Print Skills Audit

AS Media Production

Technical Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Scott Carter                       Tutor group: 2.35                Date: 7/04/2011

Photographic Skills

Which of the following photographic features/equipment have you used on a camera before?

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Manual Focus features	Yes		Used when I took my images for my magazine front cover and double page spread. I used this specifically when taking what I thought would be potential images used for my final product.  As I use these features often, I find that my level of using them is quite high.
Shutter Speed	Yes		I used the shutter speed when I took photos of moving objects for practice. One of the images was a passing lorry, and I had the shutter speed open briefly to get a non blurry image. I have used the shutter speed often resulting in me having a good level of using it.
Aperture control	Yes		This was used during the learning process of the camera. I placed an ornamental house/clock onto a desk and from a distance (used the zoom to get closer), I controlled the aperture in different ways which resulted in an image where only the house/clock was in focus, with the background blurred, and the other with complete clearness foreground and background. I haven’t used this often so I would say I have only used this to a basic level.
ISO Control	Yes		I found that some of my images we too dark when doing my pose picture and therefore used the ISO control to lighten it. I haven’t used this often so I would say I have only used this to a basic level.
A tripod	Yes		The tripod was mainly used when I took my photos for my unit 3 project. I found that using it enabled me to have a better, clearer picture. I have used a tripod many times and therefore find my level of using this is extremely high.
External flash	Yes		Most of the time when I took my pictures, using the external flash has enabled me to create brighter, crisper pictures. Because of this, I find the level of using this to be high as I understand how to use it and the frequent times I use it.
Self timer facility		No
Light meter	Yes		I have used the light meter infrequently, and have used it to determine aperture settings. The knowledge of using it is very basic as I avoided using the light meter often.
Composition grids		No

Photoshop Skills

Which of the following features of Photoshop have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Have you ever used Photoshop ever before?	Yes		Photoshop has been used by me throughout this entire course. I have used many tools on the software and have created products with it. Now that I have come to end of the course, I feel as though I have used Photoshop for years and I can use it to nearly its full potential.
Text control	Yes		I control my text all the time as this allows me to be able to change fonts, size and colour and can position it anywhere as well as adding effects on it. Controlling text is very simple and I feel I can use it a high level.
Filters	Yes		I found that adding filters to my created shapes, texts or placed images. I wouldn’t say I used these to an advance level, however, I found I could create basic and interesting effects.
Brushes	Yes		I have used brushes when I began learning how to use Photoshop, however, I never found myself using them for any of my work or final products so therefore my level of using them is very minimal.
Layers	Yes		I used layers every time I used Photoshop. Using layers allowed me to have more control on a specific thing at a time without affecting any other work done in Photoshop. The act that I now know how to merge layers also, I think I can u them to a high level.
Opacity control	Yes		I have not controlled the opacity too much when creating projects, however, when I did use it, it was for darkening or lighting purposes only.
Shape creation	Yes		I used this when creating my final products. The shapes I created represented banners or paint splatter affects. To create these effects with a shape, I liquefied them. I found this very easy to do as the shape tool was easy to find in the tool section to left of the Photoshop document.
Brightness and contrast control		No
Gradients	Yes		I never used gradients for my final product, but I used them for practice purposes. The gradients were used initially for my background when I created my practice magazine front cover. As I rarely use this tool, I would say I could use it a basic level.
Load selection features	Yes		Once again, I never used this for my final products, but I used this many times when doing my practice magazine and double page spreads. I would suggest that I could use load selection features at a very basic level.
Feathering	Yes		I found that feathering part of images was vital as it smoothed edgy lines. I never used this for my final product as there was no reason to and as I have only used on occasion, I feel that my ability of using it is basic.
Colour curves adjustment		No
Resolution setting control		No
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool	Yes		These features have been used by me frequently throughout the whole course. I feel that using them (lasso especially) can be time consuming, but worth it as I have managed to cut out backgrounds or certain objects whilst making it look professional. I find these tools easy to use and can use hen at an alright level.
Cropping tool	Yes		I never used this for my final product, but I still found it useful when I was learning how to use Photoshop. This tool allowed me to get rid of unnecessary parts of an image by simply clicking on the image and dragging it over the part in which I wanted rid of.
Clone tool	Yes		When I placed my main image in Photoshop (placed at the bottom – left to right covered), I realised that if I stretched my image to reach the top of page, the image would then become very stretched and not to real size so I used the clone tool to click on the background, and then coloured in the rest of the exposed document so it filled the entire sheet. I have not used the clone tool often, but find it quite simple to use, but the lack of using it means I only to how to use it at a basic level.
Retouch tool	Yes		The retouch tool was used to remove blemishes and other marks found on my main images. I only know how to use this at a basic level as I only used it for my main image twice when doing my Unit 3 project.

