Main Task: Evaluation 7

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

When it came to planning and preparing my main task, i felt i had acquired slightly more experience from my preliminary task. The preliminary task only required me to research three similar student magazines, but the research was not in depth at all. I think that research is vital in deciding, ultimately, everything on your magazine, if i were to do the same amount of research i did for the preliminary task for my main task, my magazine would be solely on my terms, and that is poor because my magazine is not just for me, but for a varied audience.

Here is a link to my preliminary task research:
http://danbmedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/preliminary-task-research.html

I admit, my time organisation is terrible, my preliminary task was rushed because of it. Since then the construction of a time plan (see blog here:
http://danbmedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-plan.html) has really helped me gain a solid structure to do my production in. for example i had planned when i was to take my photos and which lessons i would spend doing either the: contents, double-page, or cover, this helped me meet deadlines etc. Despite having a time plan, i feel as though i still need to work on my organisation of time.

The preliminary task only required me to take a mid-shot as my main image, the main task however, allowed me to be more creative with my camera shots and in doing so broadened my view on camera shots and framing. Lighting was an important issue that i wasn't aware of when doing the preliminary task, fortunately i was able to use various lighting equipment in the main task. the lighting equipment was pretty straight forward but its results were far better than i anticipated it really did encapsulate the photo and gave me a well lit image to use on my cover.

Dialogue was never really an issue in the preliminary task because a double-page spread was not needed in this. The main task however needed me to create a double-page with text appropriate to my target audience. At first i didn't see a need to use appropriate language because i didn't think that my English was being scrutinized, for example there are some words (scrutinize as an example) that i use, but my target audience would not, and so i really had to change my vocabulary to appeal to my audience. My previous front cover, in my opinion was too "blocky" and i don't think it flowed well, however with my main task cover, i believe i have achieved a good result based on my research.

Some features i have lifted from my preliminary task onto my main one, for instance the bleeding effect on the main image. But i wasn't as technological advanced when making the preliminary as i am now, you may be able to tell that the skin tone on my model is rather blotchy, compared to my main task where i have managed to blend the properties to make for a more even tone.

The audience research that i undertook was a big help when deciding where to place images etc. I was not aware of the important role the audience play in the creation of a magazine. In my main task i referred to the audience research i did and created a product based on those credentials. My double page spread posed the most problems during production, i couldn't decide which font to use for the text just above the main body, blue or red. So to solve this problem i consulted some of my target audience through Facebook, and they were unanimous in choosing red because it was "inkeeping with the overall style of the magazine" and "better suited to your audience"

The biggest thing that i have learnt since my preliminary task is the importance of audience research, everything i wanted to do had to be approved by my audience before i could do it.