HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?EVALUATION: QUESTION 4

In order to create my advanced portfolio, I had to use a variety of different hardware and software devices that aided me in creating my final products. In this presentation I will discuss how I used these devices to my advantage and created stylistic techniques of my own and will also demonstrate each of the main tools I used along side these.

Photoshop is the editing software that I used to edit all of my images that were incorporated into my ancillary texts.

I used each Lasso Tool for different points of editing my images. The lasso tools was used least out of the three as I found it the most difficult to use – although I did use it when there were big areas that I needed to select all at once as this tool is not one to use when a steady hand or a straight edge is needed. I used the Polygon Lasso Tool to select areas that were simple shapes, as this tool is great when trying to select an area with straight edges. The Magnetic Lasso Tool was the tool that I used the most as it separates the subject of the image from the background with careful consideration in relation to the edges that may or may not be scattered. I used it mainly when I was taking out my main images, such as the image used for my advert, from the background I used in the studio.

I used the Quick Selection Tool a lot when editing my products, especially when cutting out big areas as this tool is very quick and automatically detects certain spaces within the image, this also means that it is the perfect tool for cutting out the backgrounds of images too. I also used the Magic Wand Tool for a similar reason, although this tool selects entire areas rather than only expanding when the tool is controlled.

I used the Crop Tool mainly for cutting out certain areas of my images. It was used specifically when adding my finalized images into my DigiPak template as I needed to cut down the backgrounds etc. I also used this tool when creating my images as I needed to ensure that the image I wanted to use matched the dimensions of the template area.

I used the Brush Tool specifically when creating my DigiPak’s. This is because it was the tool I had decided to use to create the outline of my artist. The brush tool allowed me to choose what type of brush I wanted in order to make the drawing I created look like the type of sketch look I was hoping for.

The Eraser Tool was used when I needed to remove certain aspects of an image. This, again, was mainly used when creating my album cover as I needed to remove certain colours when they went over the templates outlines and also when certain areas were overlapping.

I used this tool as it basically allowed me to add shapes over the image. For example, I used this when making the image of my CD into the correct shape. I also used this when I created the background to my CD placement in my album.

The Text Tool was used to add text to my images, it is added as a new layer. I used the Text Tool when adding vital text over my image to make it look conventional and much more like an album or advert. This included the title of the album and the artists name.

The layers used in Photoshop are vital as they are vital as they are used to add each section of the product. This enables these sections to be easily removed or changed. For example, a new layer is automatically created by Photoshop when text is added I could then select the text again and change what I had originally written. This helped a lot during the process of making my DigiPak as I was able to improve the text and fonts so that it looked more professional.

Blogger is the website that I used in order to store and publish all of the work I produced and so because of this I had to display certain posts using videos, pictures, Prezi’s and presentations. I also had to learn how to keep my blog organized and publish them so that each of the posts are in the order that they should be. Before starting this coursework I had already had some experience with Blogger and so it was not totally unfamiliar, but as time has passed I have become a lot more comfortable using it.

I decided to use Prezi on my Blogger as I believed it demonstrated my ability to use a wide range of media platforms quite well and wanted to display my work in a more creative manner. I was also very familiar with Prezi before starting my coursework and so found using this very simple.

I used storyboardthat to create a storyboard for my music video during the planning and research process. It was extremely helpful as it allowed me to see what it would look like on camera and helped me start appreciating the importance of mise-en-scene a lot more. It allowed me to add characters into scenes and I could then add text so that I could describe what was happening in each shot.

YouTube was extremely important when doing research and when creating my own products. This is because I used it during research to look at existing products and compare certain videos against each other. I also used YouTube as a distribution device as I uploaded my own work onto it which then allowed me to share it publically.

I used Final Cut Pro to import and edit my music video. This device helped me learn how to import media and put footage in order etc. Once I got started on the software I realised it was quite simple and easy to use. As I gradually filmed my footage, I imported them and the song and began to put it all in order. Final Cut Pro is a non-linear program so it was easy to organise the footage. This also meant I could put together whatever footage I already had until all my footage had been gathered. I had to trim the footage in order to get the best areas and the areas that I needed using the trim tool. The main transitions I used were jump cuts and fades because I felt like these were the most appropriate for the style of my video and gave it more of a flowing and professional look.

Some equipment that I used included SD card, tripod, and lighting. This was all used during the construction process of my products and were borrowed from college. However, I chose to use my own DSLR camera as I was already familiar with how it worked and didn’t need to use any extra time learning how to use it.