2. The research was a vital component in order to
create my ancillary texts and my music video.
Using a wide variety of media technologies
helped me quickly establish my target market and
different options I could take for appealing to
them as successfully as possible.
3. Blogger
Blogger was the main media technology that allowed me to
complete and post all research and planning surrounding the
ancillary texts and the main product – the music video. The
blog enabled me to post all ideas and inspiration during the
research stages of this process. This could be achieved in
various ways; either through embedded codes to videos from
YouTube, images, or simple text posts either produced
directly on Blogger or documents from Scribd. In addition,
when completing both the ancillary texts and the main
product, it allowed peers to post feedback, which I was then
able to analyse and review. This feedback was used when
developing drafts and, ultimately, when evaluating the overall
success with the texts and main piece. Blogger reflects the
effort and standards that have been produced throughout the
research, planning, and evaluation stages.
4. My MacBook Pro contributed massively during
the research and planning stages, construction,
and evaluation. This allowed me to store all
footage, photos, and documents to then enable
me to post new information onto my blog. All of
the other technologies that I have stated, in some
way, lead back to this piece of equipment.
Without this, I feel that I would have struggled to
complete the research and planning stages to a
high standard.
MacBook Pro
5. YouTube/TubeChop
YouTube was extremely helpful to both my music and
ancillary texts. I first used YouTube to research the current
videos that suited my genre and fitted into my target
market. I was able to use the embed code from these and
insert them into my blog posts so that I could refer back to
them later for inspiration. I found this useful during the
planning process of my storyboard so I could refer quickly
back to videos that I liked and take inspiration from the
conventions that they portrayed and that were popular
amongst the audience. When referring to specific elements,
I was able to capture screen shots from the platform to pick
out key shots that may have been useful for my own
product during the later development of the planning
process.
6. I used YouTube also during the editing process of my
music video. For example, I was able to quickly type in a
function that I could not perform on iMovie and find
tutorials that other users had created. This was relevant as I
found a tutorial on how to layer text over a piece of film,
which was necessary for the opening titles at the start of
the music video.
I also used YouTube as a platform to present the different
drafts of my music video. This helped me further in other
stages such as feedback as it meant it was easily accessible
by my peers and also allowed me to see how my video
would look completed. During the final construction stages
I used YouTube as the platform to present my final video.
By doing this, I was able to share a link to the final video on
the artist’s Twitter account, allowing fans the opportunity
to watch and comment.
7. By using the search engine, Safari, on my
MacBook Pro, I was able to compile a range of
images that fitted into the style that I decided
upon for my artist. This helped me quickly find
new ideas and inspiration that I did not originally
decide upon. This was a significant tool when
conducting mood boards on costume and
makeup, as I was able to gather images that, I felt,
best represented the image that I was aiming to
achieve. Any inspiration that I found would then
be posted onto Blogger open to feedback.
Safari
8. Animoto was a really easy platform used to
present my ideas visually, which gave myself and
my peers a better indication as to what route I
was taking. This was especially useful as I was
able to add images and text alongside the song
that I decided to base my music video upon. This
assured me that the song would work effectively
alongside my visual concept. By presenting my
idea in a creative and visual way, I was able to
transfer my ideas easily to my audience and
receive feedback quickly.
Animoto
9. Microsoft Word is common platform to present
texts, which I have previous experience in using.
Therefore it was an easy choice to use this when
presenting materials that I have analysed. For
example, I used it during the research process of
analysing real digipaks and magazine adverts. I
was able to present this analysis and identify
conventions alongside the material. I could then
come back to it if I needed to, so that I could add
more detail and edit previous mistakes before
publishing the document.
Microsoft Word
10. iMovie
iMovie was used for the planning process of my music
video. This was used when creating an animatic of the
shots that I had decided upon for my music video,
previously laid out in a paper storyboard. This was a quick
video-making format for presenting this and I was able to
export the footage, ready to present.
iMovie was also used during the editing process, as this
was the central platform in the construction of my music
video that allowed me to edit the raw footage I had
previously captured on the SLR D3100 Nikon camera and
form them together to reach my final product. I had vague
previous knowledge of this software, however never in
such detail. Although, it was not difficult to soon get to
grabs with the software and I could easily find YouTube
tutorials on any issues that I had.
11. iMovie gave me a wide range of options to explore when
editing my video; I could insert all of my raw footage into
the library, which then allowed me watch clips I had shot
before I began to insert them into the video timeline. This
speeded up the process significantly, allowing me more
time to edit the footage. I also used the timeline zooming
in and slow motion viewing mode to ensure that items
such as the lip syncing of the video was precise to the lip
movements.
In terms of the editing features, the interior projection
shots were left to the default settings, as these resulted in
the best quality footage. However, I edited the properties
of every exterior shot to have 0% saturation. This made
the shots black and white, whilst maintaining the
professional look, as the natural lighting was not affected.
