Final Brief - Unit 1

iMedia @ Barnwell
ASSIGNMENT 1 BRIEF (Submission Date: 22nd October 2008)

You work for a photography magazine as a photographer. You also take care of a lot of the desktop publishing for the magazine. At Christmas every year the magazine includes a section for photographers who are just starting out in photography. Lots of people get cameras for Christmas. You have been asked to produce a 4-8 page guide on the basics of Photography, Digital Graphics and Obtaining and Editing images.

You will be creating the guide for inclusion in the January issue of the magazine. You should consider how magazines typically set out articles such as these and you should also consider your audience and their ability. The content that you will be required to create will be a simple guide which will split naturally into two sections:

Part 1 (2-4 pages) Digital Cameras – taking and saving digital images to include rules of photography

You need to explain to new users:

- what a digital camera is
- how to set up a camera
- components of the camera
- taking creative photographs hints, etc.
- transferring pictures to a computer
- typical file formats with explanations for use.

You should explain these concepts by means of edited version of images you obtain and some narrative by way of explanation.

Part 2 (2-4 pages) Basic image editing and software features

Use a range of editing techniques, and explain briefly these techniques within the guide. You will edit photographs that you have taken alongside the explanations, to ensure they are suitable for the purpose you have identified within the guide. Edited and original versions of the images may appear in your guide along with a brief narrative as to how the editing is carried out within the chosen software application. Keep clearly labelled copies of the original and edited versions of the images in the selected formats.

Note: This is NOT aimed to be a complete software training manual.

TASK 1: Create a plan
Assessment objective 3a, 3b
You will need to:
a) Complete the provided plan to ensure that you achieve your identified objective and are not distracted by other areas.
b) Review the plan regularly to ensure you are still on track.

TASK 2: Take photographs using a digital camera
Assessment Objectives: 1a, 1b
You will need to:
a) Explain what a digital camera is, its features and facilities
b) Explain different file formats, how they are used and why
c) Take a series of photographs using a digital camera
d) Include examples of frames or composed photographs to demonstrate the basic rules of photography
e) Transfer the images to the computer using file names and locations and details of the process for users
f) Identify and briefly explain why you used the particular format

TASK 3: Carry out basic editing on the photographs you have taken and transferred to your computer
Assessment Objectives: 2a, 2b, 2c
a) Locate and launch an image manipulation program
b) Open your photographs using the software application
c) Using the tools and features of the interface and workspace, edit the photographs you have taken – this editing could include - resizing, cropping, scaling, altering brightness, colour balance, etc

TASK 4: Edit the photographs accordingly to suit the purpose
Assessment Objective: 3a
a) Locate and launch an appropriate software application.
b) Open your photographs within the application and use the tools and features to demonstrate the functionality to users.

TASK 5: Review the editing
Assessment Objective: 3b
When you have completed the guide, review your work against the original plan to ensure that all the objectives have been achieved, how appropriate the guide is for new users, and any areas where you could have improved.

That's Unit 1 all finished! Well done! If you have been entered at level 3 you will also need to complete the tasks below:

Level 3?

You have been asked to create a poster advertising the Christmas issue of the magazine to be displayed in newsagents. You have also been asked to create a banner ad to appear on websites promoting the January issue of the magazine. You must use at least one scanned image.

Level 3 - TASK 1: Plan, visualise and use digital sourcing to obtain the bitmap, digital graphics material
Assessment Objectives: 1a, 1b, 3a
You will need to:
a) Visualise and plan your poster and banner ad in accordance with the client’s brief using a separate planning sheet
b) Draft up the advertisements in any way you want (pencil, paint, computer, etc)
c) Make a list of the resources you will need
d) Set up the digital scanner and scan materials in
e) Set up the digital camera and take photographs
f) Save everything to computer in a suitable file format and naming.

It is important that you plan these two tasks well and identify the sources as well as showing how you carried out all these tasks, using the Planning and Review Form provided.

TASK 2: Create the advertisements and save your work
Assessment Objectives: 2a, 2b
a) Using the digital imaging software create the two advertisements according to the brief, manipulating images to produce a professional result.
b) Create the advertisements according to your plans and your storyboards.
c) Use the source materials you have obtained to create and save the advertisements.
d) Use the tools and features of the software to meet the requirements of the brief. These tools should be used according to your planning.
e) Use a variety of editing and manipulation techniques when creating these advertisements
f) Save the final images in a format suitable for print and for the Web.

TASK 3: Evaluate the posters
Assessment Objective: 3b
When you have finished the editing, you must evaluate your work against the company’s criteria and assess how you have met them, using the Planning and review form provided at the back of the assignment.
a) Carry out a check of the finished images against the brief, identifying areas for self-improvement
b) Review how you have met the brief. Use the same criteria you used in (a).

Thats it - Well done!