Question Seven

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

full product?

In comparison to my preliminary task cover (left); the coursework cover (right) looks a lot more professional; with this I feel that I have learned to use the technology surrounding

me in order to create a professional and smooth looking magazine; this can be seen through the layout, shot and style.

This can be seen again through the contents pages; you can see a more consistent style and layout in my coursework (right) throughout the cover and contents page; creating a

more professional look to the page.

Planning and Preparation

During the planning and research stages of the task I learnt that it was actually a lot easier to plan ahead for things such as; what images you will be taking and when, and what type of thing your specific audience likes. usually I would have just gone straight into the editing and production stages thinking I

wouldn’t need to plan, but with this it felt necessary and I learnt that planning ahead helps your overall outcome; as it

gives a much more professional appearance not only on your magazine but on your blog also. I also felt that the drafting helped me a lot as it gave me ideas on how my magazine would actually look and it gave me the opportunity to get

feedback on this.

Time organisation

Also during this project I learnt that it is vital to stick to deadlines and to prepare a quick plan of when

you will do things and how you will get them done; after doing so I found it quite easy to keep on track and to meet the deadlines efficiently. I don’t think I

would have ended up with the result of my magazine now if I hadn’t have done so as I wouldn’t have had the time to do it also it

wouldn’t look as professional as it does now, this is why it is important to stick to these dates.

Camera Skills

Again I felt it necessary to have some sort of knowledge of shot types, framing and angling in order to make

the image appeal to audiences; as I had learnt a little bit about this kind of thing in another subject; film

studies, I was already familiar with this. Though I knew about shot types ect, I wasn’t aware of how important

the detail of the images was for it to appeal to the specific audience; after finishing my magazine I now

know how vital it is; and I think that the image used on the cover is what draws in the audience the most.

Magazine Conventions

As I was aware of the forms and conventions of magazines when I was in the production and

planning stages of the preliminary task, I progressed my knowledge on this in order to use

many of them for my coursework task, and I learnt that it wasn’t necessary to use all of them as I thought was needed to get a good mark in

my preliminary task but now I have learnt to use it only if it appeals to your audience.

Post production skills

Looking back at my previous magazine which I created mostly on Photoshop; I have improved on my image manipulation skills; as before

I wasn’t sure how to delete the background to make it more professional nor was I aware of how to crop, or edit the contrast and

brightness of the image; as you can see now how different the images are as the most recent one; which I have used for my coursework

magazine looks more professional and looks like it has had more work put into it; which it has, whereas the previous image that I used for my preliminary looks unprofessional and slightly tacky I think that during the development of both I have learnt how to use the tools that adobe photo-shop offers both efficiently and successfully as I can now create

clearer and more professional looking images with them. I think overall this is the biggest thing that I have learnt during the development and

production stages of the tasks.

Greater awareness

As I have mentioned before during the planning and production of my preliminary task I wasn’t aware of how important and how much

the target audience defines the final outcome as well as production of the magazine. As I have learnt a lot more about target audience

during the planning and research of my coursework task I have found how to get their feedback in a sufficient way; Facebook, and

also face-to-face surveys and questionnaires; I think that if I weren't to have gained feedback from my audience that it would appeal to them as much as it does now; I also think that it would

have been more attractive to a different audience and not the one that I was aiming for; as after getting information from them on

what they look for in a magazine and what attracts them to one; I have changed my original idea drastically.