Media Evaluation - Question 7

1. EVALUATION – QUESTION 7
LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU
HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

2. PRELIMINARY FINAL PRODUCTION

3. PRELIMINARY FINAL PRODUCTION

4. PROGRESSION
Between my preliminary task and my final production, there were many changes and improvements I wanted to
make:
IMAGES – In my preliminary task, I only used two pictures in total. Firstly, this made the contents page look very text-
heavy and boring. The images weren’t of amazing quality either, taken in natural lighting without having much
knowledge of camera features like the aperture and ISO etc. I didn’t put a lot of thought into the mise-en-scene so the
backgrounds are messy. I didn’t edit the photos well on Photoshop, and something I wanted to improve were my
editing my skills in general as I didn’t know a lot about the programme – which is something I learnt in construction of
my final product.
TEXT – Text and the placing was something that I wanted to change in my final production. In my preliminary task, the
font was very basic and boring as I didn’t plan the layout of my page. It didn’t stand out on the pages so this needed
changing. For my final production, I made it bolder and more interesting by manipulating the heat, size, spacing and
added drop shadows on Photoshop to make it unique .
An image I used in my preliminary vs. an image I used in my final
production – I thought a lot more about the lighting I used in my
production, as I took the first photo in natural lighting and it was
unreliable. An advantage to studio lighting is being able to manipulate it.

5. PROGRESSION CONTINUED
MASTHEAD – I learnt throughout my production that a masthead needs to be credible and recognisable to the
audience. My masthead for my preliminary was quite basic, with un-conventional font that I wouldn’t use again
as I don’t like the effect it gave. I wanted my masthead for my final production to make a statement, so I
manipulated the font the way I wanted it to be on Photoshop:
PAGE LAYOUT – Finally, I wanted to make sure for my final production that I planned the layout of my page,
rather than the random placement of things in the making of my preliminary. To plan my final production, I
made mock-ups before I began the actual magazine to make a template for where I wanted sections to be
etc. I think my layout greatly improved from my preliminary task to my final production.
I put little thought into the masthead for my preliminary,
whereas for my final production I gave my focus group several
choices, including font, colour of text and format, learning that
what my target audience thought looked best was very
important.

6. FINAL PRODUCTION
Everything I learnt through the progression from my preliminary task to my construction of my front cover
and contents page were put into my double page spread.

7. PROGRESSION
I learnt a lot of new skills and improved my knowledge of the programmes I was using to create the best
possible final production, including my double page spread:
• I leant to take good quality photos on the Canon 600d, which would be a necessity as I wanted one page of
my double page spread solely used for an image. From the knowledge I had gained about Photoshop, I was
able to edit the photo to my liking by adjusting the contrast and exposure etc.
• My research into common codes and conventions of music magazines, as well as the mock ups I prepared
prior to construction, helped me a lot to place together a final layout for my double page spread which
would be interesting as well as organised.
• Finally, I learnt from my preliminary task that font choice is very important, and that it can be adjusted many
different ways in Photoshop. The majority of the text I used in my preliminary task wasn’t eye catching
enough and made the pages seem boring. For the double page spread of my final production, I made sure to
use different colours and intensities of fonts to give the pages variation.

8. IN CONCLUSION
My final production was a lot greater quality than it would have been if
it hadn’t of been for my preliminary task, due to the skills I learnt and
improved on through the progression from this task to the production.
I learnt how to optimise the way I was taking photos, how to enhance
them on Photoshop and how to create a more interesting, visual layout
for my magazine, as well as a lot more.