Evaluation Question 4 - How Did You Use Media Technologies in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

The use of technology in media studies is vital, as processing the digipak and music video both require technology. Presenting my media coursework is done on Blogger, which is an easy and modern way of allowing people to view my work. If I had an iPhone, or a phone capable of viewing blogger effectively, I would have been able to update my blog from any location easily.
I used Myspace to ask the artist directly for permission to use one of their songs. Without media 2.0, asking for permission would have been extremely difficult and long winded.

By using Facebook during our planning stage, I could easily and quickly get in contact with my partner, as well as find potential actors/models for my music video and digipak. Using facebook also allowed us to share images of any locations we thought would be a good place to

shoot.

To help with the planning of the music video, I used Youtube to view many other music videos within my genre. Music channels such as "Kerrang!" and "Scuzz" were also useful, as they showed music videos within my genre too. However, a site such as Youtube has a vast wealth of videos, all free and ready to access.

For the actual production of the digipak, I used a FujiFilm A345 camera to take still images to use. This is an easy to use camera that still has good quality images. Although obvious, having a camera for the course is vital. I used Adobe Photoshop to then edit and assemble these photos. By using Google, I found a template with the right measurements and spacing ready made. Youtube also helped me here, as the site is full of step by step tutorials for many programs, including Photoshop.

For the production of the music video, I used two Panasonic DV cameras. By using two at the same time, it allowed us to capture the same footage from a different angle, which reduced the number of takes needed. To transfer our footage to a computer, we used Adobe OnLocation. The program has its pros and cons, as although capturing worked for the most part, some clips would corrupt, rendering them useless. This sometimes led to us having to repeat the capturing process to obtain certain clips. For the actual editing, we used Adobe Premiere Pro, which made putting together our video much easier. While it allowed us to edit it how we imagined it, using a new program leads to technological determinism. Which is that whatever

technology is available determines the final outcome, rather than the creativity of the user. I feel this applied somewhat to me video, as the video contained elements we didn't originally plan to

have, such as the black and white footage.
Media 2.0 has been useful throughout the whole course, as it allows anyone to gain some sort of feedback from an audience. By using Youtube, given that I have a fair amount of subscribers, I can use it to tap into a potential audience and ask for criticism. Although most comments are

generally very pedestrian.

In conclusion, the use of media technology, specially Media 2.0 such as sites like Facebook and Youtube which allow users to broadcast to an audience easily. Technology such as digital cameras, even though they used tape which may seem dated by todays standards, have been vital to the whole media course.