This project has required to to work with a range of different technologies. I have worked with Microsoft Publisher, Macromedia Fireworks, Twitter, Microsoft Word, Serif Movie Plus, Blogger and my camera.
When i started I was unsure about which software I should use to create my project in. So I started off by using Publisher like I had used for my GCSE Media coursework. There were no skills that I needed to learn but I soon found out by printing off drafts that Publisher didn't look very professional and for some reason the shapes that I was playing around with just didn't work. This is when I realised that Publisher wasn't effective as working as a graphic design software which was probably what I needed. I did learn that Publisher was good for importing drafts from other software into for printing, this is because it has a blue outline which tells you where the printer will start cutting off bits of the paper.
This was necessary as I then moved to a graphic design and editing software Macromedia Fireworks. I learned that this was much better for my purpose as the graphics and the way objects interlink and overlap look a whole lot smoother than in Fireworks. I now know that if I ever have to do anything like this again Fireworks will be my first choice. As I did have previous experience with Fireworks I knew how to crop, edit and adjust the lighting in photos reasonably well. I also learnt that you could send shapes to the back or bring them the front on Fireworks, a feature I thought only available on Microsoft packages. I found this very useful as it allowed me to make my designs more advanced by having multiple shapes on top of each other.
The next technology I used was Twitter, there wasn't much of a learning process as I already knew that by tweeting out a picture and asking for feedback you will get better results because you will be getting feedback from people that are following you that you might not even know. I realised this would be better because it means they are more likely to be critical as they don't know you personally. This is why a large chunk of my audience feedback came from this area. I also didn't have to learn much with Word as it is very simple to use the most advanced thing I had to do was input shapes to create my questionnaire.
The part where I did have to do a bit of learning was with my video that I took for audience feedback. I knew that it didn't need a great deal of editing but there were a few bloopers that needed editing out before it could be uploaded to my blog. First of all I had to find an appropriate software to use that would accept the video in its current file type. I searched all that was available on the school system and eventually I found Serif Movie Plus. I learnt that on this software you could trim bits off the video that you didn't want, it took a little while but once I figured it out I got on fine. I have now learnt that if I need any videos editing Movie Plus is the software to use.
The final technology I had to use was my own camera. Outside of Media I wouldn't really say I'm a keen photographer so setting up a photo shoot was a relatively new concept to me. Although I did GCSE media I didn't really put a lot of efforts in to long shoots I just got a few shots and went again. Also this was the first time I had had to create a detailed shot list. I found that it really helped and made the whole shoot a lot easier. I realised that I had a lot of learning to do about taking a good photo. It required me to go out on a practice shoot before the real shoot and take photographs experimenting with lighting and models picture within the frame. I felt that after that practice I had learnt how to use the camera to take a well posed and relevant shot that I could use in my work.
I had never used Blogger before I started this project but it didn't take long to figure out. After my first couple of posts I felt very comfortable using it. I didn't really learn much about the process to create a blog post, the main thing I learnt was how helpful keeping a blog could be. Regularly posting allowed me to review past work and spot changes so I could determine if I was successful or not. It also helped me to know if I was on track with completing the work on time as every time I opened my blog my progress was there.
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