2. Online Technology
Blogger
Before beginning the course I
had heard of Blogspot/Blogger
and the blogging community
before, but I had always
considered it to be another form
of social networking. I had art
and fashion blogs on other
websites but I hadn’t considered
Blogger to be an effective way of
creating an online and
interactive portfolio. Using
blogger has enabled me to
display multimedia work in an
organised online storage space
that I can access from anywhere.
I have also developed my
knowledge of HTML coding
when embedding codes from
slideshare, YouTube and
My Blogger overview
GoogleDocs.
HTML Coding when editing posts
3. Online Technology
Prezi
Although I found it slightly confusing at first, Prezi has enabled me to brainstorm ideas (such
as ‘initial ideas’ for my product) and present them in order to gain feedback in an efficient and
interactive way. Prezi is an alternative to PowerPoint and is more suited to visual display of
ideas so has proved useful throughout the planning and reasearch stages of my production.
4. Online Technology
Google Docs
I was unaware that Google Docs existed at first and assumed it was just a Google version of
iCloud so I had no idea it could be used for surveys and audience feedback. I found this google
extension extremely useful when getting audience feedback as my surveys were easily accessable
and the data was all organised and displayed by the software.
5. Software
iPhoto
I had used iphoto before but hasn’t used it to its full capabilities
before the course, as I had never needed to organise or edit a large
selection of photographs. The editing feature is similar to the
‘adjustments’ bar on adobe Photoshop but it allowed me to make
alterations to photographs quickly during the image selection
process e.g. the contents page main image’s contrast levels were
increased on iphoto before I chose to use that image in my product.
6. Software
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop was the area where I developed my skills most. I had used Photoshop for my media GCSE
last year so I understood the basic principles of layers, image format, applying text and making
adjustments to the images. However, as I wanted to achieve a professional and well-established
aesthetic to my product, I aimed to develop my Photoshop skills to look similar to a professional
standard. I mimicked the techniques of professional image retouchers by learning how to properly
airbrush. Previously I had used the blemish removal tool to correct lower-resolution images;
airbrushing using layer masks, blur filters and the correct airbrush tool meant I could give the artist’s
skin the ‘otherworldly’ glowing porcelain effect I wanted to achieve.
Adding text to images on Photoshop was an other area of improvement. For the copy on the
double page spread, I struggled with formatting such a large amount of text to fit into the
conventional three column format but after improving my skills, I was more comfortable
when it came to formatting the dozens of text layers on the front cover.
7. Photography
Before the production, I had never formally set up a posed photo shoot using a
professional standard camera. Before the practical production began I took some
test shots to develop my photographical skills in terms of manually
focusing, framing shots and selecting the correct setting on the camera depending
on the subject and location. I further developed my photography skills when reshooting the original test shots for my production. I learnt that in order to achieve a
studio effect on my images I would need bright diffused lighting. For this I used a
‘slave’ which is a type of wireless flash extension so I could light my model from
more than one angle.
