What did you use? What did you do?

Mainly I used Adobe Photoshop during the post-production process. Firstly, I edited the photos I had taken of the classmates that were going to play a part in the magazine. For example, I edited out things that stood out on the person. These things included small spots and freckles. Editing these out made the images look more professional, therefore adding to the professionalism of the magazine. I then used Photoshop to make the magazine pages. I added text, images and background colour. I also added shapes to go behind the text to make things stand out more. I used different colour text for different pages, which Photoshop made very easy once I got used to using the software. I also used Blogger, which is a website that allows you to share things that you have done. Every time that I completed a piece of work, I would post it straight on to this website. For example, after I had made the first drafts of all the magazine pages, I posted them all on to the blog. I also wrote a small amount of text under each page to explain what the page was about and what I did.

How well did you use this software?

I didn’t use the software well at first, but I got used to it as I continued to use it. Blogger was easy to use and get used to, but Photoshop was a bit harder. I quickly learnt how to insert images on to my blog posts along with text, and it was easy to actually post the piece of work. Photoshop was quite complicated at first due to the amount of tools there were at my disposal, but I had used different versions of the software before. Example of the tools I had to come to terms with are the cropping tool, lasso tool and magic wand tool. I had learn what these tools and many more were for and did before I could really start getting the work done. I had time to come to terms with the software during the preliminary task, but I still had things to learn by the time it came to the main task. As I was nearing the end of the main task, I had become competent with the tools and knew what each one was for. As a result, my work was completed more efficiently as I neared the end of the coursework.

What did you learn about?

I learnt a lot about Blogger and Photoshop, as I was constantly using them. I learnt how to insert images into posts on Blogger, and ultimately I learnt how to post, edit and delete posts. I mostly learnt about Photoshop and the tools within it. I learnt how to insert images, crop images, add colour to all aspects, etc. I became a lot more familiar with the software as the year progressed. 

Conventions Revision

Which were the most influential conventions for you? How did your study of them affect your decisions and outcomes?

One influential convention was the questionnaire, as the data I collected was extremely significant as I would take all of it into account when making the magazine. I made questionnaire to hand out to members of the class in order to gather other people’s opinions about what they would like to find in a magazine they would buy. It would be interesting for me to see if there were any factors that completely went against what I was planning to do. Included in the questionnaire were questions relevant to the type of magazine I was planning on doing. For example, data was collected on topics such as; favourite music genre, what the person would find to be most enticing, if they would like a free sample CD included, how many albums/singles the person purchased per month, and how much the person would be prepared to spend on a music magazine. Gender was also noted so I could see if there was any difference in what the two genders preferred when the results were eventually put together. I analysed this information carefully, and I went on to use the information when creating the magazine. For example, there was an equal split through preferred music genre. This enabled me to focus more on what genre I would prefer to make the main focus of the magazine. My opinion didn’t count as much for other topics, as the results of the questionnaire really helped me to make some decisions. A good example of an obvious preference was the question about the enticement of the magazine. Many people said that they would be enticed by interviews and reviews, rather than the other options which were available to them. These other options included news and freebies. So using this information, I decided that the main focus of my magazine was going to be an interview with an up and coming star of rap music. After collecting the information from the questionnaire, I immediately discarded the news and freebies ideas and focused on the interviews and reviews option. The questionnaire served me really well, as it enabled me to look at other people’s opinions. This stopped me from including things that only I thought would look best in the magazine, which could have made the magazine look bad.

Other useful conventions that I included in my blog were the professional magazine analysis and the magazine drafts. In terms of the drafts, they allowed me to see what I needed to improve in order to step up and increase the quality of the final product. I am going to talk a lot more about the magazine research though, as this was definitely the most influential convention out of the two. Looking at the front cover, contents page and double paged spread of professional magazines, such as NME and Karrang, increased my knowledge of what these pages should look like. For example, I gained a lot of knowledge of how the contents page should be structured in order to make it look good and be easy to read. Without this research, I wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much of an idea of how these pages looked in professional magazines. I spent a lot of time completing this research, as I analysed a total of five different pages in detail. I looked at the text to image ratio, the structure of the whole page, the positioning of images and text, the use of colour and the relevance of it and the subject of the less significant headlines. All this information became incredibly useful to me when I moved on to designing my magazine. I tried to take into account some of the things I had picked up from these professional magazines. For example, one of the things I noticed about most of the contents pages was that there was an image in the middle of the main body of text. The content of the magazine was usually listed on the left side of the page. I decided to include this structure in my contents page. Without looking at this particular magazine layout, I would have spent more time deciding what structure I wanted to follow for my contents page. I would have had no clue about how magazines structured these pages.

