Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

ETERNAL

I think that I have learnt a lot from the preliminary task about planning and preparation, as during the preliminary task I didn't plan the layout for my magazine very well except for a very limited number of sketches, and therefore I did not complete my preliminary task very quickly as I did not know much about what I was going to do. However, I think that I have planned relatively well for my main task, and this allowed me to keep within the deadline of the production. I have included more sketches, and annotated what I was going to do, allowing me to be on track with the production, but I still think that I could have included a few more sketches so I could understand what I was going to do even more. Also, I created the templates this time myself for my magazine, gaining inspiration from magazines in the same genre, and I was able to bring in my own ideas on what to include in my magazine.

The research in which I asked people of my target audience on what they liked and disliked about the magazines in my genre helped me decide on what to include, and therefore unlike my preliminary project, I did take my research in account, and included the ideas that would appeal to my target audience. For my preliminary project, the audience research which I had done was very brief, and I did not really ask other people their own opinions on ideas for my product, and therefore lacked on planning. As you can see the outcome of my preparation and planning is shown throughout my final project.

Planning and Preparation

I think that I have organised my time very well during my main task, and plays a huge part for the successful outcome of my product. I had made a detailed plan for my planning on my iPod so therefore my plan would be with me wherever I went, and I would be reminded of what I had to do for every day so I keep to the deadline, but I do think that the deadline for research and planning was tight, and I found it difficult to spread out my tasks, but I kept towards my deadline. For the production part of my main task, I used a calendar on Microsoft outlook (on next slide), and therefore I was able to spread my tasks over more days, so I could spend more time editing, and polishing my products up so they're at their best quality. During my preliminary task, I did not really set up a schedule for what I was meant to do and on what day, and therefore this did not allow me to have lots of time for the polishing I needed for it's success and spending too much time on editing. I think I've improved greatly in my organisation of time from the preliminary task to my main task as my final product is exactly what I've pictured.

Organisation of time

I think the photography for my main task is very different then the photography for my preliminary task.

This is because despite using a DSLR camera in both magazines, my photographs were much more

professional looking in my main task. One of the main ways my main task photographs look better is through

the image manipulation I used, which is in this case Photoshop, in the photographs of my main task I played

around with Photoshop a bit more, and tested more filters and tools, whereas for my preliminary I just used my basic skills about Photoshop as it was my first time using Photoshop. In the picture on the right it is shown that for my front cover I have not used many effects,

but the spot healing brush, and to the picture on my left it is shown that I have used a range of different tools to

manipulate my image, such as the colour filters, exposure etc. Also, in my image for my main task, I've

thought carefully about the angles, and used the rule of thirds, whereas with my preliminary I did not really think much about the angles, and not as well done. I thought

about the lighting more too, as with my preliminary I just went outside of college and took the photo without planning, whereas with my main task photo I thought

about what time I was going to take the photograph, in order to get the perfect lighting for my magazine.

Technical/post-production skills

During my preliminary task I was not very used to technologies such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and the DSLR camera, and therefore this transferred to the outcome of my preliminary product. In the preliminary task it was my first time using Photoshop, so I had to follow a tutorial on how to use it gaining basic skills, what I lacked during the preliminary task was greater skills in which I developed during the production of my main task, by experimenting with Photoshop to get the best outcome. InDesign was especially difficult during the preliminary task, which caused me to not finish my contents page very quickly, and spending more time on the contents page then I intended to, this was improved in the main task as I was used to InDesign, and could quickly arrange things on my contents/double page spread, and complete it in my ideal amount of time. With the DSLR camera I did not use a variety of techniques like I did in my main task, as in my preliminary I only used the landscape setting as I did not have any experience with professional cameras, but in the main task I had to use the camera a lot for my photographs, and I used a variety of different settings making my product a success.

Main Contents

Preliminary contents

Technical skills: Computing

I think that for my preliminary task that I have used many genre conventions of a student, giving dominant ideology. As in my front cover it is a picture that denotes a girl student who is smiling at the camera and looks like an achiever (someone who wants to achieve something in life) and therefore I think that it has lived up to the audience profile. Whereas in my main task, I have used most genre conventions of a teenager who is into 'indie' things, but I have not represented teenagers in my magazines as delinquents, and trouble makers, but instead I've represented that as carefree, and hedonists (people who enjoy life), which I believe is exactly what would appeal to my target audience as I've described them as hedonists and carefree, therefore being 'emergent ideology'.

Preliminary

Main task

Genre Conventions

In my opinion, the most important thing which I have learnt during the progression from the preliminary task to the main task is that your target audience plays a huge role in the success of your product. In my preliminary task I didn't really take into account the opinions of people in my target audience, and had just used my own ideas and put in what I thought would be best, making my magazine biased. However, I believe that in my main task that I have explored many opinions from people in my target audience as I had created a Facebook focus group especially for my audience's opinions and their opinions have definitely influenced my ideas for my magazine, and the final outcome of my magazine making it a success, and much better than the final outcome of my preliminary task. With the opinions of my target audience I believe that the magazine is a reflection of the audiences interests, and not just mine, making the magazine much more appealing to them.

What I have learnt?