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

When making our music video, we were able to use a number of technological devices: digital video camera, a tripod and adobe premiere elements. The digital camera helped us to view our footage as we were filming. This was extremely helpful, as we were able to film a shot then immediately view it to check it was successful. If it wasn’t we were able to pick up on this and re-shoot it. This saved us a lot of time, as we weren’t having to wait until we put the footage on to a computer to watch it. This also meant that we had extra time to spend experimenting with different shots and seeing which worked and which didn’t. However, the fact that the screen on the digital camera was so small meant that we weren’t able to pick up on all the faults. This meant that we would not pick up on the fault until the footage was on a computer in our next lesson. We would then have to schedule another shooting time to re-shoot. For example, when shooting shots of Dalia on the trampoline, Libby (without realising) was in all attempts of the shot. We were unable to see this when filming, as the screen was too small to identify it. However, when putting it on the computer we noticed it and arranged to re-shoot it. One thing we were able to identify on the camera, was the lighting. This was helpful, particularly for the domestic violence shots, as we were trying to create dull lighting which was extremely difficult without the shot becoming ambiguous. We were able to see a shot back and if it was too dark, we were able to re-shoot it with extra lighting to make the shot clearer.

We edited our music video on an Adobe software. We chose to use Adobe, as it offered a variety of skilful tools. This enabled us to use a variety of effects for our final music video, ensuring we created the best film we possibly could. One effect was especially beneficial to us, this was the cross-dissolve effect. It helped to make sure each shot blended in gently with the next. Making the whole video flow a lot smoother and look much more professional. We had a lot of problems with the cross dissolve effect, as it kept deleting certain parts of a shot or adding extra images in. By persisting with it we eventually overcame this issue. However, we were not able to use the cross dissolve feature in a few shots due to this issue. We also used an effect which blends two shots together. It did this by making one shot opaque so you were able to see another shot beneath it. This enhanced the video, as we wanted to express Dalia’s disorientation in one particular shot. We showed this by having a shot of Dalia singing to the camera (after having a fight with her boyfriend) and we blended in an image of the spinning sky. This helped the audience to understand how Dalia felt disorientated and confused. The sky also represented Dalia going to her fantasy land, making it a lot clearer to the audience that she escapes to a fantasy land. When receiving peoples analysis of our music video, one thing that was criticised was the fact that it was ambiguous when Dalia goes to her fantasy land. Libby and myself discussed ways in which we could make it clearer and came to the conclusion that by consistently using the spinning sky each time she goes to her fantasy land it will become a lot clearer to the audience. When receiving analysis’ of our video again, people said it was a lot clearer and the spinning sky worked very well.

New technology is not only effecting producers and audiences individually, it also effects the relationship between the two. Producers and audiences are now much closer due to new technologies. It has given audiences much more of an insight in to the process the producers go through and has enabled them to feel like a part of it. New technologies have made it possible for producers to produce even more fantastic things than ever before. This makes audiences happy, creating a positive relationship between the two. New technologies also now give students and people like myself the chance to be a producer and broadcast their videos to the world. It has enabled people to produce a music video on a very low budget.

New technologies like You Tube also mean that audiences can view music videos for free at any time they like. This was not the case years ago, audiences used to have to pay to view music videos and they were not as easily accessible.

When researching for our music, we used a variety of websites:

http://www.totallyunsigned.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.unsignedbandweb.co.uk/

YouTube was a brilliant way of immediately accessing artists. I was able to search videos for inspiration for my music video, the main inspiration being ‘Love The Way You Lie’. I used certain videos to inspire me for my own, without YouTube I wouldn’t have been able to do this. It was also useful going on websites of artists of the same genre as mine. I was able to pick up on certain themes they had used or certain aspects that reflect their genre and apply it to my own final product. For example, Florence and The Machine’s website http://florenceandthemachine.net/ was very elegant and used a lot of floral patterns. This gave the website a very feminine and elegant feel, which is how I wanted my band to be represented. I used this floral idea in some of my CD cover designs, although I never actually used it. I also researched Bat For Lashes website, as they are a band of the same genre also with a lead female vocalist. http://www.batforlashes.com/ This website gave me inspiration for my CD cover, as it uses very neutral pink and beige colours, which connote elegance and femininity.

We eventually picked a band from www.totallyunsinged.co.uk. We used all the websites for our research and narrowed our choices down to three. We then decided to go with ‘Under China’ by Auction For The Promise Club. We emailed this band to ask for permission to use their song. They were delighted to hear that we were using their song for our media work and have kept in contact throughout the process.
When wanting to receive evaluations of my final music video, I used the social network site Facebook to receive comments about it. This ensured that I had a wide variety of evaluations. I decided to use Facebook, as it is a very popular social networking site for my target audience for my video. I therefore knew that I would receive evaltuations that are relevant.

When planning our music video, certain music channels came in useful for inspiration. The main channel we used was NME, as we knew that bands of the same genre would have videos shown on here. However, it was also useful to use channels such as: TheHits, MTV and VIVA, as pop music has very happy videos which could be applied to the fantasy aspect of our video. We also wanted to keep our options open and not just watch videos of the same genre, but instead use a variety of ideas from different genres.

Technologies have assisted me with inserting and embedding my music video. YouTube has enabled me to broadcast my video to everyone and embed it on to my blog.

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