AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio: September 2014

What have you learnt from completing this task?

From completing the preliminary task I have learnt different techniques. Prior to this task I had never used photo shop before, this was the most challenging task because of the complexity within photo shop. I found learning about the different features on photo shop interesting as it opens up a lot more options for editing images and compiling pieces of work.). From this task I have learnt organisation skills and now know how important it is to keep memory sticks and folders organised in order to be able to find work easily and have less chance of losing or misplacing work. It has also pressed me to keep on top of work, to do this I used my study periods effectively to complete tasks I did not finish in lesson so for the following lesson I was up to date and could move on. I also learnt about the conventions of a magazine, this helped me when researching different college magazines as I could see the common features in each image, it also helped me gather inspiration for my magazine. When planning my magazine I used the same layouts that all magazines use, for example the mast head is always at the top, I didn’t change the normal layout for my magazine because I wanted it to look realistic and like a magazine product, not like something ‘different’ and ‘individual’. I was also introduced to the mac computers, I have never used a mac computer before therefore found this quite difficult at first especially with photo shop. We also used the cameras provided at college, which took some practice because they are not the same as the cameras I am used to. Doing this task has also taught me the importance of deadlines and what I need to do in order to meet these.

How have you used technology?

To edit my image I used photo shop, I used different methods in these to compile my image, I used layers to organise all the different features of the magazine, if I needed to edit one of the layers it was easy to do this because it would only edit that feature and not affect the rest of the image. I used the exposure elements to change the look of the photo (make the image brighter). Using the paint brush I brightened teeth and changed the opacity which blended and make the whitener look more natural. I used the internet to get a image of a barcode to use in my image. I also used the spot healer tool to amend blemishes and spots. To take the pictures I used the camera, I took medium close up shots. I first took image in landscape but after viewing them I realised that they would not fit as well in the magazine cover so therefore took other pictures in portrait. I used blogger to post my progress to, this was new to me but fairly easy to use. The blogger was also helpful to keep track of what work I have completed and what work I have not, once a piece of work was uploaded I knew that piece of work was completed. To present my work on I used powerpoint, I found this the simplest way to show my work before I put it on my blog. When I was making the digital drafts I also used powerpoint because I find it simple to manipulate shapes although I could of used publisher but this was not available on the macs.

What conventions have you used and why?

I used many conventions in my magazine. The mast head on my magazine was at the top of the magazine, I used a mast head so that the name of the magazine was clear and easy to see at the top of the magazine. Under this I had the date and issue number of the magazine, this is to show what number magazine it is and what date it was published on. At the other side is the website of the magazine this gives the reader an option to look up extra information about the magazine. I used feature stories as this tell the reader what will be included in the magazine, the feature stories appeal to students as they are about things which students may be interested in. The purpose of this is to draw the reader in because it makes them want to read more. I also used a pull quote which is similar to feature stories but it quotes what someone said from a story, in my magazine the quote related to one of the girls on the image (Eleanor). The main image is of two students from the college who are the same age as the target audience, this is ideal as from the image we understand it will be a youthful magazine. I used a plug in my magazine to draw people in as they have the chance to win something, this is in a circle so it stands out from the other feature stories which are not. I used a footer in my magazine which gives more information in a small space. It also balances the magazine out as it is a black strip at the bottom. I did not use a skyline however as I felt with a skyline the magazine could of looked too crowded.

What would you change if you were to do this task again?

If I did my magazine again I would change the main image used, one of the main struggles I had was making the text stand out against the people in the image and the background. I would change the image to only one person and have a simpler background, I did like the brick wall effect but it was difficult to make text stand out. To make the text stand out I used boxes, this made the text easier to read, ideally I would of preferred to of not used these because most magazines just have the text against the background therefore think my magazine would of looked more realistic without them, but it was necessary so that the text was readable. If there was only one person on the image (like in the photo shop practice) text would stand out more clearly as one side of the image would be clear or at either side, depending where the person was positioned. Only after reviewing the image now, if I did the magazine again I would try a skyline to see how it looked with one. Again if I did the magazine again I would try out different locations to take the images so that I had a wide variation instead of only a few locations. Although I think I used my study periods well to complete work, if I did the magazine again I would try to put extra effort in to complete work faster after I got it instead of leaving it until the day before the lesson it should be completed for.