Software

When producing my Advanced Production I used a vast variety of software ranging from programs suited to Apple Macs and programs suited to PC. The programs I used on the Mac were :

Pages - to help me with the print and publishing side of the course. It enabled me to used effects with images and different kinds of fonts. I was already quite skilled when it came to working on pages because of my Foundation Production where I had to produce a magazine cover, double page spread and contents page, all of which I designed and published on pages.

iMovie - This program was very useful when I had to sequence my moving images and make sure they were all suitable for my music video, in length and picture. WIth this program I was able to use transitions and effects with text and with picture colouring. iMovie was very helpful because it was easy to use and as I haven't produced anything like a film before I was able to get to grips with the content quite quickly.

iDVD - I used this program when I had to burn my music promo video to a disk. It gave me the oppurtunity to use themes and backgrounds for the opening of my film piece which was quite different from what I had expected.

iPhoto - When I took the images for my print pieces I knew that I wanted to edit them to make them look a certain way. The way I did this was by using iPhoto to change the contrast, saturation and tone of the picture. The colour of the feature girls lips has been brought up to give them emphasis and create an edgy look, the kind of thing I had in mind when I took the images. I also used the 'crop' tool to take out any unwanted image on the photo. I wanted the central focus to be on the feature individual and think I created this quite well as I have focussed completely on her face and nothing else. With the hair being tossed around in an almost animalistic way it helps the audience to feel like the album they'd be buying would have a classic rock edge to it.

More programs I used that are not featured on the Appl Mac I used for my work are:

Word - I drew up preliminary plans on Microsoft Word so I could keep track of what I needed to do/what I have done. These were for my own records as I had quite a lot of tasks to complete with my Advanced Production Portfolio.

Windows Movie Maker - I also experimented with Windows Movie Maker because I wanted to see which format was better when it came to film production, iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. In the end I went with iMovie because I found it more simple to use and it offered me the option of putting in effects common to music videos which was relevant and helpful.


Overall, the software I used proved to be the best I could use for the production of my Media Coursework. I managed to learn how to use the programs very quickly and didn't have any trouble with them when it came to the technological side of things.