EVALUATION - QUESTION VII
LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

Looking back at my preliminary task I feel like I've significantly improved my skills. I think the preliminary task gave me a opportunity to prepare for constructing my real media product. Without this task I wouldn't be able to make a magazine is such professional and thoughtful way. I gathered necessary experience which benefited me in many different ways. I learnt and discovered codes and conventions of real magazines but I also developed my creativity and technological skills which I can use in the future.

                     

This was a comparison particularly focused on the front cover and contents page. Besides, from developing my construction skills I also improved my research. In the preliminary task I looked at different school / college magazines however not in such depth comparing to my final task.  My analysis and recognition of codes and conventions was very basic, however these basics were really important once I moved onto my final task as I knew what to identify and how to analyse different elements of the magazines  due to the strong fundamental basics I learnt from my preliminary task. Although, in the preliminary task I looked at totally different magazine theme I managed to apply some knowledge to my final task for example; typography skills which were very significant when choosing correct fonts and applying it to my target audience as well as the magazine genre. Moreover, I learnt how to write product analysis which also helped me when analysing magazines chosen in my main task. It was vital for the analysis to be detailed in order to understand a certain product. This way I could plan my own magazine and different aspect of it including; features, demographic, geographic, psychographic and more. 

I was also introduced to Survey Monkey which allowed me to gather good quality research. From my preliminary task I learnt how to be more specific within the questions in order to get direct and useful information, as looking back at my questionnaire from preliminary task I think I could have gained much more information. This also applied to my planning which was also quite basic. For example; within the shoot for the magazine I didn't plan mise-en-scene. This was quite risky as I didn't think through who's going to be my model and why, what they are going to wear and what props I am going to include. I definitely learnt from this mistake as I planned each element of mise-en-scene before I carried out the photo shoot. I found the planning very vital as this is a process where you put all your research together in order to create something original. You need to keep in mind who is your audience, why your using certain equipment including props and costumes and who your trying to attract. I think I managed to improve those skills and I think I showed my understanding of research and planning in my final outcomes. 

In terms of the time management I also see a big improvement. Within the preliminary task I took much longer to complete the given work but this was mostly because I needed more time to understand the context. This significantly changed within the final task as we were expected to do more in a shorter amount of time. The fundamental basics from preliminary task helped me to expand my understanding and improve my time management. Besides, from that I still took quite long doing my research in the final task as this is vital part of preparation and understanding. This was beneficial as I took much shorter doing the actual construction because I had everything planned out and I had basic skills in programs such as Photoshop, InDesign or Ipiccy whereas in the preliminary task it was more about exploring, learning and trying new skills.

In conclusion, I think I have progressed massively from my preliminary task to my final media product. Although, both magazines are based on different genres, clearly from a quick overview we can see a huge improvement. In my opinion I achieved this through all the hard work which I separated into different stages including research, planning and then finally construction. All the skills that I gained throughout all these stages allowed me to actually create a professional looking magazine, which I am really proud of. I consider this journey as a great and useful experience. I am hoping and willing to use the gained skills next year as well as develop new ones.