Telephone Call

We had to film a video for a telephone call. We made a story board of what was to happen. This has to be done otherwise you're making the story up as you go along. We decided to film both sides of the telephone call in the same room. We thought this would be a good idea however once filmed and watched we noticed that you could see the background for the other shot. Also as there was a window nearby in one shot a reflection of the cameraman was visible and this looked messy, however we didn't think about this when filming. Although they are small details they make a big difference when viewed and can really ruin the video. I enjoyed this exercise as it was a great learning process.

A2 Media

Unfortunately i have been absent from lesson recently. Ive learnt the class has created a short film based on a tour of the school. we watched the groups videos back and in them i noticed alot of mistakes which was very helpful. Its is clear that often story line is thought about instead of framing and shot angles. Many groups had poor shots such as people talking in front of a window so the light shone through and the speaker was barely visible. However this is all part of the learning process and has helped me a great deal to think about what to think about whilst filming as there are many elements of making a video.

Final Evaluation

This is my final product evaluation. With my preliminary i did a little research into similar products. I went into my preliminary not knowing what i wanted it too look like, and not knowing a plan for it or what it would contain. I realised this probably didn't help as if id known what i was going to include in my magazine i could of made it better. With my final task i went about it a completely different way. I had done alot of research into other music magazines and had thought of what my magazine would be (dance music). I had already put some thought into the story, and features which i could include on he front cover and contents, this way i knew how much content i had and how much space id have to play around with. This proved alot more effective as i was able to plan out my front cover more and produce a more effectively organised cover.

I feel like i managed my time quite well. Although i did have some technology problems along the way all in all i had everything done by their deadlines. The main problem i had with time management was the blog entries. I had the actual magazine done in good time and used my time wisely in producing it. However i became very focused on my magazine and at times forget to post an entry on my progress.

I manged my equipment and other resources well. I knew when i would have a chance to work on my product during school and so i mainly focused this time on research. In the beginning I used this time to do work on my actual magazine, however i soon found this caused me problems as i have a different version of photoshop on my home PC than that on the schools. I also had different fonts on my computer than to the schools and so i couldn't work on my magazine properly. It was because of this that i mainly used my time in school to draw up a magazine plan, do some research into other products, write a blog entry or two and find some decent tutorials on the Internet for when i was at home, this would save my overall work time.

Whilst creating my magazine i have had to make many decisions on problems i have had. One example of this would be when photoshop crashed. I was making my contents page and stupidly enough hadn't been saving my work along the way. Id nearly finished my work when photoshop crashed. I had a decision to make. I could either wait for to photoshop to to work again, which i didn't how long that would be or if It would at all, or i could close the program, lose my work and start again. I decided the best option was to lose my work and start again. I did get really frustrated at first but then i thought that i could sit and wait for an hour for photoshop to recover, which it might not of done, and then i would of lost an hours work time. Or i could start again and use that hour efficiently. I could of created half of a new contents page in that time, and so i started over again.

When doing my photoshoot i gave instructions on what should be worn, and how my model should pose. I said that he needs to wear a bright coloured t-shirt. I wanted this to show that it was dance and that even if the image looked cold, it brought some fun into it a little bit. I also gave instruction on how my model should pose. I knew what look i was going for, i wanted him to look slouchy and 'street'. I didn't want it to look upright and smart as this wasn't familiar with the dance culture.

I decided to shoot my photos at night and in the town centre. I felt this would give that street look, with the use of street lamps and such. With the costumes, i just told my model what to wear: Jeans and a bright t-shirt, luckily my model had some trainers with neon green features and laces, which helped as they went with the t-shirt and really locked good in the photo.

My preliminary task helped me to make some important decisions when creating my magazine. I knew that going into it without a real solid idea of what i wanted wasn't a good idea. Also a school magazine wasn't really something i knew alot about and so i needed to do research. I think with some more research my preliminary task could of been better. This helped me because i did alot of research into my final media product. I looked at different ways to attract audiences.

I'm very pleased with my product, and i think it looks very professional. I don't think there was anything i could of done better. I really like my front cover. I think the colour scheme works really well against the image.

The images i had to work with are how i wanted them to be. However i think i should of read the manual of the camera or taken the manual with me so i could of used different shooting effects for different looks. If id have read it before hand id have also known that cold conditions causes the battery to lose life quickly and i could been prepared for this.

