Introduction to A2 Coursework

My name is Amber Mota, candidate number 9114, and for my A2 Coursework I am in Group 1. I am working along side Shayam Utting (candidate number: 9164) and Alistair Price (candidate number: 9137) to create a music video. The links to my work are on the right-hand side and are entitled: A2 Research and Planning, A2 Construction and A2 Evaluation.


'Trip Switch' By Come What May



'Trip Switch' By Come What May

Front Digipak

Front Digipak
Front Digipak

Inside Digipak

Inside Digipak
Inside Digipak

Our Website - Please click the image to enter site

Sunday 17 January 2016

Evaluation Q4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout the course of our project we used a wide range of new technologies to plan, construct and evaluated our project. We have used various different hardwares, softwares and web tools to benefit our project. Below I have created a detailed outline of the different technologies used for each stage of the project and have reflected on their purpose and effect.

Research and Planning:

This was the starting point of our project and immediately I noticed that taking full advantage of new technology was going to be crucial to ensure the success of my project.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 describes World Wide Websites that emphasize user-generated content, usability and interoperability. We have used a wide range of web 2.0 tools throughout this project and have tried to incorporate this powerful and useful medium wherever possible. The reason it's so effective is primarily due to its proliferation, particularly in recent years, which has allowed mass-communication and therefore opened up the potential for mass-advertissement.


Youtube:






Youtube was our most used piece of Web 2.0 technology and it served multiple purposes throughout research and planning. We used the site to create inspiration lists and we uploaded our various different planning videos such as an animatic and a steal-o-matic. Overall, it is a very  efficient mechanism for doing research as it allows you to watch and bookmark almost any video.

Facebook:

Facebook and Facebook Messenger were also very important technologies throughout research and planning process. We used the messaging capabilities as our primary means of communication within our group but also to our actors.

This constant effort to communicate was crucial to the development our project and this method allowed us to update the group on our individual research very regular. Furthermore, the cross-media converged nature of the site means we were able to send images, gifs, videos and even documents.





We frequently used the chat to update group members on plan adjustment and the progression of any particular element of the project. Overall, it was a great tool to use for ensuring organization and thus the smooth-running of our project. The instantaneous nature of the messaging service also played greatly to our advantage.




Mobile Phones

In addition to our Facebook chat, we also used our phones for a large amount of our communication. Our access to technologically converged and integrated smart phone devices meant that we were able to take full advantage of their portability and instant connection.

I found this technology very important when out on shoots, recces and at school and it mean that every member of the group were constantly aware of the progress in the project and avoid anyone being late, lost or unprepared.

Construction: Production:

Canon 5D

This was the camera that we shot the majority of our footage with. Our rushes were shot in 1080p HD which resulted in a lot of aesthetically pleasing and high-quality shots. The high quality lens also meant that we could manually focus our shots. This was massively beneficial when filming dynamic shots as it avoided the second of blur before the focus is automatically re-adjusted. Overall, this camera was essential to creating a high quality video and the various different white balancing and aperture changing techniques allowed us to create well color-balanced 
interesting shots with a large depth of field.

Lighting Desk

Another key technological feature of construction was our use of The Leapfrog Lighting Desk. As can be seen from the photo on the left, this professional desk controlled over 20 1000K Arri Lights, that could all be controlled independently of one another. In addition, it was also possible to add color filters, change the intensity and angle of the lights as well as the potential to save pre-programmed lighting set-ups. Overall, the lighting rig technology was very useful and despite my initial unfamiliarity
                                                                                    with the hardware, I soon felt confident using it
                                                                                    independently.

Floor Lamps

In conjunction with the lighting rig, we also used Arri Floor Lamps. Despite their weight, these lights are reasonably portable and are very versatile. We used these lights in both the studio and rooftop scenes and overall they work very efficiently with only 1 blown bulb across the whole of construction. Overall, these lamps produced very professional lighting coverage and we were able to flood a rooftop at night with ease. The only drawback is that the lights get very hot and therefore pose a health and safety risk if not treated properly.



Construction: Post-Production:

I have created a Prezi that outlines all the media technologies used throughout the post-production stage of our project.




Evaluation:

Like the rest of my project, I used a large variety of new media technology throughout the course of my evaluation, the majority of which were online.

Web 2.0
Once again I used a wide range of online interactive technologies through Web 2.0. The non-linear capabilities means that I was able to constantly update, expand and improve my work.

Blogger:



This has been the most important piece of technology for my evaluation as it has allowed me to publicly publish the development and reflections on my project. Blogger has been imperative to the development of my thought process as it has allowed me to display my work using this cross-media converged blog. Overall, the site is extremely beneficial as it has allowed me to create a dynamic page using a wide range of multi-media tools, instead of the linear format just text and images. On the other hand, I have found that blogger can be quite difficult to format and there are limits to its interactability. Despite these issues, this technology has not really inhibited the quality of my evaluation.

Prezi:


Throughout my evaluation I have been able to embed various different Prezis into my blog posts. Furthermore, by technologically converging these softwares I have been able to create a interactive page that presents information in a much more palatable way than block text. I have tried to use this web tool wherever possible as I feel that it makes my work much more understandable and therefore more engaging. In addition, Prezi also supports other mediums, meaning you are able to add videos, gifs, pdfs and even voice-overs and thus one can create a completely integrated and 
interactive presentation.


Padlet Screenshot
Padlet:

This is another technologically integrated online software that I have used. It works symbiotically with Blogger and therefore is very effective when trying to graphically display ideas and theories.


Zaption:

Like Padlet, Zaption is another online software that allows you to produce a running commentary on videos quickly and easily. Despite its high quality product, it is quite difficult to format and doesn't convergence very easily with blogger.


Imgflip:

I have also used Imgflipm for my evaluation, in order to create large variety of gifs. This has been very beneficial as it has allowed me to create dynamic images that contain multiple frames and therefore allows more extensive evidence than a still image.




Survey Monkey

Throughout the evaluation, we conducted a large number of surveys and for the majority of which, we used the online app 'Survey Monkey'. Through using this web-based surveying site we have been able to create and distribute questionnaires in order to gauge the public's view. Overall, This site has been incredible useful and effective and the versatile and adaptive format has really allowed me to utilise the programme extensively. 

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