My media evaluation on technologies.

1. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
By Aa’ishahColeman

2. I have used a wide variety of different technologies, some that I have used
before which has helped to practice my skills that I have previously learnt
and expand my knowledge.The overall technologies that I have used are:
■ Timetoast,
■ Blogger,
■ Photoshop,
■ InDesign,
■ Illustrator,
■ YouTube,
■ Prezi
and a Canon DSLR Camera. Most of them, I haven't used before so this was
my first time using them to create my product.

3. Timetoast
Timetoast was the first technology that I used when I started the assignment and I think
that it was quite helpful since it shows my schedule in a clear manner and it is organised
well. I have never usedTimetoast before, never heard about it, but it was useful in
managing my work and being able to see all the upcoming deadlines. It was basically an
electronic version of the green sheet/assignment brief that was given in the beginning.
FromTimetoast, I learnt how to make an electronic schedule since it is more likely to lose
a piece of paper than electronics and it gave me a skill that I can use in the future. It didn’t
really help me with organizing my time as I barely used it but I know that it’s a useful
website.

4. Blogger
Blogger is a blog that is automatically connected to your Gmail account, however I have
never come across it before. Using this technology taught me how to make blog posts, it
is easy to use and you get the hang of it after a while. I learnt how to upload images and
videos into my blog posts which wasn't hard to figure out and learnt how to change the
font size, it's similar to MicrosoftWord, but a bit more complex. I learnt how to embed
hyperlinks like from a Prezi, aTimetoast which shows my schedule, and a media kit which
was quite difficult for me to understand at first. Blogger shows all my work clearly and it is
easy to view and use.

5. Photoshop
I have previously used Photoshop in GCSE Media when I was creating my perfume adverts
for my coursework and from that I already developed the basic skills and some more
complicated skills.This gave me an advantage since I have used this before but when
making my college magazine and my music magazine I learnt more stuff like how to
create a gutter, adding drop shadows to the text to make it bold and stand out, how to use
the same colour for my text without searching closely for it, learnt how to remove the
background of an image and learnt how to change the colour of a text that was already
given as a different colour. I was told only to use Photoshop for my front cover as it is
usually used to make front covers since it is more focused on altering images.

6. InDesign
I was told to use InDesign for my contents page and my DPS, since it focuses more on text
and is less manipulative than Photoshop. I may have used InDesign in GCSE Media but my
memory isn't so clear. From InDesign, I learnt how to create columns but it was quite
similar to Photoshop so the skills that I learnt from Photoshop, I used with InDesign. It is a
good software to organise my layers and taught me to make my images more clearer
instead of coming out pixelated and taught me how to make a drop cap so it can stand out
to the reader.

7. Illustrator
Illustrator is a part of Adobe Master Collection but I have never heard of it before and this
was my first time using it.We were giving a mini induction on how to use it and I created
my first ever masthead. It was very complicated for me to use at first since I didn't
understand the software but after a multiple of tries, I got the hang of it. Even though, I
still don't know how to use it properly, Illustrator taught me how to manipulate the text by
stretching out letters, creating shapes, doubling the word and so on. It was a very creative
software as it helps you to create a unique masthead without just using plain fonts.

8. YouTube
YouTube is something that I use on a daily basis to watch videos obviously but I have never
posted a video onto myYouTube channel. I used this technology to upload my proposal,
that I presented to the class, online so that I could be able to embed the footage into a
blog post. It was simple to use and there was no complications.

9. Prezi
Prezi is my favourite technology that I have used so far, it is similar to Microsoft
PowerPoint but is much more creative and I am able to do a variety of different things. It
was easy to present my ideas creatively as you are able to easily add images into it and
even add your own background music. I have never used Prezi before but I've seen Prezi
before. Prezi was an easy way to explain my magazine plan and present my work in a
visual way instead of using plain PowerPoint.

10. Canon DSLR Camera
Lastly, my last technology was using a Canon DSLRCamera for my photography.We were
given an induction in the photography studio in which we learnt how to use the lights, how to
adjust the shutter speed on cameras, how to get the camera to focus and how to get high or
low saturation by adjusting the settings.This gave me in-depth knowledge on the camera and
even though I find cameras really easy to use, I gained more skills but just the basics. I don't
know all the settings of a DSLRCamera, but I knew enough to help me create my final product.
The 3 point lighting system was really helpful but since I didn’t know how to use it properly;
some of my pictures came out quite dark.