1A - Digital Technology

As I progressed through the two year course in media, my digital technology skills have improved significantly. This improvement was largely due to the more experience I had gained while using digital technology during lessons and in my free time. I became more adventurous and tried new techniques along the way which also helped me gain more reassurance when I use digital technology.

In year 12 I was first introduced to Premiere Pro where I experimented with the different effects and transitions. For my film opening, I did not explore the potential of this software sue to the nature of the task. This is because a film opening is generally free flowing and does not require too many enhancing effects, we focused primarily on the narrative of the opening therefore it was more important to gain the correct footage which would represent the narrative in the best way possible. However, in year 13 I used Premiere Pro to create a music video which naturally requires more special effects and transitions as there are so many shots which interlink with each other. This meant that my group had to use a digital camera that would capture many different camera angles and frames. For example, in our video we used a panning shot of the performer because we wanted to focus on the performance rather than the narrative. Additionally, we found a location where we were able to capture an extremely high angle of the performer because we wanted the audience to see that our artist as a prominent figure in our music video.

Moreover, as I made the transition from year 12 into year 13 I noticed the importance of YouTube as a platform to show off our work and to promote the image of our artist. We created the name Paleme for our artist as we thought this was a unique name for an emerging singer in the music industry. YouTube proved to be more suitable for uploading a music video because we were able to create drafts of the music video where our audience could view it and then give us feedback on how we could improve our video. As well as YouTube we found it was just as important to create a thorough website where we could advertise the Paleme’s music and his overall image. In year 12 we used Wix to create a simple website where we would upload the film opening but we did not want to give away too many teasers of the film because we wanted to create suspense for the release of the film. However, in year 13 we used the website in a completely different way as it was another platform where we could advertise Paleme to create a larger fan base. This meant that our website had to include everything about Paleme to show that he can become a huge player in the music industry. Again, we used Wix to create the website but we included a navigation bar that would take the user to different parts of the website. For example, we had a merchandise section along with a page where the audience could listen to his new hit single and purchase it if they liked it. At first, it was quite difficult to create a website where the user could actually purchase clothing and accessories. I invested a lot of time and effort in the creation of this website and had to research how to include these features in a website.

Social media is digital technology where you are able to promote a new musical artist, therefore it was very significant in year 13. We created a profile of Paleme on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. These are the four largest platforms so it made sense that we could reach a wider audience through the creation of these profiles. In year 12 we used Facebook to upload the film opening but we made sure that in year 13 we kept our audience engaged with various updates and we even included an MTV interview where Paleme was asked questions about his musical history and what he wants to achieve as a musician. Once we had the interview completed we could upload it onto all four social media platforms so that our target audience could keep in touch with Paleme and look forward to the release of his new music video.

Overall, I found that my skills in digital technology improved over the course of two years. Especially with social media because it was important to advertise Paleme in as many ways possible in order to create a larger following. In year 12 we used digital technology to simply create and edit the film opening and make a website but I found that in order to promote a musical artist my group had to use digital technology constantly so that our project would reach as many people as possible.