EVALUATION TASK 4: Part 1- Online Technologies

 How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
In my A2 coursework I used lots of digital technologies which helped me to create my coursework to the best quality possible. Some of these technologies were online software and others were hardware on the computer.
Here are some of the online digital technologies I used:

       

Storyboard That is a website that helps you to create professional looking storyboards as it gives you cartoons to choose from in order to create your own storyboard. This meant that my storyboard was more professional looking and accurate and furthermore meant that my storyboarding was a more effective process.

I used YouTube, an online, free, video sharing platform in order to research our chosen song to check if it had an official video before we created one of our own. Also we used it as a platform to share our own video and to determine which audiences liked it the most. In the research and planning section of the course, I used YouTube to establish the different styles of music video and could also identify the conventions of an indie-rock music video so I knew what to create in my own video. As well as this, I looked at the demographics of the audiences of certain videos and the genre they belonged to and this helped me to both establish the target audience and also to establish the conventions of a video that appeals to this audience in order to actively recreate these in my own coursework production.

I used dafont to choose the best font for the band's logo, website and digipak. I found through my research that often the font of the band acts as the logo so I felt it important to choose a font which is more original, rather than one from the menu on word or PhotoShop. Furthermore, the style of the font also depicts the genre of the music and so I used the categories on dafont to find the style of font that fitted the genre 'indie-rock' the best.

I used blogger to keep track of my progress and it has been a really helpful way to check that I've covered all the areas which I need to in order to create a successful campaign. Blogger also helped me to establish sections of my coursework that I may have missed which would hinder my work and so I could follow this up in order to have the most effective production experience possible.

I used google as my search engine because it's quicker and easier than going to a library; it was the start point for my research and so this was a vital part of my whole process.

 If I didn't have google I wouldn't have been able to create my products as quickly as I did or to the best standard that I could. I also used google to come up with creative ideas.

In conclusion, I used many online tools and NMTs to create my coursework products to the best of my ability. By using these online tools the products I created were accurate to how I had planned them as the abundance of information on the Internet meant that I could pick and choose, re-create, develop and edit ideas into exactly what I wanted.

 My use of the internet and NMTs has therefore enabled me to become a prosumer, a creator of media products to a near professional standard.  I have also been able to share ideas and research global and industry standard products.  Online digital technologies have made available to me opportunities to upload, share and distribute my products using YouTube as a free online broadcast platform.  It is also interactive – audiences have been able to feedback, like and comment on my products using features such as the comments box at the bottom of YouTube and SurveyMonkey for direct qualitative feedback.  These new skills learned on this course have enabled me to gain experience not only as a user of digital technology, but also to also become a producer – important to an understanding of the media in an online age.