Media Studies AS coursework

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

2. Throughout the creation of my product I have
used many different technologies. In an age so
full of technology that we take for granted,
creating this product has enabled me to gain an
understanding of how all these varying
technologies can be used collaboratively to
create a product, and that some of them are used
without us even acknowledging it.

3. Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a computer software program used to manipulate images.
I have spent a lot of time using this software to create my products, editing
images to make them more suitable, adding text and shapes and other elements
to create the content for the magazine, and simply just to create my products.
Before starting this course, I had very minimal knowledge of Photoshop and
how to use it; therefore I had to learn how it worked and how to use the
various tools to successfully create my product. One of the most difficult parts
of this task was using Photoshop and being able to achieve what I wanted
using software I was unfamiliar with.
I have learnt how to use tools such as ‘clone stamp’, ‘polygonal lasso tool’ and
‘quick selection tool’ as well as how to use layers, add shapes, change colours
and alter images to suit my purposes. I feel far more confident using this
program now as I have spent time trying to do my very best with it. I made
plenty of mistakes but eventually I was able to use this program to create my
products to a high standard.

4. Blogger
Blogger is a blog publishing service owned by Google which I
have used to document my work for this course. I had used this
site before starting this course and therefore knew the basics of
how it worked and how to format both the blog itself and the
content. I found that this is a fairly simple set up to use and that it
is ideal for posting work in all different forms of media thanks to
the ability to embed things like videos and presentations. Despite
having used Blogger before, this task enabled me to expand my
knowledge of it as I learnt how to embed content. It also helped
me to organise my work and ensure it is presentable.

5. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a computer software package which includes Word,
PowerPoint and Publisher among other products.
I have used the three products mentioned throughout this task to present and
document my work. I am very familiar with this software and have used it for
many years, but I have found myself using it differently whilst completing this
task.
In order to upload work to my blog, I found that I had to save my PowerPoint
and Publisher files as jpeg images rather than as regular files. I found myself
forgetting on several occasions but soon got the hang of it and was able to
successfully transfer my work from the computer onto my blog.
I found that Word was particularly helpful to keep track of all my notes and to
develop my work due to the spelling and grammar checking feature. I was then
able to copy and paste my typed work into a blog post.
Microsoft software does not require an internet connection to work and
therefore, I was able to work even when I did not have a connection which was
very helpful when I gained inspiration whilst out – and this was even further
helped thanks to the smartphone app.

6. Online Resources
There are several pieces of online software that I have made use of during this
task. The first and more prominent is Prezi, an online presentation software
that enables users to create and share presentations that are a little more
exciting than your conventional PowerPoint. I had very minimal experience
using Prezi before this task but I have since learnt how to create my own
template for my presentations, which you may notice is in keeping with the
aesthetic theme of my written work on my blog.
A further example of an online resource I have used is SlideShare. By using
this software I could make my PowerPoint presentations remain presentations
and not a series of images. This made for a much easier to read blog as I was
able to embed the content into a blog post. Before this task I was not aware
many of these online resources were available and was unsure how to use
them, but I can know apply this to any future work.

7. Other Technology
Throughout this task I made use of several different technologies including two
USB memory sticks and an SD card to transfer my work from one device to
another, an Apple Mac computer, a Windows PC, two cameras, an SD card reader
and also my smartphone.
Each device was useful or better for something different. I found that using the
Apple Mac was better for the creation of my products, especially after using it in
the preliminary task as the interface and operating system are designed for
creativity and it is for this reason that Apple Mac computers dominate the creative
industry. Using the Windows PC was better for using Microsoft software as I was
familiar with the layout. I used two cameras, one was an Olympus camera which I
used to take the pictures for my magazine and the other was a small FujiFilm 8MP
camera which I used to film the locations for my locations video.
An SD card reader was needed to transfer my photographs from the camera to the
computer so that I could edit them and finally my smartphone was very useful in
the completion of this task.
Thanks to technological convergence and proliferation, carrying around several
devices to complete separate tasks is no longer necessary. I was able to use my
phone to take pictures whilst at a gig with friends and then access social media to
see what was happening and what others thought of the event. I was also able to
complete work whilst on the go thanks to the Microsoft Word app which saved my
work and used cloud storage to let me access it from my PC too.

8. To conclude, in the making of this media
products, I have encountered several new
technologies and learnt how to use them
effectively. I have also learned of new features
and uses of technologies I have used before and
developed my skills which I hope I may be able to
apply in the future.
As technology continues to advance, the
resources we have to present media grow and
change. It is essential that we embrace these
technologies and use them to our advantage.
Although print media is threatened by online
advancements, this task acts as evidence that
they can in fact strengthen the presentation and