The document discusses the various technologies and software used to create a product, including: - Photography equipment like DSLR, tripod, soft boxes, and lighting equipment - Design software like Photoshop, InDesign, Powtoon, Prezi, and Final Cut - Font websites like Dafont It describes how each were used, such as camera settings for photography, tools in Photoshop for image editing, wrapping text in InDesign, and layering music in Final Cut. The document reflects on areas for improvement, like gaining more expertise with tools in Photoshop, InDesign, and Final Cut to work more efficiently.

1. Question 6
What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product

2. Equipment and Software. What
did I use?
– Throughout the entirety of the coursework process, I used a variety of different
resources to complete my work. I found that they were also reasonably easy to
use and the end results were of a standard that I felt was good.
• Computers and Mac
• DSLR
• Tripod
• White screen
• Video camera
• Costume props
• Soft boxes
• Patterson’s
• Gel filters
• Reflectors
• Flashgun
• Beauty dish
• Extension cable
• Camera
• Photoshop
• Indesign
• Powtoon
• Prezi
• Slideshare
• Final cut
• Emaze
• Dafont

3. Discuss how I used specific tools on
the software and camera settings.
– When on my photography shoot for both my cover image and contents page images , I
needed to make sure that my camera was set to the correct settings as I wanted to create
an image that had High key lighting. This told me that I needed a slower shutter speed and a
larger aperture, this allowing a lot of light into the lenses creating an image that is bright.
– For my main photo-shoot, I used coloured gel filters. These are what allowed me to create
the coloured effect on my images. I placed the gels between the flashgun and the beauty
dish and then on between the beauty dish and them DSLR, this then directed the light onto
the model and created a two tones colour effect. I wanted to create a shot that looked
professional yet different and exciting, by incorporating colour into my photography I felt
that I achieved this. The colour was a device that intentionally used in order to link it to the
house genre, which revolves around connotations of excitement and happiness. Similarly
the two tones of colour should have appealed to my audience, not only is it rarely ever
used within print production but it also demonstrated to the audience that the magazine is
exciting and therefore piques their interest .

4. – The difference from when shooting internally and externally was greater than expected. My Main photo-
shoot was taken in a photography studio, with professional lighting equipment designed to advance the
light effects and how the light looks on the camera. The room was lit with not only lighting equipment but
also artificial ceiling lights which lit the room on their own to a satisfactory standard, the lighting equipment
was used purely to take advantage of the cameras technical abilities and to therefore create the best
possible image
– Whereas the external photo-shoot was a lot more difficult. My intention as to create an image that
followed the conventions of house music, therefore I wanted to shoot during the night using artificial studio
lights to light the subject. However this was a lot harder than expected, as the imaged were often washed
out or over exposed and it took multiple attempts to create the perfect image. I had to have my camera set
at a slower shutter speed than in the photography studio, so that I could let in as much light as possible, I
also needed the aperture at a high setting, so that I could similarly let in a lot of light.

5. Photoshop is a computer based software that I used to make the majority of my magazine .I
had used the software before when trying to edit my own Photography but have never used
it in-depth and with any sort of skill. When using Photoshop within my production process, I
had to imported images and embed text in order to complete my task. At first I found this
extremely difficult as it was not as straight forward as I originally thought.
For example…When importing an image I clicked on “file” and then “place” , this directed me
into my computer files which allowed me to then import the desired image.
To then enlarge the image, I clicked on the desired layer ( which is found on the right hand
side of the page) made sure it was rasterized( right click on the layer and search down the
drop bar until you come across the icon) and then clicked on the transform icon, which was
found within the edit tool bar. This then directed me to a separate drop bar which listed
several different tools, that allowed me to change the look of the image. I clicked on shift
and scale when wanted to change the size on an image.
I used blending options throughout my production, in order to make the page stand out and
look intriguing and exciting. I was able to add blending options to fonts and images , making
them stand out on the page rather than them looking flat and lifeless. In order to do this
process, I found I had to right click on the desired layer and scroll down until I found the tab
“blending option” . This then took me to a separate tab which offered multiple different
options I could chose from, such as “drop shadow” “inner shadow” and “overlay colour”
which allowed me to fill in a block colour into my layer.
Photoshop

6. Dafont
– Because I wanted to create synergy throughout my magazine I had to use the same fonts throughout my Cover
page and contents page. Rather than using a font from Photoshop, I used one from Dafont, a font website that
has a wide Varity of different creative options. I chose to use a font on Dafont rather than on Photoshop
because I felt that it was more personal and specific, linking better with my genre and brand identity. House
music has connotations of coolness and excitement, therefore I wanted a font that would mimic this idea rather
than just using a font that was common or looked unprofessional.
– The process I used when importing Dafont fonts was to screenshot the page and then paste the screen onto a
separate Photoshop page, allowing me to remove the background without cutting away any work I had
originally done on my magazine. This process quickly became very boring and tedious as I found that could only
screenshot single lines of text rather than multiple, resulting in hours of editing on small sections of text. A way
of making this process simpler for me, would be to download the software/font as it would allow me to use the
font freely, just as I could with a font already programmed onto Photoshop.

