Digital technology (by Laurence Ewen)

Various forms of digital technology were used in the process of creating our music video. In the research stage, the internet was a valuable source of information which we could access with computers. It enabled us to find out information about the genre of the music, which record label the track was signed on, detailed descriptions of the conventions of music videos, and access to video hosting sites such as YouTube, where we could watch other music videos to draw inspiration from.

Computers were also of course used in the construction of all the blog posts on Blogger. Online logs of our progress so far could be written up to refer back to in future use (for example to view the embedded videos which we could draw inspiration from when constructing our music video). Digital cameras proved to be useful as we could take pictures while filming and then save them to a computer, and then these files could be uploaded onto the blog posts to make them more visually appealing.

Other types of digital technology were also used in the production process of the music video. This includes a MiniDV camcorder, which was the device used to film our footage. Due to the possibility of accidently overwriting footage on the camcorder, we were careful not to rewind the tape during the production process unless it was particularly required (e.g. for copying the footage onto the computer for editing). We were however able to use the different functions available with the device, such as zooming, which enabled us to easily choose what is included in each frame.

In the editing stage of our music video, digital technology was used again. We could transfer the files from the camcorder onto the computer with use of the USB cable and import them into the computer using the video editing software, 'iMovie HD'. In this program we could arrange the clips into order, cut them to the preferred lengths, apply necessary effects and transitions, and ensure that cuts are in time with the audio track alongside the visuals in the video. We found the program quite easy to use after understanding how to use the main functions available, and the undo and save functions ensured that we didn't lose any progress in the process.

Some of the blog posts regarding days of filming didn't include any digital camera photos, and we felt they could look more visually appealing with images of the filming we did on such days. To do this, we took screen-shots of visual clips in the music video, cropped them to size and saved these cropped images using Adobe Photoshop, and then uploaded these new pictures to the blog. This highlights our creativity in averting the issue of not always taking such photos with a digital camera when filming.