creative and fun to work on as it gave me a variety of tools to make my information look interesting, unlike just posting on my blog. I enjoyed working on prezi as it was easy to present my ideas and was less time consuming to use when it came to constructing my evaluation question. Scribd I used this technology a lot last year and when it came to using it this year for my evaluation stage it was very easy and simple to use. When constructing my evaluation question together I used Microsoft word document which is easy to use allowing me to put images and information on to a page. When it came to putting this all onto my blog so the examiner can see I found it easy to upload this document onto scribd and embedding the file onto my blog which was mainly used for my evaluation stage where I put all my research and planning into one area to show on my blog. It is a quick process to do as embedding it onto my blog didn't take any longer than a few minutes where my work could be shown. Blogger I used this a lot through my planning and research as this is where I showed all the information I had found that would help me get the media product I wanted as my teachers could see it as well as my class mates who could comment on my posts which gave me more ideas for my ancillary text and music video. It helped me work through each stage of my coursework to get the best outcome in the end. This is where I showed all my ideas, work and progress I had made from the beginning of my planning and research to the end. This technology was very useful when it came to my research and planning as I could embed different technologies onto the blog that included power point, word documents, animoto videos, links from websites and prezi presentations. I thought this was a effective way to show my work as I could explain what each stage was about and where I wanted to go with it all, including changes I made and the developing I did on certain research and planning that worked well with my media product. The blog came in handy when I got stuck and needed inspiration too as I could look at recent years work before me and my other class students work and see what they were doing. From last year my skills have improved with this technology as I made my blog look more interesting and stand out to get peoples attention making them want to read through my blog. I kept my blog neat by labelling each post I made with headings that are found down the right hand side of the page which made it easy when I wanted to look back through my ideas. I used skills I hadn't used last year for example the gadgets that could be used to make the blog look more interesting and exciting like the labelling of my work, showing the people I am following, having the dates when I put my work onto my blog allowing me to see each post iv made and when, also adding links so its easy to see where I got my inspiration from. Some of these gadgets made the research, planning and production stages much easier as I could plan ahead and could look back on old posts and see my strengths and weakness's that I had done through my work which gave me key information that could push my work a step forward. For example the labelling made it easy for me to see what work I had done and the sections I could improve on to make my media product as good as possible. Over all this piece of technology was very useful and allowed me to see my work all together making my ideas look effective in a visual way through every stage, including research, planning and construction of my products. Twitter This a social network site I used for my band to get their views and opinions across as well as latest news about them. By using this technology I could follow other bands that were in the same genre as The Lazer Lights to get up dates on what they were doing and also get inspiration from their site, to help me with more ideas for my band and tweet similar things to fit into their category. This helped me get feedback through each stage of my planning and research and allowed me to keep people up to date with what the band were doing and the progress I had made on my coursework. Email I used the school email system when I got stuck on certain parts of the tasks given to me, through the research and planning and also the making of my ancillary text and music video. This software made it easy and quick to send messages to my teachers when I had a query to ask them and they could send me resources and information back without me having to go and see them which would take up time as id have to find them. Email helped me through the research and planning stages as I could ask for recourse that would be used for certain parts of my research. I asked for help when I got stuck on the animatic video that needed to be on my blog by a certain time and I couldn't get it on, but the teachers told me not to worry and in the next lesson they would help me with this problem, allowing me to get on with other work. Also the teachers could email me with websites and blog's that they thought I would find useful when it came to my media product. Overall without these technology's being at hand it would of been impossible to construct the work I have done. Throughout my research, planning, construction and also the evaluation all these technology's came in use for similar reason but some were more suitable for different areas of my production process. By using these technology's I have been able to produce a digipack, magazine advert and music video, produce research and planning to help me construct these products and also create the evaluation questions. I feel my skills have developed throughout the use of each of these technology's this year and also challenged me from the skills I had last year.