12. I used Scribd in the research process to present my ideas from
documents that I had formed in Microsoft Word. I prefer Scribd to
host my documents as it presents them clearly and can be zoomed
in and out. By uploading documents into my Scribd account, I
could then use the embed code to then insert it into Blogger. This
medium could also allow my research to be read by other Scribd
users.
Scribd
13. Twitter
I used Twitter to promote my artist. Twitter is becoming one of the
most popular social networking sites that are used by music artists
of all genres to promote their new releases and gain fans. Therefore
it was an important platform in imitating this process otherwise my
artist would have lacked a marketing strategy. I mainly used this
social networking platform via my iPhone as an app – by doing this,
I was able to take quick snaps of my artist during filming periods
and upload them onto the Twitter account. This provided on-themove communication between the artist and their fans.
14. For the construction process of producing my music
video, I used an SLR Nikon D3100 camera to capture
the footage. The camera functions were relatively
straightforward to use so the raw footage I caught was
filmed with ease. There was an issue with the focusing
of objects, however this was soon overcome through
practice and test shots. The camera’s advanced imaging
system assured outstanding quality and it’s subjecttracking AF kept subjects properly focused – this
enabled me to make the artist the main subject in the
shot, blurring out the background as and when I
wanted to.
SLR Nikon D3100
Camera
15. After shooting, I could frequently review what I had
recently filmed on the large 7.5cm LCD monitor so that I
was perfectly aware of what I have shot and whether it
was acceptable – this was time efficient as I could reshoot specific scenes as many times during one filming
session and know when I had reached the final product
that I was aiming for, without having to retreat to my
laptop to gather a clear view of the shots that I had
taken. I could also perform simple editing tasks, such as
trimming scenes before or after a designated point, even
before I began to edit on the iMovie software.
I think that without the quality of footage this camera
provided, my music video would not have looked as
effective – the high quality resolution gives detail.
16. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the most accessible and widely used
platform to create graphic designs from amateur to
industry standards, therefore I chose this in the
construction process of my ancillary texts.
I had in depth knowledge of the software from previous
projects, so I found it easy to begin a new document and
create my digipak and magazine advert professionally.
Photoshop allowed me to achieve a more accurate colour
scheme using the colour palette, which I could save into
my own favourite palettes and quickly adopt later
without having to copy and paste the colour code. I also
used this to compare, which colours would work well
together by creating colour blocks directly next to each
other. This allowed me to experiment in the research and
planning stages as well.
17. During the construction stages of my digipak and magazine
advert, the tools in Photoshop allowed me to create a unique
design specific to my artist. Firstly, I was able to insert a
digipak template and create a new file in which to begin the
process of creating my digipak. From my previous research, I
had developed a concept in my head that I was able to quickly
transfer into my draft version. After this, I was able to tweak
my design as and when I desired through different effects,
such as ‘darken’ or ‘soft light’ and see which would look the
most professional to those I had seen in my research stages.
The same construction process applied to the record label
logos, which I ‘placed’ into the document to ensure the
highest resolution quality, where I applied the ‘darken’ effect
again so that the white background of the logo was removed
and I was left with the solid logo. This prevented any edges
appearing rigid or white pixels appearing outside of the logo,
which would have occurred if I were to have erased it using
the selection tool.
18. All the elements of my digipak and magazine
advert – results of all the technologies that I had
used up until this stage – were combined using
Photoshop to produce my final ancillary
products.
Photoshop was a piece of technology that helped
me to edit photos and, ultimately, piece together
different elements in order to produce a
completed digipak and magazine advert.
19. Instagram was extremely useful in the construction stages of
my ancillary texts. Instagram is an online photo sharing,
video-sharing, social network service. I was able to upload
raw images that were taken for my digipak and magazine
advert, and apply digital filters to them so that a certain effect
was achieved on each photograph. A distinctive feature is that
the application confines photo’s to a square shape, therefore I
was assured that each photo had the same dimensions and
that they would be precisely equal once placed into the
Photoshop file.
When designing my first draft, I used the filter ‘1977’ on my
photographs, which gave the images a slightly pink tint to
coincide with the colour palette already established by other
images. However, when re-constructing my following drafts,
using the new set of photos that I had created on Flickr, I used
the filter ‘Inkwell’ to edit the colour of my images.
Instagram
20. I used Flickr after I had taken images from a
shoot with my artist with my SLR D3100 Nikon
camera, ready to use for my second draft digipak.
This online platform allowed me to create sets for
each shoot, which were then shared onto my blog
for easy and quick viewing. This also allowed me
to browse through my photos and
highlight/select the appropriate images that I was
planning to use in my magazine.
Flickr
21. Attempting to construct the ancillary texts and main product
without the above technologies would have had a significantly
negative impact on the quality and standards of the products. Using
these technologies allowed me to make a digipak, magazine advert,
and music video to a professional standard. It also enabled me to
make a product and brand that uses, challenges, and develops
conventions – similar to a real media package.
