Evaluation Activity 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I feel I have progressed extremely well from my preliminary task to my full product. Not only have my production skills developed, but my understanding of audience areas and generic conventions has also increased. This has made me able to focus the skills I have learnt on developing a product which is specifically well suited for a particular genre and target audience. The first area of my work I feel I have improved on is my camerawork. As you can see, the image on my preliminary task is blurry which decreases the quality of the picture. Also, the prelim picture taken looks more like a general photo - it lacks purpose. On the other hand, my final product's images DO have purpose and look well suited for the task I was asked to do (music magazine). Also, the quality of the image is better as it is not blurry; both pictures were taken using the same camera so this wouldn't have affected this, and therefore the improvement is purely to my more developed camerawork skills.

Another area of work I have improved on is my editing and Photoshop skills. My preliminary pieces are very simply put together with only 2 clear layers - it is clear this has been done by a beginner with Photoshop. There is only one image used, and all the text is the same; it’s not very adventurous. In addition, the editing is shoddy. My use of the magnetic lasso tool to ‘cut out’ the image is not good - there are some rough edges. The image seems to stand out from the background in a way such that it doesn't blend well into the page. On the other hand, my final piece’s images are cut out a lot better; after experimenting with different tools, I found the ‘background eraser’ tool was, albeit more time consuming, a better tool for ‘cutting out’ the image. Through my choosing of tools, I have been able to get a greater grasp of how efficient each tool is and how to use it in different situations, depending on the amount of time I had.

Also, my selection of images has improved. My Research and Planning helped with this, as I was able to find inspiration from existing pictures of hip-hop artists and, combining these with my improved camera work skills, I was able to make my own similar images which were befitting of the genre and task.

All these areas of development for me, add to the credibility of my final product which, undoubtedly, is higher than the credibility of my preliminary task. My improved skills areas (layout, camerawork, image quality/suitability, colour harmony, etc) have all made sure of this; my product is an improvement because of my more developed skills and understanding of the demands of the task.