Message to the Examiner/Moderator

To the examiner/moderator,
I have worked really hard this year to produce a professional magazine that fits in with the indie rock genre. I have really enjoyed this year in AS media and I hope this is reflected in my work. I have included labels to make my blog easy to navigate. If you cannot see the labels and archive on the side pane, then they appear at the bottom of the page, even though it has been formatted to appear at the side.
Thanks, Rebecca Dickinson

7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task),what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

In the progression from my preliminary task to my final task, first of all I learnt about the 3 colour scheme and the rule of thirds.When I did my preliminary, I didn't really have much of an idea of the three colour schemes, or the rule of thirds. As I progressed into my final product, I picked up the skills with help from my teachers and implementing these into my music magazine.

Secondly, from my cover to contents pages in my preliminary,there wasn't really a consistent colour scheme or layout. This gave off an unprofessional image for my school magazine as it was very untidy and inconsistent and it looked like not as much effort was put into creating it due to the lack of time, only having a week to complete the prelim.  Although my cover does show some elements of a professional magazine, such as the large masthead at the top of the page and what looks like some rules of thirds which I didn't really notice or know of at the time, with the model in the middle, and the cover lines on either side.  There are too many fonts in use of the cover so it looks a bit untidy. I have learnt in my final product to stick to 2 or 3 fonts instead of the many on my school magazine. My cover lines are too high which meant that there is too much dead space around the masthead and at the bottom of the magazine.

I have learnt that dead space gives off an unprofessional look as it looks so empty and it is essential to be filled in a professional magazine, which has hardly any dead space. Looking at my coursework magazine compared to my prelim, there is much less dead space on my pages.

I have learnt that I should have also included a main coverline as it would draw the reader’s attention more. On the contents page, I felt that the numbers running down the corridor was an effective idea as it would look simple; looking at it I now feel that it looks untidy as the numbers aren't really in line with the wall and the alternating pattern of colours is lost halfway down the page.  Also, the lighting is too bright for the image, the cover image is pixellated and it isn't symmetrical. On my final product, it is clear and more symmetrical.

My contents page has a lot more structure than the preliminarytask as on the final contents page, I used the gridlines on Photoshop. I havelearnt how to use Photoshop to its full effect, and cut down on the number offonts that I have used.

Looking at the prelim and the final product together, I feelthat I have drastically improved on style as I have learnt more about magazinelayouts, as I did my prelim before any of my research and planning had takenplace. My knowledge was limited then. The masthead is in a more eye catchingposition and not as over the top as my prelim. I have changed from a mid shotto a close-up for my models as the eyes attract attention to the artist and thecover lines below, which it didn't before as they were too high up with no maincover line.

In the progression from the preliminary to now, I have learnt how to incorporate all of these skills in order to create a more complete, professional look. I learnt that  keeping the model relaxed is essential for taking images as if the artist is in a bad mood or a bit camera shy, this will reflect in the images. The artist will look awkward if they are not relaxed in front of the camera, which gives off an unprofessional look. This is reflected in the fact that the model on my final product looks more relaxed than the model on my prelim. A relaxed model will look more comfortable in themselves and it shows off their individuality in order to create a more natural look.

I also had more time to complete my final music magazine which is reflected in the vastly improved style. This is the main reasoning for my progression as the prelim was very rushed which is reflected in the messy style of my magazine, whereas in my music magazine, it was cleaner and looked like more time had been put into it. 

 

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Photoshop CS6
I learnt quite a lot about using this program throughout the course of the year. Although I had a little experience of it from doing GCSE Art, I haven't used it on as much of a scale as this. I have been able to remove red eye using the painter tool by colouring the red pupils black again without having to retake images.i have learnt how to cut out the image using the magic eraser by adjusting the tolerance, lower means not as much cut out but more accurate, and high tolerance for larger areas to be cut out. That way you can erase the background of the image (layer) without erasing the rest of the image, and reduces the room for error with erasing which gives off an uneven and unprofessional look.  I can also move the text around on a magazine cover so it is easy to rectify mistakes in a text and alter the font, font size and font colour. i had difficulty learning how to link layers at first, but i learnt it eventually. I also learnt that you enter Ctrl T to move several layers at the same time, which I had difficulty doing before.

