Evaluation - Question 7

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

 

In the progression from my preliminary task to the final product of my main task, I have acquired a large amount of knowledge about conventions, digital technologies, planning etc. as outlined throughout my evaluation and in the relevant areas below:

 

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

My digital skills have significantly improved from the preliminary task to the final product of the main task. During the process of the preliminary task, I was able to develop a basic knowledge of Photoshop and the standard conventions of magazines. When it came to creating my music magazine cover, I had an increased knowledge of how to digitally manipulate images, giving my magazine a sophisticated edge. The cover of my preliminary task school magazine is plain and the main image is badly cropped. Although basic media knowledge was clearly demonstrated, I was able to further expand on this by making the planning for my main task more thorough, allowing for my final product to be professional and realistic. In the process of constructing my preliminary task, I had limited camera knowledge and my contact sheet clearly demonstrates no use of depth of field, f-stop etc. In the progression since the preliminary task, I was able to use and set up a studio shoot, using key lights and the correct camera set up, allowing for higher quality images. The images in my preliminary task were also extremely bright. I ensured in both photoshoots for my music magazine that my images weren’t over-exposed, which allowed me to lighten and manipulate the images in Photoshop post-production. In addition to the above, I mentioned in question 6 the development of platforms used to construct my media product and showcase my work. I made use of blogger, Prezi, desktop publisher, Microsoft powerpoint, Microsoft word and Photoshop in comparison to my preliminary task during which I used powerpoint, blogger and Photoshop. The increased use of technology has allowed me to make a more realistic media product in terms of my main task.

 

CREATIVITY

As discussed in question 1, I conformed to and challenged various typical conventions of music magazines. Conventional music magazines tend to denote information on how artists live their lives and new/upcoming industry names. I decided to conform to this convention as it is so highly common in music magazines, without the use of this my magazine risks being unrecognisable for my target audience. In the preliminary task, I was not competent with straying from traditional conventions of magazines, causing my school magazine to lack any individual identity. On the other hand, I ensured I broke free of some common conventions in my main task in order to give my media product a unique identity, for example, the masthead on my contents page is to the top left corner, which is unusual for not only music magazines but typical conventional magazines, giving ‘LOUD’ a unique selling point that ‘Elite Youth’ did not have.

 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

 

 

I have also learnt the importance of research and planning in order to allow me to target my selected audience. This enables you to provide engaging content that directly appeals to the audience without making assumptions based on stereotypes about what particular social groups enjoy. Also, using flat plans in my planning allowed me to have clear ideas when constructing my media product. In my preliminary task I had minimal planning, simply flat plans, a questionnaire and a style board. In the process of planning my main task, I investigated deeper into my audience and their interests, even by conducting short interviews with three young people. I also researched further into the genre of my magazine, allowing me to find magazines that are potentially competitors and take inspiration from them. I then analysed what about the magazines I discovered inspired my final product, creating style boards for my front cover, contents page and double page spread allowing me to enter the construction process with a broader understanding of the exact conventions, colours and content that needed to be included for my magazine to be successful. In comparison to the preliminary task, I believe that the more in depth planning used in my main task allowed me to create a sophisticated and realistic final product rather than a convention overloaded mock-up as my preliminary task appeared.