Question 7 –

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

Preliminary Task Final product

How have your skills

developed?

ResearchPrint Prelim:• Analyzed inspirational

text• Designed Flat Plans • Defined magazine

terms

Main Task:• Prezi on textual

research• Secondary audience

research• Primary audience

research• Institutional research• Photography

development skills. • Designed Flat Plans.• Costume and prop

research• Colour research• Font research

Planning

For my print prelim I don’t not conduct any planning.

Main task:• Calls sheets• Model release forms• Recce of location &

risk & hazard assessments

• Shot lists• Article planning• Planning for construction

ConstructionPrint Prelim:• Created a front cover and contents page

for a school magazine.• Used the software InDesign and Photoshop

Main Task:• Front Cover Photo-shoot• Progression and creation of front cover• Contents page photo-shoot • Progression and creation of contents page• Double page spread photo-shoot• Progression and creation of double page spread

• Rough cuts• Feedback• Amendments

The development of my skills has benefitted from my work largely. Developing my research skills has allowed to discover a variety of reliable websites so that I could then find the information I needed. The information I found on professional magazines helped me create a more professional magazine on my own as I now understand the forms and conventions of real media products. Developing my planning skills kept my work organized and stick to deadlines so that I could create an effective final product. It also help me get a clear vision of what my work would look like. Developing my constructing skills included learning how to use each of the tools on both InDesign and Photoshop correctly this has given my final product a more professional look to it. Photoshop has helped me hugely to create a professionally looking product as it has allowed me to edit and adjust my photographs to cover blemishes on my models or adjust the lighting of them to make them more appealing.

Construction• Photography – in my prelim task my photos did not look very professional because I did

not practice photography positioning or attempt different shot angles. I also did not have access to the studio therefore they looked amateur. Due to the lack of images, my pages in my magazine looked bare. However, in my final product I participated in a group skills development task, this meant learning how to use a camera, this helped a lot as it taught me how to vary shot angels to create more effective images. I was also allowed to use the studio in my final product, so I therefore had access to a backdrop and lighting which I could adjust to fit my needs in order to create a variety of professional images. You can see how my photography skills have developed from these pictures below from my prelim task and final product.

• Page Layout – for my prelim task I felt my page layout was very weak. I attempted to construct my contents page and front cover like my inspirational texts however due to my lack of knowledge of Photoshop and InDesign I could not use the correct tools to do this. Also, my pages look overwhelmed by text as I used only 2 images throughout my magazine. However, for my final product, due to research of professional and popular magazines and development of skills for the use of Photoshop and InDesign, I created a more professional product. I also created a balance between text and images on my front cover, contents page and double page spread this making it look more appealing to my audience. My knowledge for a page layout has progressed, this is evident in these images below from my prelim task and final product.

• Use of font – on my contents page and front cover for my prelim task it lacked a variety of fonts this is because I had no been introduced to the website www.dafont.com which I used for my final product. For my prelim task I used only 3 fonts throughout this made it look very plain and unprofessional. However, for my final product I searched www.dafont.com which gave me access to a large range of fonts. This helped a lot as it provided me with the opportunity to find the perfect fonts to link in with my magazine genre.

• Use of Models – from my prelim task I did not have the responsibility of selecting a model of my choice as one was chosen for me. This caused some problems as I didn’t know my model very well therefore it was difficult to work with them so I could not create as effective images. However, for my final product I selected my own model that I thought I could work well with. I also selected a model who can follow instructions and can be creative with different poses to create a range of photographs suitable for my magazine.