Micro Essay - Digital Tech

Describe how you developed your skills in digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision-making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how your skills developed over time.

Since the beginning of this course my skills and knowledge of digital technology have improved rapidly.

From the very start of AS we were taught to utilise the online blogging website – www.blogger.com. This helped me to organize all my planning and production materials. Blogger is an example of web 2.0 as it has opportunities for the audience to become interactive with comments and alterations.

We started simple with iMovie and Garageband to get use to timeline editing, transitions between shots, and how to layer audio over images.

 We then used social networking sites such as www.facebook.com to perform research into audience as well as gain audience feedback.

When it came to constructing our AS Thriller used a Canon mini DV camera. Through using this equipment I learned how to White Balance, and frame shots.

To upload we used a mini DV and Firewire cable to capture our footage on to the computer. We did not rewind the tape as this would have wiped the 8-digit timecode, which was necessary when editing.

In A2 we continued to use Blogger to organise our research and planning. However we did change and upgrade many digital technologies, one being the Sony HD1000p HD Digital Camera. Through this we learned how to manually set exposure and focus, which was adjusted automatically on the mini DV camera. We really explored the depths of Final Cut Pro. Instead of using this industry standard software, Justas a timeline editor, we also used a lot of its features such as the Video Effects bin and the Video transmissions Bin for effects such as fade and Bad Film. This allowed us to alter our footage to suit our genre. As well as this I also learned about Adobe Fireworks Photo Editor as I had to edit photos for my Digipak. I learned  how to manipulate photos taken on an SLR camera with tools such as Tint, Overlay, Contrast, Brushes and how to merger layers. I also used this programme to edit photos for my Website that was created on www.wix.com, an online website creator.