Rianne's AS Media Coursework

"What have I learnt about technologies in the process of constructing my product?"

WHAT HAVE I LEARNT?

This first year of media studies I have learnt various techniques and conventions in media in order to make a magazine to the highest of standards and to be to a standard of professional use. Things such as;

How to use new software and programs like Prezi, Scribd, Fireworks and Padlet. Learning skills that I have become fluent in using and can adapt their uses to my other subjects outside of media.
Holding shift in fireworks to re-size an image, stopping it from becoming the right proportion (squished together or fattened)
All the tools that Fireworks uses like cropping, reshaping, editing, kerning etc.
Media terms like;

Media text: any media production, could anything from a movie trailer to a magazine that features a specific media product.
Media form: the type do media used to communicate, such as movies - Sherlock Holmes, Salt, Hollyoaks
Conventions: elements to make up something greater, ingredients if you wish to make up a cake.
Genre: the type of category to which a media text belongs to; horror, comedy, drama, thriller, sci-fi
Denotation: a literal meaning of a word, describing what you see in detail; a stick, brown stick, on graveled surface, single leaf, green leaf.
Connotation: association that connects words or meanings with emotional suggestions; loneliness, dirty, broken, fallen.

All this has helped me further the production of my magazine as without learning these key, essential things it wouldn't have been to the professional standard I want t to be at. Without learning how to use fireworks my pages would not have consistency, everything would have been askew and simple like a child had done it on MS paint. With knowing media terms such as; connotation and Denotation, I wouldn't have been able to see what the reader would potentially see looking at my magazine which is very important.

BLOGGER
Using blogger outside of the course for personal use, I knew how to use it. However I did not know its capability, being able to add and embed external programs like Scribd, Prezi and Aminito which makes my work progress more interesting and visual to the exam which would be more drawing than just plain simple paragraphs of text.

FLICKR
Using Flickr, a popular image and video sharing social network. I could upload and store all the media I had taken online and share them with others. A great way to store store and share the photos I have taken, uploading is quick and easy and it's simple to use. Came in handy when creating my products as I could search through them and pick the ones I wanted to use without hassle.

PREZI
A great way to create zooming presentations that are more engaging and memorable also quick and easy to use. Prezi is cloud-based, meaning I could edit my presentation from my browser, desktop, iPad, or iPhone with ease. It was a great way from me to showcase my research and look professional.

THINGLINK

ThingLink helps create interactive support for your images with music, video, text, images and voice notes. Using this to explain why I used certain things in places was simple compared to just writing essays without visuals on my blog. With Thinglink I can embed in onto the blog and make it look appealing and profession.

ANIMOTO

I used Animoto to showcase the audience of my product. Animoto is a vibrant, simplistic way to create modern videos using flexible tools, adding image captions and title cards to narrate and spotlight the images for more emphasis.

FIREWORKS

A bitmap and vector graphic editor, fixed with tools the help create designs to a high standard. I found it really easy to use and a great way to create my product as well as my magazine mastheads and collages of images to create mood boards showcasing my audiences habits and 'wish products.'

SLIDELY
Slidely is an image-based social network cloud enabling video creation service that allows users to create video slideshows from photos, video clips, and music i used it to showcase my product change of time in a unique way.

YOUTUBE
A very popular video sharing social network. I used to to host the videos iI made interviewing my potential audience, finding out about them and their likes are dislikes and what they thought about the magazine. Owning a YouTube account already I found it easy to use and upload my media content on to it.

SCRIBD
Is a personal digital library, with unlimited access to the world’s largest collection of e-books and written works. It also allows users to upload works onto it which is what I did. Its very easy to use enabling me to embed it onto my blog without hassle.

PADLET
Software that enables you to design a wall filled with media products like images and videos. Its easy with a drag and drop handle instant collaboration, flexibility in layouts and fun designs. I used it to show the difference and similarities in other products to mine, Padlet was an easy program to carry out my tasks and handy with its auto save features.

AVIARY

I edited the photos I had taken using an app called Aviary. In order to give the images more of a certain professional look and create more of an effect. Aviary let me crop the images to eliminate wasted space and to focus more on the subject. Able to adjust the brightness, contrast, warmth and saturation slightly to enhance the image. Availability of different filters that enhanced and changed the exposure, tone, glow, tint and shadow in the images. 'HD' enhancement feature sharpened the edges of the pictures and defined them more.

EXCEL

A popular spreadsheet program I used to create charts from my questionnaire results, this enabled me to see what my audience wanted and what type of product I could create.

PHRESH MAGAZINE AUDIENCE

My ideal audience of my magazine is 17-25 year old. Part of the C2DE socio economic group. Male or female who take a keen interest to hip hop culture.

Students would be my main focus group, hold part time jobs in retail and socialite place such as restaurants and bars, cafés.

They shop in popular stores and keep up with trends, wearing branded clothing e.g trap star, Nike, Adidas, Ralph Lauren. Shopping in world known stores like Asos, American Apparel, Top Shop, Top Man, Urban Outfitters and River Island.

Extra money/savings funds activities such as concerts and festivals going out clubbing and to parties. Living with parents, student accommodation or independently in a small flat. Valuing friendship, family and 'party' lifestyle. Socialising and going out regularly, pubs, beach holidays, clubs, concerts. Listening to music socially with friends.

Having devices like smart phones, iPhones, iPads listening to music on iTunes, online on spotify, YouTube and sound cloud.

My target audience starting from 17 means that they are starting to or aspiring to drive, small cars such as Vauxhall Corsas and fiat puntos, vw golf/polo.