Media A Level Evaluation Question 7

1. Media Evaluation
Question 7
By Ella Brown
7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what
do you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?

2. My Preliminary Task

3. Research
I researched a lot in preparation for my preliminary task but this paid off as
I had a better understanding of how that type of magazine was
constructed - I spent a lot of time researching into the media industry
especially in my genre which was a niche genre of acoustic guitar
music. This research can be found here. I learnt how research was
essential in understanding the genre you are trying to convey and
different aspects such as photography used, colour schemes and the
different typography. I also had to carefully consider my photos.
I feel that I have learnt more about photography - for my preliminary task I
took photos outside with the natural lighting so I knew I wanted to do that
again as the photos came out the best when the lighting was best. I
therefore had to plan when to take my photos to make sure there was
enough natural light - I really have learnt the importance of lighting which
can make a photo look very professional and look better than if the
lighting was duller.

5. LIAR
• Language - During my research I read some magazines from my genre and picked
up on key words that were used and made sure my lexicon of words followed the
conventions set by my genre. I also used musical terminology to emphasise the
genre and make the magazine professional.
• Institution - I researched into some companies which distribute these magazines
such as Acoustic and learnt about the different issues, how often they are published
etc. This helped me gain an insight into the industry and how it operates.
• Audience - I did my target market research in the form of questionnaires and focus
groups which made sure that my media product was suitable for those I was aiming
it at and that different aspects suited the target audience - such as an emphasis on
social media helped my magazine appeal to the younger target market.
• Representation - I carefully considered my representation of my artists and of my
magazine. Through research I discovered the niche genre was not overly
glamourised and therefore I made her my photos, layout, editing and overall media
product conveyed a ‘laid back’ simple kind of representation. This was again to
make sure that my product suited the target market correctly.

6. Planning
The planning aspect of my media product was essential. I took
a lot longer to plan my final product compared to my preliminary
task - this was mostly due to the fact I could use the school
environment to take my photos and there was no need to
organise times, locations and outfits for my preliminary task. I
had to carefully consider these aspects for my final task. I
planned to take a lot of photographs so made sure I had the
storage and technology to be able to accommodate this. I
arranged three separate photoshoots as well as taking photos
on a day out which required a lot more preparation for my
models and my organisation. I also had to consider the
conventions of my genre when planning - I had to ensure that
every action I was taking in some completion of my media
product was in the same conventions of my chosen genre.

7. My Contact Sheets
I took so many photos so I would
not have to recognise photoshoots
with my models and so I could
make sure the photos I used for my
final product were the best ones
available

8. In my planning process I had to consider aspects of my
magazine such as the name. I chose ‘Melody’ as it fits the
genre and connotes something flowing easily and is nice to
listen to so has good thoughts conveyed with it. I had to study
my research a lot throughout my planning process so I could
carefully pick up on smaller details used in the magazines to
make my final piece as professional and authentic as possible -
for example I added a caption on certain photos and stated
who took the photo which added a professional touch as well
as making sure each page had page numbers and a smaller
masthead at the bottom of the page to draw together the whole
brand identity.

9. My Editing Skills
• My editing skills have greatly improved since my
preliminary task. I learnt the ability to properly edit on
Photoshop and on inDesign. In my sixth form magazine I
struggled a lot with editing on InDesign as I kept everything
as one layer - once I was more familiar with the technology
I was able to add more layers and fully use the application
properly. I managed to improve my editing skills as I
successfully cut out one of the artists in Photoshop and
was able to put that image back into inDesign. I also
managed to erase a small portion of my masthead so that
my front cover image fit nicely in front - this tied the whole
piece together and gave it a more professional look. I
learnt the importance of drop shadows and drop caps in
large amounts of text which makes it easier for audiences
to read and interpret the text that is displayed in the
magazine articles. I added in some quotes on my double
page spread copy to entice readers in and they were more
eye-catching and were interesting which made readers
want to read the article presented.

10. What would I have done
differently?
• Overall, there is not that much I would have changed about my
final media product. Looking back now I feel I would have chosen a
more mainstream genre as it proved quite difficult to research into
the niche genre of acoustic guitar music. I feel that it would have
been easier to construct and would have also appealed to a wider
target audience with a bigger variety of demographics and
psychographics. I feel that I would have changed the layout of my
contents page and made it into a double page as I could have laid
it out differently and had more pictures and coverlines and I could
have created a clearer brand identity and adhered to more
stereotypes. I would have timed myself differently as well and
spent longer on my contents page editing all the photos making
sure they are exactly how I liked them and very professional
looking for my magazine.

11. Preliminary vs Final