Before beginning my media coursework I had never used a Mac, Photoshop, InDesign or Blogger. I now know how to use all of them efficiently. Using a Mac was very hard to begin with a it is very different from the Windows software that I have always used. I found it quite hard to adapt to using the machines at first but after time I learnt all the commands and established how to work it effectively.
I think that the Mac machines are better for the type of work that we were completing and they saved a lot of time. The type of Mac that I used was an eMac. I preferred using these to the newer machines, I found them a lot less to handle with the smaller screen and they were more like a PC. I felt that by using the eMac I have learnt a lot about the Apple software and would be able to use it well if I ever do again.Another technology that I had never used before was Photoshop, this was a very hard programme to begin using. Before our coursework was set we were given time to work our way around Photoshop to see all of the tools that we could use and how it worked etc. I really enjoyed doing this and found it easy to do the tasks provided as we had videos to guide us.
They were really helpful and made the tasks seem really easy, however, when it came to making our magazines we had to think for ourselves and without the videos helping us it all seemed very difficult. Each time I did a piece of work I had learnt something new about photoshop. I feel that if I were to do my magazine again it would be better because of all the things I have learnt when doing it. I still only know a fraction of the programme as it is so vast in terms of what you can do to a picture. I can use all the tools that are needed in the programme and I know that if I wanted to do something in particular that I did not know how then the internet will help me find the answer. Photoshop made making the magazine a lot more simple. When I did my coursework for Media at GCSE we were made to use programmes such as publisher to make the magazine. When it came to editing the picture, even a simple task such as cropping it, it was made a lot simpler as I was using Photoshop. The software enabled me to be creative as there isn't anything you can't do to a picture on the programme, it did not hinder my magazines production in the slightest.The programme InDesign is very difficult to use if you have always used Microsoft programmes such as Word or Publisher. It is a very different layout to the other programmes and takes A LOT of
getting used to. Simple things like changing the colour of the writing was so simple but it took me at least 10 minutes to work out. By the end of my DPS I was still not an expert at InDesign but I felt that I had learnt so much from it. The amount of things that you can do with the programme are immense. InDesign is very simple once you get used to it but it the intial grasp of the programme that is hard. As there is so much on there also it is difficult to remember where everything is and what it does. The InDesign software is very unique and it made making the double page spread very simple. Even when creating something simple like a 'drops cap' there is a tool for it on the programme. It was a lot more efficient than a programme such as Microsoft Word as it had tools that made the product look so much more proffessional.When it came to taking picture I was very happy as I love photography. However, I actually found this task really hard as I am not used to taking pictures of people, I generally take pictures of still life and scenery. I took three sets of photographs with four different models. The first set I took with my freind Rebecca and they
went really well. She was very relaxed and the pictures came out good, however, I was not sure if they were 'rocky' enough for my magazine. The second set I took were of my friends Katie and Lucy, these were taken in the woods which I felt was a good setting for some pictures. The problem with these photos is that they were not very well prepared and the outfits that were chosen did not fit my genre at all (I did not use any from this shoot in my magazine). The third and final set that I took were of my brother and I thought about these a lot. I thought about a prop (the guitar), the lighting (bright and above), his posture (relaxed/slumped), his hair and make-up (eyeliner - increases intensity of direct gaze, messy hair), the setting (plain background, easy to crop out) and his outfit (fitted the genre well, checked shirt, black jeans - normal guy). I found that my brother was a lot less relaxed than my friends had been and he would not co-operate very well. In the end I put on some music to make him feel more relaxed and we finally got some good shots. When chosing the main image I looked at a lot of previous professional magazines and chose which one I feel that they would have chosen. I have learnt so much about taking photographs and editing them since my preliminary task. Especially with lighting as I only ever used natural light when doing photography before and so when using it artificially you don't realise how much thought goes into it.Blogger is another programme that was very new to me but I feel that I grasped onto this programme very quickly and have probably found it the easiest to use. I had heard
of 'blogging' before but I never associated it with coursework, only leisure. I am glad that our coursework is being done this way as it is so easy to access and you can't lose it either. It is a very easy programme and I think I may continue to use it for leisure purposes aswell. To create a new post on blogger is so simple and it is so easy to organise with the labels. I like the fact that it is all one font so it looks neat and I don't have to worry about it getting screwed up in my bag. I definitely learnt a lot by using Blogger.
No comments:
Post a Comment