Looking at my magazine i think i have encompassed a sense of belonging to my target audience. Throughout i have used colours that are very familiar to the dance culture and my target audience. I have also used language familiar to my target audience. It is informal, and in some places slang is used.

In conclusion i am extremely happy with my final media product. I don't feel there is anything i would change at all. I am now confident with photoshop and how to use it to my advantage. I feel i know more about the music magazine industry and have learnt alot from the constructing of this media product.

My Completed Media Product

(Click images to enlarge)

Conclusion

In conclusion, i am extremely happy with my work. I feel it looks professional and shows that my knowledge of this task has come a long way since the preliminary. I am now a photoshop addict! i find it fun using the programme and once i had got to know what to do and how to do stuff with it i actually really enjoyed making my final piece, it didn't feel like coursework. I feel that my knowledge is obvious looking at the preliminary to the final piece. I have learnt alot not just on the technology side either. I have learnt about publishers of magazines and the magazines they produce. For instance i was very surprised to find out that mixmag was published by development hell, a small publishing company who produces only two monthly magazines! I feel i have put a huge amount of effort into this work and i feel like it has showed through. It took me alot of time and effort and frustration to get this point and i am proud of myself for sticking with it and not just giving up and going for a simple look when it got tough. I persevered and created a good piece of work. If i was to do this again there isn't alot id do differently. I really don't think id change anything about my product as i really like it. I may have posted some more blog entries whilst creating my magazine. However once i got going i did tend to forget as my main focus became my products and finishing it on time and too a high standard. If Ive learnt anything really crucial in the construction of this product its that you should listen to your teacher when they tell you time will quickly slip away. When you see you have 3/4 weeks to produce it you think its plenty of time and it starts to go slowly, but before you know it the hand in date is near! Time management is a big issue when creating something like this, not necessarily with constructing the product but with the evidence and the blogging. You do really need to do 10 things at once and be able to cope with it. I felt i have coped well though, and and at times i did get worried that i wouldn't finish it or I'd have stuff missing, but its all here :)

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

As you can see here again i have come a long way since my preliminary. My contents for my final piece is alot more attractive. Ive kept a house style with my magazine whereas you can see with my preliminary that i tried but it didn't quite work out. My content of the contents page is very basic aswell. To me it looks as though i wrote the text and had a big space at the bottom so i chucked some pictures in to fill it up, i didn't think about using the space i had to play with efficiently and so it ended up looking empty.

I feel my contents for my final is alot better, it probably has the same amount or maybe less information but it looks more, its organised better although it contains images and shapes it doesn't look messy. I feel it looks professional and i am happy with it. Again i have learnt alot more about photoshop with this. Before with my preliminary, i didn't understand the concept of layers and this made me struggle with my work. This time i realised what they were about and why they were good when making pictures. One thing i have definitely learned with this is to save your work! Whilst making my contents i had near enough finished when photoshop crashed on me! It was only once it had crashed that i had realised i hadn't been saving it as i was going along which was a really stupid thing as it only took a quick tap of Ctrl+s. I had to start my contents all over again! The funny thing is that i didn't stick to the same layout that i had done before and i actually preferred the re-done version.

Things i have learned:

• Always save your work every five minutes or so, you can do alot more to your work in that time and so its worth it.
• Computers and software like to crash at the most important times! Because of this you should always make sure you leave yourself enough time to recover from it.
  

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In the progression form my preliminary to my final task i feel i have learnt alot. I have learnt alot more about the program used to make the product, as you can clearly see. I have come a long way since my preliminary to my final in terms of knwledge of the software. On my preliminary i managed to do very basic stuff, and back then when i'd finished it i was really pleased with it but loking at it now there was so much more i could of done. If i was to re do it now i could erase the faults in the picture usch as the refelction in the glass of the background image. I could of made the headline text alot better, it all looks very merged as if its all about one story and i could of made my model look like he was actually in the background image. However for my very first time using photoshop i dont think its a bad effort.

Now i know so much more, not just in terms of the software. I did alot more research on other magazines with my final which enabled me to make a more valid judgement on what atrracts an audience to the magazine. I know about publishers and that many magazines are produced by the same people.

Things i have learned:

• Dont take the internet for granted, you may lose conneciton and so should always be prepared.
• How to be a good photoshopper
• How research into other music magazines helped the development of mine
• How to look back on my work and be critical of it
• Manage your time efficiently! Use every second you have!