How I used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages

Web 2.0 is associated with interactive information sharing websites like Facebook, Blogger, and Youtube and rather than being a term for new technologies, it is more about how we use the current technologies in new ways.  Because of web 2.0 I was able to incorporate photos videos and links to my blog and everyone was able to participate in this by viewing or adding comments.  It made thing much easier as when it came to research and planning I was able to incorporate lots of different media into my work making it a more visual experience than the norm of just plain text.  Also it made it easier for my teacher and classmates to see my inspirations quickly rather than having to research or find out themselves, however web 2.0 does have it's setbacks.  You do lose some of the simplicities of usual communications and it can be complex and technological issues also come into play, for example if my computer crashes I could lose any unsaved work, similarly if the internet doesn't work then you are unable to do your work.  Other issues can include copyright as there is little privacy, however this in some ways helps as you can gain inspiration and ideas of other peoples work, although obviously not copying. Here are some examples of the technologies which I have used some including web 2.0 sites:

These are all the technologies which I have used in the process of making and researching my media product.  Flicker, Youtube and Facebook helped me mainly with the research stages as they helped me to see similar work and gave me new ideas.  They also allowed me to broadcast my work to a worldwide audience rather than just a local one, this helped a great deal when it came to audience feedback.  Facebook allowed me to talk to my target audience and get quick feedback and post my ideas as well as my finished product.  Flickr allowed me to annotate images and post them quickly on my blog.  Blogger was a quick and easy way to organise my work and share ideas with the rest of our group, it also made it easier for our teacher to keep track of our work so to make sure we were up-to-date.

Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Dafont, Garage Band, and Creative Commons helped me with the making of my product and as they are the most up-to-date software it meant that I was able to get the very best final products possible.  I used 'Dafont' to use original fonts which I then downloaded into Photoshop to give my products a unique touch, and made my products look professional.  We used Creative Commons to look for music for the soundtrack and used Garage Band to make our own sound effects and voice overs.  Creative Commons is a non profit organisation where the creators are able to legally share their work with people and are able to waive certain rights so that the public are able to obtain their work for free by creating a more flexible licence agreement.  Because of this we were able to preview and download a range of different music to fit with our trailer and didn't have to make our own from scratch or have to buy it.  This was very useful and helpful during the production of our work and was easy to use and benefits both the creator and the consumer as it was simple, usually free and allowed the work to be available worldwide.

The digital camera and video camera along with my Iphone all helped to shoot the material for our final product and ancillary texts, also as they are all digital it helped us to quicker upload them to the computer without any hassle.

Because of media convergence, where technology evolves to perform many tasks in one product, for example, my Iphone.  I was able to take photo's and upload them straight to flickr on my mobile, annotate them and upload them to my blog, I was also able to upload and download videos off youtube and add them to my blog just using my phone.  Also, while I didn't use it, there is an app on my Iphone for film editing so I could have shot our trailer on my phone and used the Iphone's software to edit the trailer and upload it straight to Youtube. Because of how much technology has developed in the last few years it is much easier to share ideas and work on the internet than it was previously, now there are sites and programs which allow you to upload and comment on them, rather than having to create your own website or server, which obviously is very complex.  Media convergence has made technology and information more accessible to everyone and has made it simpler to do, particularly during this product as all of the technology I used made things simpler on average and quicker.

I would use a lot of the technology which I have been introduced to during this coursework particularly flickr and garage band.  Because of the knowledge and skills which I have gained during this project I have been able to extend my mum's business by creating her own CD's for retail using Garage Band and also I have began setting her up a blog and helped further on the design and production of her website where I have added links to videos, to websites and songs showing how my skills have been developed and extended and impacted other areas of my study and free time.

All in all, the technology which I have used while completing this coursework has helped me to be more organised and has helped me to get the best final product as well as being less time consuming that other medium and much more interesting visually.