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

Throughout the process of researching and production, I have used a wide variety of media technologies. I have used some of these before and some are new to me but without any of these technologies I wouldn't of been able to do my advanced portfolio.

Blogger:
I have used Blogger to display all my work that I have done throughout my two years of A-Level media. As I have used Blogger before, I knew how it works and therefore didn't face any problems using it. I find Blogger useful because you can include a variety of different ways to present your work such as Prezi's and Youtube videos which make the work look more fun and interesting to look at.

Social Media:
Social Media is important in the Music Industry when promoting a new song, album or video and this is the reason why I took to my own Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to ask for peoples opinions and show them my own work.

I also used Facebook Messenger to contact my models that appeared in my music video.
I feel that asking for people opinions on social media websites gets more people to reply because it is kick and easier for them to do as oppose to getting them to complete a survey.

During the production process:
I used a number of media technology equipment whilst filming my music video and coming to edit. During filming I used the equipment in the picture below which are a filming camera, a still camera, a tripod and a SD memory card.The purpose of the filming camera was to film my music video which I found to a good standard, but not the best but this was all that was available to me so I made the most of the quality of the footage. I used the camera to take photographs for my digipak and magazine advert.  found the quality of this camera good and did not affect the outcome of my ancillary texts. The tripod was used to ensure that my camera shots were still. The SD card was used to store all my footage and images so that I could edit them.
I chosen to edit on an iMac using the programme on it 'Final Cut Pro' which I found easy to use and allowed me to edit my whole music video well.

Photoshop
I was familiar using Photoshop as I used it a lot during my first year, and because I also study photography so I was aware of certain tools which helped me achieve my final product. I used Photoshop to firstly edit my images that I had taken which I then went on to editing my digipak and magazine adverts together.

Adjusting the levels:

I used the 'levels' tool to enhance the colours of the original image. I have used this tool before and it helped me change the background colour of the original images from a off white to white. The tool also brightened up her skin tone and hair and made her lips more vibrant.

Achieving the final image:
 For my front cover, I used the tools 'Black&White' and the 'Eraser Tool' to achieve this. I first used the tool that turned my image into black and white. I really liked the image black and white but I thought it needed some colour therefore, as the black and white had a layer on, I was able to rub out the black and white on Jess' lips and the red beneath to come through. I then adjusted the levels once more to enhance the features on her face (eyes, eyebrows, lips and hair.


SlideShare
I used Slideshare to put my Powerpoints onto my log. The good this using Slideshare is that it makes your work look neat and presentable. I have used this website in all stages of my advanced portfolio from collating all my research together to presenting my screen grabs and creating my evaluation questions.


Prezi

I also used Prezi as a platform to present my work during the process of planning+research, production and evaluation. I have used Prezi to present information such as theory's, audience feedback and the history of music videos. I used this website because I have used it before and it makes my work more interesting to look at and read.

Dafont
Dafont was one of the sites that I have used before in my first year for my magazine advert. I find it has a wide range of font styles which suit any scenario. I used this site for my digipak and advert for the text, using the BASIC FONT TITLE for everything.

Survey Monkey

I used Survey Monkey for asking peoples opinions on my work and as part of my research. I was recommended by my peers this site as they found it was a good way to get peoples opinions. I asked questions regarding what people like to see in a music video to what they thought of my first draft. It helped me a lot when wanting to find out peoples opinions.

Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel 

I used Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel through my research+planning, production and evaluation. I have used PowerPoint the most as I have used it for creating presentations that I then put onto Slide share. It has helped me collate my information together in a neater format and looks smart. I have used Excel to create charts to show my data from survey results for my research. I used Word mainly for Essays such as my skills development essay.