Question 7: Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product

When I first started media, I did not have a clue how to use most of the programmes that I used in order to complete my magazine. My use of knowledge of Photoshop has increased considerably along with my use of most of the technologies I have used.

However, the most improved element from my preliminary magazine to my final magazine was my knowledge and use of magazine conventions. For example:

On my preliminary front cover, I used a mid-shot, like I did in my final magazine, however, on my final magazine, zoomed in more on the artist and made them larger in comparison to th page as i realised a key convention of magazines was to make the model the main element of the magazine. Also, after my research, I realised that a convention you must obide is to have the masthead covering the top third of the magazine and to have the model's head in the top third of the magazine - this is essential as when the magazine is on the shelf, the reader will only be able to see this much of the magazine; as you can see, these conventions are non-existent on my preliminary magazine.

On my preliminary task, I used seven colours: black, green, orange, purple, white, blue and yellow. However, on my final magazine, i only used three colours, as i realised that a convention of magazines is to only use three colours - this makes the magazine simple, professionally made and makes the magazine look, on the whole, a lot more aesthetic. On my preliminary, I used the colour black as a background; I changed this on my final magazine as black is not a conventional colour as a background on magazines - it is a hard colour to work with and does not look very professional.

On the contents page, again, I used too many colours to fit into the convention of three colours, as I used five: black, green, orange, purple, white. Although I did continue using these colours throughout the magazine from the front cover, the black background makes the page look unprofessional and hard to read. Whereas on my final magazine contents page, I continued the three colours: white, purple and black through to my contents page. I also used a white background and instead of using half of the with large writing, I compacted the contents into the left vertical third so that there was room to intrigue my target market group with images that may be of interest to them. The contents page on my final magazine compared to my preliminary is far more aesthetic and there are more images, showing a variety of camera shots such as long shots, mid-close up shots and cut-in shots.

Finally, the general mise en scene with all of my final magazine pages are better planned to suit conventions and the layout seems to be easier to read and looks far more professional. On the whole, the magazine is far more likely to sell as the final draft than the first one to my target audience too.