Evaluation question 7

Evaluation question 7

• 1.
  7. Looking backat your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
• 4.
  For my preliminarytask, I had to create a front cover and contents page for a school/college magazine, whereas for my foundation task I had to create a front cover, contents page as well as a double page spread for a music magazine. Looking back at my preliminary task, I can see very evident changes and improvement in my skills concerning layout and images, using inspiration from existing music magazines. Looking at my preliminary task, I feel like it does not look like a realistic and believable magazine. This is due to different things, but I think the main issue is the graphics I used and the visible shadow in my front cover image. My front cover uses too much of a range of fonts, which makes it look to busy and unattractive. However, I have stuck to a colour scheme and not used too many colours, which makes it look better. The images I used on my contents page look too similar, which I feel would draw the reader away as there is no range in the photos, making it lack appeal and interest. When researching existing indie music magazines to help me create my own, it helped a lot with making it look aesthetically and conventionally pleasing. I took inspiration from the types of images used, as well as colours and fonts that I noticed were used.
• 5.
  Comparing my preliminarymagazine to my foundation task music magazine, I can see an instant improvement in skill and appearance of my music magazine. The background image on my music magazine looks much more professional, as unlike my preliminary task, there is not shadow behind my model, and the shot is just generally more in focus and looks more professional. I also positioned my model in front of my masthead, instead of having her behind, which also makes it look more attractive and professional. I made the decision the have her in front of the masthead by looking at existing magazines, and using Rolling Stone as inspiration as this is a common convention the magazine does. The photographs used in my preliminary task look less professional and more like I had taken them for fun, but the ones used in my music magazine fit the type of magazine it is fully and look like they are images taken for a magazine. Using images I had taken when at concerts also added to the realistic feel of my magazine, and gave a variety in types of pictures I took and used, whereas the images in my preliminary task are all quite similar and there is not much range in poses/angles.
• 6.
  The image Itook for my prelim task was hardly edited , hence why there is a shadow cast in the background. I only edited the levels of the image, but evidently not enough too hide the shadow. The image was also not fully in focus. On my music magazine front cover, the image is fully in focus and there is no shadow. It is fully centred, making it look professional. I edited and manipulated this image more, changing the levels more adventurously and changing the saturation so that it is black and white.
• 7.
  By planning mymagazine in more depth, it helped me to develop it further into looking realistic and attractive. My preliminary task planning was limited, especially my shot list, so the images on my contents page were all very similar. Looking at existing indie magazines helped me create a in depth flat plan that was useful when making my magazine. Since creating my preliminary magazine, I realised the importance of having a flat plan and a shot list. In comparison to the research and planning I had conducted for my music magazine, my planning and research for my preliminary was limited. I had a wider range of shots on my shot list, as well as a more detailed flat plan, whereas for my preliminary task I was not as organised.
• 8.
  I learnt thattime management is vital in creating a successful magazine. I managed my time much better for my music magazine, as I planned out what to do for each time I worked on the magazine, and spent significant amounts of time on each page to ensure the standards of them was all very high. When creating my college magazine for my preliminary task, I felt I had not planned out my time well enough as they were not up to even standards. I learnt the importance of having a shot list for my images. My shot list for my preliminary task was limited and not very detailed, so my pictures came out very similar. For my music magazine however, I had a much more obvious and varied shot list, so my images were all different and none looked similar. Researching how artists’ pose in music magazines was also helpful in creating a realistic music magazine. I looked at the conventions of poses and mise-en-scene used in images, whereas I did limited research into this area for my preliminary task so my images had little to no links to the content I had listed in my contents page.
• 9.
  I linked allthree of my pages for my music magazine through text, colour schemes and included small details from the front cover such as the masthead and graphics. For my preliminary task I did try to link them, but it was not as effective or attractive as when I did it for my music magazine, which overall looked more realistic. My preliminary task magazine had no links to the front cover and contents page which made it seem unrealistic and not believable. By having to create a double page spread for my music magazine, I felt it helped me to link the paged together easier and more effectively. It made it easier to link what was on my front cover to what was inside. Overall, I have learnt a lot about creating a realistic magazine, as well as furthering my skills concerning Photoshop, types of camera shots, as well as time management.