HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION

AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Google was the starting point of my research, I started with Google instead of a specific website because it gave broader and more varied results. I mostly used Google images for acquiring front covers of magazines that I was inspired by, including billboard adverts and photography that I wanted to analyse and take inspiration from. In addition when I was at loss of what independent magazines to look to for inspiration, Google was able to produce a varied range of them

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Photoshop was used as a way for me to initially layout my research, I was able to display the images and text close by each other because the movability of text and images was more flexible. It was also used as place where I could carry out experimentations when putting together my magazine. Through Photoshop I was able to add structure to the layout, it also helped me to know which layouts, colours and edits work.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Like Photoshop, this was another way of me to put images and text together, I often used this for when I was annotating the images as I wanted an easier and quicker way than Photoshop. It was very useful because of the basic editing and the ability to turn it into an image, this made it easier for me to transfer it to my blog.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Pic Monkey was another editing software I used for putting images together, the layout options were very varied. Although unlike Photoshop, I was not able to overlay the images or move them manually. This was mostly suitable for when I wanted to quickly put images together, and save as a draft on my blog, for me to complete it later.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Blogger was the main platform in which I carried out most of my planning. On this I was able discuss my ideas and inspirations, I placed and evaluated certain posters, magazine covers, articles that I was interested in, during my evaluation I talked about the colours, shot types, clothes etc.

CONSTRUCTION I used a DSLR camera to shoot the editorial piece that would accompany my article. Having used this to shoot my film in AS, I am quite familiar with the DSLR camera, by changing the lens from manual to automatic adjusting and re-adjusting the flash I was able to produce High quality photos.

CONSTRUCTIONI used Photoshop for the editing of my pictures. I.e. for my cover photo, I Increased the brightness and contrast, so it stands out more against the background. I also increased the exposure, so it would give it more studio type effect in which there was artificial lighting present. It was also used to create my front cover, contents page, article pages and poster. I was able to experiment with various layouts, for example for my front cover, I started with the background as a pastel, but due to inspiration from magazine layouts on Google, I then re-adjusted it to just the inner background, and left the outer background as white and placed most of the text on the white section.

CONSTRUCTIONThis was mostly used to write up my article. Microsoft, is very standard and easy to use, with it having corrections and consistently checking your grammar, it helped me pay more attention to the articulation of my sentences. Also with and offline thesaurus and dictionary, it was easier for me to access more coherent language.

CONSTRUCTIONI used Wix to create my website, Wix already has a selection of templates, which are suitable for various businesses. I chose the simple template, because I wanted the images and the text to be the main focal point. With the template, Wix offers Express edits which enable you to do basic edits, such as adding images texts. When I transferred to editor, the editing options were more specific and flexible, I was able to resize texts and images, add links to images and texts along with more specific editing such as frames, animations etc. The only problem I had whilst using this software was that my navbar did not show up on each page, so I had to link a couple of the pages to the images.

EVALUATION

Through PowerPoint I was able to talk about my experience with certain media technologies. PowerPoint is easy to use, and very suitable for presenting something in a precise and clear way. The added edits, animations and transitions serve to making the presentation more appealing and active than a word document.

EVALUATIONWindows movie maker is a much simpler version of final cut pro; it contains basic edits, with the option of adding music, images and narration. I used Movie Maker's narration recorder to talk about how concise the combination between my magazine and my two other ancillary tasks were. Along with the narration I added Images to support and visualise my points. I chose to do narration combined with images because I felt that it was more engaging than the written word.

EVALUATIONThrough Photoshop I was able to talk about my use of media conventions, I laid out this part of my evaluation as a feature in magazine, because not only does it link to my coursework, but it means I am able to be flexible when it comes to the layout and the overall aesthetic of it. Magazines are also mediums that engage a lot of people; it is also exciting to experiment with.

EVALUATIONI also used a Prezi presentation to talk about my audience feedback, Prezis are like PowerPoint’s, but the templates are more professional. I used a Prezi because unlike PowerPoint there is no need to design the template as there are a variety of styles already set out for you. Its transitions are also more interesting and engaging. However the process of adding images and text is more difficult and at first can be slightly confusing. Yet the overall appearance of the presentation is more aesthetically pleasing.