Alexandria Hasler - Evaluation

Q1 for evalutation from ajhasler

Q4: Evaluation
by: ajhasler

Q4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research
Actor 1: So, how did new media technologies help you with your research for the project?
Actor 2: To start with, all of my research was done by using the internet, so I used safari on the Apple Mac at college and Mozilla Fire Fox at home on my PC. I used Google to research the typical conventions of a Rap/Hip-Hop video along with other things.
Actor 1: What else did you use Google for?
Actor 2: Well, I also used it to search for the lyrics of the song 'My House' so that I'd be able to know the lyrics and their meaning better. I also used it to search for Blogger and Youtube.
Actor 1: And how did Blogger and Youtube come into play?
Actor 2: I used Blogger to upload my research and also used Youtube to look at videos for songs and artists of the same genre.
Actor 1: And what did you gain from watching videos from the same genre?
Actor 2: It just allowed me to have a better knowledge of what is expected in a Rap video. This also gave me the inspiration to maybe take what they have achieved further and develop some of the typical conventions which have already been shown.
Actor 1: Okay, that sounds like you've really thought about it.

Planning
Actor 1: So what did you use to help you plan the shoot?
Actor 2: As a group we already had a brief idea of what we wanted to do, so it didn't really take much planning. We drew up a story board and put it on the blog firstly...
Actor 1: What programme did you use to do that?
Actor 2: Well, we decided that it would be easier to draw it by hand, so we drew it onto paper and took a photo of it using iPhoto so that we could still upload it to the blog.
Actor 1: And what is iPhoto?
Actor 2: iPhoto is an application on the Mac which basically uses the webcam above the screen to capture an image.
Actor 1: That sounds like a good idea! What else did you do?
Actor 2: Well, although we already knew what we wanted to do for our video, we still needed to plan it out, so I did a location list.
Actor 1: A location list?
Actor 2: Basically listing possible locations and saying if there are any limitations...
Actor 1: And were there?
Actor 2: Well there were a few possible limitations, we did our filming in urban areas so there was always going to be a danger of the public disturbing the filming.
Actor 1: And did the public cause any problems?
Actor 2: At times, yes. But when this happened we just filmed again.
Actor 1: So did your research help you when planning your shoot?
Actor 2: Yes, we had a blog post on Goodwins' Theory which helped us model our video on those key features. It also made filming go much smoother as we already had planned exactly what we wanted to do and how we would achieve it, we also considered everything which could go wrong, such as weather, risks, so that we were well prepared if anything were to go wrong.
Actor 1: How did you then move onto the construction?

Construction
Actor 2: The main thing was to actually film the footage. From doing this I refreshed my knowledge on how to use the Sony camera with the tripod to get steady shots and also learnt how to use a torch to create professional looking lighting using a reflective material. We experimented with the camera using different shots and angles, one being a high angle shot looking down at the artist which I think looked very interesting.
Actor 1: And what was the next step?
Actor 2: Next we took the camera back and uploaded the footage onto our Mac. We then opened this into Final Cut Express. We also had to add the music track into the sequence and delete all background music that came with the footage. We then had to sync the audio with the visual which is difficult but gets easier when you know what you're doing.
Actor 1: And how do you do that?
Actor 2: Listen to the music and mark on key vocal points onto the audio track. Then do the same on the footage and match the markings up. After that it was just about the cuts and making things look more professional and enjoyable to watch.
Actor 1: And how did you do that?
Actor 2: Well we needed to use different shot types and locations so I put in the different shots and matched it up to the audio again.
Actor 1: What else did you do to the footage?
Actor 2: Well the last clip was really long and in Goodwins' Theory it says that short quick clips are more interesting for the viewers, so we decided to cut the clip on every beat and added an effect called earthquake onto one and a reverese speed onto the next. We also had to change the brightness on some clips as they were filmed in different locations so had different lighting.
Actor 1: How did you do this?
Actor 2: We achieved this by colour correcting the footage. We changed the mid-whites, saturation and brightness on a selection of clips. This is found by going to effects, video filters and clicking on colour correction.
Actor 1: Was any other software apart from Final Cut Express used for the construction?
Actor 2: Yes, I used Photoshop to create both of our ancillary products. I have this software at home too so am quite familiar with it. We wanted to give our artist tattoos so did it on Photoshop.
Actor 1: And how did you give your artist tattoos?
Actor 2: Well we downloaded a tattoo stamp package and stamped them onto the image of our artist and rubbed out any of the tattoo which went further than the artists arms. We also used these stamps in the design of the cover.

Evaluation
Actor 1: And finally, your evaluation. How did you use technologies to help you with that?
Actor 2: Well, all of my evaluation was either done at home on my PC or at college on the college PC. I used Microsoft Office (Powerpoint), Slideshare, Prezi, Xtranormal and Mozilla Firefox.
Actor 1: What did you use those programmes for?
Actor 2: On Powerpoint I created a slideshow presentation answering the first question of my evaluation. I liked using powerpoint as it allowed me the use print screening to add an image of the music video to illustrate my point.
Actor 1: And Slideshare?
Actor 2: I used Slideshare to upload my Powerpoint and this allowed me to get the html code and paste it into Blogger.
Actor 1: And what did you use Prezi for?
Actor 2: I used Prezi in the same way that I used Powerpoint only to answer question three. It is also a more interactive way to do a slideshow. I then copied the html code and again pasted it onto Blogger.
Actor 1: And what is Xtranormal?
Actor 2: Xtranormal is a programme in which you can create characters and make them say things. Which is what I am doing this script for!