Technologies used

1. During my coursework I have learnt how to use many
different technologies and software, allowing me to
develop my skills and understanding. The software include:
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Photoshop
SlideShare
Scribd
Blogger
Dafont.com
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Prezi
Animoto
Bubbl
Photography and
camera skills

2. Whilst making my preliminary media product I used photoshop
predominantly as my main software, and it allowed me to create
what you can see on the left- A cover and contents page for a
school magazine. It allowed me to develop my skills on the
programme which will no doubt be vital when creating my final
product. As you can see, the front cover I created illustrates that I
wasn’t very confident when using photoshop, but with practice
and familiarisation with the tools, I improved my skills and the
contents page includes many more effects, for example drop
shadows and outer glows, which makes it more eye catching
and professional looking. I will continue to use photoshop
regularly in the hope to develop even more, so when it comes to
my final product I will be able to edit images and text to a high
standard and make it look much better quality.

3. Slideshare has also been a very good programme that I
have used during my research and planning, which
allows me to upload powerpoint presentations to my
blog. It adds a bit of variety, and gives me another
option when uploading content. It also looks very
professional and gives an air of quality. As well as this, it
also helps when considering the size of my blogSlideShare allows me to post a full presentation as one
single post, whereas without it, each separate slide may
have been one post, oversizing my blog.

4. Scribd has again been a very useful piece of software
when uploading content to my blog. This programme
allows me to upload word documents to my blog as a
single post. It again adds a bit of variety to my blog
which makes it a bit more entertaining and would
therefore keep people interested. Professionalism is also
a word that springs to mind again, as it looks very formal
and presents text in a very formal way.

5. Blogger has been the most important and most used
programme whilst completing my coursework. It is the
actual software in which I undertake my blogging and post
my research and planning. I have learnt a lot about using
blogger in the past few months, with the knowledge I have
of the programme now being miles apart from when I first
started using the programme. I have learnt how to add
various types of posts to my blog, using other software and
embedding them on. I have also learnt to label my posts
and organise them accordingly, making my blog easy to
navigate through. It really is a great programme and
without it I wouldn’t of been able to complete my
coursework to such a standard.

6. Dafont is a website which I have used frequently to
create supposed titles for my magazine, and it allows
me to experiment with fonts and names to see what
it would look like. The font on the left is the style I will
use on my final product due to the steely and metal
like look which it houses, which portrays rock music
very well.

7. Prezi is another one of the programmes that allows me
to post my findings to my blog, and it is a website that
allows me to do it in a very creative way. It is like a
powerpoint presentation but with a
difference, allowing each slide to take a certain path
on to the next one and it moves along with a very swift
animation. I have learnt how to use the website
comfortably now, with a few of my posts being
uploaded via prezi. I just think it gives an edge of
creativity and a modern feel to the blog.

8. I used Animoto when presenting my ideas for my
music magazine to the rest of the class. The
programme allows you to make a 30 second
video with pictures, and can include sound and
music. This adds entertainment to the blog and is
a very good way to get your ideas across simply
but effectively. It allowed me to collate together
some pictures from the rock genre, adding some
key information about my proposed ideas. I have
again learned to use the programme in an
effective way and shall use it if needed again.

9. I learned how to use bubbl as I thought it would be
a good software to get across my ideas. It allows
you to mindmap ideas on a computer programme
quickly and easily, with it looking professional in the
process.

10. Camera skills and photography will be key when
creating my final media product, as all the images I
use within it must be taken personally. Although the
image to the left isn’t of the best quality, I am currently
working on my camera work to ensure I can take
images of the quality I thrive to achieve. The Image is a
huge part of any magazine front cover and quickly
grabs the readers attention, I therefore need to make it
the best quality I can, ensuring it interests the target
audience.