Heres the link..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwTyrm0i_B4
I decided to create a comparison sheet in terms of the different digital technology I used across the two years as well as in the construction of my Advanced portfolio pieces to accompany the commentary.
AS Foundation Production
Research and Planning:
• Internet: used this to research initial ideas, in terms of costume, props, hair and make-up.
• YouTube: looked up and researched other opening sequences of thriller films to help give inspiration in terms of the colour palette, the score and the style.
• Blog: this was used to try and get us to store all our research materials and order them in an orderly fashion, so everything flows in a chronological order.
• Digital Camera: I initially used the camera to take pictures of possible locations in order to help find the perfect setting for our opening sequence.
• Photoshop: when we were starting up we used Photoshop to help create a logo and a letterhead, this was to help us feel as if we were creating this real business.
A2 Advanced Production
Research and Planning:
• Internet: used the internet to again research initial ideas in terms of costumer etc. but also to research star image, we did more independent research to find out the star image we wished to create.
• YouTube: this again was used to research multiple pop videos, ones that were similar and contrasting in order to help us get a real understanding of what we wanted ours to look like. Also, once more set on the track choice – we were able to look at already ‘home-made’ videos to the same track.
• Blog: used to upload our initial research material in order for it to be continually logged, also this year we have made a lot more use of the blogs – we frequently are adding and altering posts, giving it a slightly more relaxed approach so it is a continual log of our progress.
• Digital Camera: when looking for potential performers, we went round and took pictures of people we thought would suit the role so we had a back log when it came to making a final decision.
AS Foundation Production
Construction:
• Digital Camera: used to take pictures continually on the shoot day in order to help us with our evaluation.
• Sony 170 Camera: we used this camera to film the opening sequence of our thriller.
• Final Cut Pro: this was the software we used to cut and edit our opening sequence together, once it was cut on the timeline we used to create credits along with a score. For our thriller, we didn’t use any after effects as it was not needed for the effect we were looking to create.
A2 Advanced Production
Construction:
• Digital Camera: again we used a camera to take photos of our shoot day to help with our evaluation. But also, we used it to take promotional pictures from our shoot day, such as for our poster as well as our CD cover.
• Sony 170: we used this camera to film our storyboards in order for us to make a rough cut of them together – as we knew that this camera was not as high quality as the cameras that were available for us to shoot our pop promos with.
• JVC Camera: we used this to film our pop promo, this camera is a lot more technically advanced than the one we used in AS, it creates a much better depth of field along with a much strong quality, making the pop promo look more authentic.
• Final Cut Pro: again this is the program we used to edit. Initially, we begun using this software to do a rough cut of our storyboard, this was to make it easier for when it came to cutting together the actual footage from the shoot day, as we would be wary of where we wanted each shot to be placed etc. Then eventually, we used this software to cut and edit together the footage to create our pop video.
• AfterEffects: we used this for the editing of the blue screen along with the moving backgrounds; this program is defiantly more advanced than Final Cut Pro and defiantly challenged us.
• Photoshop: we used this to design and create the front and back of our CD cover along with the bands promotional poster.
AS Foundation Production
Evaluation:
• YouTube: once the opening sequence was created, we uploaded it onto YouTube and then we were able to gather audience feedback – we are able to view comments, audience views and where the video was being most played in the world etc. This enabled us to make comparisons and help to evaluate our work.
• Blog: throughout we used this to upload our progress, therefore, we were able to look back on our experience that had been uploaded onto our blog, which helped us to answer the 7 evaluative questions we were asked.
A2 Advanced Production
Evaluation:
• YouTube: again we have used to view audience feedback etc, however, we have not used this as well as last year because we didn’t push for audience feedback that much on YouTube, therefore there has not been too much to help us with.
• Blog: as we used our blog so much more this year, and had a much more relaxed approach – seeing it as more of a diary, it enabled us to look back on our work over both this year and last year and see what we have improved on along with what we could have done differently.
• Internet: we used the internet and found a website called surveymonkey. This was brilliant as it was an easy way of creating questionnaires online and has made it easier to identify and collect the responses. Also, it has allowed us to send via email etc, generating more people to give us audience feedback.
We were directed to a couple of presentations on YouTube by Michael Wesch a Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University: These helped me establish some key evaluative points.
The first video was 'The Machine is Changing Us' on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gR6VPVrpw
Following on from watching this, there were a number of important points that were worth considering in terms of evalutive points, such as:
- There are 20% of people on the web - what about the other 80%?
- 2 billion people online
- The web holds the next revolution - anyone can upload and use the web globally at any one time.
- 18 million people read blogs
- The web is 'The great leveller' - everyone has equal access, equal voice and equal potential.
- Wikipedia has become the most important information source in the world, more than 62 million people use it around the world, anyone can edit the information - people power.
- The web was and still is a challenge to authority.
- The web is used to express, to comment, to discuss and to receive ideas.
- The internet is the infrastructure whereas the web are the links.
- 6th August 1991 - the first website went online
- The web opened up information to anyone who had access to a computer.
- One view is that the internet is for sharing and collaboration, where it is promoting creative freedom. Whereas, another view is how do we pay the mortgage - is it just profit driven?
- 90% of downloads on the web are not paid for.
- YouTube is viewed more than a billion times a day.
Some key terminology of Web 2.0 :
- NETOCRACY: the idea that the web is controlled by no-one
- ARCHITECTURE OF PARTICIPATION: the idea that web-pages are built to encourage the audience to get involved in creating their own 'spaces'.
- USER GENERATED CONTENT: the idea that the audience controls the content and how it is displayed e.g. Wikipedia
- INFORMATION RICH: the idea that pages and sites are all full of images, sounds, connections and uses. For example, quality is not as good as established institutional material, YouTube has low production values, poor pixilation and poor sound quality. Whereas Flickr has high quality photographic images.
- INFORMATION CLOUD: this is a criticism of Web 2.0, it ts the idea that no one is controlling or filtering information, so the user becomes lost or confused or misinformed.
- MASH-UP: the idea that the audience can personalise it or be creative, e.g. CassetteBoy vs. Alan Sugar
- FOLKSONOMY: Web 2.0 is based around useable, searchable and navigatable windows or 'tags'.
A summary of the main issues and criteria by which we can analyse the arguments surrounding new media technologies and Web 2.0 applications:
- There is an increased PROLIFERATION of user generated content - there is a constant expansion
- There is a degeneration in the production QUALITY of content.
- There is a massive emphasis on audience INTERACTIVITY.
- CONVERGENCE technology is taken for granted and is multiple.
- INSTITUTIONAL CONVERGENCE is threatened.
- A new NETOCRACY is provided to audiences.
