Question 4

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

Throughout my construction, research and planning we used different media technologies in our work. These were a mix from the camera and the equipment which we used to the different applications which we used to help create our work.



Camera Products-

The first piece of equipment which we used was the cameras and the tripods which our college provided for us. The photographs to the right show the camera which we used throughout our filming process, we used these cameras as they have extremely high quality on them and we was able to play with the focus settings on the camera to create faded parts of the footage to make it look like that is show the artist is feeling due to him drinking too much and being under the influence of alcohol. This was effective as we was able to create point of view shots of the artist and show that his vision is not working how it should be and that drinking can affect the human body in negative ways.

The photo below shows the tripod which we used to stand the camera on when we didn't want the shot to be hand held. This ensured that the camera was safe and that it was stable on the tripod too ensure that the shot would be smooth and that the shot would remain still and have a professional feel towards it.  In the filming of our music video we used the tripod a lot to ensure that the scenes was still and there was no unnecessary movement of the camera in shots which it wasn't needed. The photo below to the right shows the stand which the camera is joint on to by the base of the camera and then it is secured onto the camera by the top part which in the photo to the left you can see that on the top of the tripod there is a line which guides you to a larger image of this which shows the section which the camera is connected too. When these are connected correctly the camera is secure and there will not be any sudden movements. Also on the tripod which we used there was a handle which is similar to the one in the photograph below which meant we could move the camera smoothly without making any large sudden movements which was effective in our music video.
























Apple Products-

When taking the photographs for our digipak and magazine poster they was taken on an Apple iPad Air as this has a high quality photo and where the iPad belonged to me we was able to go anywhere in Southampton we wanted in order to take photographs as this was also portable and easy to move around without the need of a large camera and tripod to balance the camera if too heavy to hold. By using this made taking the photographs easy to take as we was able to see them on a large screen whereas, if they was taken on an Apple iPhone then the photo quality may not of been as good as how it came out on the iPad and that the screen would be smaller so when it was expanded to fit the templates which we had it could have lost quality and became pixelated which wouldn't have helped create the effect which we was after.


Through the use of iMovie we was able to create our music video to Lose Yourself which was originally wrote and recorded by Eminem. We was able to import all of our footage recorded on the cameras onto this application on the Mac's at college and was able to edit the footage which we had done to put it all together to make our music video. Through the use of iMovie we was able to crop our footage, trim clips, apply filters to different shots, add audio and also cut, extend and fade audio. Being able to do all this over iMovie meant we could edit the whole video on this application and also where this is a free application on apple devices we was able to use this effectively and was able to learn all the different elements of iMovie.


Adobe Products-

To create the digipak and magazine poster we all used Photoshop CS5 as we was able to play around with all the photo effects on this and was able to create the right effects we wanted, was also able to fade other pictures on top of other images which helped us create the texture on them both. We could also merge different elements together and hold our digipak template on the photoshop file which enabled us to successfully be able to import our taken photographs onto the application and was able to move them around and change the different effects, filters and was also able to change the side of the image and add extra items on to them as well. Due to all the different features which are on Photoshop we decided to use this software to create our digipak and our magazine poster in order to have a professional finish to our items.
Another reason which we chose to use Photoshop rather than Adobe Fireworks because this would reduce the photo quality which the image already would have and we would not be able to change as many as the effects of which you can through the use of Photoshop.









Internet Products-

Another piece of software I used was the internet I used this through the use of Google Chrome and Safari depending on my location and what device I was on. I was able to research about the rap industry through the use of the internet as I was able to find out reliable information quickly through using the correct websites which belong to the organisations I was researching.

Another thing which I have done through the use of the internet was email Shady Records about using their song Lose Yourself by Eminem for our final music video. We chose this option as it was the fastest method as sending a letter to America from England will take a long time and there will also be a cost on top of sending a letter but this option was free and he received the email instantly.

Also through the use of the internet I was able to use YouTube in order to look at previous Eminem music videos and other rap artists videos to gain inspiration for our music video and after we filmed our video we was able to upload it onto Youtube so people around the world are able to see our music video which we created.