Evaluation Question 6 - DRAFT

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

Firstly, I have used a wide range of technologies which I had little or no experience prior to this coursework. Even though this did leave slight doubt in my mind from the beginning I quickly developed a good level of skill and knowledge to keep me going through the course, and in my opinion do a good final job of my magazine product. 

I used a Nikon D300 camera, accompanied by three large filter lights inside the studio at school. I was inexperienced in working such a high technological camera, with many features, however after first photoshoot it became more natural. I have learnt how to photograph my band from different angles and shots, as well as in different places other than in the studio. I believe that this taught me, which angles and shots were best for my models, with regards to them 'pulling it off'. The lighting that I used was easy to set up, however wasn't transportable, so when  I decided on doing some outdoor shots, to test the picture quality and resolution I was relying on the source of natural light to create a good enough photo. 

I also used many programs on the computer, which enabled me to create my product. The two main ones were Photoshop and PagePlusXP, both of which were accessible on school computers only, so working from home wasn't straight forward. I believe I benefited from these pieces of software the most as they were what allowed me to created my magazine, as I used Photoshop for all three, and used PagePlusXP for the construction of my columns on my double paged spread which was an important element. 

I also used sites on the internet for various reasons: Tumblr, Facebook and Scribd. These were for minor reasons such as finding sources of inspiration on Tumblr, to organising Photoshoots with my models on Facebook, and uploading planning tasks to Scribd so they were accessible on my blog. Without the tools that these sites offered it would have made it extremely more difficult than it should have been to make my magazine. 

I also used programs on the computer which are a package with windows: Microsoft Word and Paint. I used these resources primarily for brainstorming my article, research and planning (Word) and photo cropping and editing (Paint) to develop my product, to ensure it was the best that it could be in my opinion, along with my classmates.

Twitter and Blogger were used as almost the same thing with regards to instant feedback. These sites allowed me to communicate with teachers and peers outside of school as well as in school, and allowed me to show evidence of opinion and support which was ongoing throughout the course. Without these technologies I would have found it extremely difficult to record and refer to points to which I could improve, so therefore it worked as a tool to increase my grade. My Tweets show evidence of planning with regards to my genre, and how important this area of the coursework was, as it was the base of the pyramid towards creating a successful magazine which would sell to your audience, in the right particular way.

I also used sites such as Cover Junkie and Magpile. These sites allowed me to find inspiration, research into magazine conventions, and ensure that my magazine which I created looked more professional, and that those magazines found would show proof of development throughout the course.