as media: foundation portfolio

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES - WEB TECHNOLOGY + HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY

 

The quick time screen recording above talks through many of the skills and knowledge i have learnt associating to technology throughout this project. A more in depth photoshop history, and other subjects are talked about in my blog entries. On top of the lessons i have learnt above regarding technologies, There are some other technologies i would like to talk about. 

 

For the duration of this project i have been using apple products mac and MacBooks for the majority of task including research and planning and construction i have definelty furthered my knowledge in these technologies. i have learnt a number of new skills through using these computers and skills in regards to the macs themselves for example shortcuts and functions such as cmd 4 for screenshotting and just general computer skill improvement in navigating macs

 

for the photography/photoshoot aspect of the work, i used a nikon DSLR camera, i have learnt much during the making of this magazine, as before only using my camera in my a-level photography using mainly auto-made but had time to experiment with manual made and other features of the camera, this has also improved and helped me learn skills such as framing. I have also learnt more about studio technology as prior to this project I hadn't had much experience in "studio photography". For this project I decided to keep the forms and conventions correct. I would try to used this type of photography therefore using the technology along with it, such as lighting equipment (in some cases iPhone torch lighting) and other general studio equipment. I learnt how to operate this equipment to work and the more technical side of this including "light diffusers" and "light reflectors", I also managed to learn, with some struggles at first, how to operate the hot shoe (used for syncing cameras and lights) I have written some notes on these, I have also learnt the different functions of a camera tripod and how to operate it. In further depth regarding the photography, including the framing correctly i learnt knowledge on different shot types such as close ups, long shots and mid shots, and which ones fit a rock magazine the best an dhow to manipulate the models body language in order to get this connoting rock look of the magazine across for example her facial expressions, direct eye contact with the camera and makeup.

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One of the most crucial website technologies i learnt about was Wix.com, Using wix at first was hard and confusing to nagitivate and i learnt how to use this from scratch as I had never had to make a website before, this was an interesting experience in which i learnt the basis of embedding presentation and other media sources i had created, navigating through different sections of a website and adding content to a website including making the website look asthecticlly pleasing, and after getting more experience using the website it became easier to use.

 

Aswell as learning knowledge of the general use of Wix, i started using the blog feature of Wix, This was a tricky concept for me to grasp as i had never done anything like a blog before and had difficulty in finding things to do with my project to take dbaout in depth but after a few entries it became easier as i saw some examples and nagiviated the Wix help page.

 

Thinglink is one of the other website technologies i used, the website is a more personal “label maker” website, as it uses the concept of being able to hover over the image and a more precise point. 

 

During he feedback stages of these tasks, I used a combination of printed feedback forms (audience research) and a more interactive online feedback approach through questionnaires, designed/managed/analysed through web technology Survey Monkey. This has taught me how to be more varied in my technological approach and has given me an insight into the designing of questionnaires and the struggles along with that such as controlling bias/misleading questions. This has  also taught me how to analyse feedback more effectively using charts and graphs, this has also widened my opinion on the use of social media technologies such as Facebook and Twitter as I have learnt that these technologies have more use than just "socialising" and can be a successful data collecting platform with a surprising amount of people willing to answer questionnaires. 

 

i used issuu to upload my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread in a more professionally presented manor rathe than just uploading them straight to the website. from this i have learnt more indepth and gained knowledge of the publishing and construction of how online magazines are put together, along with formatting knowledge as to upload to issue the formats of the constructed pages have to be very specific pdf binders.

 

One of the most difficult web technologies i found to use was Dafont.com this is a website were i downloaded my fonts used within the construction of my magazine from, getting these from the downloaded files into software such as photoshop i found extremely challenging, i learnt to do this i had to open the files and add them to the mac book library.

 

I used the web technology "Piktochart" to create my photoshoot plan. Similar to prezi and emaze this helped me develop my presentation skills in a new and effective light. 

 

YouTube is another technology platform in which I have learnt from. Previously I had only used this technology for viewing videos of the website, but through this task and it's duration I have learnt how to upload these and use technologies such as "QuickTime" to do so, such as how I am recording this video. This helped me to make my work more personal and interactive.

 

I used the web technology pinterest to create mood boards as this is a quick way to explore and connect your ideas. I learnt how to effectively create mood boards using these web technologies 

 

Additionally to these Web technologies, there were multiple other websites used in the duration of this project, such as emaze, prezi powtoon and soundcloud these were also difficult to understand but after a while became easier and easier to use and added an extremely astecially appealing interactive look to my website.