Wednesday 22 April 2015
Evaluation Question 4
Evaluation Question 4 - Describe the technologies you used throughout the project, discuss both digital and non-digital technologies.
Throughout the second year of the media course, I used various technologies to produce my work. These include;
• The digital camera
• The filming camera
• Tripods
• Phones
Editing Software
•Premiere Pro
•Photoshop
Online tools such as
• Blogger
• Google
• Popplet
• Prezi
• Survey Monkey
• Facebook
•Twitter
Firstly, I will discuss the physical tools we used in order to record various things as well as document our progress throughout the year.
This is the recording camera we used to record our footage. This includes footage for the music video as well as audience feedback. This was an effective tool because it was easy to use. Given how simple the camera is to use we were never limited in terms of how creative we could get during the filming process. When we came up with an idea during the planning stages, we were able to execute it relatively easily using the tools provided to us and we almost never needed help from staff members when filming. I believe this is part of the reason why our video as well as audience feedback looked quite well made and coherent.
The tripod was also a helpful tool when filming because it was impossible to get steady shots when holding the camera by hand.
We used the digital camera as well as our phones to take pictures whenever we would go out filming in order to document progress which we would later upload to blogger. The digital camera was also used to take pictures of our storyboard, those pictures were used to create the storyboard animatic, which was a part of the planning process. This camera was also effective and easy to use, which made the journey a lot easier.
Next we will talk about the editing software that we used to manipulate captured footage as well as images to produce our final package of video, magazine advert and digipak.
Below you can see an image of our video being edited in Adobe Premiere Pro.
This piece of software came with positives and negatives initially. The bright side of the software was that once we familiarized ourselves with it there were a plethora of tools that were available to make the editing process easier and the software worked in a logical way. However, it took a lot of getting used to and learning as some of the features that were available were not immediately obvious and at certain points during the editing process of the various videos that we made we required guidance.
Overall however, Premiere Pro turned out to be a very effective piece of software and my confidence when it came to using it was constantly increasing throughout the project.
The next piece of software we used quite extensively was Photoshop, this was used to create our digipak and advert
Above our finished digipak can be seen, which was created using Photoshop. Photoshop was similar to Premiere Pro in a lot of ways, this is due to the fact that it has an incredible array of tools in it that can be utilized in a huge amount of different ways by an experienced user, however before we could do anything with Photoshop we had to get accustomed to the tools that were available. In the end, we learned to use the tools that we needed and as such found Photoshop to be a pleasure to use throughout our project. A very effective tool.
The final set of tools we will talk about are ones that we found or were introduced to online, effective websites for various purposes to aid us in our journey.
Firstly, we will talk about Blogger.
Popplet was an interesting website to use, it was very good at what it did, however it had a slightly unprofessional feel to it. Despite this, it was an effective tool to illustrate certain aspects of research and planning. It was an easy an efficient process to use and embed a popplet presentation into blogger. Overall another very effective tool with minimal drawbacks.
Following this, I will talk about about Prezi which a website that allows you to create presentations that are accompanied by interesting animations and are more pleasant to look at than normal PowerPoints or blocks of text.
I think this was an effective tool that was simple to use.
The last website I will talk about is Survey Monkey. This was a website that allowed us to gather audience feedback. This was a good tool because it let us design our own questions and allowed people to answer our questions with anonymity which meant that using this tool we could gather honest and effective audience feedback which we could use to improve our project. Below you can see a portion of the survey we used to gather audience feedback.
In conclusion, we have been introduced to many effective tools over the course of our project that have allowed us to more effectively present information that we have acquired and needed to document in our blogs and in video form.
Throughout the second year of the media course, I used various technologies to produce my work. These include;
• The digital camera
• The filming camera
• Tripods
• Phones
Editing Software
•Premiere Pro
•Photoshop
Online tools such as
• Blogger
• Popplet
• Prezi
• Survey Monkey
Firstly, I will discuss the physical tools we used in order to record various things as well as document our progress throughout the year.
The tripod was also a helpful tool when filming because it was impossible to get steady shots when holding the camera by hand.
We used the digital camera as well as our phones to take pictures whenever we would go out filming in order to document progress which we would later upload to blogger. The digital camera was also used to take pictures of our storyboard, those pictures were used to create the storyboard animatic, which was a part of the planning process. This camera was also effective and easy to use, which made the journey a lot easier.
Next we will talk about the editing software that we used to manipulate captured footage as well as images to produce our final package of video, magazine advert and digipak.
Below you can see an image of our video being edited in Adobe Premiere Pro.
This piece of software came with positives and negatives initially. The bright side of the software was that once we familiarized ourselves with it there were a plethora of tools that were available to make the editing process easier and the software worked in a logical way. However, it took a lot of getting used to and learning as some of the features that were available were not immediately obvious and at certain points during the editing process of the various videos that we made we required guidance.
