EVALUATION: QUESTION 7.

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

The stage of planning and research was a very important aspect of my work in general, as it helped me gain knowledge for what in general wanted to achieve with my production work and what my final outcome would be. The task of research itself was useful to my decisions on what I wanted my production work to look like, as researching other similar magazines gave me an idea of different house styles, layouts, fonts, ect. It definitely prepared me for the task ahead and it also allowed me to get an idea of what this type of audience were looking for in a magazine, what kind of articles would interest them, ect.

My time organisation was good, yet could have been better. There were a few problems along the way yet I felt considering the circumstances, I kept to my time plan and completed the work in enough time. The blog itself definitely helped me keep on time and to schedule, showing me what task had to be completed by what date and how long I left to complete a certain task. My technical skills have definitely improved throughout the task, as now I understand what shot connotes what representation. Using a portrait setting to take a picture of the main front page image helped as it fitted better with the front page and looked a lot more professional. Again, taking influence from real media products and magazines allowed me to have a look at real magazines and how they grip audiences. I specifically wanted eye contact to be used within my images as it connects the audience with the magazine and the model, drawing an audience in. A medium close up was used for my front cover (a shot taken from shoulders upwards), which zooms in on the models face and emotion, this also connects the audience with the magazine and the model. The decisions taking on lighting was also important, as I wanted to use lighting my advantage, showing emotion through this. Using low key lighting against the models face to connote a difference in personality, intriguing the audience into reading more. Taking into consideration that my target audience was young adults/teenagers, I wanted to keep my magazine looking professional yet still being able to pull in a younger reading. The use of different colours and fonts through out the house style helped me keep the magazine looking new and fresh, yet also looking quite sophisticated.

The biggest thing that I have learnt and gained from this task is too widen my views on specific age groups and social groups, as they aren’t always how they come across to others. For example, all though my magazine was aimed for a mainstream, teenage audience, I was still able to make it look sophisticated and high end. Also, my time organisation is something I must work on in future tasks, even if things do pop up. I have definitely improved since my preliminary task, as now I feel more organised and knowledgeable about certain software and media terms, which makes me more confident when trying to complete tasks.