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Adobe Photoshop Elements This was one of the main technologies I used when it came to constructing my media products. I found this technology changeling at times because some tools I wasn't used to as the software has changed from last year. But many tools I had to use where in the same areas so I found them quite easily. In the past when working on this software it was difficult to use but after gaining knowledge on how to use the tools and functions as I experimented with the software so over time when going through the construction process it became clearer and easier to use. I believe certain parts of my skills have helped me out a lot this year when it came to the making of my ancillary text but then some disadvantages also came in as the software was completely different this year so I had to get used to the technology again which slowed me down and made the final product not look as professional as I would of hoped for. This technology was used through the construction and research and planning stage when it came to the production process. When thinking of constructing my ancillary text I decided to a play with this piece of software so I knew where every thing was for example the different tools provided on the software and the effects I could also use to achieve the best media product. This way I can look at multiple was I can use the software to construct my ancillary text before making my final magazine advert and digipack. I did plenty of research and planning when it came to the Pop convention on the ancillary text so I knew the kind of layout, text, images and style choice they use on their products so I can get my product looking as professional as possible. Once I had got my mock ups of my ancillary text I got some feedback from teachers and students on it which showed how much my research and planning was used in them and could be seen by my peers. I identified the effects that were pointed out by my audience feedback and made sure I used these on my final products. I then used this software to make my final ancillary text that I felt much more comfortable using as I had good experience from the mock up I did before. Overall I found the use of Photoshop very helpful when designing my ancillary texts and quite easy to construct my products by using the tools shown down the side of the software. This technology made it look effective and professional making my image look unique and easy to change to get the right look for the design I wanted. When it came to laying out my designs on the page it was easy to do as I insert the digipack template I had saved onto my documents and made my images to the right size they would fit on the page. I did this by using the bar at the top of the page where I could chose different tools to re-size the pictures or re-shape them to fit to the size of the boxes on the template. I could also add effects to the images by using different editing properties given to me on the tool section in the software which had a wide range. The colours I had chosen for the background of the band worked well with the Pop genre I was doing and fitted in well with the convention which lead to giving extra brightness as this sort of feature is found on many Pop media products that are sold today in the music industry. Therefore the software meet the requirements I needed to use, allowing me to add the conventions in the digipack and also linking to the magazine advert. This technology came in very useful when it came to achieving the standards I wanted to make the ancillary text as the software is quick and allowed me to use tools to create the products. This year I adapted ideas I had seen from other Pop genre albums and took their ideas as inspiration to make my products as successful as possible. My personal skills with this equipment has changed a lot and has made it much easier to work on this software and have made the products look more effective and realistic to the Pop convention. The technology allowed me to give a higher quality of editing photos, adding texts in when needed and images that were necessary in making my ancillary texts. I could use formatting tools and templates to make my products on a whole look more interesting and professional. Microsoft Word This is a technology I regularly used throughout the production and research and planning stage of my media work. This came in useful when it came to quite ideas I had or found on the internet that I wanted to extend my research on. Throughout my research and planning I used the word document to write down rough notes that could be taken further to produce more research. I used this mainly on certain research and planning that I needed to get my final media products to the full potential. This is a very easy bit of technology to use and made my research and planning easy to display and organise. This technology is one that I use everyday so I find it easy to use when it comes to the different tools found in the document. An example of a document we created in the research and planning is shown above including search of the style of digipack I want and a variety of fonts I could use on my digipack and which best inspired me. Therefore I used Microsoft word to layout the information I had found for my research and planning and labelled each document with a different name so I knew what I was looking for when it came to looking back on my research. I included text and images in my word documents so I had many different elements to look at that gave me inspiration and ideas on what to do for my final media pieces. The advantages of this software is that it is easy and quick to access and is good at displaying information and images in multiple ways. By saving my work that I had done in Microsoft document it made it easy to put onto my blog through scribd and by coping and pasting information into my blog. This was a useful source when it came to research and planning as it was always available to use as its on every computer in the school and at home where I can make quick notes and present my work at any time. My skills have developed as