AS Media Production: Final Skill Audit Print Production

AS Media Production: Final Skills Audit Print Production

Name: Jason Ross McLean       Tutor group: 1.02                Date: 22/04/2014

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		I have used manual focus when taking composition photos for my Media Production coursework. I have also used manual focus in Graphic Communication when taking various shots of musical instruments and other objects to produce artwork from.
Shutter Speed	YES		In media Production I have experimented with shutter speed in order to take various kinds of images. To freeze movement in an image I used a very fast shutter speed, Likewise to take an image that shows movement through blur, I used a much slower shutter speed.
Aperture control		NO	I have not used this Photographic feature/ equipment before.
ISO Control	YES		When taking shutter speed pictures for my Media Production Coursework, I used ISO Control to alter the brightness of my images taken.
A tripod		NO	I have not used this Photographic feature/ equipment before.
External flash		NO	I have not used this Photographic feature/ equipment before.
Self timer facility	YES		I have used the self-timer facility before when taking family and group photographs that I want to be a part of.
Light meter	YES		I used a light meter as part of my setup when I conducted my photo-shoot for my final product of my media production coursework. Using a light meter enabled me to have the right setting to take high quality photographs for my final product.
Composition grids	YES		I have used composition grids when taking photos for my Graphics Communication coursework portfolio.

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
Text control	YES		I have used text control before in media when producing my magazine front cover and my double page spread. I have also used text control on many occasions at college in Graphics Communication when I have designed products such as posters, business cards and cd covers. As well as this I have also used text control when producing typography in Graphics.
Filters	YES		In order to produce artwork and graphic designs in Graphics Communication I have used a wide range of filters, such as ‘Noise, Pixelate and Distort’.
Brushes	YES		I have downloaded and used a variety of different brushes when producing various pieces of work for my media coursework. Following on, I have used snowflake brushes when producing a Christmas hard. In addition to this I used different scar brushes when editing a woman’s face to make her look like a vampire.
Layers	YES		Layers are a feature that I work with regularly on a daily basis. Moreover, I use layers in media when producing magazine front cover and double page spreads. I also use layers in Graphics Communication when producing artwork, posters, and cd covers etc. Using layers allows me to edit different features such as images and text without making any changes to other features. Layers also allows me to create a field of depth within my products by overlapping layers.
Opacity control	YES		I have used opacity control, in both media production and graphic Communication. I find opacity control a useful feature when overlaying images and shapes with text. For example in media, on my magazine front cover I have used opacity control to decrease the opacity of a front page splash (button)  and a baseline in order to overlay them with text that is readable. Similar I have used opacity control to decrease the opacity of poster backgrounds in order to make sure that the text overlapping the background image is clear and visible to the reader.
Shape creation	YES		When designing various products on Photoshop for my media and graphics coursework as well as products I have created in my own spare time, I have used the shape creation tool to create standard shapes such as rectangles, circles and squares. I have also used the shape creation tool to create more abstract non-standard shapes such as arrows, stars and speech/thinking bubbles.
Brightness and contrast control	YES		When editing and enhancing images that I have taken, I often control the brightness and contrast of an image to improve the quality of images taken.
Gradients	YES		When creating typography and producing cell drawings in graphic communication I have used the gradient tool to give the a 3d effect.
Load selection features		NO	I have not used this Photoshop feature before.
Feathering		NO	I have not used this Photoshop feature before.
Colour curves adjustment	YES		I have used the colour curves adjustment tool when editing photographs for my coursework in both Media Production and Graphic Communication. I use the colour curves adjustment tool alter image contrast and to colour correct some of my images.
Resolution setting control	YES		When setting up new Photoshop documents and when dealing with images I always ensure that they are set to 300 pixels per inch. This ensures that any images do not loose quality and look pixilated when they are expanded or printed.
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool	YES		I have used both the magnetic lasso tool and the polygon lasso tool when editing photographs and artwork in Media Production and in Graphic Communication
Cropping tool	YES		When dealing with images in both Media and Graphics I often use to crop tool to simply get rid of any unwanted image.
Clone tool		NO	I have not used this Photoshop feature before.
Retouch tool	YES		I have used retouch tools such as; the healing brush tool, the spot healing touch tool and the red eye tool, when enhancing peoples appearance in pictures. For example, In order to create a flawless front cover image for my magazine in media production, I used several retouch tools to enhance my models skin and remove any of my models imperfections such as spots and blemishes.
Other skills WARP TOOL FREE TRAMSFORM DROP SHADOWS MARGINS & GUIDES	YES YES YES YES		When editing a woman’s face to make her look like a vampire in Media Production, I used the warp tool to change the shape of her teeth. I have also used the warp tool in Graphics Communication when creating typography. On Photoshop I have used free-transform for re-sizing, rotating, reshaping and moving images. In the past, when I have wanted to give texts and images a 3d effect, I have used the drop shadow tool on Photoshop. In order to ensure that everything lined up accordingly when created magazine front covers in Photoshop I have used both Margins and Guides.

In Design Skills

Which of the following features of In Design have you used before:

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Have you ever used In design ever before?	YES		I have used InDesign to create a magazine double page spread for my media production coursework. I have also used an InDesign when creating a 24 page magazine to celebrate the 2013/2014 season of a local rugby club.
Margin and column guide creation	YES		When creating a magazine double page spread for my media course work, I set up guideless to ensure that all my images, texts, and columns lined up accordingly. As well as this I also set up margin guidelines to ensure that all my margins were the correct size and width.
Inserting an image ID	YES		When designing and creating magazine double page spreads for media production and for a local rugby club, I had to insert a number of selected photographs in to InDesign.
Resizing images in ID	YES		When I have created magazine double page spreads on InDesign, I have had to resize images to ensure that they fit accordingly in their designated places.
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation	YES		I have not used this InDesign feature before.
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading		NO	I have not used this InDesign feature before.
Text flow creation	YES		When producing double page spreads for magazines that I have created both in media production and in my spare time, I have used to flow creation to fluently link my article between various text boxes.
Using transparent imagery in ID		NO	I have not used this InDesign feature before.
Shape/line creation In design	YES		I have used both shape and line creation in InDesign when creating magazine double page spreads. Moreover, I used shape and line creation as a way of covering white space and breaking up large chunks of text in order to make my double page spreads more interesting and visually pleasing.
Exporting to PDF from In-design	YES		To enable me to upload my magazine front page and double page spread that I created in media to the internet I had to export my InDesign document to PDF. In addition, In my spare time I produced a magazine on InDesign for a local rugby club, and in order to get the magazine printed by a local professional printing company (The Newton Press) I had to export my InDesign document to PDF format so that the company could run it through their systems.
Text Wrap	YES		I have used text wrapping in InDesign In Media Production. Furthermore, when designing magazine double page spreads, I used text wrapping to wrap text around images and quote inserts.
Other Skills DROP CAP	YES		Other tools I used include the Drop Cap. When producing magazine double page spreads, I use large drop caps at the beginning of every article, to signify the start of the article and to add style and give my articles an artistic look.

Number of new skills achieved:

Since my Initial Skills Audit I have gained 20 new skills.