Overall however, Premiere Pro turned out to be a very effective piece of software and my confidence when it came to using it was constantly increasing throughout the project.
The next piece of software we used quite extensively was Photoshop, this was used to create our digipak and advert
Above our finished digipak can be seen, which was created using Photoshop. Photoshop was similar to Premiere Pro in a lot of ways, this is due to the fact that it has an incredible array of tools in it that can be utilized in a huge amount of different ways by an experienced user, however before we could do anything with Photoshop we had to get accustomed to the tools that were available. In the end, we learned to use the tools that we needed and as such found Photoshop to be a pleasure to use throughout our project. A very effective tool.
The final set of tools we will talk about are ones that we found or were introduced to online, effective websites for various purposes to aid us in our journey.
Firstly, we will talk about Blogger.
Blogger was the website that we used to document our progress in various ways. This is where we posted the research that we did as well as planning the various videos that we later went on to film. This was an effective and simple to use piece of software, a good choice for the students to document their work as it can be accessed anywhere so work at home can be completed as needed.
We used Google to find information and images throughout the course, this was a very useful tool because we could conduct independent research to give ourselves a better understanding of anything that has been covered.
Next was a website that helped us illustrate some of our work in a more interesting way than just blocks of text and images. This was Popplet.
Popplet was an interesting website to use, it was very good at what it did, however it had a slightly unprofessional feel to it. Despite this, it was an effective tool to illustrate certain aspects of research and planning. It was an easy an efficient process to use and embed a popplet presentation into blogger. Overall another very effective tool with minimal drawbacks.
Following this, I will talk about about Prezi which a website that allows you to create presentations that are accompanied by interesting animations and are more pleasant to look at than normal PowerPoints or blocks of text.
I think this was an effective tool that was simple to use.
The last website I will talk about is Survey Monkey. This was a website that allowed us to gather audience feedback. This was a good tool because it let us design our own questions and allowed people to answer our questions with anonymity which meant that using this tool we could gather honest and effective audience feedback which we could use to improve our project. Below you can see a portion of the survey we used to gather audience feedback.
We also used Facebook and Twitter to gather audience feedback. We posted our video on these websites in order to generate a discussion among our peers which helped us gather thoughts and opinions that we could use to improve the quality of all of our products. This was effective, as it allowed a variety of people to state their opinions on the work.
In conclusion, we have been introduced to many effective tools over the course of our project that have allowed us to more effectively present information that we have acquired and needed to document in our blogs and in video form.
Evaluation Question 3
Evaluation Question 3 - What Have You Learned From Audience Feedack
The first set of audience feedback that we collected was from the rough cut of our music video. This can be seen below
From this we learnt that our video had a lot of room to grow, as some shots were not as steady as others which means for our finished product our camera work had to improve to get the product to the standard we were aiming for. We also received the opinion that we should use more locations , as the same background was used for too long. Despite our choice of location being quite effective, the limited number of locations used took a toll on the end result of this rough cut. The narrative of the video was also left quite ambiguous at this point and needed a more clear and concise explanation through visuals.
We also created a survey (which can be taken here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TNCN2WQ ) in order to gather additional feedback.
For the most part, the feedback was positive, we got 40 people to take the survey anonymously and some of the key comments that we received for each question were the following:
I. What did you enjoy about our music video?
1. The pace of the editing was appropriate for the song
2. The artist fit the role well and performed well
3. The narrative was interesting to follow
II. What do you think we did successfully
1. The lip syncing was done really well
2. The variety of camera angles used was good and kept the video engaging
3. The use of locations and scenery was good
4. I particularly enjoyed the scene with the tree with the marking on it, as it showed an iconic moment in their relationship. This was made even more significant when the female performer returned to it later and was standing there alone.
5. Pace of editing was effective, audio matched video well.
III. How could we improve
1. A lot of the camera angles and shots were quite close to the performers, integrating some longer distance shots may help increase diversity and improve overall effectiveness.
2.Consider adding in some extra effects during the editing process to help keep the video exciting throughout
3. Consider using an increased range of locations
IV. What was your favorite part of the video
1. The scene with the tree and the heart on it was a good reference to blank space by Taylor Swift, I thought this was an effective way of integrating work previously that was previously seen done by professionals into your music video.
2. The closing scene, which shows that the performer is leaving her past behind. This is an effective way to show this.
3. I thought the introduction was effective, as the video was in motion before the music began.
V. What was your impression of the artist
1. She looked the part and performed well, an excellent choice
2. Good choice of artist, able to convey her emotions well
3. The artist was a good fit for this type of music video.
4. This artist was a very effective at lip syncing which created the image that she was truly performing the video, which was a great success
VI. How effectively do you think this video branded the artist, why do you think so?
1. I think this was very effective at getting the artist out there, because she has a unique appearance and will be memorable for the audience
2. I think it was yes, this video was an effective way for the artist to find her style when she is performing so that she can continue to make memorable videos.
