The document summarizes the key technologies the author learned about and used in constructing a music magazine product. These included Photoshop for editing photos, Quark Express for layout, a Nikon DSLR camera for high-quality images, Blogger.com for blogging work in progress, and Facebook for gathering audience feedback. The author gained experience using these technologies and feels more confident in their ability to create professional media materials.
6. Quark Express I used quark express to create my contents page and double page spread. Before I used it I hadn't heard of it before however I found the programme much easier to use than Photoshop. I was able to create rows and columns which benefited my double page spread as I could create an article using columns to make it look more professional. I also found that the use of layers was helpful as it allowed me to move around parts of my contents page towards the end when I felt that I needed to tweak parts. I felt that using this professional programme made my magazine look conventional like other real media products. Another part of quark express that I favoured over Photoshop was the picture box tool. This allowed me to input images on any part of the page and move them around easily. I found that you couldn’t do this on Photoshop. Again using the RGB code I was able to create the same colours that I needed in order to continue my pink theme onto the contents page and double page spread. The image on the left is an example of what my contents page looked like using quark express. I had the option to keep the outlines on each of the layers which helped me to align my contents and made it look more professional.
7. DSLR Camera – Nikon D60 I used a Nikon D60 DSLR camera to take the images for my magazine. I hadn’t used a professional camera before and found it really helpful to choose different options for different effects and images. I mainly used the colour saturated setting (baby) on the camera in order to make the photos brighter and for the colour to stand out. I took my photos in the photography studio and found that using the stand for the camera created the perfect size image for my front cover. The camera had a good depth-of-field which meant I was able to zoom in and out and the quality of image would stay the same. I now feel that I could use a DSLR camera again from this experience.
8. Blogger.Com At the beginning of the media course we all had to sign up to Blogger.com. This was the first time that I had heard of this programme. I found that blogging throughout the course was very helpful as I was able to look back on any previous work, it also allowed me to compare previous work with recent work. It helped me to keep all of my work in one place, and if I had any unfinished work I was able to upload it and know it was safe. I felt that keeping a blog was good because I could add pictures and power points to keep it interesting. It was quicker than recording everything onto paper, and I found it easy to access. Also, the fact that you can access all of your work from home made it a lot easier to complete assignments.
9. Facebook Although I had previously used Facebook, it was introduced to me as a way of gaining responses to parts of my work. Through Facebook I was able to post my media product and add questions to it. This allowed me to get replies to the questions and check if my media magazine was successfully aimed at the right target audience.
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11. Before starting the course I had never used any of these technologies and after a little bit of help I found them easy and helpful to use.
12. I enjoyed learning how to use these technologies and feel that I could easily use them again in another situation.