G325 question 1a

Digital Technology• Any system is said to be using digital technology if it uses parts which contain or make use of binary or

digital logic.• Advantages: The emergence of digital technology has affected our lives in many ways, from how we

receive our daily news to the quality of our mass media entertainment and the ways we conduct our personal communications. Digital technology can maximize our productivity and enhance our quality of life.

• Disadvantages: Digital or modern technology has created many cases of cyber crimes, cheating and fraud. It has also driven children towards a danger zone where they are getting materials which are harmful for them. Despite knowing the side effects of these technologies, we are making ourselves fully dependant on it.

• During Media, we have learnt to use various digital technologies including the internet to present our work such as our blogs and websites like ‘SlideShare’. Other digital technology included software to create our coursework like Adobe Photoshop and Indesign.

• For my last double page spread in my AS coursework, I used Photoshop to edit my images into black and white. I also used this programme to remove any white backgrounds as these photos were taken across a white screen during the photo shoot.

• Another piece of digital technology that was essential during the creation of my AS Coursework was the use of the camera Canon SLR as this camera was able to take high quality pictures so the close ups on my model that I used looked more effective and professional.

Creativity• The use of imagination or original ideas to create something.• Advantages: Being creative allows us to visualise and imagine. Creative critical thinking is also essential for

survival and a success skill in today’s world.• Disadvantages: because of lack of time a creative person will accept some of his or her immediate or first

ideas instead of taking time to really think about what he or she is trying to accomplish. The lack of focus often occurs with creativity . When a creative person comes up with several ideas he or she may start trying to put all these ideas together instead of maintaining his or her focus on one. By clustering these creative ideas the impact of the idea may be lost.

• During my AS Coursework, I used creativity in order to design and come up with ideas to create my own magazine. My first ideas arose when I looked at previous work by students as well as existing magazines. One of the main existing magazines I focused on was ‘Q’. The layout, font, colour scheme and overall house style had a huge influence on my own magazine as I also used red as the main colour. My contents page was also similar to ‘Q’ in the way the images and text was presented.

• I also believe the type of shots I took for my magazine came from creative ideas of my own. I believe for a successful magazine, a range of shots (including long shots and close ups) as well as bold and vivid costumes and make-up are important. For example, for my first and double page spreads I have used interesting close up shots of my model. During the close ups, she is wearing dark eye make-up and bright red lipstick. She is also wearing a range of jewellery and for the images on the contents page – the use of long shots help present the interesting location (a skate park). This is another creative way to portray my artist to the reader.

Research and Planning• Research - Systematic investigation to establish facts or principles or to collect information on a subject.• Planning - Defining a course of action for something.• Advantages: An example of research is questionnaires and surveys. These are high representativeness

as they provide a high level of general capability in representing a large population. They are low cost, are and example of convenient data gathering as surveys can be administered to the participants through a variety of ways and they provide precise results.

• Disadvantages: However surveys have an inflexible design,. The survey that was used by the researcher from the very beginning, as well as the method of administering it, cannot be changed all throughout the process of data gathering.

• During my AS Coursework, I also used surveys as part of gathering data from my target audience. These surveys were used and created so I could receive feedback from people who were likely to read my magazine. These results and the data I collected was all posted on my blog. As well as my survey, much of my research was gathered from the internet. For example when analysing existing mastheads, cover pages, contents pages and double page spreads.

• In terms of planning, I used my blog during the process of my coursework to publish and post any ideas I had about my magazine. This included any name ideas, cover lines and image ideas. This is why my blog was very useful when going ahead with the creation on my product.

Post production• Work done after a piece of work has been completed.• Advantages: The advantages of post production, when specifically linked to my coursework, are the

programmes I used such as AdobePhotoshop and InDesign. Any evaluation work done after my final magazine was a lot easier to achieve and complete as by this time, I was already comfortable and used to the way the type of software works.

• Disadvantages: Having to improve and re-edit work is a long process.• My example of post production in my coursework is my evaluation. This was typed up and created after I

had finished creating my magazine. Throughout my evaluation, I completed a series of questions – discussing my work (what I did and why I did it). I used the same programme as I did to create my actual magazine – InDesign. I also set out my evaluation in a similar way to my magazine by keeping a similar house style and using a contents page to introduce the question. I wanted to include the skills I had learnt throughout the project in my evaluation therefore I wrapped the text around the images as well as adding effects to them such as a drop shadow.

• Other work I did was constantly improve and edit my piece. This can also be seen on my blog on posts were I compare work before and after the editing. As I changed my front cover a lot, a post was suitable to present the changes I made during the course of the project.

Using conventions from real world texts

• Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.

• As I was creating a music magazine for my AS Coursework, I had to follow the codes and conventions of my chosen music genre: indie. I found out about these typical codes and conventions by researching existing magazines, as I mentioned before. Some of these magazines included ‘Q’, ‘Kerrang’ and ‘NME’. I analysed and researched these types of magazines as I wanted my final product to look similar. In terms of similarity, I wanted my magazine to have a similar layout, colour scheme and use similar fonts. By researching music magazines, I was also able to find out conventions that are used in real magazines. These include a masthead and sell lines.

• For my preliminary task, which was a magazine for my school, I was able to practice the type of software I would use as well as apply these type of conventions from real world texts before starting my final product. This made it easier when it came to creating my music magazine. Plus I was also more aware of my target audience at this stage and therefore used relevant conventions that would be appropriate to them.

How has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your production?

• Creativity- I gained ideas for my AS Coursework by looking a previous magazines made by students as well as already existing magazines. The main existing magazine I focused on was ‘Q’ as I focused by own layout, fonts and colours on this magazine (the house style).

• Digital Technology – The software I used included InDesign for the creation of my magazine. However, I also used Photoshop to edit my images. This can be seen in my last double page spread where there are various images of my model in back and white as well as colour. I was able to make my images black and white using Photoshop and they look professional when placed in Indesign within the layout of my magazine.

• For hardware, I use a Canon SLR. This enabled me to take photos in high quality of my model. Referring back to creativity, I used the camera to take a variety of different shots such as close up (used on both my first and second double page spread – however both photos are very different). I think some of my creativity was also highlighted through the range of costumes and make-up I used.