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

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

Media processes and technologies have played a crucial role throughout the advanced portfolio module.

Youtube user feedback

Survey monkey


 Throughout the creative process, we have used a range of web 2.0 applications to aid our production and ideas development. Using Blogger has allowed us to create a production log which can then be shared with internet users but more importantly each member within the group, which has allowed us to share ideas and alter them democratically (through a majority), ultimately leading to an end product that we as a group are happier with. YouTube, another application from the Google group was of great use for us; we used the site to upload our initial ideas, animatic, rough cuts and final videos, which allowed us primarily to embed our videos on our blog thus showing evidence of our progress, but also as a secondary research tool. Although the data collected was more qualitative (for example, the number of likes or dislikes the video receives), some quantitative data was collected from (again, for example) any comments that were left on the video, allowing us to consider whether or not to make alterations based on user comments. We also shared our work through the social networking sites of Facebook and Twitter, which allowed us to broadcast our music video to friends and followers who could also give us feedback. This allowed us to gauge an audience feeling about our piece, which was useful for our process because testing our product at each stage allowed us to see at different points whether or not the audience understood our concept. We also used SurveyMonkey in the planning stage of our concept development to test our ideas, and the feedback from this was used in our pitch and was also taken into account when we were producing our video. In addition to these we media applications, we also used Microsoft Powerpoint to create a slideshow for our pitch, and then uploaded it to Slideboom in order to embed it on our blog.



For both the Foundation and Advanced Portfolio production, the blog has been the most significant media tool used in our creative processes. It has been an excellent resource for the documentation of thoughts, write-ups and work exhibition, appearing in a more aesthetically pleasing manner than, for example, a paper document. It has allowed us to integrate examples of other artists’ work when talking about them thus allowing a reader to understand what we mean and what we are referring to, whilst also allowing us to highlight key words within our work which exaggerate the point which we want to make. Along the way, there were only minor problems I experienced with the application; when logging in, if the stay signed in box was ticked then we would be unable to comment on any posts. The image layout within each post was also difficult to alter because the image movement was not flexible, and finally the background design has been difficult to alter, because a number of the images which we have wanted to use have exceeded the alloted file size.

Our animatic was an area in which we could perhaps have improved. Although we had most of the shots we had agreed to shoot included within it, there was little description of what we intended to show within each shot so for the outside viewer it might have been a little unclear what exactly it was that we intended to show. However, despite not looking back at the animatic on a regular basis, the process of creating the storyboard was useful because it was the first opportunity we had to put together our creative ideas and grasp what they might look like.

ICT played a substantial part in reaching our audience. Because we uploaded our video to YouTube, we were able to exhibit our music video for no cost at all. Furthermore, the use of social media sites where registration is free meant that we could also advertise our products for free. This is an attractive method for an upcoming band who will have small budgets (in the same way as The Pigeon Detectives would have had at the time the album was released).

The use of Photoshop is for me the area where I both excelled and improved the most over the course of the production. I was initially enthused by my first concept ideas, however I was uncertain about whether or not they could be carried across into my final piece because my first drawings and designs had been made on paint. Although we ended up not using the image, the design that I found most rewarding to create was the fire alarm hand which was modified to make a guitar. It was to sit on the back cover, next to the track listing. Initially, I photographed this sign and then copied it onto my editing computer. Once I had saved the image to the hard-drive, I set about editing it in Photoshop. Initially, I extended the ‘pushing finger’ to join with the alarm button, and then rubbed out the middle knuckles of the hand. This was difficult because I had to smooth the edges in order to give the appearance that the guitar ‘arm’ was rounded. I then joined the other side by the thumb and added a black ‘dial’ to the body of the guitar, which was done simply by using the paintbrush tool and marking a single four pixel dot. Ultimately we decided to scrap this because there were concerns that it didn’t look like a guitar, however I found the process to be nonetheless useful as I gained vital experience in using the program.