iv used this technology a lot through my research and planning stages so I am able to use new tools to make a good piece of work. This made it very easy for me to put ideas down and research I had done as I could put it straight onto my blog. Microsoft Publisher I mainly used this technology when I was constructing my ancillary text as it was easy to put images and text onto as I use this software quite a lot so I know what tools to use and know where to find them. I found out that when it came to finding images for my mock up I could find them on the internet and could save them onto this file which made the whole process less time consuming. I started my draft ancillary text on this software as I found the layout easier and could edit my pictures in Photoshop later on as I just wanted to see how it would look before being in Photoshop and on a software where I know how to use. It allowed me to put fonts I wanted to use onto it as well as images and putting them together seeing what I thought work the best for my product. This software made the production process much quicker and easier for the digipack draft as it gave me an idea on what it would look like and the editing I could do when moving it onto Photoshop. Paint This technology came in very handy when it came to cutting down my images and saving them as jepegs. This technology is very straight forward and I used it when it came to constructing the images I wanted to go onto my ancillary texts. I inserted the pictures I had took one at a time into paint and re-sized them to the shape and size I wanted, cutting out any unnecessary faults that shouldn't be in the image to make it look more professional before editing it. The tools on the page are very easy to use and are found at the top of the page allowing me to change colour of the picture if I want and also adding extra colours. When inserting images I had taken onto my blog I had to have the images saved as a jepeg and by using paint it made it easy for me to do this as I had to click on save and change the settings to jepeg that would automatically show on my blog as soon as I clicked on the image I wanted as long as it had been saved as a jepeg. I used it for research and planning for my ancillary text to show the ideas I had through images and also on my construction as I could play with the colour but it was mainly used for my planning and research stages. Adobe Première Elements I used this pacific technology when it came to making my draft music video. I have used a little bit of this technology before but not fully understanding the tools to make a video. It was quite straight forward as the tools were all easy to see and use which are shown down the side of the software. This year round I found the software very slow to use and it friezed a lot when it came to putting my draft together. The tools took time to get used as I was finding the technology challenging to use. I soon realized I had to place each shot into the line up at the bottom of the screen and then change the time limit I wanted for each shot to make it work in time with the lip syncing I saw it as a challenge to use this software and wanted to give it ago but when the software started to go slow on me I decided to swap technology's so I moved onto the mac computers and used the final pro cut which was much quicker to use and much easier to see what I was doing. When constructing my draft I used this software as it was the one I knew how to use and gave average quality shots but when playing it back it froze a lot so I couldn't completely see how well my video was working. It was challenging to get my draft done as the software played up a lot and I didn't have the time for these altercations so I had to think of a plan B which was using the macs as these were more up to date and I was told they worked much quicker and more affectionately. My skills whilst using this technology have developed as I had little experience of the software before I used it this year but by experimenting with clips and playing with the tools it became easier over time but I didn't have much time to get my video done. I struggled to get the draft together and worried about doing my final video on this software so I had to think of a different technology to use to get the best performance for my video which ended up being final cut pro as this was much easier and the software was more up to date making it higher quality video. Window Movie Maker I used this technology when it came to making my animatic video. This software was used in the construction planning and research stages of my products. This technology was a effective way to show my ideas for my music video before even starting to film my video. I storyboarded all my ideas for my music video on sheets of papers and then I took photos of each story board and down loaded them onto the computer. I then added them all onto the software and had a sound track of the song I was going to use for my music video and set my images to the correct time as the frames changed. This was a prototype of my music video and helped me to identify where the timing was off and if it worked effectively with the music I had chosen. If anything didn't look right then I could change my ideas for my final music video to make them work and look more professional. Once I was happy with it I could then final each shot in stages. By presenting my video in this way made me gain skills by using another type of technology to show are ideas at each stage to show what I was trying to achieve with my video. Olympus Digital Camera When it came to taking pictures for my ancillary text I needed good quality images to put onto my digipack and magazine advert to make it look professional. I decided to use the Olympus digital camera to take my photographs. This was used on my research and planning and also through the production of my products. I took some test shots when I first stared to film just to see what