In the research and planning stages of my project, I relied heavily on the internet to source videos and images which would go on to influence my design and filming choices dramatically. I sourced music videos from within the Indie Pop genre on YouTube.com, helping me to realise conventions of the genre. As well as this, I was able to research editing tutorials on YouTube to help me with my print product designs. I watched tutorials on how to create a levitation effect in Adobe Photoshop CS6, which enabled me to create an interesting and obscure image for my print advert. YouTube proved to be an extremely useful and efficient technology which helped me vastly throughout my project. The internet also proved vital for helping me in finding excellent fonts to use for my print work; on DaFont.com, as the standard installed Microsoft and Adobe fonts lack in variety. DaFont was a good website as it provided me with variety, however a downfall of this website for me was that some fonts were inaccessible since you have to pay for them.

I also used the social networking site Facebook to plan dates and times of filming with those who were involved in the music video. This website was of great help to me in terms of being able to instantly receive answers on whether people could attend set filming sessions, and I found no downfalls when using it. Some media technologies that were also very helpful in my research stages were websites Prezi.com, Emaze.com and Slideshare.net. All three websites are presentation sharing software, however these proved to be excellent ways for me to document my research and access it in a clean-cut, clear format. Blogger.com has been the website where I have been documenting my project. This website has been extremely useful in ensuring that my work is secure and accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. Everything which I have documented throughout my project has been archived in date order, meaning that when I have needed to check my past research, I have been able to find it with ease.

While planning the shot types for my music video, we trialled a filming technological equipment piece called a dolly which is used to track (crab) alongside a subject as it moves. In the film industry, top of the range dolly systems are extremely expensive pieces of equipment. However, we were able to get access to a small dolly intended for home use. This proved ineffective and unsuitable for our filming intentions when trialled outdoors, since its lack of suspension meant that on gravel, a shaky image was created.

During the construction stage, we were able to use a Nikon D3200 to film with. In the research section of my product, I noted that depth of field and the area of focus in shots was a key feature in existing Indie Pop music videos. Particularly, a macro shot where the foreground is in sharp focus and the background is blurred out. This level of detail in focus is unachievable with many types of filming cameras, and so we were able to have access to Georgia’s Nikon D3200, which was capable of creating the professional looking shots we wanted. The only downfall I found with using this camera was that since it is intended for professional use, I found it difficult at first to get used to its functions. However soon after our first filming session, I was familiar and comfortable with using it to my advantage.

After having filmed the music video, I used Sony Vegas Pro 13 to edit it. I was able to put all the recordings into the correct order, alter their length so that they were in time with the beat of the song, as well as edit details such as slow motion and colour alterations. I found this program extremely successful in allowing me to create and refine my music video until I saw it as being a finished product. An issue I had using this software was that because it was new to me, I found it difficult to use to begin with. However after having watched video tutorials on YouTube.com, and trialling different techniques, I got used to the program quickly and found it easy to achieve the editing techniques. The program also took a long time to render our video every time we saved our progress, as the file became very large very quickly. However overall, this wasn’t a big problem.

To edit the photographs taken for my digipak and print advert, I used Adobe Photoshop CS6. This program proved in being the most suitable for the task, and since I had lots of experience using the software beforehand, I was comfortable in knowing that I was capable of creating the type of product which I had planned. I found no major issues editing my material in Photoshop, since once you’re used to its capabilities and functions, it’s fairly straightforward to use. For things which I wanted to do but was unsure of, with Photoshop being a well-known and used program, I was able to quickly find simple tutorials to aid me.

Overall, I feel that I used high-quality equipment for my project, and that certain technologies were vastly helpful in aiding me to create a professional looking, high quality set of products. I think that the most useful technologies used throughout my project were the Nikon D3200 DSLR camera, Sony Vegas Pro 13, and Adobe Photoshop CS6. If I were able to get access to more expensive equipment, I think that one which would have improved my music video would have been a professional style camera dolly. Used to create smooth tracking shots, a high quality camera dolly with effective suspension and stabilization would have allowed for me to use a better range of shot types within the music video. However, by using Sony Vegas Pro 13, I was able to use the stabilization tool to reduce shakiness in some of my shots.

Some of the technologies I used throughout my project cohere to the theory of technological determinism. This is the theory that presumes a society’s technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. I feel that Adobe Photoshop CS6 is the technology which coheres to this theory. I used this software when editing my print images, and I feel that some of the edits I made to my photographs are ones which alter society’s perception of idealisms. I used Photoshop to create an image where Georgia appears to be levitating. This was done by photographing the background using a tripod, then adding Georgia into the shot, on a chair. I then erased the chair on Photoshop to show the background layer; showing her to be floating. I believe this use of manipulating images has sculpted our society to expect far more extraordinary visuals in images they are exposed to.

I feel that I used media technologies effectively throughout my project. Rather than using them in a way which let the software decide the outcome of my work, I used it in a way which allowed me access to different technological platforms, however was completely in control of how they were effecting my work. For example, when using the Nikon D3200, I refrained from using the auto-focus setting on the camera. I set the focus to manual instead, which meant I was in control of where the focus was at each particular shot, rather than have the camera determine this for me. This meant that my filmed material was more coherent with the themes and conventions of indie pop music videos, rather than be controlled by the camera’s automatic settings.

I think that some technologies which I used allowed me to be extremely creative with my work. Particularly, the software Adobe Photoshop CS6 was excellent in the way that it offers vast amounts of options for you to choose from, meaning that I could experiment easily with colour, layout, size and image manipulation freely. This new technology by far has created a platform for creative thinkers to trail and let their imaginations create exciting things which they would not otherwise be capable of. Conversely, technologies like Prezi.com somewhat hindered my creativity. The presentation creating software enables you to create dynamic and clear slideshows, however only offers the option to use pre-made themes for your creations. However, I did not find this to be a big problem in my project, as Prezi was more of a technology which I used to record my research and work, rather than to create my work on.