Final Products

Final Prodcuts

Photoshop Tutorial

Photoshop Tutorial

Write up

I wanted the colour of the hoody warn by my model to be changed form pink to blood orange. To do this, I selected the image and highlighted the hoody inparticular. I then chose the colour I wanted and used the brush tool to change the colour. I had to be very careful as I cut of caught the background.

Aperture

Aperture

Aperture write up

I took two images using this setting on the camera. The first image shows that the background is blurry but the object closest to the camera was in focus. The next image shows the image completely in focus (all of it).

I found that adjusting the aperture setting so that it is smaller makes the background be in focus as well as the remaining parts of the image. This means that bigger the setting, the more blur we are going to have.

I think the blurred effect would be useful for my final product and I am possibly thinking about using it.

Pose Picture

Pose Picture

Pose picture write up

The main prop for this image was a standard teddy bear. The pose I wanted from my model was an aggressive, sadistic one as this could connotate many things. I wanted a run down setting and found the perfect place for that. I placed the model in the centre of the camera and took the image at medium range.

The shot enables us to see her facial expressions at a close enough range whilst seeing how she is holding the teddy bear (strangling it).

As my unit 3 project will be based on global warming, I could use the strangling pose technique (not on a teddy bear) to emphasise the fact that its time to kill global warming once and for all.

Production Monitoring Blog 5/14/2011

Production Monitoring Blog 05/04/2011

Progress…

Last week was the final week of completing my final products. The first day last week I had managed to nearly complete my magazine front cover and had a good start with my double page spread. The second day I had completed my magazine front cover and made significant progress with the double page spread. The day before the work was due to be handed in, I had completed my double page spread.

I found myself changing the design of my work frequently. I had spent many after college hours trying to get the work complete, but I was changing certain layouts and texts within both the magazine front cover (i.e. deleted box shapes and created banners instead) and the double page spread (I originally had my title placed top centred, but changed my mind and placed it sideways to right). Thankfully, I had no computer problems, but found the creation of the Unit 3 project was very time consuming due to the many alterations I made.

Targets:

This week is the beginning of the evaluations of the Unit 3 project. I have to accomplish writing them by the 15/04/2011 as that is the deadline. I understand that I have to plan what to write and have detailed information written.

Contingencies…

I could once again encounter computer problems such as the computer malfunctioning or becoming very slow. As my job is to now do simple Microsoft Word work, I should have no major problems.

Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread

InDesign Write up

I began Indesign by putting margins and columns in the set up tab, before opening up the page. I set it to have 3 columns per page. I first created a text box (tool on the left hand side with many other tools) for the top middle of the pages and placed my title inside. I originally used a downloaded font for the title, but due to computer problems, I used a pre saved font for it.

After this, I created my image boxes and placed them where I felt they would look good. I then placed the images into the box and right clicked on it to fit the image with the entire box. I went through the same process when adding a second image in.

I then created my text box in my columns so I got place a large text based document in. When I opened the document into Indesign, I clicked the writng into the first text box. As there was by far enough room for the entire text, I clicked a little red tab that appears at the bottom right of the text box and then placed text in other created text boxes throughout to have all text in.

I found that some text covered one of my images so I had to text wrap it. I had to use the pen tool and click around the image where the text was covering, and after I circled it, I went and found the option that said text wrap and chose an option that looked best.

When my product was complete, I found it to be terrible. I realised that I used no colours, had a background, used different fonts and varied sizes of important words and had no page numbers. Knowing this, I realise that when it comes to my unit 3 production, I can not make the same mistakes again. I also feel that it looks more like a newspaper than a magazine article, and I feel it’s down to the use of images and next time I could create by using one large image to cover much of the two pages and mess around that giving a more magazine feel to it.

