Final Skills Audit

AS Media Production: Final Skills Audit Print Production

 

Name: Michaela Mullett     

 

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			I used the manual focus feature when taking the images for my magazine and double page spread. I think my skills have improved greatly and the pictures I took recently looked much more professional than those I took earlier in the course.
Shutter Speed			I have previously done this prior to the course; however I think that my skills in using shutter speed improved as I learnt a lot more about using the correct setting on the camera depending on what type of image I wanted to take.
Aperture control
ISO Control			I used the ISO Control on the camera when I did my shutter speed pictures. I had not previously done this when using shutter speed and so this greatly improved the quality of the images I took.
A tripod			I have used a tripod when taking some of my images in order to make the images straight and have less chance of being blurred. I think I can now do this to a high standard.
External flash			I used the external flash when taking the photographs for my final product so that the lighting would look more professional.
Self timer facility			I have previously used a self-timer when taking an image of a group of people where there was no-one available to take the image.  This was done on my own personal camera.
Light meter			Before taking my images for my front cover and double-page spread I assisted in using a light-meter, so although I am not yet able to use it on my own I do have an understanding and awareness of how they are used.
Composition grids			I used the composition grids when taking the images so that I knew that they would be straight and in line. I think I can do this to a relatively high level but with more practise and experience I will be able to improve my skills.

 

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			I used text control in Photoshop when I was creating my front cover as I had to place the sell lines in the correct places and to do this I had to use text control.
Filters
Brushes			I used the brushes in Photoshop in order to remove spots and wrinkles from people’s faces. To do this I used the healing brush. I had not previously used this skill and so it was new to me and I think could use it well, however with more practise and experience I think I could further my skills.
Layers			I used layers when creating my front cover as I needed certain text to be behind images or text in front of shapes.
Opacity control			I used the opacity control when changing the opacity of some of the coloured boxes in my double page spread so that it the block colour was not as harsh.
Shape creation			I used shape creation in order to create a circle of which the price could be placed into for my front cover. This was quite a simple task and therefore I could complete the task to a high level.
Brightness and contrast control			I used this tool to ensure that the brightness of my images and overall product was good, if I had not done this then it would have looked dark and un-professional. I think that I can now complete this to a high level.
Gradients
Load selection features			I used the load selection feature when I was first learning how to use Photoshop. I used it on a piece of text to practise my skills.
Feathering
Colour curves adjustment
Resolution setting control			I used this feature so that the product that I was making would be of a high quality. This helped to ensure that my product looked professional. I think that I could complete this to a high standard.
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool			I used this tool when cropping a section out of an image to be replaced or moved and also fine tuning the image. I think I used this to quite a high level but with even more practise I can ensure that my technique is perfect.
Cropping tool			I used the cropping tool when editing some of my images for my double page spread. This helped me to edit small details of the image.
Clone tool			I used the clone tool when I was creating my front cover as I wanted to edit the bottle so that there was no writing on the front, as I wanted to add my own writing to the front. In order to do this I used the clone tool so that I could do this. I think I completed this to a high level but with more practise I can ensure that the colours flow together smoother.
Retouch tool			I used the retouch tool previously when I was practising my Photoshop skills; I used it to remove spots and wrinkles off a person’s face. I think that I did this to a good level but with more practise I could improve these skills further.
Other skills   Sponge Tool			I used the sponge tool previously when I was first learning how to use Photoshop. I used it when I was changing the colours of a girl’s face during the ‘vampire tutorial’

 

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?			I used InDesign when creating my double-page spread for my magazine production.
Margin and column guide creation			I create margins so that all of my content would be lined up and look neat. I used the column guide creation so that I would have columns there should I need to use them. I did both of these to quite a high level.
Inserting an image ID			I inserted images into my double-page spread to add some imagery to the article. Due to me inserting multiple images I think that I can now complete this task to quite a high level as I did have quite a bit of practise.
Resizing images in ID			All of the images that I needed to add into InDesign needed to be resized in some way so that they could fit the article. I think that because of the amount of images I now know how to do this to a high level.
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation			I changed the sizes of fonts to make them stand out more, or so that they were easier to read. I completed this to a high level as I did the basic changing the size but also changed the width and height.
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading			I used the kerning option in order to make my text look exactly as I wanted. I did this in my double page spread, mainly on the title of my article. I think I completed this to a high level as I had a lot of practise doing it.
Text flow creation			I used this option when some of my text would not fit into the boxes or columns I had created. This meant that I could adjust the boxes to be the perfect size. I did not need to use this a lot but from what I did use of it, I completed it well.
Using transparent imagery in ID
Shape/line creation In design			I created the boxes in my double page spread by using the shape creation tool. I think that I completed this to a high level and was able to do this well.
Exporting to PDF from In-design			When I finished my product I had to export it as a PDF. I completed this to a high level and now fully understand how to do this.
Text Wrap			I used the text wrap feature inside of the boxes with text to make sure that there was an equal distance between the text and edge of the box around all four sides.
Other Skills

 

 

 

Number of new skills achieved: I have achieved 29 new skills.

 

 I feel that I have greatly improved my skills in these areas and I now feel much more confident using the tools and features when creating new products.