Candidate name: Molly Doyle, Candidate number: 0834
Spider Diagram of Ideas
The purpose of this task was to show my understanding of the requirements needed for a high-standard piece of coursework. Dividing the page into three sections clarifies the difference between the three different sections (research and planning, construction and evaluation) and makes the targets for each part a lot more obvious. I will need to use primary (my own) images throughout the task, which will focus on the five sections featured in the bar at the top of my blog.
Weaknesses and SMART Targets
Weaknesses - My biggest weaknesses when completing my coursework will probably be timekeeping, other distractions when attempting to do my work and lack of creativity. I also think that working out how to use unfamiliar technology/software such as Photoshop will also be a challenge.SMART
Specific - My overall goal is to accomplish all three sections my media coursework (plus the preliminary task) before April 24th. As well as completing each task before the deadline, I also want to put as much effort into my work as possible and be as creative as I can with my ideas. In consideration to timekeeping, I'll try to complete much of it as I can during college hours so I can use my time at home to revise for exams and finish other work, so hopefully I can relax at the weekends and not have to finish any media then. For making my ideas more creative, I'll search for other examples of this work (i.e. mood boards) online so I can gain more inspiration and understand fully what the task I've been set is about. I'll also ask for help if I'm unsure of Photoshop and any other software we may be required to use.
Measurable - My tasks are always set weekly, and if I want to complete all my tasks during the week, I'll have to work sufficiently in class to get them completed. I'll know if I'm working well/hard enough after hearing feedback from the teacher and if any suggestions for improvement are made, I'll try my best to make my work reach a higher standard. I'll also improve my Photoshop skills as I become more familiar with it, and to avoid being distracted, I'll make sure I'm alone so I can't be disturbed.
Attainable - The goal will be completed if I put a lot of effort into every task, and if I don't understand something, I must always ask for help. I have to complete my tasks quickly so I have time to correct/improve other pieces of work I've already done, and leave myself with a little time in case I've accidentally done something wrong. Some tasks can also be very time-consuming so I'll prioritise the longer pieces of work; therefore I'll have less to complete later on in the week.
Relevant - I want this coursework to be a priority since it's worth 50% of my AS grade, and I'm not too confident about my exam grade. In order to attain the best grade possible, I'm going to focus hard on my weaknesses and try to overcome them by using my solutions.
Time-Bound - My preliminary deadline is January 25th 2013, which only gives me another week to complete the rest of my tasks, meaning this part of my coursework definitely takes priority. I'll stick to the deadline by doing as much work as I can during class time, and only do work at home if entirely necessary. The aim of this is to get everything for the week done by Friday instead of the Sunday, so I have at least two days coursework-free to do other work or relax. My draft deadline is April 15th, which is just over a week away from the complete deadline: April 24th at 4pm. When concerning time management, I'll probably find the end of the task the most difficult since I'll feel under more pressure and there'll probably be more work to fit in near the end of the coursework.
Diary Entries
Week commencing January 14th - I found this week fairly straightforward when considering both the tasks and the timekeeping. Discovering how to use Prezi for the magazine timeline was extremely useful because I can now use it for other tasks in the future, i.e. my magazine brief. This week was generally an introduction to the topic as we taught ourselves how to define the styles and moods of the different genres; our mood boards were the tasks which helped us do this the most. Initially I made the images on them too large but gradually managed to resize them, then posted each mood board onto my blog with a separate description as opposed to recording a podcast. The simplest tasks for me this week were probably the spider diagram showing 'what makes a level 4 coursework portfolio?' and creating my own survey: this was probably the most enjoyable task. My preliminary task was also very creative but also difficult because learning how to use Photoshop proved to be a challenge. I struggled slightly with ordering the different layers and cutting round the edge of my photograph on the magazine cover (look at preliminary task analysis). Overall, despite it being my main target, time management wasn't an issue this week because I allocated the whole of Friday evening and Sunday to finishing my coursework.
Week commencing January 21st - The extensive textual analysis of a music magazine was certainly the most time-consuming task this week since it took me many hours to complete my 5000 word essay, however I think I may have written too much after spending two days solid on it. I struggled on this task initially because I'd forgotten we'd been given a guideline of what subheadings to use within each section of our essay, so I attempted to struggle alone at first, however I then found out that the help sheet was on Moodle so I found it much easier from there. The 'GoAnimate' task (the summary of our analysis) was much simpler and more enjoyable because there wasn't as much writing and we could choose whatever characters we liked on our video. In relation to timekeeping, I was running ahead by this point: my preliminary task had already been completed the week before however some aspects still weren't posted on the blog, i.e. the hand-drawn draft or the original photograph. This gave me more time to complete my essay to an acceptable standard. All in all, the magazine analysis is the task I deemed most useful when helping me with ideas and inspiration when considering my own magazine: it gave me a much clearer idea on which layouts, fonts, text, colours and images would be deemed most appropriate for a rock magazine. Before this task I was clueless to the conventions of magazines such as NME but now I have a better understanding, meaning my own magazine may now have more potential.
