Evaluation - Question 4

Question 4 - How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research and Planning

YouTube

YouTube helped my research immensely, as I was able to research other music videos, and watch them shot for shot. I was able to slow down the video using YouTube’s slow-motion feature, this helped when I was doing a shot count analysis and was able to count the fast paced cuts that were in-time with the beat.

It gave me a lot of inspiration, when it came to watching how professional directors would produce music videos for big artists such as; Kendrick Lamar. I was able to study the shots, and why they worked well with the genre, and it helped me explore new shots that I wanted to add into my production.

Internet

The internet allowed me to use Google, which opened up everything for me. Any piece of information I wanted on an artist, album, or director was all there for me. I was able to delve into the masses of information on the genre of rap itself, and study the minds of artists and directors who operate in that specific genre. It allowed me to search for the lyrics of my chosen song, and helped with analysing them, finding out the true meaning behind the song, and allowing me to plan my shots based off the story behind it.

Blogger

Blogger is the website that I have used throughout the entirety of the course, and it has allowed me to easily keep track of what I have and haven’t done. The tools allow me to set dates, and labels, in order to group tasks together, and keep everything looking tidy on my blog. It was also very useful in the sense of inspiration; I could look at other people’s blogs and study them for help and guidance, as to how they went about completing the tasks.

Construction

Photoshop

I heavily relied on using Photoshop throughout my course, using it to draft and complete final edits of my ancillary texts. The range of tools allowed me to manipulate images and fully construct my digipak to the way I wanted it. I also used it to craft my magazine advert, which helped when it came to completing the Rocky purple theme.

Adobe Premiere Pro

I used Adobe Premiere Pro to construct my video. I think that it is a great piece of software that allowed me to progress with my editing skills, and gave me full access to different tools and effects that I could use within my video. I think that at first it was hard to grasp but once I had used it two or three times, I got the hang of it, and managed to complete my music video.

Filming
Cannon 700D
For filming I used the Cannon 700D which was perfect for me. I picked it up very easily, and found it rather easy to film shots with. The quality of the camera is amazing, and looked good combined with my shots and angles. The quality fit perfect for my movements, the type of movements typically seen in music videos from the Rap genre.

Steadi Cam
I used the Steadi Cam with some of my shots, especially those when I was moving rapidly in a forward motion. The Steadi Cam is perfect for stopping the camera from shaking, which makes the shots look smooth, and as if the cameraman isn't moving at all. The shots that I used the Steadi Cam in are ones when I track the actor, rapping directly into the camera. I like the Steadi Cam, and would use it again, the only downside is it's weight, which isn't too bad as I was able to use a harness to strap it onto my body.