Kaleem Richards - Media CW

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Media As Coursework Evaluation Question 5

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Throughout the course of this unit I feel my technology skills have improved immensely and I feel this is particularly proved with a comparison from my preliminary task to my final drafts and final coursework pieces. The prominent programme in which I used the unit was Photoshop. This was my first time using Photoshop so this meant I had to learn very fats the ins and outs of this programme and I feel my skills with Photoshop has improved vigorously in such a short period of time. I decided to use Photoshop because it gives my coursework a high quality and very professional look, due to the varied range of tools and edits you can make to any picture as well as building a magazine. A key illustration of the skills I used was editing photos and manipulating and editing text to suit my magazine.

I managed to learn skills and improve my skills in a number of effective ways. Firstly I watched and learned many tutorials supplied to us through my school. These tutorials, made by a media teacher, showed me the very basics of Photoshop which as a beginner I found entirely useful and also gave a step by step guide on how to achieve certain desired effects. I found these particular useful since we could pause, stop and rewind the lessons rather than constantly asking my media teacher, and it was also helpful since it gave us a visual lesson as they were working through the programme. I also got assistance from my class mates, as some of them had more experience and skill in the program by doing media at GCSE level and allowing me to improve along with them to A Level standards.

I also learnt how to take pictures much more effectively with no photography experience I found this particularly easy since my school supplied us with high quality cameras which gave useful and effective photos in a very high quality. By looking at online examples of music magazines and trough mine and my peers own initiative I was able to come up with a suitable and effective setting for photos to compliment the style and theme of my magazine through looking at pictures over the internet and getting some of my own ideas, I was able to find a desired location for each of my pictures to be taken. Many of the pictures in addition were taken in front of a green screen. This allowed for me to add any colour background that I desired, due to the cutting out of images being much easier and much more detailed. With the help of tutorials and peers I also learned very quickly how to edit my photos to a standard in which I desired. I found this help particularly useful since I had no previous experience with editing and now I feel very confident in this field.

These forms of technological skills made the creation of my magazine much more effective, professional and produced to a high standard. Through the use of Photoshop and online editing software’s, I managed to add several effects and processes which allowed me to complete my magazine to a high standard. The addition of high quality image-capturing made possible to high quality cameras and editing also added to my final coursework making It a high quality sense of professionalism of my magazine.

Media Evaluation Presentation Question 5

Media As Coursework Evaluation Question 6

How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to really determine and identify my target audiences needs and desires in a music magazine I created a target audience poll. This poll enabled me to get a detailed look into crucial features In which I needed to include into my coursework, which acted as a foundation and guideline on how to appeal to my audience.
I asked my audience ‘which is you primary source of social networking’ my results showed that the two most popular networks were Facebook and Twitter. From my results I decided to include information into the Facebook and Twitter page of magazine, I included this into my contents page therefore my audience will be able to socially network with my magazine creating an increased bond with my audience.
I asked my target audience which their favorite feature is and from my results interviews were the most popular so that is what I based my double page spread on.
I also asked what is the most eye catching and favorite prominent thing on a front cover and the most popular vote was the main image so I decided to highlight this to best possible way I could. Therefore I decided to make my main image the actual background for the front cover and also decided to captivate this eye catching feature by having a eye catching and unique background in order to stand out as a front cover.

My muse en scene also played a big part in attracting my audience. My background complimented the theme of magazine in an urban environment; it also complimented the name and theme of my magazine with use of a train station platform as my background. The costume used in my photos also apply to my audience since my model is wearing casual/street attire which many of my audience consume as well as the style of the genre of music in which my magazine focuses on.

Media As Coursework Evaluation Question 7

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

In my preliminary task I had no experience in Photoshop and very limited understanding on the structure and common key features of music magazines. As I had just started media as a subjects I had completed this preliminary task with very little amount of skill on Photoshop and was limited to constructing the task with a hotshot with lower photography and editing skills consisting of around 15 photos which I found was not enough to work with and select form when constructing a magazine when it came to making a magazine and the fact that I had no idea how to edit a photo contributed to this problem additionally. My photos were on the location in which I used for a couple of my photo in my final coursework and I also felt the background was necessary to contribute the urban style of my magazine and the theme of the ‘Underground’ title since it was taken a train station. This is something I kept for my final product and with gaining knowledge on how to edit my photographs I edited and added effects to these photos for my final piece.

When I started my preliminary task I did some basic planning, I drew sketches of what I wanted it to look like in order to create a foundation and a template to work from. Found this was helpful because it guided me in the direction of how I wanted my school magazine to go, however I had very little knowledge on how to structure a magazine so I felt the preliminary task lacked a level of professionalism due to the fact I hadn’t broadened my knowledge on common structures of magazines. Also due to a limited short amount of time spent on the task I was unable to perfect and improve the standard, however this was not an issue with my final coursework since we had a longer time period to work in, therefore allowing me to produce to a much higher quality. So overall I did a basic level of planning of the colour scheme, sell lines, contents ideas for my preliminary product which I then used a starting point for final product allowing me to elaborate greatly.

I think one of the prominent progression of this course was the improvement of my Photoshop skills which is evident when I compare my preliminary task to my final, this was accomplished by watching many tutorials on Photoshop to help perfect my skills in order to benefit my final magazine. As you can see from looking at my preliminary task, I made a simple masthead using bevel and a stroke around it however for my final piece I wanted to challenge myself and I developed and mastered an image based master head which acted as a logo for my magazine.. This took time and effort, however I like the London underground themed outcome which makes it look interesting and original which also fitted in nicely with the ‘Underground’ tittle and therefore it has a unique selling point. I feel my skills of editing improved vastly which you can tell form my preliminary and contact sheets this helped give my work a more professional level of quality and added positively tot the overall outcome of my work.

In the preliminary task I did not use many photos whereas in my final I used many photos which I then edited to improve my overall quality. I also experimented with different camera shots and angles and with many muse en scenes to improve the overall outcome. I also spent a great deal to consider my colour scheme which is evident in my final work, particularly in my double page spread.

Furthermore I felt I needed more detail in the content of my magazine, especially in my double page spread. Therefore I did a great deal of research for my double page spread which is evident on my blog. I felt the double page spread is one of the most important sections in delivering a quality of detail and content. I also added variety in the style of writing, with both a biography and interview which was in popular demand from my target audience.

Media Coursework Evaluation on Prezi