Before starting this task, I did a preliminary task which was to create a student magazine cover - after creating this and being marked on this, I wrote myself some targets, which can be seen below, and at the very start of my blog, titled 'Targets' -
"When evaluating I used word instead of using a presentation which showed proficient use of ITC, and so in my proper task I will take more time to present it in a better way and I will include pictures and arrows.
I am going to try and cover more of the mark scheme when I write what I plan to do and I will put in more evidence of research.
I will take the picture with a background that I want so I don't have to photo-shop the background as much as that made the overall magazine a little tacky and not professional.
In my evaluation I will try and cover more of the mark scheme as I left a few bits out which could have increased my marks."
When producing, researching and evaluating my music magazine task, I took these targets into account and this abled me to develop the experience I had from the preliminary task, to then go on and create a more successful main task.
Below is a video of myself explaining what I feel I have learnt in the progression of the whole task, in order to create the full product:
Below is the script of what is spoken in the video -
"In my preliminary task I didn't do much planning and preparation, mainly because I wasn't taking it very serious - however as I didn't get very good marks for this in that task, it made me try harder in the main task, it also showed me that it really does matter, as when making my student magazine cover I wasn't really sure what I was doing as I'd not planned it properly and this then made the design of the magazine not as good, as I was just making it up as I was going along. In my main task however I planned my magazine cover in a very detailed way, so I knew exactly what I was doing, when I was doing it, and when it had to be completed by. This meant I drafted the designs, on paper and then again computerised which meant I had clear knowledge of what I was doing; and this also made the whole process a lot quicker as I knew what I was doing!
I did a lot more research in my main task, basically because I put a lot more time into it, I wanted to get a clear idea of what went in to music magazines as I don't read them myself, and to do this it was incredibly important that I did a lot of research so my magazine was recognisable as a real magazine and had the features that a real magazine had.
Referring to question 6, I organised my time constructively by using Time Toast and this was very beneficial as it was an interactive way of telling me when things had to be completed by which made me obey all of my deadlines - I didn't do this is my preliminary task and in the end all the work load got left to the last minute which is why I wasn't happy with my student magazine cover at all - so it was very important to plan and structure what I was doing in a very organised way, and to leave myself some time at the end as well, incase I needed to make any changes.
In my preliminary task I basically just had no idea what I was doing with the pictures, what shot types, angles, lighting etc, and I wasn't happy with my finished product at all as there were leaves in the background and i wanted her to be in a clear background so I had to cut the model out which ended up looking very tacky and non realistic. So I learn from this, that the background I was going to be shooting, had to be what I wanted for my magazine, like in my cover with the black wallpaper, however if I wanted the model to be cut out, I needed a clear background so it was easier to cut them out, like in my double page spread model - this relates back to my targets and I feel I have improved this and learnt it throughout the process of the task.
The conventions of magazine front covers and content pages and double page spreads are basically the same on both my preliminary and main task, as each magazine effectively has very similar things, such as reversed out cover lines, the main title (mast head), a magazine header, main cover line, website, barcode and the main image. After my research of music and rock in particular magazines, I put some smaller images in my main task as I found many rock magazines do this to make the cover seem more busy as more is going on, to therefore increase sales.
I created both my preliminary task and main task cover in photoshop and this is mainly because I knew how to use it from previous occasions, however I then went on to use In Design for my double page spread and throughout creating this I kept learning how to do new things, add effects, import pictures, and even simple things like text and how to create a double page instead of a simple A4. And I also learnt how to use new programmes, such as SlideShare and TimeToast, which I didn't know how to use before and so overall I've learn how to use a lot of new technology throughout the main task which i didn't know how use before I started this task.
Something i've learnt thoroughly throughout this process, is how important the target audience is; I referred back to my focus group on almost every decision I had to make during the process of my magazine, as they are the people who are going to be reading it - and so they are the people who matter most when is came to my decision making. I found that the more I was aware of my target audience, the more effective my magazine became, as the more advice I got from a 'rock chick' herself allowed me to understand what features, stories, pictures etc I needed in the magazine to attract them, which is inevitably what my aim is. Therefore, there advice really affected the outcome of my decisions that I made during the production process of my magazine, for example I tried out many different fonts for the masthead, and I came to a decision - I then thought about this again, and asked my focus group what they thought, they came back to me with a different font style, and after trying that one out I agreed that it looked a lot better, and it would attract a lot more people whom are in my focus group. another example is when deciding whether or not to put a dark background on my double page spread, I had no idea what to do and my focus group assured me the darker one has a classier yet rock look to it, and again, I was very fond of the final decision, and confident in my choice that it would appeal to my target audience itself, like it has done for my focus group.
From this whole task, the biggest thing I have learnt is that if you leave yourself a lot of time and plan what you are going to do efficiently, it is a lot easier to carry out a task and get it done successfully, in order to make a really good end product. I have also learnt that it is very important to follow each step of what you need to complete in order to get good marks in this task, and not miss anything out - as this will hopefully then increase my grade. This relates back to my targets, as I have tried very hard not to miss anything out, and complete each task given to me, and also giving myself a lot of time to complete it in. I also used a lot more technology in my evaluation, and in my blog as a whole, which again hopefully has increased some of my marks where it didn't in my preliminary task."