Production monitoring blog 29/03/2011

Production monitoring blog 29/03/2011

Progress…

Last week I continued with my magazine front cover. The first day of last week I managed to create boxes, some headings and a mast head. However, the background was cropped out of my main image therefore my current background was bright white. Not liking this, the next day I opened a new photo shop page and imported my main image, but kept the background as it was for the more realistic effect. The final day I imported everything I created on the old photo shop page, but deleted the boxes and put an image in a photo frame style creation with a blue banner going through the front cover.

Not everything ran smoothly. I had to make many changes because I wasn’t happy with what the product was beginning to look like. I have changed the fonts for the mast head many times and I’m still not sure if I have found the one I have been looking for. I spent much time creating boxes and changing the layout, size and colour of them and ultimately I found myself deleting them because they seemed to look silly. After this, I found the progress I made was promising and the current status of the front cover is looking good in my opinion. I was, however, hoping to have completed my front cover and have at least made a start with double page spread, but with the redoing of the front cover, I am now behind. Below is my current ststus of my magazine front cover.

Targets…

This week is the final week for my project as my deadline is the 1^st April. The first day of this week I am hoping to get my magazine front cover finished, as I have created the rest of my headlines and downloaded fonts at home in my own time, to save time during lessons. The second day of this week I hope to have began my double page spread, with the background and images in tact. The final day of the week I will add my headlines, titles, quotes and main article as all of these will have been created at home also, to save lesson time to just add everything in. I will be using all the photo shop and Indesign skills learnt previously.

Contingencies…

I mite encounter more computer problems such as the machines malfunctioning or the photo shop and Indesign software not working correctly. To overcome this, I will have to find another computer that isn’t having these problems.

Production monitoring blog 22/03/2011

Production monitoring blog 22/03/2011

Progress…

Last week I followed my targets very well. The first day of last week, I spent organising and setting up my props ready for the photo shoot the day after. The day after the photo shoot, I reviewed my images and the final day of last week I made a start on my front cover.

I found that everything last week went efficiently. Organising my props was simple, fun and creative. I had them all organised in time for my photo shoot the following day. My models were on time and organised for the photo shoot, and the props were all used and various photographs were taken with time to spare. Reviewing the photos I took didn’t take very long as I had some superb images and some not so good images which made it easier for me to choose which ones I was going to use. Below are two images; one of good quality and one with mistakes.

I realised that I didn’t want to follow my schedule completely. I originally organised myself to do my front cover on the last week before the product deadline, however, I have realised that this was a mistake and began it the last day of the week. Below is a screen grab of the progress I have made so far with my magazine front cover.

I developed my camera skills further as I took many and different photos for my project. I also used my computer skills do go through the images and delete the ones I will not be using.

Targets…

This week, I am going to continue with my magazine front cover and hopefully try to get finished by the end of the week. If this goes to plan, I may also be able to make a start on my double page spread. If I don’t have the time to start this, I will at least have my main article wrote up in my own time, so next week I can give my self a head start.

To achieve a completed front cover by the end of this week, I am going to have to prepare myself for working very hard without any distractions, but not rush my final project and put a lot of effort into it. I am going to have a lot creating, importing and organising to do to get the front cover I am hoping for.

The Photoshop and Indesign skills I have previously learned are going to be used for my final products. I am going to be using the computer non-stop for the next couple of weeks which means all my I.T skills are going to be intact.   

Contingencies…

Using Photoshop for the next week could run very smoothly. However, anything could go wrong such as the machine I am working on freezing meaning I could lose work. Photoshop itself may not work properly which also cause problems. However, I can overcome these problems by simply finding other machines that have this software on and then I can continue with my work.

Production monitoring blog 15/03/2011

Production monitoring blog 15/03/2011

Progress…

Last week I created my photo shoot plans, have meetings with my models and book the studio and the equipment I needed. The first day of last week I booked the studio and equipment that I needed. The two days to follow, I created my photo shoot plans and arranged who was going to be my models (I had previous conversations with people so I knew who could have potentially been my models). The final day of last week, knowing that my photo shoot was drawing close, I held an informal meeting between me and my personnel and discussed who was holding what props, doing what poses and what clothing they will be wearing as well as how they will have their hair styles.

