Q4. How did you use media technologies in the research, planning, construction

and evaluation stages?

Why use media technologies?

Throughout this project my group and I have used a variety of media technologies to extend our knowledge and skills and simplify the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages so that we could create the best possible music video, digipak and website.

Technologies used during research

Communication

• It was very important that our group stayed in contact outside of lessons throughout the project to discuss ideas and meet-ups. We all own smart phones and exchanged mobile numbers at the beginning of the project. We used text, call, ‘Facetime’ and ‘Skype’ on our mobile phones to communicate. As we have grown up with this technology this was very easy to use and the app store meant we could download skype very easily and have group discussions anytime and anywhere. This proved especially useful when a group member was ill during a lesson and we needed to check ideas through with them. Mobile phones proved a simple and effective way to communicate outside of lesson.

• We used the social networking site ‘Facebook’ to set up a group. This technology meant we could post any images, videos, documents or ideas found onto the group page and discuss them outside of lessons. This meant we could make a considerable amount of progress outside of lessons.

Sources• To gain audience feedback we used ‘SurveyMonkey’. This was a

favourable piece of technology where we could construct surveys quickly and easily. We could then post the survey on social networking sites to gain audience feedback almost immediately. The site displayed the results clearly in percentages and charts. We found ‘SurveyMonkey’ did have limitations as anyone can fill in the survey so people who weren’t our target audience answered and some gave joke answers, making our results less valid and reliable.

• The internet was a very effective technology when gathering research. Search engines like, Google conveniently narrowed down the search and meant we could gain the information we wanted quickly. ‘Google Chrome’ was the most appropriate web browser as I found ‘Internet Explorer’ was very slow and ‘Safari’ crashed during mid-research and wasted time. The PC proved a much more reliable way to browse the internet as I experienced many problems with the iMacs for example, I couldn’t log in or print any research off several times.

Sources - Continued

• YouTube was a useful site on the internet. I used it to research and analyse music videos and watch tutorials for editing software and photoshop. I could use the search tool to find what I needed and watch the videos in high quality however, there are adverts before most videos and sometimes the videos take a while to load which can waste time.• We conducted interviews with members of our target audience using a

DSLR camera and a microphone. The DSLR camera had great quality and we had no issues with it throughout the project, making it very reliable. I am very unfamiliar with filming and photography but, by the end of the project I had learnt quite easily how to apply different effects, zoom, focus and frame a shot using the camera and I was able to set up the camera to record group meetings. We plugged the microphone was easy to use and we plugged it into the camera to ensure our interviewees could be heard.

Social Networking

• We used social networking sites like, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr to stay in contact with each other and interact with our target audience for feedback. We all use these sites on a regular basis so found them easy to use and could message each other on a regular basis for free. • Social networking was a great way to interact with our

target audience aged 15-19 as the majority use social media on a regular basis and were willing to fill in our survey as it was quick and online.

Presentation

• We set up a blog using ‘Blogger’ to present all of our work. We were all very familiar with Blogger and all of its tools as we used it last year to present our Foundation Portfolio. We were able to set up the blog very quickly and use it straight away. We could categorize our work into different pages and post our work in interesting ways through images, videos, links and text. However, we posted a lot on the site and at times it took a long time to load and the images would corrupt, wasting time.

• I used ‘Google Docs’ to upload my individual research. You upload your document onto the site and are then given a unique link to post wherever you desire. You can change the privacy settings of the link to that only certain people could view the documents, this convenient tool meant that individual cannot copy or use your work. Google Docs is a practical piece of technology which I could use easily as I had had experience with it whilst constructing my foundation portfolio last year.

Presentation - Continued

• I used ‘GoAnimate’ to present my finding on audience research where you can create characters and construct a conversation between them. I found that this was a fun and interesting way to present my work. The technology has limitations as characters have a word count and can only say ten lines each so I was unable to say everything I desired. When watching the video the characters voices are very robotic and sometimes hard to understand. This piece of technology was fun to use however, time consuming and unpractical.• I have used ‘Prezi’ when presenting work before and found that it

was an easy and more interesting way to present work. There are lots of templates to choose from and you can embed videos, images, links and text. This is a favourable piece of technology that we took advantage of.