"When evaluating I used word instead of using a presentation which showed proficient use of ITC, and so in my proper task I will take more time to present it in a better way and I will include pictures and arrows.
I am going to try and cover more of the mark scheme when I write what I plan to do and I will put in more evidence of research.
I will take the picture with a background that I want so I don't have to photo-shop the background as much as that made the overall magazine a little tacky and not professional.
In my evaluation I will try and cover more of the mark scheme as I left a few bits out which could have increased my marks."
When producing, researching and evaluating my music magazine task, I took these targets into account and this abled me to develop the experience I had from the preliminary task, to then go on and create a more successful main task.
Below is a video of myself explaining what I feel I have learnt in the progression of the whole task, in order to create the full product:
Below is the script of what is spoken in the video -
"In my preliminary task I didn't do much planning and preparation, mainly because I wasn't taking it very serious - however as I didn't get very good marks for this in that task, it made me try harder in the main task, it also showed me that it really does matter, as when making my student magazine cover I wasn't really sure what I was doing as I'd not planned it properly and this then made the design of the magazine not as good, as I was just making it up as I was going along. In my main task however I planned my magazine cover in a very detailed way, so I knew exactly what I was doing, when I was doing it, and when it had to be completed by. This meant I drafted the designs, on paper and then again computerised which meant I had clear knowledge of what I was doing; and this also made the whole process a lot quicker as I knew what I was doing!
I did a lot more research in my main task, basically because I put a lot more time into it, I wanted to get a clear idea of what went in to music magazines as I don't read them myself, and to do this it was incredibly important that I did a lot of research so my magazine was recognisable as a real magazine and had the features that a real magazine had.
Referring to question 6, I organised my time constructively by using Time Toast and this was very beneficial as it was an interactive way of telling me when things had to be completed by which made me obey all of my deadlines - I didn't do this is my preliminary task and in the end all the work load got left to the last minute which is why I wasn't happy with my student magazine cover at all - so it was very important to plan and structure what I was doing in a very organised way, and to leave myself some time at the end as well, incase I needed to make any changes.
In my preliminary task I basically just had no idea what I was doing with the pictures, what shot types, angles, lighting etc, and I wasn't happy with my finished product at all as there were leaves in the background and i wanted her to be in a clear background so I had to cut the model out which ended up looking very tacky and non realistic. So I learn from this, that the background I was going to be shooting, had to be what I wanted for my magazine, like in my cover with the black wallpaper, however if I wanted the model to be cut out, I needed a clear background so it was easier to cut them out, like in my double page spread model - this relates back to my targets and I feel I have improved this and learnt it throughout the process of the task.
The conventions of magazine front covers and content pages and double page spreads are basically the same on both my preliminary and main task, as each magazine effectively has very similar things, such as reversed out cover lines, the main title (mast head), a magazine header, main cover line, website, barcode and the main image. After my research of music and rock in particular magazines, I put some smaller images in my main task as I found many rock magazines do this to make the cover seem more busy as more is going on, to therefore increase sales.
I created both my preliminary task and main task cover in photoshop and this is mainly because I knew how to use it from previous occasions, however I then went on to use In Design for my double page spread and throughout creating this I kept learning how to do new things, add effects, import pictures, and even simple things like text and how to create a double page instead of a simple A4. And I also learnt how to use new programmes, such as SlideShare and TimeToast, which I didn't know how to use before and so overall I've learn how to use a lot of new technology throughout the main task which i didn't know how use before I started this task.
Something i've learnt thoroughly throughout this process, is how important the target audience is; I referred back to my focus group on almost every decision I had to make during the process of my magazine, as they are the people who are going to be reading it - and so they are the people who matter most when is came to my decision making. I found that the more I was aware of my target audience, the more effective my magazine became, as the more advice I got from a 'rock chick' herself allowed me to understand what features, stories, pictures etc I needed in the magazine to attract them, which is inevitably what my aim is. Therefore, there advice really affected the outcome of my decisions that I made during the production process of my magazine, for example I tried out many different fonts for the masthead, and I came to a decision - I then thought about this again, and asked my focus group what they thought, they came back to me with a different font style, and after trying that one out I agreed that it looked a lot better, and it would attract a lot more people whom are in my focus group. another example is when deciding whether or not to put a dark background on my double page spread, I had no idea what to do and my focus group assured me the darker one has a classier yet rock look to it, and again, I was very fond of the final decision, and confident in my choice that it would appeal to my target audience itself, like it has done for my focus group.
From this whole task, the biggest thing I have learnt is that if you leave yourself a lot of time and plan what you are going to do efficiently, it is a lot easier to carry out a task and get it done successfully, in order to make a really good end product. I have also learnt that it is very important to follow each step of what you need to complete in order to get good marks in this task, and not miss anything out - as this will hopefully then increase my grade. This relates back to my targets, as I have tried very hard not to miss anything out, and complete each task given to me, and also giving myself a lot of time to complete it in. I also used a lot more technology in my evaluation, and in my blog as a whole, which again hopefully has increased some of my marks where it didn't in my preliminary task."