Camera (Kodak EasyShare C143)

I used this camera to take my images with. It has 12 megapixels which is quite sharp and provided clear images. I didn't learn as much from doing this as I have already had experience with using it. I have learnt that keeping the artist relaxed is essential for taking images as if the artist is in a bad mood or a bit camera shy, this will reflect in the images. The artist will look awkward if they are not relaxed in front of the camera, which gives off an unprofessional look. A relaxed model will look more comfortable in themselves and show off their individuality off. I found this difficult as I am not as creative with poses as I would like to have been as my knowledge of music magazines was limited before this project. Secondly, hair and make up is essential in creating a professional image for the artist. it is important to keep the hair sleek with no stray hairs which again gives off an unprofessional image as it looks like not as much effort has been put into the image. the correct makeup, especially eye makeup finalizes the artists image, and to keep it flawless which will reflect that the artist is comfortable in their own skin. I have learnt that camera angling is essential too, experimenting with different angles like closeups and medium shots is essential in order to get the right one. 

Laptop/School computers

I used the school computers and my Compaq laptop to do my work on. I didn't really learn how to use these as I have already learnt how to use it. It has been my basis for learning about a lot of the tools used for creating my magazine. I used it for my research and planning, and creating the magazine itself. it is also the main store for all of my work as it is enhanced digitally.
Memory Stick and SD card
I used this to carry my work on between computers. I didn't learn anything from doing this as I use memory sticks a lot.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program ) 
I used this software to do my draft. Whilst I have used this I have learnt that it is not a good piece of software for major projects as you cannot move the layers or visibly see in in a side pane, which you can on Photoshop and it is difficult to put text in and move it around. Photoshop is better for these projects as it is easier to edit layers and erase things, whereas on here you only have one chance to do that, so if you make an error you have to start again. this was a major difficulty as my draft was rush and to do simple things such as moving text was very time consuming as you have to retype the text. This software was very dated and difficult to navigate as well.
Blogger
This has been used to document all of my work on this magazine project. I have learnt how to use this website as I have never had a blog before doing Media AS. I have learnt how to embed html documents such as Prezis, Scribd documents and YouTube documents onto my blog to minimize having several windows open to get my point across.  I have also learnt that it is easier to hand in without having to print all of my work off. It is easier to store my work on as well as it takes up less space than on paper and it is harder to lose.
Animoto
I used this for my 25 word pitch. I learnt that it is really easy to use but it doesn't allow a lot of time to present it, only having 30 seconds to present it in. it takes a while to export it as well which is very time consuming.
Google Chrome 
I had no experience of using Chrome before this project. I learnt that it is a lot faster than Internet Explorer and easier to navigate as the tab and navigation bar was simpler. I now use Chrome as a browser as it doesn't freeze as much. you can also access blogger from this browser as it is a Google service.
Prezi
This is a presentation software that I used for question 3. I have learnt that it is an intricate and unique way of presenting data in a more visual way than reading text which can be difficult to read and get the full point across without using imagery and videos. It is like a slideshow with animated effects on it which can be clicked through.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation q5

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Name: Florence Punkie

Age: 17

Originated: Bournemouth

Occupation: Studyin' Music, Biology and  Media at college, gettin' in touch with natural abilities y'know, gotta love nature and free livin' 

Hobbies: Singin' at awesome rock concerts, songwriting, partying, free spirit I am, shoppin' for new gear, have an endless supply of converse that need addin' to, Playing my guitar.

Life goals: Singin y'know, bein' as big as awesome bands. Still bein' grounded though and lookin' after my environment, my family.

What means the most to me: Family, friends, my music and nature.

Shops: Converse, Vans, New look, Topshop, High street stores. It's not about the money it's about expressing yourself! 

TV shows - Cartoons, Sitcoms like Friends

Favorite Colours, Green, Black, Red, White and Blue. Gotta love britrock!

Awesome Artists:  Muse, MCR, You Me at Six, Bloc Party, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey, Paramore, Linkin Park and Mumford and Sons. Mainstream aint got nothin on that!!

Me in a sentence: free livin' naturist who loves her environment and aspires to be a big singer - songwriter.

She would be the ideal audience as she would like to read about her favourite artists as listed above in a magazine so it would appeal to her that way. The types of artists that my ideal audience has listed will be the genre of artists included in my magazine. This profile is only focussed on my ideal reader of this magazine. The ideal age range will be a younger audience of ages 16-30 who are interested in the next big indie rock music artists. They are most likely to read these cheaper weekly magazines and learn all of the gossip about up and coming trends, in this case indie rock artists. Most music magazines are aimed at this audience and mine should be one of the chief competitors fitting in between Q and Kerrang!, like a combination of the two which my audience will look out for.