Question 4 Script

Before we created our music video, we planned what we were going to do on "blogger.com". This was a really quick and simple way of transferring our thoughts and ideas "onto paper". All we had to do was create a new post and upload it so it was really simple to use. To make our blog more interesting and more detailed, we added photos along the way. For this, we used Flickr, which is a photo sharing network. We created an account on the website, which allowed us to upload our photos on to our page. From this, we just copy and pasted the embedding code onto our blog and it would appear.

For the music video, we filmed the footage using a Sony HD video recorder. The camera was really easy to use. We also used the effects tools on the camera such as the "exposure tool" whilst filming in the dark, which made the visibility 10x better. Also, when we used the camera, we used a tripod and dolly, which helped us when we wanted to create different shots and angles for the video. Those technologies weren't digital, but they proved vital in creating better shots for us.

Once we had filmed the music video, we transferred the footage onto "FinalCut express". This is the technology we used the most as this programme is what we used to edit our music video. After adding the videos to the sequence, we watched them back to see what clips were good, and what clips were bad. We then put them all into our timeline and started cutting them and matching the lip syncing to the vocals. At first, it was slightly complicated because we wanted to use more advanced effects for our video, but as we progressed, the programme was really easy to use and very effective. For example, in our music video, we used a split screen where all 4 of the characters appeared in a box in the shot. We had 4 individual shots at first and we placed them all on top of each other on the timeline. Then we used the image and wireframe tool to reduce the size of the image, and place it where we wanted. We did this for all 4 shots so that they would appear at the same time, in one shot.

Once we had finished our video, we converted it and uploaded it to YouTube. The process for this was really simple as YouTube had a step by step guide on what you had to do so it was really straightforward. We then created our ancillary texts which were our digipak and the magazine advert. For both of these tasks, we used photoshop; which is a programme used for editing and creating images. Photoshop is widely used around the world but is only really used properly by professionals. It took some time trying to work out what each tool does and how to achieve your desired effect, so Id recommend that before using photoshop, that you should see how it works. For the ancillary texts, we took photos which we thought would link to our music video and our genre. We then added them to our canvas' and began to work on the images. For example, we changed the lighting on some of the photos to create a more dark and mysterious effect. We selected the image we wanted to change, and used the brightness/contrast tool on the adjustments toolbar and adjusted the levels to what we wanted. We used the same text which we downloaded from dafont.com. Again, this was really easy to use and only required a simple download from the website. Once we were happy with all of our final products, we then uploaded them to our blog through flickr and youtube.

In summary, the main technologies that we used were all digital, which helped us greatly! We learnt to use the programs effectively and independently. However, the non-digital technologies such as the tripod, dolly and even our media exercise books were just as good in helping us to plan and construct our music video.