After the final music video was created, we made an additional feedback film to see if some of our errors were corrected and if our audience thought the video was at a higher standard than the rough cut as we would expect.
Certain key elements that we were previously criticized did not come up this time, such as steadiness of shots as well as narrative for the most part, as a lot of shots which clarified the narrative and involved it more from the beginning to the end were added.
Below you can see our advertisement poster, throughout the construction process of this, we also asked our peers for feedback.
The final piece of our package is the digipak, this was largely uninfluenced by audience feedback, however we asked for opinions on certain features such as the font, positioning of text and manipulating the image in a way that shows half of it on the front and half of it on the back of the digipak. The finished product can be seen below.
We asked for some opinionated feedback once the product was finished and what we received was largely positive. Some key comments include
•Effective use of imagery
•Simple and comfortable design
•Simple yet memorable design
•Contributes towards telling the story and expanding the narrative of the video
In conclusion, we made good use of audience feedback when creating our package and made sure to value our audience feedback and that we acquired as much as of it as possible when creating our pieces of work. In future projects, I will make sure to gather even more audience feedback during the construction stages of my products as opposed to just showing people the finished product, this will increase the quality of the final product overall.
The first set of audience feedback that we collected was from the rough cut of our music video. This can be seen below
From this we learnt that our video had a lot of room to grow, as some shots were not as steady as others which means for our finished product our camera work had to improve to get the product to the standard we were aiming for. We also received the opinion that we should use more locations , as the same background was used for too long. Despite our choice of location being quite effective, the limited number of locations used took a toll on the end result of this rough cut. The narrative of the video was also left quite ambiguous at this point and needed a more clear and concise explanation through visuals.
We also created a survey (which can be taken here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TNCN2WQ ) in order to gather additional feedback.
For the most part, the feedback was positive, we got 40 people to take the survey anonymously and some of the key comments that we received for each question were the following:
I. What did you enjoy about our music video?
1. The pace of the editing was appropriate for the song
2. The artist fit the role well and performed well
3. The narrative was interesting to follow
II. What do you think we did successfully
1. The lip syncing was done really well
2. The variety of camera angles used was good and kept the video engaging
3. The use of locations and scenery was good
4. I particularly enjoyed the scene with the tree with the marking on it, as it showed an iconic moment in their relationship. This was made even more significant when the female performer returned to it later and was standing there alone.
5. Pace of editing was effective, audio matched video well.
III. How could we improve
1. A lot of the camera angles and shots were quite close to the performers, integrating some longer distance shots may help increase diversity and improve overall effectiveness.
2.Consider adding in some extra effects during the editing process to help keep the video exciting throughout
3. Consider using an increased range of locations
IV. What was your favorite part of the video
1. The scene with the tree and the heart on it was a good reference to blank space by Taylor Swift, I thought this was an effective way of integrating work previously that was previously seen done by professionals into your music video.
2. The closing scene, which shows that the performer is leaving her past behind. This is an effective way to show this.
3. I thought the introduction was effective, as the video was in motion before the music began.
V. What was your impression of the artist
1. She looked the part and performed well, an excellent choice
2. Good choice of artist, able to convey her emotions well
3. The artist was a good fit for this type of music video.
4. This artist was a very effective at lip syncing which created the image that she was truly performing the video, which was a great success
VI. How effectively do you think this video branded the artist, why do you think so?
1. I think this was very effective at getting the artist out there, because she has a unique appearance and will be memorable for the audience
2. I think it was yes, this video was an effective way for the artist to find her style when she is performing so that she can continue to make memorable videos.
After the final music video was created, we made an additional feedback film to see if some of our errors were corrected and if our audience thought the video was at a higher standard than the rough cut as we would expect.
Certain key elements that we were previously criticized did not come up this time, such as steadiness of shots as well as narrative for the most part, as a lot of shots which clarified the narrative and involved it more from the beginning to the end were added.
Below you can see our advertisement poster, throughout the construction process of this, we also asked our peers for feedback.
We asked for feedback on key features such as the positioning of the text and the image to create the most effective advertisement possible. Some images tracking the progress of the construction of this piece of work can be seen below.
We asked for some opinionated feedback once the product was finished and what we received was largely positive. Some key comments include
•Effective use of imagery
•Simple and comfortable design
•Simple yet memorable design
•Contributes towards telling the story and expanding the narrative of the video
In conclusion, we made good use of audience feedback when creating our package and made sure to value our audience feedback and that we acquired as much as of it as possible when creating our pieces of work. In future projects, I will make sure to gather even more audience feedback during the construction stages of my products as opposed to just showing people the finished product, this will increase the quality of the final product overall.
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