Evaluation Question 6 - Finished

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

My abilities across all technologies have improved over the period of this course. Firstly, before completing our music magazine, I had never used Photoshop before which now I can confidently use it. As you can see from my preliminary work, Photoshop was a weakness for me as I was new to the software and had to learn the techniques through the help of my teachers but also through trial and error. It was a lengthy process but now I can say that I can comfortably use Photoshop for future projects. Because I didn’t know how to use Photoshop, it had give me a disadvantage over other students as they had previous experience from GCSE Media. Another example of a skill which I have built over the course for my project would be my ability to take photos. My camerawork has improve drastically as from my preliminary, there was problems with it such as lighting the angle the shots were taken from but also the positioning of the camera. Over the course, I have also learnt new techniques such as camera angles, the focal length of the shots but also the lighting for the shots. For my preliminary task and my first draft, I used the camera on my iPhone but for my final version I used a professional camera in order to take the best possible photos. In a real life magazine, advanced cameras are used in order to get the best quality photo for the magazine as you wouldn’t want a poor picture yet the audience is still paying the price as the magazine wouldn’t be worth the money as it hasn’t been made to the best of their ability. Another skill which I personally believe that I have learnt is the lighting on camera. The lighting of shots is important as it could be the difference between seeing someone clearly or not being able to because the room is too dark making it hard to see the band members. Another skill which I have improved would be using blogger. This is because before the media coursework, I was new to blogger and didn’t understand it until we were taught how to use it and we could improve our self our ability to use it. What I mostly struggled with was the ability to embed a blog post in to my blog. This was confusing but after spending a decent amount of time on it, I was able to practice and now I can embed a blog post with ease. Before the coursework, I had never used sound cloud but for the coursework, we had to make a music playlist based on the genre of music we were working on. I didn't find it hard making the playlist but embedding it in to my blogger account was the difficult bit. Finally, my last skill which I have gained from the coursework was the ability to research more effectively. Before the coursework, I was able to research but at a low standard compared to now. After spending time researching the information I need, I have found it easier to find specific information through trial and error with my searches. It wouldn’t always work but there was always a way in which I could find the information I need to know in order to complete my research and planning. Overall, the media coursework has helped gained my skills hugely over the past few months due to being exposed to new formats of media.