How Did You Use Media Technologies

In The Construction and Research,

Planning and evaluation stages?

BY CHLOE REYNOLDS
 Now a days our technology is the basis of everything from
communication to entertainment and our pleasure. Everything is
based around technology which has evolved over the years and will
continue to do so in the future.
We as prosumers influence technology and are desensitised to it.
Baudrillard states that we all enter a consciousness where we
havent got the ability to distinguish between reality and the
simulacra that is represented to us (hyperreality).
 What I feel is important is the medium is the message discussed
by Marshall McLuhan which means that it is not all the information
that is important it is the form of which it is represented as that is
the key message to audiences. The signs and symbols conveyed
through this medium is interpreted by audiences (Ferdinand de
Saussure). Therefore, when designing my ancillary products I kept
this in mind.
 Lyotard states that there is a rejection of the assumed scientific
knowledge and absolute truth. Technology has had an impact on
the status of knowledge on society. As prosumers we control the
flow of information we want to receive at that particular period of
time (e.g. BBC). Therefore, as audiences we have the power of
how things are distributed to us due to our popular use of that
technology. However, for producers they may mislead us or
perceive a false truth that we interpret as reality.
 The technologies which I have used throughout my research,
planning and construction was:
Advantages
Allows you to be creative in many ways.
Able to learn how to do things e.g. on photoshop, premiere pro,
InDesign etc. due to tutorials online.
Easy to use software's in order to present your work or evaluate it.
Easy to experiment with effects with the technology.
Very visual.
Gain audience interaction in the construction process due to
audience feedback online and in person as to what looked good
how I could improve and make amendments.
Disadvantages
Not always reliable as for example your external hard drive may get
corrupted or your work maybe loosed due to the formatting of your
work.
The equipment which I hired from the college was restricted as other
people were using them at the same time.
Technical issues with the technology as it didnt always work correctly.
Biased the people who took part in my hot desking and focus groups.
Especially when doing my research the questionnaire on survey monkey
as it was public people from other countries could have answered it and
lied.
Examples From My Own Work:
When I went to collect the equipment from the college there was
little of it which made it hard to reshoot sequences for my video.
Therefore, to overcome this issue I had to reschedule my shoot to
the availability of equipment.
Secondly there was difficulty in the exportation of the video due to
the file coded differently on different computers due to the various
versions of the software.
A positive effect of technology on my work was that I was able to
produce a polished product due to tutorials online which enabled
me to create speed ramping on clips, time lapses, adjust the music
ect.
 Due to the various software's/websites/technology I was able to
represent my work in interesting, interactive visual ways which
make it easier to interpret. The downside to this is that it takes a
while to work your way around the site and sometimes once you
have completed your work it wont let you embed it to your blog so
you have to start again on a different site.
Finally I have learnt by exploring various technology it has been
very inspirational in my designs whether that be images, fonts,
layouts etc.
 With all of the available technologies it has enabled me to complete
the process to a near professional standard such as with premiere
pro, Photoshop, InDesign etc. which without I wouldnt have been
able to do say 3 years ago for example.
The downside which I feel affected my construction, planning and
evaluation was the infringe of creativity sometimes it is better to
express your ideas with a pen and paper as you are then restricted
to excessive tweaking which may in fact ruin your work not make it
better. For example: on the software's premiere pro, Photoshop and
InDesign where you are able to make amendments to an image or
clip without having to start again. Therefore, sometimes by using
the old fashioned method it allows you to make a final decision of
how it will look.
Conclusion
As a result of using technology I have developed my skills in
creating print products, videos, representing my work in interesting
ways. However, with technology I have also learnt that it cannot
always be relied on as work can be loosed may not be able to
transport it due to different versions of software. So throughout my
coursework I have tried to experiment with technology and feel
with some I have been out of my comfort zones e.g. photoshop,
InDesign which I worked with last year but I found it difficult to use
still.