would work well with the ancillary text. I used backgrounds like graffiti and brick walls that showed their different styles which were shown in the music video so I thought it best represented them in their own way, giving me ideas of images to use for my ancillary text and developing on them to get them to look how I want them to look. By doing this I could decide on what was the best outfits for them to wear in my final photographs. I could see which test shots would work best on my ancillary text as they stood out and linked both of my products back to each other which is my main focus. Overall using the digital camera made my images good quality and looked quite professional as well as the band members working well together in the photographs as they are close friends making the image look realistic. This process made it easy and quick for me when it came to uploading the pictures onto my computer and editing the images to the style I wanted. I think the positioning of the band members in the photos and the way they stood made them look more of a girl band and got their personalities across to the audience. My skills when it comes to taking photographs has developed a lot as I know how to catch light and get the best shot to bring out the groups genre. But when it comes to planning in advance it all helps with the finishing product. Last year I thought about positioning of the band and the costume I used and props I could use with the girls I chose but this year it all came a lot easier as I already knew what I wanted from the girls to get the best feel for their style and personalities. Planning ahead gave me the chance to see what images worked best with the positioning and the people I chose to put in them that might work well on my ancillary text making a decision before making my final product with the highest quality images. HP Memory stick This piece of software came in very usefully throughout the three stages of the coursework to ensure all my work was backup just in case anything got lost while doing my work. By using a memory stick it made it much easier to access my work at home or at school as I could carry it around with me. When it came to having to do things out of school like taking photographs and videoing I could then transport all this information onto my memory stick and bring it into school giving me more time allowance when it came to doing my work. In my frees I could do extra bits of work for my ancillary text as I didn't have the software at home so I had to handle my time well and used up all my frees to get certain parts done for the deadlines given to me. This made the whole of the production process much easier as I could access my work at any time at any place which had the right technology for the work I was doing. CD-ROM I used this technology when I had to give in a hard copy of my final music video saved to the office for the hand in deadline. This technology was used in the production section of my music video and I burnt my final music video onto the CD and signed my name on the cover of the disc to be ready for marking. Youtube/Internet explorer Ifound that I used internet explorer/Google a lot through my research and planning stage. Without this technology I wouldn't of been able to develop my ideas any further. I used Google a lot for quires I had on the genre of my band or any information I wasn't quite sure on and extend the ideas I already had by looking at websites of bands I liked a linked to my band also images that inspired me by the colour or texture they had to them. I used these technology's to research and plan each stage with ideas I had came up with for example bands names. costumes, inspiration, Pop conventions and much more information to reach the construction stage of my product. These technology's have developed my skills when it comes to my ideas growing for my production of my product and made researching planning much easier and quicker as I could access information in seconds. Developing my ideas by researching key words and bands I liked made it easy to pick out key points I would want to use for my product and gave me inspiration to make my product a certain way. Without the use of youtube and internet explorer then the background information for my ancillary text and music video would of been minimal and wouldn't of looked as realistic as they do as my intentional ideas wouldn't of expanded. The internet was a big help when it came to developing my ideas because as soon as I had found one bit of key information I was interested in I could them expand my research and look into things in more depth. I could also find inspiration from videos on youtube and make documents on the information I had found that best worked with the products I was making. I had to rely on this particular part of technology due to me using blogger a lot and youtube and Google. Mac Computer/Laptop I found using the mac computer that were provided for me in school made the process of producing my products much easier and quicker. This was a new bit of software the school got this year and I didn't know how to use it at all at the beginning of the year but after a lesson of using the internet and other apps available I caught on quite quick. I could use the mac computers to do my ancillary text and develop my ideas as it had the right software on it for example Photoshop and the internet. It was useful for accessing technology's for example CD-ROM, memory stick and digital camera as these could all be connected to the computer and used with it so I could work at any time. Their were only five mac computers but they were available to me at any time I wanted through the school day and any work I wanted to do at home I could do on my laptop onto my blog. Having a laptop at home allowed me to do a lot of work out of lesson time which made it much easier when I had work that had to be handed in by deadlines as I could do it at home and doing research