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

How have I improved from AS Level?
To begin, I feel that in my A2 coursework, I have really improved my research and planning. In comparison to last year (AS), this area of my studies is far more thorough with my blog posts containing lots of detail. As a result of our extensive research, I feel that our final products have definitely bettered from this as we have put more informed thought into it- such as deciphering whether to conform or break conventions in the music industry. During AS level, our research and planning was rather lightly brushed over when it should have been our key focus. Saying this, we all agree that we have definitely learned from our mistakes in areas that we were scoring lower in last year and I believe that our final products are much more of a professional standard this time around.
This year I included research into artist inspiration, music genre and target audience- I did not do this in very much detail at all last year. I made sure that when I learnt new information, that I would blog about it each time and also use my blog as a diary such as recording filming days and planning them in further detail on a production schedule.

My editing skills have also improved. I learnt many more techniques on iMovie that I wasn't aware of at AS such as cropping a video to focus more on a certain area of a clip and colour correction. I believe that this year we were far more experimental and had a more creative outlook which shines through our finished products. We used our basic skills that we had gained from AS and developed these further to create a more advanced video.
As well as this, I learnt skills such as how to use Photoshop when creating our digipak and other ancillary products. We didn't use editing software such as 'Photoshop' at AS Level so I found it very beneficial to learn these new editing skills. New skills were required to be learnt to carry out this task of making a music video successfully this year. We had to choose the right group member to be cast as the lead artist and be able to execute lip syncing perfectly. We felt like the best lip syncer and actress makes a huge difference to how effective and professional the final product looks and we definitely chose right. This is just one example of a decision we had to make at A2 that we didn't have to make at AS as there would obviously be no lip syncing required in a film opening last year.

As well as this, last year we were limited to poorer technology. As you can see in the image (right), we only had access to smaller cameras however studying at A2, we were able to film with larger high definition camera equipment. This made a very evident difference in our final products- the newer cameras made our music video look of a much higher quality and thus, more professional. Not only this, but we also had access to studio lights and projecting equipment at A2 level. This meant that we were able to be more experimental whilst it also making our filming footage look much sharper/brighter and therefore creating an effective final piece. Last year we did not have access to this equipment and you can definitely see a clear difference between the two quality wise.

We all worked extremely well as a group at A2 meaning that our organisation and work during class was very smooth. As we all worked so well together it made it easy for us to plan filming days outside of school and for this reason we visited many locations. I feel that how well we get along as a group shines through in our final video- we were also able to recognise each others weaknesses and make up for them accordingly.

The coursework at A2 differed greatly in comparison to AS. I felt that this year not only was it more enjoyable but we had more scope to be creative. Last year we had stricter or less broad guidelines to follow so to speak. We were given a specific genre for our film opening which therefore restricted what we were able to toy with (e.g mise en scene such as costume and props). At A2 we chose our alternative genre ourselves and this allowed us to be more creative. We explored a range of locations (around 8 different locations) and let our imagination run wild as a music video allowed us to do this- this differed to AS where we only shot our film opening in two locations, one of them being at school. My confidence has definitely grown this year, making me less afraid to take risks and be creative.

My knowledge of technology and media has massively improved this year since AS and I am very happy with our final products.