Through my own experience of producing a preliminary magazine to a creating a music magazine, digital technology has enabled me to improve the quality of my work, widen my methods of research and enhance my final product. Without the help or use of digital technology I would have suffered long, time consuming procedures which are today considered unreliable and unprofessional.
When producing my preliminary task I experimented with digital technology trying different computer programmes, cameras and editing software. Experimenting gave me the results I needed to produce a more satisfactory product, shrinking the gap between professional and amateur work. This was also useful when it came to creating the music magazine as I knew which technologies were most appropriate for the task. I found that using a digital camera with a mega pixel of 5 or greater gave me the best results, as when I wanted to maximise or blow-up a photo the focus was still clear rather than becoming pixelated. This allowed me to create images which were zoomed, varying the different shot types as well as making the magazine more interesting on the eye. I also found that a good camera would have a long battery life which enabled me to take thirty plus photos on location without having to change batteries or having to re-schedule the day. The long battery life allowed me to take a selection of shots, some with media conventions and others which followed no particular media rule or framing. With a digital camera photos are much easier to take as you can view what you have taken, and if you wanted a particular shot made up of the rule of thirds and framing, a digital camera allows you to produce this compared to a manual camera where you would have to develop the shot in a dark room and if the photos weren’t correct you would have to re-shoot. A digital camera saves time, money and improves the overall professional effect and look of my magazine. Editing software is key in the media industry, not just music magazines, however I found that editing software for my magazine allowed me create special effects and change the colour filter in the photos if the shot wasn’t quite satisfactory. This type of technology improve the quality of photos and layout of the pages, giving the magazine a more appealing and professional style.
Computer programmes such as Microsoft word document and PowerPoint allowed me to carefully conduct my research and planning for my magazine. The easy use of both programmes and the accessibility of them, as they are on nearly every computer, saved me time especially compared to hand writing an evaluation and drawing from influences. Using the programmes I was able to create mood broads, mind maps and write ups of my findings. This helped my creative approach to the task because I could clearly see my ideas and similarities between music magazines. I found mind maps easier to produce on a computer programme such as Word because I could visually analyse my work and ideas, it was also easier for others to read my work and the clear, computer font replaces “rushed” hand writing. I found that both programmes had many different effects and extras in them and that I could create links between the style I wanted to create through my research and planning and the house style I wanted for the magazine. This was only achievable as I could not have produced such work by hand and not to the standard of a computer either.
Through out my progression from the preliminary task to the creation of the music magazine I found that the use of computers and laptops were crucial from beginning to end. The computer allowed me to save work automatically and manually, which reduced the amount of lost work or unsaved work. A laptop allowed me to transport my work from one place to another which meant when I had a new idea or free time I was able to continue with the work. The programmes on the computers also increased accuracy in analysis and made drafting a plan of the final product easier. From a simple constructed word document I was able to hand draft the front cover, contents page and double page spread of my magazine, developing my ideas as I progressed. Alongside the computers and laptop was access to the internet. The internet was vital for my primary and secondary research as the there was a huge selection of results of examples of magazine structures, layout and their house style. The choice enabled me to select the best ones for examples demonstrating influences for my magazine. The internet helped to develop my creativity as I discover music magazines and artist I haven’t heard of before which actually could have influenced my final piece.
With out the aid of digital technology my music magazine would have nearly impossible to produce to such a standard. The amount of time saved, the work managed and product enhancement by digital technology means that my creativity towards the project has been more focused as I haven’t had to worry about loosing or ruining work. Digital technology has been a huge influence on my research and planning work to producing the final product. I found that in both areas the technology was important to my creativity as it was limited by the restriction of programmes compared to hand drawing. However this meant I followed typical magazine conventions such as using the primary optical area to my advantage and placing images on lines of interception and applying the rule of thirds. I understood I had to produce I product that would sell rather than an original music magazine, and I believe that digital technology has given me a successful magazine as an example of using modern, reliable digital technology.
Sophie Binns
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