outside of school preparing me for work that I could do each week. I was a bit limited to the software I could use at home as I didn't have Photoshop or final cut pro but I made enough time in my free lessons to experiment with the technology making it easier to use for my final music video and ancillary text. Blacberry My blackberry came in handy when it came to making dates to meet up with my band members to record my music video. I also set my self tasks to get done in a matter or time so I would have all my work done on the deadlines that were given to me. This improved my organisational skills as I could plan ahead and keep on track to my deadlines and if anything went wrong I could rearrange meetings with the girls and make sure all the work was done on time. This technology came in useful as it kept me working to deadlines and made doing my work much easier as I spread it out over the weeks allowing me not to get to stressed. Final Cut pro This was the technology I used throughout the production of my music video. At the beginning of making my music video I didn't know what to do as I hadn't used this technology before so I had to have the teacher show me how to use the software but it was quite straight forward and after one lesson I knew how to work the whole software. I started editing my shots as soon as I had filmed them by uploading my shots off the video camera by inserting the SD card into a memory stick that connected to the computer through the SUB hole which automatically uploaded all the clips onto the software. I began by editing a single clip by dragging it into the timeline at the bottom of the page where I could play with the tools given to me that cut the clip and changed the timing of each shot. This was pretty easy and the more clips I added made it a bit more difficult to line them all up together by getting the lip syncing right and making sure I had the right clip for the shot. Also the timing had to be right for each clip when they changed so they had to be in the right order and position on the timeline for it to run smoothly. My skills have developed throughout using this technology as I had no knowledge on how to use it at the beginning of making my music video but by experimenting with clips and practising a lot with the tools and software it made it much easier for me to use and also I enjoyed using the technology. When it came to using final cut pro for my final music video I felt confident using it so I played with the editing to get a more professional look for the final video. For example I was going to use lyrics from the song in the video and I found a tool that allowed me to type in the words I wanted to use and cut the timing so it would fit in with the music which made it look very effective. I also played around with different effects on each clip either with the colours or with the actual effect given to the clip but they didn't look professional and didn't go with the sort of music video I was making so I didn't use any of these effects in the end. Without final cut pro I wouldn't of been able to create my music video as this technology helped me a lot throughout the construction of the product. This particular technology was the best piece of equipment in the college and enhanced my work as this technology had the best editing software. This technology allowed me to cut clips to fit into the timeline, edit the brightness and contrast of each clip, alter timings and add clips into the timeline which allowed me to follow my story board as best as I could with a few changes. SD Video camera I used this technology whilst producing my music video to film each shot. I borrowed this camera from the school library and had to sign in and out when using it. I found this device quite easy to use but the quality of the shots weren't to the best standards. The shots I did take looked average in the end and because I wasn't fully aware with the editing on the mac computers I didn't make the shots look better quality. I used this technology a lot throughout the construction of my video and it made filming much easier as I could shoot each shot in order or just tick off the shots I had done and because I had planned the shots in advance it meant I could get straight on with filming by looking at my story board that made the process a lot quicker. My skills developed a lot when using this technology as I had never used it before but it was quite straight forward to use so didn't take me long to get use to the software. I had to think of a range of shots I could do before filming as I didn't want to waste time on shots I wasn't going to use as they didn't look effective or weren't going to fit in with the genre and my final music video. When looking back over the shots I did for my draft I had done the same shots about four times to make sure I got the best quality shot to use in my music video but I realized this just wasted more time and wasn't necessary. This was also an advantage because if one shots didn't work well I could change it for another shot that was better quality but this was very time consuming as I had to go through all the shots to pick out the best ones. As my skills have developed using the camera I feel more confident when using it as throughout the filming process I could identify the shots that didn't work to well but then also see the ones that looked more effective. The camera functions were very handy as I could replay shots to see if they were what I wanted and if not I could delete them straight off the camera, also I could zoom in and out to get better focused shots depending on the angle I wanted. Zooming in and out was very useful as it allowed me to get different shots that worked well in my music video. By using a variety of shots it would make my target audience more interested and make them keep watching. I didn't use the camera to take photographs even though it was useful to have just because I wanted better quality