Preliminary Task:
Final Product:
Research and Planning:
At the beginning of the AS course, I was assigned a preliminary task, to create a magazine for college students. When looking back at my earliest Blog posts it is clearly evident that I had not put much thought at all into my product in terms of research and planning. I did not look at other professional products until I began my preliminary evaluation, Therefore I created my product very carelessly, not thinking about what would appeal to my target audience. Looking back at my preliminary product presented above, I think that it's possible to see that I did not put much effort in my research and planning as it genuinely does not look like a college magazine. Now that I have a better trained eye for textual analysis, I'd say that it looked like I was trying to make a fashion magazine. Which is evident when comparing my preliminary product to Vogue. Like so:
When looking back at my main task, it is evident that I had taken a completely different approach to my research and planning. I researched every little detail of current products associated with the genre of magazine I wished to create. For example I took note of what colours I should use for my magazine. When I constructed my textual analysis, I found that Rock Magazines such as NME used a three colour palette of: black, white and red to construct a visual representation (naughty but nice) of their target audience. After learning how colours can create a visual representation I used this convention in my final product. Whereas, in my preliminary task, i used three colours for the sake of using three colours, without acknowledging colour connotations or a three colour palette rule. Another key difference in terms of my research and planning is that I also taken into consideration which fonts i should use and why, this is evident as I created a Blog post dedicated to this. Whereas in my preliminary task, again, I chose the fonts because of my own personal preference. Not because it represented my target audience. As I also learnt when constructing my textual analysis fonts are also a key factor for constructing a visual representation of my target audience. For instance the rugged effect on Kerrang!'s masthead suggests the target audience live an "edgy" lifestyle and distance themselves away from mainstream fashion and music. After learning this convention, it influenced me to use it in my final product. In contrast, it's evident that I didn't look into font styles in my preliminary task as the masthead doesn't really connote anything about college life.
Another key skill that I had learnt from progression is definitely time management. I think it's quite evident I spent less time constructing my preliminary task as it does look very rushed, especially the contents page. As my banners are out of proportion as are my images. Whereas I taken a lot of care into producing my final product as I spent a lot more time constructing my final product. When working on my final product I also managed my time a lot better, as I have generally spent all of my free periods and time after college in the college library working on my Blog and products. Whereas when I did my prelim task, I only used the hours in my media lessons. Using all of my time wisely has benefitted me as it has allowed me to create a more professional looking product, and it has also allowed me to do my research and planning thoroughly, which will hopefully score me a significantly higher mark, than the mark I achieved in my preliminary task.
I also became much better at organising myself and planning my time wisely. For instance during production of my main task I created my own production schedule in a blog post which I had strictly adhered to, which involved me working some significant hours out of college too. In contrast, during my preliminary task i did not organise myself efficiently and effectively, I didn't create a production schedule, and I didn't plan my time wisely. By gaining the skill of time management, it has benefitted me in the following ways: I never missed a deadline, and I never had to frantically rush about doing my work at the last minute. I am very grateful for learning this skill of time management as it is a skill that I have been able to transfer across to the rest of my A Level subjects.
Construction:
When analysing my preliminary products and my final products it is obvious that my skills in PhotoShop and InDesign have improved immensely.
It is evident that I had learnt how to compose a photograph better, when constructing my final product I was aware of how to use a light meter, and how to set the shutter speed on the camera. This meant that my photographs were not over or under exposed.
When comparing my final product to my preliminary product, it is evident that my editing skills have also improved. For example, on the front cover of "Bonanza" it's evident that i cut my model out from the original image, especially when you look at the model's hair. In my final product I also attempted some new editing skills, such as airbrushing the model on my front cover. Another way that I improved is that on my final product, I learnt how to position my model in front of the masthead whereas during my preliminary task I was unsure of how to this. By positioning my model in front of my masthead, it shows that my product is in line with those of professional practise, as many rock magazines such as Rock Sound and Kerrang! often position their model in front of their masthead to show that, not only do they have the confidence to hide their masthead and have people still know what magazine it is, they also value the people featured in the magazine.
In my preliminary task, all my sell lines are the same size and it's very difficult to tell which is the main sell line (Though I always claimed that the Auchwitz one was the main sell line in my prelim evaluation!) looking back all my sell lines are the same size and there is no variation. Whereas on my final product, I made my main sell line dominate the centre of my page. I also experimented with some banners and puffs too. Which again shows that my construction skills have improved, and it also shows that I have paid attention to professional products who don't just have the same sized sell lines positioned across the front cover.
When comparing my contents pages. It is evident that my construction skills have improved using Adobe InDesign. During my Preliminary task, I was very unsure of how to use the software. I think this is evident through the fact that there is no colour whatsoever on the contents page, whereas when constructing my final product i learnt how to add colour using InDesign. Additionally My banners appear to be all different sizes too which makes the product look very unprofessional. It's evident that I also experimented with a completely different layout in my final product which looks very similar to the layout of professional products such as Kerrang! Furthermore I also learnt how to keep my images in alignment with one another when constructing my final product. Whereas, I was very careless in the preliminary task, you can see that I had my three images all different size, and the middle image even overlaps my text!
Although I did not construct a Double Page Spread in my preliminary task, i did produce a double page spread for my final product. I still believe that it shows that my InDesign skills have improved, since I began my preliminary task. Again it shows that I have been able to add colour and even change my background colour. Two skills i did not acquire in the preliminary task, furthermore it shows that i can confidently align photos unlike in my preliminary task where I mentioned before how one of the images overlaps my text!
Conclusion
In conclusion, as I progressed from my preliminary task to creating my final product, my research and planning and construction skills have greatly improved and have allowed me to create a final product which looks profession and will hopefully score more marks than my Prelim product. Additionally I think the new skills I have acquired and learnt from my preliminary task to final production will benefit me when i continue to A2 Media Studies next year.
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