Skills development essay

Skills development essay

For my foundation portfolio I was given the brief to design and produce my own magazine front cover, content page and double page spread. For this assignment I was given preparation after designing a college magazine with front cover and a contents page. My foundation portfolio was to broaden my knowledge of media texts and put them forward to help come up with an original idea that would conform to the codes and conventions of this existing media text.

Before my AS media foundation portfolio I had used Photoshop before but never at an advanced level that was required for the foundation portfolio. I understand the basics of Photoshop such as how to add text to an image or how to enlarge an image, all these things were used but I had to learn a lot more to help produce my music magazine.

I had to start my research project by analysing existing music magazines based upon my genre (pop). This helped me to gain an insight into the kinds of magazine that were already available on the market and how I could make mine different but still follow the codes and conventions. For these analysis’s I had to construct a LIIAR analysis on three front covers, three contents pages and three double page spreads, this helped me to understand the different conventions of a music magazine, therefore I had an understanding of what was expected of my music magazine.

After research I moved onto post-production, this meant creating mock ups and also designing what my product was going to look like. This part was the most difficult as I would often have an idea and change it due to the fact that my images didn’t work or that I was struggling to find colours that would illustrate my genre well. For my mock ups I produced four digital mock ups and a digital mock up using an existing image. By producing the mock ups it helped me to understand how I had to arrange the conventions on my front page, contents page and double page spread.

After post-production I moved onto creating my product. First of all I started by taking my pictures which I had to do several times as the images didn’t seem appropriate once placed on the front cover, getting the right picture was key but it was something I found difficult as it didn’t represent my genre or sometimes I couldn’t get the model to look the way I wanted too. After several attempts I finally got the shots I wanted and was happy to move onto using Photoshop. This was something I had used before but not to the level was expected at AS media. I knew the basics but after help I moved onto the more complex skills such as how to give the model a flawless look by removing imperfections and replacing the skin with a more even tone, this was a typical convention of a music magazine as artists usually have their skin Photo shopped.

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(Using the spot healing tool on Photoshop)

Another skill I learnt whilst creating my product was how to bring the photo forward so the model looks closer to the camera then she/he already was, this helped me make sure that the reader felt more engaged with the artist, another key element in getting the image perfect. Another skill I learnt was how to change the colour of some features on the image, for example as a trail I changed the colour of the models eyes to make the image look more interesting and eye catching, however this didn’t work and I resorted to the models natural eye colour. Nether the less it was skill worth learnt.

My skills developed by doing the foundation portfolio because I learnt that codes and conventions are important because it all effects how the audience represent the product and this is what sells a product in the world of media. Also the skills I have developed will helped and inspire me during my ‘Advanced portfolio’ for my A2 course. The key element I learnt was creativity, I learnt that creativity was the key to a successful product because the product has to represent and ‘reach out’ to an audience as well as possibly enticing a wider audience, again all key to a successful media text.

After summarising all the skills I have learnt I have come to the conclusion that the skills are essential in order to understand and produce a media text which sticks within the codes and conventions and stick to the form of a music magazine. Photoshop and other digital technologies such as; Prezzi and Go Animate all helped in order to produce something creative which expresses the points I was trying to make. Since starting my foundation portfolio I have developed my skills in all aspects of production, I realised that research was important in understand media texts that already exist and that by researching those I can change my product so that it stands out from others therefore making my product eye catching and possibly reaching a wider audience. Research is also important for developing a target audience and understanding their needs and preferences in order to create a media text which reaches out to them.

Overall I believe that all the skill I have learnt from doing my foundation portfolio (music magazine) can be used to create my advanced portfolio for A2. Skills such as how to use the codes and conventions to portray a message or to please your target audience, also how to use creativity to make a media text stand out from the others on the market.