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

First of all the main media technology we used was the Internet for research, looking through several different indie genre websites, album covers and music videos enabled us to find specific featues and conventions that would make our own music video effective. We were able to research theorists such as Goodwin to compare our own to what is expected of real media products. This research stage is where the majority of our inspiration came from and the internet helped greatly with this. Also in the research stage we asked different focus groups to help us with ideas about their favorite genre of music but also the ideas, thoughts and images that came into their heads when listening to our chosen song. With the media technology of "Excel" we were able to put these results into tables and pie charts and use the formulas to work out percentages to make it clear which ideas and thoughts were most common.

Moving on during the filming we had to be able to use the technology of the cameras well enough to create the effects and camera angles we wanted. For example features such as the "zoom" button allowed us to get close ups within our filming which was vital in giving a range of angles to the audience and getting the real emotions of the actor and dancers in the video.

After filming, we used the apple mac laptop for editing, this technology was important in being able to edit, cut and add special effects. The apple mac allowed us to upload the music to be able to play alone with the scenes we had film, this helped greatly whilst trying to get the timing with the lip singing. Also, it enabled us to add special effects such as slow motion which was vital in getting that link between the music and the visuals in our video as fast cuts would not have been in time with the beat. An issue we also solved in i movie maker the programme on the mac was that we could put a stabiliser on all the shots to stop them looking shaky which was a feature pointed out when being reviewed.

Also involving the internet, we were able to access sites such as "moonfruit" in which we could make our own website for free. "Moon fruit" allowed us to add images, backgrounds, links, text and much more into a specific design that would link our website, music video and album cover all together. Without a website our target audience could not access information about the band and therefore consumption may be smaller, sites such as "Moonfruit" allowed us to create a website of our choice.

Involving the album cover and digipak we also used the Apple Mac and a design programme "IPhoto" to create what would suit our music video and website. The laptop enabled us to alter any text and images to the size or colour we wanted for example we took still pictures of the female and horse for our album cover background however the colours were slightly too dull and would not stand out in a store. Therefore we changed the contrast, brightness, tone, sharpness and more to create an image more appropriate for consumption.

Finally, other digital websites such as Facebook, Youtube and Yahoo helped us whilst we did our evaluation. Sites such as these allow us to post out music video for everyone who's a member to see. Therefore our music video attracted an audience and feedback. They all have a place that allows reviews and comments. Yahoo is effective as it allows us as the creaters to post a question and a very wide audience can view this. This is important in our evaluation as feedback was a way to fine tune and add anything that our target audience would want to see.