Evaluation of AS Media Essay:

Describe and Evaluate Your Skills Development Over The Course Of The Foundation Portfolio Using Production Practices Such As Digital Technology, Creativity, Research and Planning, Post-Production, and The Use of Conventions From Real Media Texts.

            For my foundation portfolio I decided to design a music magazine. This involved a front cover, contents page and double page spread. In order to create these images using the appropriate technology I had to first establish the genre and theme which would continue throughout the magazine. Also in my AS level of college I had to produce a college magazine as an induction task. I decided to base my music magazine around the idea of an indie/alternative genre as I could do a lot of background research and find out key information about other magazines already on the market within this genre. Through the magazine I established a house style which continues within the magazine, this was a simple colour theme of red, black and grey. I decided on these colours as they are bold and stand out against the white background of the magazine. Also other magazine companies with similar genre’s to mine such as NME and Q use colour themes like this one- therefore my magazine automatically had a place in the market where it would fit in with these already existing companies.

            Before I started the AS media course I had basic knowledge on a few key terminology words and a minimal knowledge of some of the programmes such as Photoshop. This was because I studied media for a year and sat a GCSE on it in 2011. Having a basic knowledge and understanding of programmes before I started the course helped me out a lot when I came to Wyke as there was a lot of work to do in a short amount of time- such as perfume adverts, college magazines and also the planning of our music magazines. This meant I could focus all of my time on completing this work and extending my knowledge rather than having to learn from scratch how programmes function.

            The main programme used in AS year was Photoshop, and because I had already created an A4 perfume advertisement at GCSE level I knew how to manipulate and edit images already. I applied this knowledge when it came to editing and touching-up images for my magazine to make them ready for use on my front cover, contents or double page spread. Useful things I already knew were how to cut images out and put them onto a new background, how to re-size and rotate them and also how to alter the effect of colour on them using brightness, contrast and also other effects already on Photoshop. Other media knowledge I already had was how to target a key audience. This was useful as it meant that I was aware of techniques such as who the person used in the images is and who that would attract into buying the product and would therefore have a specific audience. Other ways I knew how to target a particular audience was through colour theme and text used. Eye catching text can interest certain groups of people- therefore making the text on the front cover of your magazine relevant to your chosen genre is very important. Instead of having a quote on the front of my magazine I decided to have a list of previews of what to expect within the issue. This worked well for the genre of my magazine (indie alternative) as there are many new up and coming bands that would grab people’s attention who want to learn more about them.  

            There were many new things that I faced when staring my AS foundation portfolio. I learnt new skills however such as how to use the camera’s successfully in order to take images appropriate and of a high enough quality to go into my magazine. This skill is useful as I can now use this knowledge in my second year when having to handle the cameras again. Even though on the A2 course we will mainly be videoing I can still use my general knowledge of camera shots and angles to create a certain mood within the music video. Another skill I learnt in my AS year was how to get the most from Photoshop. We had a lesson as a class where we learnt how to edit and perfect images by softening the skin or whitening the teeth. I enjoyed learning this as I can now get the most from using Photoshop and now how to work the programme properly, rather than just having a basic overall knowledge of it like I did when I started the course.

            In conclusion to this I believe that the AS foundation portfolio helped improve my skills a lot, and also made me more confident of how to get the most from media programmes.  Knowing that I can now use Photoshop with confidence and a clear understanding of it makes me feel optimistic about the A2 course as I know that I will be able to gain new knowledge of the programmes that we will be using in the same way, and although they may seem difficult and challenging to use at first I now know that over time it will get easier if you persist and continue to do solo research to find out simple ways to overcome tasks and succeed with the programme. In order to do well this year I will make sure to also be aware of the correct media terminology of which I learnt last year and will also be learning more of this year. Using the terminology is helpful as it is more specific to media and therefore suggests directly what you mean.