QUESTION 6What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? By Ed Elliott

During the production of my music magazine, I used a wide variety of technology to produce my final product. I have learnt and managed to improve my design through using these technologies. During the process, I regularly referred back to my blog and made posts about the use of some of these technologies.

To get to my final production I used the below of technologies:

Lighting Adobe photoshop (CS3 & CS6) Internet Explorer/Safari iMac Cannon 600D camera iPhone 6 Plus Microsoft Powerpoint

CANNON 600D CAMERA

I used this to take my photos for my production. Being digital, it meant that I could see image straight away on the camera and knew if it was good or not, and it also meant I could adapt the lighting etc. Also the long life batteries meant I could use it for long periods of time and not worry about it dying, also, the large memory card meant I could take multiple images and not worry about having to constantly put them straight on the computer to make room for more. I learnt a lot about the camera, not just through hands on use but also through tutorials and diagrams which you can see on my blog.

IPHONE 6 PLUS

My iPhone 6 Plus was another way for me to take photos for my production as it was small and could take it anywhere with me including gigs, festivals and general out and about. I could also use it for email use to send myself images to access on my iMac, this also worked through iCloud which meant I could access my images instantly on my iMac without having to send emails or plug my phone in. It also allowed me to communicate with people to arrange my photography to take place at certain times and venues,

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP (CS3&6)

By using this programme, I was able to manipulate my images to come out with best possible effects, including brightness, contrast, focus, sharpness, skin healing tool and spot healing tool. I learnt how to use the program through first hand use and by tutorials and forums online that were extremely useful for specific tasks. I also produced my magazine on the programme which allowed me to get the layers correct, the positions perfect, rotate and flip images and texts and much more.

INTERNET EXPLORER/SAFARI

I used these two internet browsers for my research, to learn about music magazines, find tutorials, view my blog and look at other examples of AS productions. I was able to keep my blog updated using them and this allowed my teacher to regularly see my progress. I could visit YouTube to watch tutorials for cameras, photoshop etc and also search google for current magazines, codes and conventions, other examples, forums, tips etc.

LIGHTING

These were simple and easy to use when taking my photographs. The hardest part was getting them in the right positions facing my model to create shadows and highlights. The use of these within my product meant I could produce high quality images with a professional look of a real magazine.

TO CONCLUDE..

Without the use of the majority of the technology I used, I wouldn’t be able to produce my final production, these include computer/iMac, camera, Photoshop and internet. All these are a necessity because without them I wouldn’t have been able to take photos, edit them, produce each page of my magazine or research about products and how to use certain technology in the first place. With them though, it meant my work had a modern, high quality, professional feel to it and could be used as an actual publication of a music magazine.