The student learned several important lessons from their preliminary task to their final media project. They improved their research, photography, editing, and planning skills. For their final project, the student planned photo shoots, learned to edit photos in Photoshop and layouts in InDesign, and added professional touches like captions, page numbers, and pull quotes. While generally pleased with the results, the student reflects they may have benefited from choosing a more mainstream genre and spending more time on the contents page layout.

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. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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 - I did
some test shots inside
but the lighting was not
as good so chose to use
natural lighting (as shown
in photos)

8. Language
• 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.

9. Institution
• Institution - I researched
into some companies
(including Q magazine)
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.

10. Audience
• 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.

11. Representation
• 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
sure 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.

12. 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.

13. Photos taken in a park local to me Photos taken in a road leading to a
farm local to me
Photos taken in
school

14. 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.

15. 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.

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

17. 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.

18. 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 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.

19. 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.

20. • 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.

21. • 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. This was a big improvement from my preliminary
task.

22. • 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
displayed. I added in some pull
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.

23. 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.

24. • 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.

25. • 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.

26. • 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.

27. Preliminary vs Final