How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The equipment I used whilst shooting my music video is what created the quality of my work and is how I was able to get the shots that I did.
The equipment I used included:
- Tripod - This helped me keep the camera still in order to capture still and professional images. it also helps me with my panning and tilt shots as it keeps the camera straight while turning around or moving up and down.
- Lighting Equipment - This helped me get the best quality and more detailed footage by giving the right lighting towards the camera. I used the work lights and soft boxes which really helped to create more effective footage and images for my photoshoot.
- Nikon D3200 camera - This captured the high quality footage and was easy to change the exposure of the footage.
- Light reflector - This reflects light from the lighting system towards whichever direction I decide it to reflect on. This was really useful for my photoshoot in particular.
- Iphone 4S - I used this to contact my actors about updates and filming schedules. I also used this to play my song off of for my artist to sing in time with the music which helped me a lot when it came to doing my lip sync.
Blogger:
I used blogger for my AS coursework so I did have experience on how to use it. Blogger is used to keep all our coursework and updates on how our filming and editing process is going. It is easy to use and is very easily accessible. It is for the examiner to be able to view our A Level media coursework easily in a neat and organised way. This has been really useful for my music video research as it allows me to deliver my work in a more creative and interesting way by uploading images, videos and documents.
Photoshop:
I had not used Photoshop before, therefore I was not familiar on how to use the programme. However during this year of Media Studies I have had to use Photoshop to create my digipak, magazine advert and also any other graphics that I've needed. Photoshop was very useful in creating my magazine advert and my digipak as I was able to use special effects on my images and practice with layering different images. Photoshop allowed me to make whatever idea I had in my mind and produce anything I wanted as part of my A2 work. I found it really interesting to learn how much you can edit images.
After Effects:
I used After Effects to edit my base track from my test shoot as it was my artist (actor) lip syncing the whole song throughout in front of a green screen. The purpose of the green screen is to be able to change the background to green so that I can add anything I want to it during my edit. I used After Effects to mask around the guitar for my digipak and around my artist in many of the photoshoot images. Here is an example of an image I changed on After Effects with the green screen.
Final Cut:
I used Final Cut Express for my thriller opening last year which meant that I had experience in using the programme. This made it easier and faster to produce my final music video. It was less time consuming as I was aware of where all the effects were and how to export the video. Final Cut Express allows me to edit and put together my music video the way I imagine it to be. It makes it possible to match the visuals to the beat of the music and to the lyrics. I had to make sure that every shot with the lip sync of the actor was matching the lyrics. This was harder than expected however, I had practiced this when completing my preliminary task and therefore, I was able to identify whether or not it was in sync. Final Cut also allowed me to use effects on my footage. I made a dream like effect to symbolise my character imagining being with the girl. 
Final Cut also allowed me to change my footage, for example I slowed down the roundabout footage to make it appear more like a dream to him. I also used different video transitions such as a cross fade, fade in and out, lighting features and importing and exporting. Depending on the edit you can build different audience mood and thought towards the music video. I had the opportunity to edit my footage however I wanted in order to make the audience intrigued to see more. This was my intention as I wanted to make the audience more involved in my media creation. Final Cut Express was an important aspect of my project as the many different features allowed me to produce my final music video with the editing choices that I wanted to make.
Youtube:
Youtube is a video-sharing website which allows users to upload videos whether they are normal or even captioned. This is another way of marketing products such as songs through music videos. Youtube has helped me to research other music videos by viewing ones by all different artists and taking screen shots to annotate the significant parts of the video. Also, Youtube has enabled me to upload my own videos which can then be embedded onto Blogger. I found Youtube useful mostly when doing my research although it is most important part in the process of uploading videos.
