Question 7Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression from it to the full project?

My Adobe Photoshop skills have definitely improved since I did the preliminary task. In comparison to my main product, when I was doing my preliminary task, I was working with a very basic understanding of Photoshop which evidently affected my work as I was restricted to a certain amount of tools that I understood how to use. After completing my preliminary task, it was clear that the image I used for my sixth form magazine front cover was of quite a poor quality. Therefore, when I went to take my images for my pop magazine, I ensured that the settings where I took the images had quite bright lighting and I ensured that after taking the images, they were not blurry. I believe that the reason for the failure of my preliminary task was down to the lack of extensive research into the target audience of the magazine. This is why I put a big focus on the research and planning of the main task. I hoped that ensuring I knew what the target audience wanted and how to create a media product that was specific to a certain genre, it would help me to produce a realistic and professional music magazine that would appeal to the intended target audience.

My pop magazine signals a specific genre and a particular target audience which shows my main product was more successful than my preliminary task as on my sixth form magazine, I did not emphasise the target audience very clearly which makes it very hard for the audience to identify whether or not the magazine is something that would suit their needs. I put a lot of emphasis on the colours used on my pop magazine and researched into the target audience of my magazine and asked what colours would draw them in. I did not do too well in the research part of my preliminary task. In order to have made a successful sixth form magazine, I should have sent out questionnaires to sixth formers and got to know what they would want in a magazine. My failure of researching my target audience in my preliminary task made me more determined to gain a strong understanding of the target audience of my pop magazine. By carrying out questionnaires and a focus group, I feel I have successfully addressed my target audience and appealed to their needs.

My research and planning generally made me significantly more prepared for the practical piece in that I knew what my intentions were from the beginning of production when I was editing my images. When carrying out my preliminary task, I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to achieve. Researching into the codes and conventions of pop magazines in my research and planning, for example, gave me a greater understanding of what I needed to do in order to make my magazine look realistic and professional.