Overall, all these conventions made a massive impact on the way my magazine turned out at the end of the year. My magazine pages looked similar to those of professional magazines, when they probably wouldn’t have had I not abided by these conventions. There was a very big contrast between this and the work I had produced for the preliminary task. During the preliminary task, I was not required to complete any of these detailed conventions. I think that because of this, my work during it suffered in comparison to the main task. I didn’t really have a clue about what a professional magazine looked during the preliminary task, and due to this the quality of the pages was very poor. I remember my contents page looking absolutely terrible. Of course it is obvious that I had nowhere as much time to complete it, but still it was very poor in my eyes.

Did you subvert any conventions that you studied in music magazines?

I did go against some of the conventions that I studied for the magazine, one of which I remember made a big impact. The two main conventions I went against were the use of colour that I found in professional magazines, and the amount of images used in them too. In terms of the colour, I noticed that a lot of the magazines I analysed had an expansive range of bright, vibrant colours. A lot of them had front covers with colours such as red and blue as the background, but I went against this and used black. I did originally use grey for the front cover, orange for the contents and blue for the double page spread. If I had kept these colours, there would have been a lack of consistency on this aspect, as the professional magazines tended to stick to a certain colour or range of colours. However, for my final design, I decided to go with a black background for all three pages. I did this because it made the content on each page stand out more, and I struggled to decide on any other colour anyway. Black seemed like an obvious choice at the time. I think that the decision had its pros and cons. It was good in the way that it created a sense of consistency and it mad the content stand out well, but it was quite risky because it went against the research that I had collected from the professional magazines.

In the case of the amount of pictures I included in the magazine, I don’t think that there were anywhere near enough and I think that this went against me. I only included four pictures in my magazine; three of the main subject, and one of the band who were displayed on the contents page. I did this because I originally thought that this amount would be enough when I looked at all the pictures I had taken. I didn’t actually take that many pictures and they were all pretty similar with little variety. Looking back on it now, I should have planned what pictures I wanted to take more carefully before actually taking them. There weren’t really enough or any valid reasons to only take this amount of pictures, so I am not sure why I did it. It was a very bad thing to do, and was something that probably cost me dear in the end. So in this case, it definitely didn’t work. 

Research and Planning Revision

Detail how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework

Adequate research, drafting and audience feedback are all extremely important when it comes to AS and A2 coursework, and I realised this more and more as I progressed through AS and during the preliminary task for A2. I researched magazine structure and text type briefly first time around for the magazine I was to going to be producing. When I produced my first draft for all pages and realised that they weren’t good enough, I decided to engage in more thorough research. Through doing this research, it allowed me to complete the product quicker as I knew exactly what I wanted and was supposed to do. I found and analysed front covers, contents pages and double page spreads from a number of different magazines and looked at structure, text to image ratio and the general appearance. I also looked to see if it served the correct purpose and was suited to the genre of music it was representing. Doing this research more thoroughly enabled me to see what I needed to include in my magazine to make it look better than the first draft. I also made questionnaires and handed them out to members of my class to gather views on what other people think would look best in my type of magazine. Looking back at AS, I feel that I should have planned the images that I was going to put into my magazine in more detail.

How did your knowledge of digital technology and your research and planning skills develop throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework?

My knowledge of both digital technology and research and planning skills developed significantly throughout the pre-production on my AS coursework. For example, my skills on the Apple Macs and using Adobe Photoshop improved through using them all the time in order to make my product. My research and planning skills also developed throughout AS. They developed at times when I realised that my work wasn’t good enough and so I engaged I more planning to make the work better. These skills are currently progressing at this moment in time, through starting the A2 coursework. I am aiming to take these sets of skills which I learnt last year and build on them, which will hopefully result in an increase of quality in my work. 

Creativity Revision

Do you think you were creative or not throughout your coursework?

