How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
During my course I became highly aware of how lucky we were to have access to the Web 2.0 format, as this allowed me to use consumer produced websites such as Youtube, Blogger, and Slideshare. Websites such as these allow the public to upload user-generated content whilst being easy and simple to use. In order to use Slideshare I had to create a Powerpoint slide using the basic Microsoft Powerpoint software. Once the powerpoint had been completed I simply needed to upload the file onto the website after which I could host the file onto my blog by entering the embed code, provided by slideshare, into the html section available when composing a new post. Once the post has been published the viewer may click through the Powerpoint on my blog as usual.
As an individual I was not fully comfortable in using and setting up the camera equipment on my own and I had to learn how to use the equipment properly before I began production. In order to do this we were given each of the cameras and allowed a lesson's worth of filming wherein I learnt how to use the Cannon 550 D camera and the Sony HVRA1E. Whilst using the Cannon camera. I found that in comparison to the Sony camera the it struggled when shooting in low lit areas whereas the Sony camera was better at picking up footage in such circumstances.Therefore, I eventually used the Sony camera in the production stage of filming the green screen for my music video; as well as being able to film in low-lit areas it was also allowed the user to shoot in a HD format which was better suited to the filming of my green-screen. As my music video consisted mainly of close-ups and medium-long shots, in order to put th artist in/out of focus I switched the lens focus settings to manual rather than automatic, and changed the camera's depth of field as was required. I also used the tripod which provided both support to the camera and helped to maintain steady footage as opposed to the jerky footage I would have produced had I filmed it freehand.
To create my Digipak and Magazine advert I had to use Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop was the easiest piece of software to use as I have been producing images with the help of Photoshop since the GCSE course. Once I chose the design I wanted to create I opened the photo of the model and removed the white background using the magic wand tool. This allowed me to quickly remove the required image from the photo whilst smoothing and refining the edges. Once the image had been cut out I imported it onto a new canvas I added effects by clicking onto the image selecting the posterise option. Next I downloaded some brushes from Brusheezy.com and a variety of other vector brush websites. After selecting the appropriate brush options I began creating the City behind the artist as well as the back and inside covers.In order to change the colours of the brushes I selcted the Fx tool and added a colour overlay. For the speech bubble and squares I simply selected the shape tool whilst the font I chose was a handwriting style serif font.Both my CD and Magazine advert were produced in a similar manner.
For the planning and production stages of my A2 coursework I used the Adobe Premiere software which is similar to Window Moviemaker in that we can edit footage, however it was far more advanced and proffessional. Although I had used this software previously I was not very confident in using it, therefore as a means of practicing and improving my skills a group of my peers and I captured some footage, dropped them into premiere and applied various affects to them. This helped me learn how to use and apply various techniques such as split screen, multicam, altering footage speed and applying visual effects such as filters or adding sepia tones. This was quite useful to me later in my coursework as I used the split screen and the multiple exposure technique to layer different pieces of footage over another- as seen in the lala sequence. I also learnt to use keyframe in my work also seen in the lala sequence, this meant that I could set a layer to move from one side of the screen to the other and this is seen when the lyrics move at the beginning and ending of the video.
Lastly I used Adobe After effects to remove the green-screen backgrounds, change the levels of colour in the footage and add different coloured lens flares. Firstly I had to cut and seperate each clip, after that had been done I selected the effects button and opened the Keylight tool. Using the selection pen I highlighted the green background I wished to remove and then selected the 'Screen matte' viewing format. This turns all footage into black and white,the aim of this tool is to seperate and remove any unwanted colours effectively 'cutting out' unneccessary backgrounds as in photoshop. Whilst adjusting the setttings, I had to make sure the model was in complete white whilst the background was completely black. If any there were any mistakes or gaps then the setting needed to be re-adjusted accordingly and this took up a lot of my time. I the added the black background and began adding lens flares to each green-screened clip using the Generate tool. The lens flares needed to be adjusted in sense of timing, colour, size and brightness which wasn't as dificult as I'd imagined.Finally I selected each clip and adjusted the levels accordingly, especially in the clips where colour tints had been used, as this allowed the black backgrounds to look more solide whilst allowing the colour to stand out more.
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