images for my ancillary text. SD card This was another useful piece of technology I used when constructing my product. I used this through the construction of my media video to store all my clips. I found this portable device very handy as I could store them on my laptop at home and also in school so I could look at them and start editing them too. This made the production process much quicker as I could import them instantly on to the computer to view them and decided on which ones to keep as they were the most effective for my music video. This way I could label each shot and put them straight into final cut pro. After putting them onto the computer I also transferred them onto my memory stick so I had them in more than one place just in case they got deleted. Disc wizard This was a useful technology to use when it came to my digipack. I inserted this template that I got given from the website into publisher and Photoshop to use as a simple template for my construction, planning and research stages when making my digipack. This template made sure my digipack would be a reasonable size and look a realistic as possible before continuing to do further development. My digipack was much easier to construct with this template as it gave me a basic lay plan of how each panel would be shown. When constructing my draft digipack I used this template on publisher as I knew the software better and used images of the internet for each panel as these photos inspired me because of the colours and the position the artists were put. This was my research and planning stage making it quite straight forward and simple as I was just looking on how to lay it out and get the best colours for my genre. But when it came to my final digipack I used Photoshop as there were many more tools I could use to make my images look more realistic and professional. The template made the production process of making my digipack much easier and quicker as I could see where I would put my images on each panel and how big they could be. This made the planning easier to see instead of rushing into making my final album and it not looking professional and up to my stands. Slide share This was not a technology I used very often when it came to my media work just because I didn't make many power point presentations. I used this to upload one of my evaluation questions onto my blog as I had been asked to present my questions in different ways and this is one im familiar with and can do quite easily. This made the process of putting the power point onto my blog very easy and quick as I could upload it then use the embed link and copy it straight to my blog. When using this technology you don't need any technical skills as its simple to use as you just upload your work onto the site and then embed it onto the blog. This made my evaluation stage which was constructive very easy as I could layout pictures and text in different ways and put them on separate pages that made it easy to see how the question was answered in the layout I used. Animoto Animoto is a great way to present my work as this technology allows me to show it in a visual context making it more interesting for the examiner when it comes to looking at my evaluation questions. I produced a video for one of the evaluation questions I was told to present and did this by using both images and texts. I like this website as you can add your own music as the backing track whilst information you put up and pictures come up to show a over view of the subject im talking about. This technology is quite easy to use and also very interesting as you can play around with different words and sentences you want to use that a sort and snappy, also images that relate back to these words that make it interesting to watch. This was a easy way of putting one of my evaluation questions together as the format is simple to use. Without the use of this technology then a lot of the ideas I had would of looked dull and boring as they would of been on a normal word document format which can be interesting but this way gives a more appealing presentation to my audience. By adding this technology to my blog it gave me a variation of different technologies I can use to present my work making it more appealing as it produces a video. This made the evaluation stage easier as I could narrow down the ideas I had when doing my research and planning and showing how I used them all as well as the technologies that can in useful when making my media products. I had used this technology last year but my skills have improved as I can use a wider range of images and text and lay it out better to get a more interesting finishing look. It only allows you to used brief notes and text which is useful and clever as this means your not boring the viewer and works well by showing images. When it came to my evaluation stage I thought it was very helpful piece of technology as I could present my ideas in more of creative and fun way. I thought this technology was appropriate as I had a lot to say and by using short notes and images it explained it quite well. Prezi I used prezi when it came to my evaluation stage as it is a good bit of technology to use when constructing a question together. The software is very easy to use and I learnt I could do many things with it to make the layout look interesting and exciting by including images text and also videos. This technology is very interesting and visual like animoto and slide share as it can display information in a variety of ways, depending on how I want it to look to my viewers. I feel my skills from last year have increased as I knew were the tools were and knew how to add images and text on to the page and make it look interesting to the viewer. The main feature of this software is that after putting all your information onto it and images you can label them in a order and this is were the text will be zoomed in on and will move on through out the page until it gets