Technologies

Equipment Used:

Canon 440D DSLR: The camera that I used was released by Canon in August 2006. I’ve used the camera on many occasions such as taking photos for my Photography and Art A level course at East Norfolk Sixth Form College. This has given me experience in the camera, which allowed me to use it to its full potential. When taking the photos in the photo studio for my magazine I used the studio lighting and the flash feature on the camera to highlight my model for my magazine. However to give the photo a dark look to stick my idea of film stills to be used in my magazine I had the shutter speed quicker than normal so the photo was already dark. This meant I didn’t have to spend plenty of time on Photoshop altering the picture to give it this dark menacing look. The lens on the camera was a 55-80mm lens, which is the default lens for the camera. During the photo shoot I used the camera on a Tripod and I also zoomed in to take some of the photos so details and the expression on the model were clearly visible.

Jessops TP 323 Tripod: During the photo shoot I always had the camera on a tripod to reduce the camera shake and to take the photo straight rather than from an angel. I had all the legs extended on the camera, which allowed me to look through the eyepiece to see what was in frame rather than guessing. This allowed me to save time and this was also more convenient for the models in my photo-shoot as our time frame for the shoot was narrow. In addition to this the pivot and rotational features were used when taking photos in short succession as it allowed me to take plenty of similar photos so I had plenty to choose from when making my hybrid genre magazine.

Camera Trigger: The camera trigger is a device that is plugged in and allows the user to take photos without having to push the button on the camera. This was useful as it reduced the camera shake from having to push and hold down the button down for a short period of time.

Light stands and light heads (Studio Lighting): These 3 lighting pieces were used to light up the models from the front, left and right to reduce shadows on the wall and to create a point of focus in the images. Also this was useful to capture the expressions and colours in the frame. The ambient lighting in the room was not used to stop shadows being casted from the ceiling. Each of the Studio lighting rigs were set to have a set number of their 5 bulbs lit to create the right mood and stereotypical horror film photos. If I had to few lights on the photo would have required plenty of Photoshop work to make them appear bright whereas if I had to many bulbs on it would appear to bright and I would have to make the photo much darker on Photoshop. Also an advantage of using these was the covers over the lights to stop the lights from glaring the pictures and from being in the models eyes.

Computer Programs Used:

Photoshop: I used Photoshop to create all of my final pieces for the media coursework unit. I did not learn much about Photoshop through media studies, as 2 of my other timetabled subjects require me to use it regularly. Also most of the features and tools I used I had known from GCSE Graphics Design. However I learned how to use the clone tool in Media studies this was used to remove imperfections from the background of my photos as well as removing creases from the models clothing in the photos. Also the text editing options was another feature/tool of Photoshop I learned while making my magazine pages. The tab which allows you to change the spacing and height of all characters was unknown to me before writing my feature article however I now know how to use this feature/tool well to create good products and annotation in all of my subjects at college.

Websites used throughout the Coursework Unit

Slideshare: I have used slide share to upload my work to the website and then I’ve taken the embed code for the file and put it in my blog as a post to allow the work to been seen on my blog. Also when I’ve altered my work I’ve updated the Slideshare version and this then automatically updates my blog post with the new version.

Blogger: