Research
Youtube
Firstly, we used Youtube so that we could beachcomb for ideas. In this process, we looked at various music videos and gathered ideas on how we could make our music video. We used Youtube to see the conventions of rap music videos as this is the genre that our song fitted and so we looked at different costumes that were worn, lighting, props and colours. Using Youtube was very easy because I had been using it for many years and therefore I was very quick in finding what I wanted which made me be more effective with my time management.Smartphones
We used smartphones during our research stage to film vox pops. During these vox pops we asked our audiences whether they enjoyed the song and liked our idea that went with it. Using a smartphone to do these vox pops was very successful because our smartphone gave us good quality in terms of sound and video. Also, because we are already used to using smartphones, we did not have any trouble in recording and also uploading.Blogger
To record our progress we used Blogger. We used Blogger because it is very easy to use and because we already know how to work with it since we used it throughout last year. Blogger allows us to easily save our progress and as a result, a useful new media technology.
Planning
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Excel was used during planning to create our shooting script. We used Microsoft Excel because it was easy to organise our ideas since we could easily place our ideas in a neat table. Also, because I have been using Microsoft Excel for a very long period, we did not have many problems which made it easier to create a good shooting script.
Microsoft Powerpoint
Also, we used Microsoft Powerpoint to create presentations which we showed to the class. Using Microsoft Powerpoint was very helpful because it was easy to use since I am already used to it and therefore, allowed for me to make a good and simple presentation.Production
Camcorder
During our production, the majority of our footage was filmed with a camcorder that was provided for by the school. We encountered many problems whilst producing the main product for example a lot of the times, the camera would run out of battery mid-way through filming as the batteries were very poor. This made the filming process very stressful and we were forced to repeat multiple scenes because of this. However, the quality of the camera was good which made filming easier and also, we had used the camera before and therefore we knew how to use it effectively.
WhatsappWhatsapp was a very useful method of communication since all members of our group had access to whatsapp. Whatsapp made it very easy to arrange times when we were going to film and also allowed for us to discuss what we needed to get done that day which in the end, allowed for smoother filming and a faster process.
Smartphone
Again we used a smartphone because of when the camera would not function. Having a good smartphone was an advantage to us because the quality of the footage would be almost identical to the one from the camcorder and therefore, made it less obvious that were using a phone and not a camera.
Post Production
Final cut pro
Our editing tool was Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro was very good to use because of our past experience since it was what we used last year to do our editing. During that year, we learned the basic tools such as blading and copying which we used this year and therefore made the editing part much less stressful and a lot more efficient. However, one issue that occurred to us sometimes was that Final Cut Pro would close down randomly which wasted our time and sometimes resulted in some work being lost.
Photoshop
To create our digipaks and magazine adverts, we used Photoshop. We used Photoshop because we believed that it would be the best tool since it is possible to create a lot of very good things with it. Also, a teacher at our school was fairly experienced with using Photoshop and thus he provided a lot of help to us on how to create our ancillary texts better. Despite this, we still had some trouble because not everyone in our group was good at Photoshop. We stumbled across many problems, some of which very simple to solve. However, I believe that I gained a lot of experience from using Photoshop as I learnt about different tools in Photoshop.