to the end. This makes it easy for the viewer to read through the information as its put in order for them and all they have to do is click the button and it'll move them on. This software was more creative and fun to work on as it gave me a variety of tools to make my information look interesting, unlike just posting on my blog. I enjoyed working on prezi as it was easy to present my ideas and was less time consuming to use when it came to constructing my evaluation question. Scribd I used this technology a lot last year and when it came to using it this year for my evaluation stage it was very easy and simple to use. When constructing my evaluation question together I used Microsoft word document which is easy to use allowing me to put images and information on to a page. When it came to putting this all onto my blog so the examiner can see I found it easy to upload this document onto scribd and embedding the file onto my blog which was mainly used for my evaluation stage where I put all my research and planning into one area to show on my blog. It is a quick process to do as embedding it onto my blog didn't take any longer than a few minutes where my work could be shown. Blogger I used this a lot through my planning and research as this is where I showed all the information I had found that would help me get the media product I wanted as my teachers could see it as well as my class mates who could comment on my posts which gave me more ideas for my ancillary text and music video. It helped me work through each stage of my coursework to get the best outcome in the end. This is where I showed all my ideas, work and progress I had made from the beginning of my planning and research to the end. This technology was very useful when it came to my research and planning as I could embed different technologies onto the blog that included power point, word documents, animoto videos, links from websites and prezi presentations. I thought this was a effective way to show my work as I could explain what each stage was about and where I wanted to go with it all, including changes I made and the developing I did on certain research and planning that worked well with my media product. The blog came in handy when I got stuck and needed inspiration too as I could look at recent years work before me and my other class students work and see what they were doing. From last year my skills have improved with this technology as I made my blog look more interesting and stand out to get peoples attention making them want to read through my blog. I kept my blog neat by labelling each post I made with headings that are found down the right hand side of the page which made it easy when I wanted to look back through my ideas. I used skills I hadn't used last year for example the gadgets that could be used to make the blog look more interesting and exciting like the labelling of my work, showing the people I am following, having the dates when I put my work onto my blog allowing me to see each post iv made and when, also adding links so its easy to see where I got my inspiration from. Some of these gadgets made the research, planning and production stages much easier as I could plan ahead and could look back on old posts and see my strengths and weakness's that I had done through my work which gave me key information that could push my work a step forward. For example the labelling made it easy for me to see what work I had done and the sections I could improve on to make my media product as good as possible. Over all this piece of technology was very useful and allowed me to see my work all together making my ideas look effective in a visual way through every stage, including research, planning and construction of my products. Twitter This a social network site I used for my band to get their views and opinions across as well as latest news about them. By using this technology I could follow other bands that were in the same genre as The Lazer Lights to get up dates on what they were doing and also get inspiration from their site, to help me with more ideas for my band and tweet similar things to fit into their category. This helped me get feedback through each stage of my planning and research and allowed me to keep people up to date with what the band were doing and the progress I had made on my coursework. Email I used the school email system when I got stuck on certain parts of the tasks given to me, through the research and planning and also the making of my ancillary text and music video. This software made it easy and quick to send messages to my teachers when I had a query to ask them and they could send me resources and information back without me having to go and see them which would take up time as id have to find them. Email helped me through the research and planning stages as I could ask for recourse that would be used for certain parts of my research. I asked for help when I got stuck on the animatic video that needed to be on my blog by a certain time and I couldn't get it on, but the teachers told me not to worry and in the next lesson they would help me with this problem, allowing me to get on with other work. Also the teachers could email me with websites and blog's that they thought I would find useful when it came to my media product. Overall without these technology's being at hand it would of been impossible to construct the work I have done. Throughout my research, planning, construction and also the evaluation all these technology's came in use for similar reason but some were more suitable for different areas of my production process. By using these technology's I have been able to produce a digipack, magazine advert and music video, produce research and planning to help me construct these products and also create the evaluation questions. I feel my skills have developed throughout the use of each of these technology's this year and also challenged me from the skills I had last year.