7. Contents page original vs. edited Cover page original vs. edited
With my photography's, I found that I barely had to edit my photos at all , as I had used
specific light and camera effects which made it unnecessary. However I did use the
brightening tool in order to highlight certain areas of the models face. I wanted the lightest
aspect of the images to be the centre of the artists face as I wanted to create connotations of
power and confidence. I also wanted to even out the skin tones on my model, as she looked
washed out in the original image due to the high intensity lighting. I had to highlight the
particular area and play around the brightness and overall tone of the image.

8. InDesign
– When using InDesign for my double page spread, I used multiple
different techniques in order to make a professional looking page. I
leant how to “wrap” text around images (highlight the image desired
and then click “text wrap” which is found on the right hand side)
However I did not use this specific technique within my production as
I did not want to clutter up my article spread, as the images may
have been seen as a distraction to those who were fox thinkers, as a
characteristic that they display is that of looking concentration easily.
However a technique that I did use within my production was getting
text to flow through columns. I did this by clicking on the red arrow
and drag the extra text to the desired place.
– Another technique I used, when adding a background colour I leant
that I needed too click on the square icon on the left and drag out a
box that fitted the entirety of the page – I then pressed swatches,
which was found on the right – When deciding my desired colour
preference, I double clicked on one of colour samples, which then
directed me to an additional colour pallet feature.

9. Problems I
found when
using InDesign
I found that when using text within my production, it was easier to use InDesign rather
than Photoshop, as InDesign is a specialist software made for text based tasks. InDesign
allowed me to move text more fluently than on Photoshop, However I did find that the
variety of fonts provided were lacking in creativity with InDesign, which surprised me as
it supposed to be a software based system that encourages the use of text.
I found using InDesign very helpful when writing up my magazine article however I did
struggle when trying to incorporate images, i.e. masthead. I wanted to use a font from
Dafont, but the software limited my capabilities as it would not allow me to place the
image in the position I wanted due to the capacity of the page. This therefore restricted
me when wanting to be creative with the layout of the page, as I found myself limited
with fonts that followed the desired conventions.
After testing out different fonts, and incorporating different blending options, I found a
font that I was reasonably happy with, although I was not completely satisfied, I felt that
the font chosen fit my requirements. If I were too do this production again in the future, I
would invest time into looking into whether or not there are any other types of software
systems that will not restrict me in any way.
Furthermore, because I found inserting images particularly difficult, I chose to not create
my collage of images using InDesign, as I new I would find it a lot easier on Photoshop.

10. Final cut
– Final cut is a computer based software system that is
used for video editing. Although my production was to
make a music magazine, I still wanted to learn skills in
edit and film. I created multiple videos when in the
planning and research section of the process in order to
try and maximise my overall marks.
– When making a short video on recourses and how to
use them , I layered a layer of music on top of my clips. I
had to use a downloader and convertor resource that
allowed me to use music without any copyright
restrictions. These resources downloaded into my own
files. I then imported the music into the Final cut pro
software, dragging it above the layers of film.
– This software system allowed me to create multiple
presentations
Demonstrating what I have learnt and what I needed to
know in order to
Complete my course.

11. What could I improve on?
– I feel that there is still so much more that I could learn on each media resources. I am confidant in the elements
that I have been taught but am unaware of techniques that I have yet to have been shown. I understand that I
only know a small margin of the vast techniques that I could use. For example, when editing images, I feel that I
am limited in my knowledge and therefore could improve massively. I have seen people create amazing pieces of
media using Photoshop with images and I feel that I could improve my skills by watching tutorials and practicing
with the software much more. Similarly, I feel that I could improve my skills on both InDesign and Final cut pro
especially. I want to become quicker with each of the resources and know instantly what to do when I want to
achieve a certain target. Rather than taking a few hours to edit a short bit of film, I want to be confidant that I can
efficiently use my time quickly editing.
– I also found that throughout my production process that I would continuously take a longer route than other
members of the class, rather than using quick sort cuts which allowed me to achieve the same result. On final cut
especially, I want to practice these skills so that I can edit my content quicker.