Evaluation - Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

When completing the whole project, technology has played a huge part. Firstly I would have been unable to complete the project without the use of http://www.blogger.com/. This website is where I have documented all of the work I have completed and is how everyone will be able to look at it. From the very beginning the website http://www.youtube.com/ has been vital in completing the project. The use of embedding videos into my blog has made the process of researching existing products very simple because I was able to show people which videos I was influenced by and tell them why in one place. I have incorporated Media 2.0 technologies into the project as well by using http://www.facebook.com/ to interrect with my audience. I set up a group and invited some friends who I thought were part of the target audience to join. This meant that I was able to get audience feedback from the very beginning and it would all be in one place. I was also able to show people my digipack, advertisement and video when they were all finished and ask people to give me feedback on them. I was also able to communicate with the artist I was using through the use of emails. This Media 2.0 made getting in touch and asking permission very simple and easy and made the whole project fit together better.

When beginning to produce and shoot the digipack, advert and video, we used either a Panasonic HD DV camera or a Nikon D60 DSLR camera. These cameras are both very advanced in technology and allow you to film or take a picture and watch it back on the camera. This kind of technology allows us to get the filming done much faster and with much more ease. The access to these cameras was extremely helpful and made completing the project much easier. When going back into the classroom and actually putting the products together, I used Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Premiere Pro. Photoshop was used for the digipack and the advertisement and made putting them together very simple and quick. I was able to be more creative with the new media technology and it made doing things like edit pictures very simple. Without the use of Photoshop, the digipack and advert would be very limited and unprofessional. When completing the video, I used Premiere Pro which, again, made the process very simple. I was able to do lip-syncing with ease and create a video that flowed well.

I feel that if I were to have access to more advance technologies, such as a studio to shoot a video in or an advanced lighting system, the video may have come across as more professional. When looking at the theory of technological determinism, I felt that the new technology did both help and hinder my finished products. For example, the technology made completing the projects very fast, with everything in one place and at my disposal as I wished. However, I do feel that when creating the digipack, I was more limited as to where I was going to put the pictures because the programme had it's own idea as to where it wanted the picture to go. I do not have any major crisicisms of the technology used.