In addition to this, I also had the idea of putting a band photo in our digipak because there was otherwise no visual presence of the band members in our promotional material, and I also liked the result of our band photo on the Brighton field trip day. Because we were aiming for the feel of rebellion and the song itself had developed a more mellow, rough feel to it, I decided that the back of our school DT Block, where the colouring of the bricks has slightly faded and the area in general seems a bit overgrown, would be a great location for this shoot. To start with, I placed the band on the stairs but when the photograph was taken (by Harry, the Media technician) we found that the shot was too bright, and the inclusion of sun also detracted from the mood we were aiming for. I then took the decision to move the band to the wall of the building, which was more visually aesthetic in terms of what we were trying to get across. We experimented a couple of times with the framing and positioning of the band, and ultimately decided that no one should be looking at the camera and instead we should all be looking in different directions. I was pleased with the end result, however the one issue we had was that there was a smaller wall that we stood behind in shot. Once we had saved the image onto the hard-drive, I then opened the image in Photoshop and started to edit it. The first thing I did was to crop the image so the wall would be removed from the shot, and so the image would be square once put on the digipak inside panel. Following this, I selected the remove colour tool by selecting Enhance and Adjust colour. This turned the photo into black and white, and adjusted the Brightness and Contrast appropriately in order to darken the image to make it feel rougher and give the feel that the situation and location in which the photograph was taken was a dangerous/dirty area thus connoting those emotions. I then saved the image, copied it and moved it into place on our final digipak copy. I placed it on the inside right cover of the digipak so it would be the first thing the consumer saw if they were to open the package.

The font I used on the digipak design was chosen due to it’s connotations; I chose the font, named Heroes Assemble because it reminded me of the font used in comics - such as Superman - which feature superheroes. Writing the word Emergency in this font gave it superhero status in the same way that adding a cape to our emergency exit man had done, and because superheroes are often found in Emergency situations I felt this font would be a good one to use. I downloaded the font from the website Dafont.com which meant that writing it out would not result in it becoming pixelated. I then selected the normal version (i.e. not bold, in italics etc.) and wrote out the band name in the top Left hand corner (so it would be the first thing the consumer read) and the album name in the bottom right hand corner (so it was the last thing they read and therefore made the connection between then image and the name) so neither covered any of the white space.

Premier was the editing software programme we used to assemble our music video. Whilst my attention was focused predominantly on Photoshop creating our digipak – we delegated different tasks to each of us to save time – I was involved in the creative ideas process and edited a couple shots that were included in the shoot. Once we had finished filming, we captured the shots and then opened them in Premier ready to edit . For me, my most iconic piece of editing was the jump cuts from Brighton. After importing all of the shots that we had recorded, I then dragged the song track onto the timeline and then also dragged the chosen shot onto it, above the music. To begin with I moved the selected shot along to the part of the track which it roughly belonged in, and then eventually dragged it onto the point where Sam’s stationary shot lined up with the first power chord in the music. I then cut the video until I was stationary in shot, and then Alex and finally Cameron. Once this had been done, I moved them next to each other and made sure each jump cut was in time with the power chord change. After this, I dragged the selection bar across to this section of the track so that only this part would be exported. Once this was done, I saved the file to the D-Drive and once this was complete, exported it onto YouTube.

I also created the sped up Police car shots, by importing the shot into the editing timeline and decompressing time on it, and used the same tool to alter the speed of the car travelling through the tunnel towards Brighton. In addition, I also added a black and white effect to these shots, as we had done throughout the rest of the piece.

The editing process was made a lot easier this time around, as we switched a couple of weeks into editing from Adobe Premier version 8.0 to version 9.0. Whereas previously playback had been difficult as a number of un-rendered shots would judder, our playback on version 9.0 was of good enough quality for us to be able to pinpoint where we would need to start and stop lip-synching. This was nonetheless our most difficult process, particularly considering that we had nearly five minutes worth of video to synchronise, given that our video was performance based.

Similarly, we had only a limited number of problems with our cameras – although the major problem, battery life, was more fundamental to our construction. For instance, having made the trip down to Brighton with two batteries, we left having not completed all of the shots due to a loss of battery life, meaning we had to compensate by shooting extra shots of different material which we had not accounted for.

 We also used profilmic effects to construct our music video and therefore used media technologies both on set and in the editing process. Filming from a hanging frame at close-up length, we filmed Cameron on a 60 frames per second HD camera in a paddling pool with gravel, giving the visual mirage of a beach, and threw both water and paint at him. This was similar to ‘No Rest’ by Dry the River, where the band members are soaked with water. When the footage was slowed down, the ‘splatting’ looked fantastic and was the image that both we and the audience appeared to be left with. Furthermore, our use of Cameras (both a Panasonic 25fps HD camera and a Sanyo xacti 60fps HD camera) and accessories such as a Fish-eye lens and a track and dolley (in the drama studio when filming our band performance) in my opinion has significantly improved the quality of our footage.