I attempted to book the studio twice before finally finding the technician who deals with the bookings. I thought that going early in the morning would be a good idea, but turned out he wasn’t there at the time I wanted to book out. This was perhaps the only thing last week that didn’t run smoothly. Doing the photo shoot plan went very smoothly as I had all my ideas in tact and had no computer problems and the meeting being held had all my models present.

As suggested above, the only technical skills I used were I.T skills for creating my photo shoot plans in a Microsoft Word document.

Targets…

This week, I am scheduled to make my props, execute my photo shoot and review the photos I take. I plan to get the materials and props prepared and make the ones I need on the first of this week. The second day I plan to execute my photo shoot and on the third day I am going to review the images, keep the ones I want/need and erase the ones that have no purpose. I am keeping the fourth day available for any problems that I may face such as having to reschedule my photo shoot if it doesn’t go to plan.

To achieve doing this and meeting my planned deadlines, I will have to be prepared to spend a considerate amount of the day organising and setting up my props. I will have to make sure everyone is on time and all set for the photo shoot and will have to organise time to look through the photos I have taken.

I will be developing my camera skills further as this week I will be taking photos for my project. This will involve me using the shutter speed and use side or front lighting etc. I will also be using my computer skills do go through the images and delete the ones I will not be using.

Contingencies…

This week is arguably the biggest and most stressful as I have my photo shoot. This is going to be stressful as I could face many potential problems such as my models not turning up on the day of the shoot. I could still encounter computer problems when uploading or browsing through the photos I have taken. However, I can overcome this by informing my models in advance when the photo shoot is going to be, and also by having the models being media class mates give me more time with them to emphasise the importance of them turning up. To images I take could become lost, so after uploading them onto the computer, I can back them up in various files and on a memory stick.

Production monitoring blog 08/03/2011

Production monitoring blog 08/03/2011

Progress…

Last week I successfully created two magazine front cover mock ups. The first day I began with jotting ideas down (such as who is going to be my model, sex of the model, what props will I use? Etc) and also decided upon a potential name for my magazine. The second day I drew my first mock up which consisted of me being creative and accurate to what I had in mind. The third day I managed to come up with an interesting idea for my article as well as completing a detailed mock up idea on paper. On the fourth day I found myself completing the contingency plans.

I found that everything ran smoothly when creating my mock up ideas. I managed to have all ideas processed and drawn on paper getting me prepared for my final flat plan and then my actual project. However, this said, I found problems when creating my contingency plans. As I decided to do these plans via the computer, I encountered malfunctioning problems as my computer froze on occasion which finally lead me to having to find another computer to finish my planning. In addition, as soon as I found another computer, the planning went smoothly and finished within that day. Although I am now up to date, I scheduled myself to have my front cover mocks ups created the week before. 

Using the computer and the software on it to create my contingency plans, I developed my I.T skills further. I also developed my drawing skills further when creating my mocks ups via pencil and paper.

Targets…

This week, I am scheduled to create photo shoot plans. After creating the plans, I have to book the studio and the equipment needed. This also means that this week, I need to have model and personnel meetings. The first of this week, I have to create my photo shoot plans. The second day this week I am expecting to have this completed and be ready to organise when I want my photo shoot, and go and book it.

For me to achieve all of this, I have to prepare myself with plenty of time so all my plans can be met with the schedule. I will need to be focused and determined to meet this deadline also.

Creating my photo shoot plan will acquire me to use a computer and also use Microsoft word. I will need to use no other technical skills for my planned work this week.

Contingencies…

Having personnel meetings requires my models and everyone else involved to be present when the meetings are being held. If people don’t show up, we cannot discuss details that are important for the photo shoot. However, I can overcome this by making sure I have my models’ numbers, as well as warning them in advance of when the meeting is going to be. Creating my photo shoot plan can also have difficulties as the person I have to arrange the times with may not be in or at his usual workspace. However, I can avoid this by finding out when he takes breaks etc and then I’ll know when he’ll be available; I could also find him during the early or late stages of the day, avoiding the manic dinner rush that could prevent me from getting my booking because he could be handling too many people. Creating my photo shoot plan can also be problem as I could encounter malfunctioning problems as I did previously working with the computer. Though, I could easily avoid this by making sure I save on a regular basis so work won’t be lost and if my computer crashed altogether, I could quickly find a spare computer and use that.