Evaluation 4

Evaluation 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

The video below expresses clearly the main technologies we used throughout the entirety of the coursework:

Research and Planning:

Apart from regular meetings in school, technologies played an important role for the groups overall communication. Each member of the group either owned a Blackberry or I Phone, this enabled us to easily talk to one another, or in a group. Apps such as 'Whatssapp' became particularly convenient as all group members were able to talk in one big group chat, this made sure that no one was unclear or left out on what the plans were for either filming or coursework. Also Blackberry messenger allowed us to do a similar thing, such as group chats also. Both phones allowed us to send video's, pictures and documents if we needed to swap or transfer information. The I Phone weather app also became very useful, although the majority of our desired shots were to be inside there were still a few shots that were outside and it was important that the weather was satisfactory enough to film in. Therefore, by checking for weather updates we were able to organise on a day that predicted clear weather forecasts.

Phones also allowed us to take pictures whenever we wanted, whether it be on set filming, we were therefore able to take pictures when the camera was in use, we again thought these images were a good way to engage our audience, this allowed us to show fans and followers work behind the scenes and hopefully these sneaky previews engaged a wider audience and got them excited about the release of the final video. Through this digital aream social networking sites are considered one of the best free ways to publicise and advertise companies and products, therefore it was through the use of sites such as Facebook and Twitter, spoke about previously in the video that enabled us to engage and promote our work to not only a local audience, but by making the group on Facebook public and the same for the Twitter page, we were allowing our audience to be global as well.

Youtube

During research YouTube was an important search engine for the group. It allowed us to look at the typical codes and conventions for a music video. As well as looking at famous pop and rap artists video's, YouTube channels and styles etc. We also looked at previous years A Level, level 4 videos. We did this at the very beginning of planning and research so everyone in the group was aware of the high standard we were aiming for and what type of shots etc looked most professional and worked well. YouTube was another way in which we were inspired to try different shots and different styles within the video. For example, we took inspiration from 'Mystery Guitar Man' with the green screening of the phones and the inspiration for the phones came from a 2010 Lynx advert.

 Specifically for the initial ideas mood board, we wanted to find interesting images that would really give us some inspiration for ideas. We used Google as a way to gather images however, we wanted to see what other images were available for free. Therefore, I introduced Tumblr to the group, this is a popular specific social networking website to share and swap pictures, images range from practically anything,  and it was easy to navigate as there were headings to search the type of images you wanted eg. fashion. You could use it for free, and it allowed us to gather a real variety of different images. This we felt was useful for the research and planning stage. This also brought our attention to a similar website called Flickr, this too allowed us to research different images which we found to prove very useful. We as a group wanted to make sure we gave Childish Gambino (James) the right style and image in our take on the artists music. Therefore we researched similar artists from the same genre and used Childish Gambino's website to compare and contrast different elements we wanted James to include. Also it made it easier for James, as it gave him a sense of direction when acting in the video as we could clearly express the mannerisms and character we wanted him to portray as our own Childish Gambino.

Final Cut Pro

From using this technical software, all it did was give the group advantages. James has this software on his laptop which enabled us to edit at any time possible. This meant on weekends or outside school periods we weren't restricted on having to get the editing done within a certain time period. Also Final Cut Pro was a more advanced programme than Pinnical which was the software offered in school. From James having a good knowledge and experience from last year and in general, we didn't waste any time by trying to figure out how the programme worked, therefore it was convenient and offered us a variety of editing settings, allowing us to create the best music video possible.

Evaluation

As spoken about previously, Facebook and Twitter were our key sources in promoting our finished product. They allowed us to have multiple platforms in which we could advertise to a mass audience of both local and global. The sites allowed us to get feedback of what people thought about the video which was helpful to us as if we wanted to produce another product we would know what people liked or what could be done differently. Youtube also, was a great way to evaluate our video, again it was a website that offered us with feedback as anyone was able to comment on the video. Also by the number of likes and views we could see how popular the video was becoming. This again was very helpful to know what people thought about the video.

Each member of the group also used a snowballing sample, this useful technique starts with you asking a couple of people to watch the video and give their feedback, you also ask them if they could ask a couple of people that they know to do the same, and then those people ask people they know to do the same etc. This was an inventive way we felt to engage a wider audience, it also reached people who might not necessarily use social networking sites and channels such as YouTube, so we were able to get more of a varied audiences opinion.