I don't think that I was particularly creative throughout my coursework during AS Media Studies. I had to make three pages of a music magazine, including a front cover, contents page and a double-page spread. I decided to go with the simple idea of getting a class mate to dress up like a rapper and create an article about his rise to stardom. This wasn't very creative at all because it was not out of the ordinary or eye-catching. There have been many other stories similar to the one I decided to go with, as it is always about someone who started off with nothing and ended up making something of themselves. I should have thought outside the box and tried something a bit different from this standard idea. In terms of what the pages of the magazine actually looked like, I don't think they were anything special. I looked at examples of professional music magazines on the internet and copied the page layouts and structure. For example, my front cover was of basic structure. It consisted of a central image of the rapper, with all the various headlines neatly arranged around it. This type of structure was definitely not very creative. I also wasn't very creative with the type of photographs I took of my class mate posing as a rapper. I took three shots of him posing in typical rapper stances, which were all in the same place. I could have made him make some unusual poses that would catch the eye, and maybe dress him up in some more extravagant clothing. All I did was put a rapper's hat on his head and that was it. I also could have taken photos of him in a variety of locations which were relevant to what a rapper does. For example, I could have taken photos in some kind of music recording studio, or in front of a wall of graffiti. I only took photos of him in front of a grey, boring wall. 

Did technology enhance your creativity or not?

Having access to the latest technology definitely did enhance my creativity, as I was able to do a number of different things. An example of the hardware I had access to was the Apple Macs and the software stored on them, such as Adobe Photoshop. I could do a number of things with the photos I took and put on to Photoshop, such as shooting over rough edges, colour editing and cropping. These tools and many more were available to me via this software. Without this technology, I wouldn't have been able to edit the photos I took to make them look better. I wouldn't have been able to insert other objects (text, shapes, etc) around the main image for the front cover, contents page and double page spread. 

What ideas did you communicate and what stylistic techniques did you use? How did it relate to your interests/self-identity?

The ideas that I communicated through the magazine were that of a stereotypical nature. I put pictures of a rapper dressed in typical baggy clothes and hats into the magazine along with a story of how he rose to stardom. This idea isn't very creative in the way that this is the case with a lot of modern day rappers around at this point in time, and a lot of people perceive them to be informal people walking around in baggy clothes and jewellery. This image is actually changing as time is progressing. Instead of creating this stereotypical image, I could have told the story of a boy who had a rich background, and was different from all the people around him. I could have also taken pictures of my class mate dressed in smart suits. This would have been very risky however, and could have backfired. The ideas that I did portray through the magazine were ones that were of a relation to me, as I like this genre of music as well as many other genres. I am not saying that I am someone who walks around looking like a rapper, but does take a certain interest in this type of music.

Was your product influenced by your environment?

My environment did influence my product, as I am surrounded by many people my age in a school who prefer this genre of music to others. I knew this genre would appeal to people my age and so decided to go with it. The structure of magazine that I decided to go with was also influenced by my environment to a certain extent. In every shop, the music magazines always look the same. They all have flashy front covers and images, and contain modern language and interests. I decided to go with these ideas as I was trying to make my magazine look like the professional ones.

Was it original or did you add something extra to an original media text?

The product was an original one, as I didn’t use text which had been taken from another source. It was all my work, but it was strongly influenced by other media texts. There are bound to be many professional articles and magazine front covers around that are very similar to mine, as this genre of music is very popular now days. The type of interview which my magazine possessed will also be very similar to others which are out there in many ways such as language, images and structure. So in a way it wasn’t very original as I just took a common idea that is already used in many magazines and formed my own magazine.

Would you take any creative skills into future projects or have you been influenced to engage these skills in any other projects?

I will take the skills I have used during AS into future projects, as I feel the skills and lessons I have learned from this year have been very good ones. During this year in A2, I will be able to use these skills to great effect and expand on them, and this will hopefully result in a higher standard of work. For me it’s all about taking the basic skills I have picked up, and adding to the fundamentals to increase the quality of those skills.  

Digital Technology Revision

What were the good and bad things about the software and hardware used at AS in terms of skills development?

The hardware we used in AS were the Apple Macs, which I found hard to use at first. I didn't really know what anything was due to the fact that I used Windows PC's most of the time. I also found the keyboards hard to use, due to the fact that they are very small and precise. I found myself making a lot of typing errors which became an annoyance, as I had to keep going back to make corrections.

I also used a video camera to capture our music video. I liked using this video recorder because it was easy to use. It also provided good practice for A2.

Photoshop was one of the many pieces of software that I used throughout the year. As the year progressed, my understanding of all the different tools increased and I was able to work more efficiently when using the application. I also used iMovie to edit the video we filmed at the end of the year, which was very easy to use.

Over the time that I was studying AS Media Studies, I became more and more familiar with both the software and hardware that we used.