Week commencing January 28th - All tasks from this week have been completed except for the initial draft of my own music magazine front cover, contents page and article because I was unsure of what to do before I asked for help. I do however know what I'm supposed to be doing concerning this task now, so have allocated a specific time to fit this in. All other tasks were completed the previous week so I'm slightly more relaxed about timekeeping momentarily, this proving that time management again hasn't been an issue because I'm extra conscious of falling behind since it's been my main weakness in the past.To help me in the future when we get given an even bigger workload (i.e. during the construction), I may have to draw out a timetable so I can allocate a specific amount time to my media coursework whilst juggling my other subjects too.
Week commencing February 4th - I'm thankful that the tasks for this week are fairly straightforward (i.e. housekeeping of my blog because I've been conscientious about organisation throughout the entire task, uploading each task to the appropriate page etc). The task which I may struggle with this week however is the pitch for my magazine, because combining a Prezi with a podcast may be difficult, and I now need to learn how to do this using iMovie/Quicktime Player on my computer. Time management was slightly more strained this week because drawing out and annotating my cover, contents page and article, plus annotating a copy of NME's cover, contents page and article on top of this was a lot of work. I did however devote every spare opportunity I could find into completing these drawings/annotations and managed to get them completed on time.
Week commencing February 11th - This week has been fairly difficult since the pace of the work has sped up dramatically: there's a lot more to fit in within a short space of time. We've also learnt how to use InDesign so we can produce our articles: the text of my article has been decided on, I now just have to integrate it into InDesign.
February 16th - Today I took the photographs for my construction and imported them into my Photoshop/InDesign documents. I changed the colour (made them black and white using Photogramio.com) and used a change in brightness and contrast to enhance them.
February 22nd - I've now completed the cover and contents page of my magazine, however am still struggling to get to grips with InDesign.
March 8th - I have now finished the construction of my article.
March 26th - Today I began my evaluation, and I didn't realise until afterwards that we had to use a different technology for each question so wrote each answer in essay format.
April 8th - I have begun to make changes by transferring some of my evaluation into different technologies such as moodboards, powerpoints and goanimate.
April 18th - Today I focused on transferring the information from my evaluation into different technologies such as goanimate and Prezis. Tonight I will expand on the information using the constructive criticism on my evaluation mark sheet, and create more videos/podcasts and moodboards for my other questions.
How Well Am I Working Towards My Spider Diagram? (What Makes a Level 4 Piece of Media Coursework?)
In my opinion, I'm currently completing the 'research and planning' section of my spider diagram up-to-standard since most of the tasks on here have already been completed. This includes the entire preliminary task, plus researching other magazines of a similar genre to the one I'm creating (e.g. my analysis of NME) for a better understanding of what rock magazines are really like.
What Have I Learnt From the InDesign Tutorials?
By watching the four tutorials provided, I now have a better idea of what I need to do when constructing my magazine. I also have a better idea of how long the construction process will take by watching these, so will manage my time more wisely when producing the pages required for my magazine "Electric". Video 1 has helped me get a better understanding of how to change the font and organise my text into different columns etc, so I can now make my article more interesting to read and of the conventional "newspaper" layout seen in magazines such as NME. From the second video I've learnt how to include more key conventions a magazine such as a byline and a drop cap, and it's also explained that you need to include key information so the reader will continue to have an interest in the story. Additionally, it highlighted the importance of interesting page layouts and neatly-aligned columns, so the article will look appealing to potential buyers and attract a wider audience. Finally, I learnt from tutorials 3 and 4 have taught me how essential the arrangement of the front cover is: the cover image must be placed correctly because this is the first thing a potential buyer will see when they pick up the magazine. In order to have a great impact on somebody, the cover must include letter spacing and fonts used in conjunction with one another and most attractive to the target audience (i.e. a pop magazine may used brightly-coloured bubble writing to attract their young teenage audience, whereas a rock magazine will use harsher and perhaps more basic fonts). All in all, viewing these videos has made me gain a better insight into the software I'll be using to create my magazine so i can produce my magazine "Electric" to the best of my ability.
