1) Planning and Research

In my foundation portfolio, I managed my time and equipment very well due to various micro decisions being made early on in the task, For example planning the basic layout of the front cover, contents page and double page. I also looked at the different choice of font and house style. When I started to plan my work, I found that making choices were quick and easy because I had a clear idea of what me and my target audience wanted. However, I did encounter problems, such as having a first draft look aesthetically unprofessional due to a variety of different colours and different sized text. There was a lot of visual clutter which is not ideal for my target audience, being 16-24yr olds. I improved this by changing the font colour to two main colours, red and yellow. This created a page with white space, being simple and straight to the point. In my advanced portfolio, the time and equipment needed to be increased because the quantity of work was increased. Therefore I had to create storyboards and shooting schedules for my music video and also flat plans for my ancillary tasks. This showed progression because not only did I use different software, I used different skills to make more macro decisions. This enabled me understand the importance of getting things done early.

In my foundation portfolio, the main thing I needed to do was choose a suitable actor which represented my target audience. The setting did not matter because I knew I would be editing out the background. I choose my brother because he represents my target audience perfectly by his style of clothing and materialistic props. This made the planning process easy and quick to do because communication with my actor was quick and efficient. I encounter minimal problems; however I did realise the fact that I chose to take the image in a back garden, in front of an old shed, did make the background quite vibrant and hard to edit. This can show in the final product as the editing on the arms is abit untidy. This could be improved by having the image be taken behind a simple background. In my advanced portfolio, the actor was a close friend of mine because he best represented the Hip Hop genre. Props included posters of different artists and genre characteristics of Hip Hop culture such as beats by dre headphones and Polo Ralph Lauren clothing. Communication was easy and efficient because we knew each other on a personal level. He also responded to my emails asking him to use him.  The setting was in a club, which again was owned by a friend which made using it easier and efficient. This shows progression through the fact that I communicated with the actors more in A2 than I did in AS, for example emailing.

In the foundation task I used an easy process of constructing a flat plan, based on the primary research from a textual analysis of similar music magazines. I did quite a few drafts, due to the fact that after I received peer feedback, I realised I needed to make changes. This was very effective because it enabled me to show the different planning stages and see where I needed to change certain things. I encountered quite a few problems; therefore I made a lot of draft copies, which then enabled me to construct a perfect product. The problems faced included not meeting the required conventions of creating a successful music magazine. I improved this by undertaking more textual analysis research into different magazine front covers. The storyboarding in my Advanced portfolio was more complex and planned because I first made a draft then created a final piece. This enabled me to obtain a rough idea of how my music video would look. This shows progression in the depth of analysis I did because the research in AS was quite generic and second hand whilst the research in A2 was more focused on the conventions of a successful music video.

I looked at different music magazines and how they used a variety of font, which was mainly sans serif, being more modern and masculine therefore attracting more males. Also the house style used, therefore meaning the different choice of colours. This research was very useful because it was primary, reliable data. Therefore it was accurate. The problems encountered where the fact that I did not research into specific conventions, I kept it generic. I could have improved the final product if I focused on certain aspects of what makes a music magazine successful. In A2, I pitched my idea to the class, being my target audience to gain feedback. Verbally speaking about my product gave me the chance to go in more depth. I also analysed different music videos. This showed progression in the fact that in A2 I learnt more to conduct more in depth research which would enable me to have a clearer idea of how my product will be set out.

In my foundation task I did not look at theorists, the only research I done was textual based analysis. To an extent, this was effective because it enabled me to see how other similar products used the successful conventions, the conventions being house style, image and font. The problem I encountered was the fact that I did not use a theorist. This would have enabled me apply more thought into what I was putting in the structure. In A2, I constructed my music video from both the visual analysis of similar music videos and Goodwin’s theory. By using his theory, I was able to create my video to meet his specification. Using media theorists showed progression from AS to A2.