My AS Media Studies Evaluation response to Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

1. SWOT ANALYSIS
S W
SWOT
Analysis
O T
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2. SWOT ANALYSIS
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROJECT THAT GIVE IT AN ADVANTAGE OVER OTHERS
S trengths
INTERNAL FACTORS:
• I was confident taking strong photographs because I knew how to use
various camera equipment.
• I had a clear idea and goal in my head and I kept to my vision of what I
wanted to achieve without letting judgment of being different influence
me.
• I wanted to explore with technology and use Adobe Photoshop CS6
• I was comfortable with what I was being asked so was able to explore
technologies throughout my blog to help my research and planning.
• I had a lot of research and planning to guide me.
• I was always early for lessons and had excellent time management which
meant I was able to research on the internet whilst I waited and finished my
S W
design work before anyone else.
O T
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3. SWOT ANALYSIS
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROJECT THAT GIVE IT AN ADVANTAGE OVER OTHERS
S
• When given the task I instantly knew what I had to do to complete the brief
and how I was going to do it, because of this I was able to start research my
chosen genre to help fulfil my target audience conventions. I started to
pinpoint my magazine focus and once deciding on photography I began to
filter my research to suit a niche audience. I then went out and set up a working
photo shoot in a business set using professional lighting and camera equipment
to make sure I had the highest possible quality of shots that looked as though
they could be from a real magazine. This helped show my understanding of
how photographers shoot photographs of musicians for music magazines and
how they use the camera and editing to manipulate the photographs before
they reach the readers. I was able to use the same technology as professional
photographers do in the magazine industry.
• After I had my ideas and backed them up with research I composed my design
work on Adobe Photoshop CS6 a software used on apple macs by industry
professionals. When I looked into how industry professionals use it I found
“Layout designers must possess a full knowledge and understanding of how to
use these digital tools. While this software is considered standard in the
professional world, the constant introduction of upgrades and newer versions
creates difficulties.” I was fortunate enough not to have an update needed, so
my work was always compatible. As an internal factor I think the main strength
was that I wanted to use it and experiment to make sure I had a high standard
of work. This helped strengthen my use of imagery as I was able to use the
airbrushing tool to give their skin a smoother complexion and remove any dark
circles of blemishes. This is something that is very common in the media industry.
• Choosing Photoshop over InDesign I think gave my work strength as it had more
tools I could edit and manipulate my work with, the functions in InDesign
seemed quite basic and I think that would have made my work look too much
like my student magazine, which looking back now seems simple and amateur.
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4. SWOT ANALYSIS
CHARACTERISTICS THAT PLACED THE WORK AT A DISADVANTAGE
W eaknesses
INTERNAL FACTORS:
• I didn’t use the internet enough to look at layout’s that I could
have recreated to make things easier. I was very set on
making mine original which meant I didn’t have much to
compare it too.
• My article wasn’t exactly conventional I because I couldn’t
make a drop capital in Photoshop or InDesign.
• I at first didn’t understand how to use all the tools in Adobe
Photoshop CS6 so I had to learn from scratch.
• I found it tricky to adapt to apple macs to begin with.
S W
O T
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5. SWOT ANALYSIS
CHARACTERISTICS THAT PLACED THE WORK AT A DISADVANTAGE
W • A main weakness of mine was how little I had used the technologies
required to do well on this task, I found adapting to macs a bit of an
adjustment but I think that learning about how to use them has made me
for confident for future reference and it was important to understand the
basic foundations of how to work different softwares so I know next time
what I can do to expand this foundation. I overcame this weakness by
trying my best with all new technologies I faced and making myself
become confident in how they are used.
• My vision may not have been as successfully projected due to the task
requiring professional standards of work using real magazine conventions
in a college environment under a timed lesson. This meant that I had to
plan and compose quickly, which meant that I may have come up with a
better idea later on, but I had already started on my ideas and didn’t
have time to spend ages on detailing and creating professional
designs, such as drop capitals that formed a design with shadows on the
images etc. If I was a frequent user or previous user of photoshop I may
have been able to create some far more creative pieces of work because
I wouldn’t be worried about how much time that would take up to try and
learn the skills of using the different tools in a new way. This is because it
would’t have taken me any time to sort details like that as I would already
be fast and confident in how to do this.
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6. SWOT ANALYSIS
ELEMENTS THAT THE PROJECT COULD EXPLOIT TO ITS ADVANTAGE
Opportunities
EXTERNAL FACTORS:
• I was able to use advance software to enhance and edit my photographs to a
high standard.
• I was able to access professional equipment to strengthen my overall outcome
of images.
• I had access to tutor advice and help if I struggled or found difficulties with the
programs I was using.
• I was able to take photographs in my own time, which meant I could use
whatever camera and equipment I wanted to suit my magazine.
• I had internet access to find inspirations and find conventions to use for my
magazine.
• I wasn’t limited with how creative I was allowed to be which meant I could use
whatever I wanted to create a professional standard of work as long as it fitted
the forms and conventions. S W
• I used a memory stick and screen grabs to save my process as I was going
along to make sure I didn’t risk a software crash and losing all my work.
O T
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7. SWOT ANALYSIS
ELEMENTS THAT THE PROJECT COULD EXPLOIT TO ITS ADVANTAGE
• My main opportunity was my independence to use my time effectively and
construct a full working photo shoot individually using real professional equipment
O
that would be used in the magazine industry. The use of studio lighting gave my
photos an edge above if I’d used my iPhone or a standard digital camera flash. The
fact that I used a camera of the highest quality that is used in the media industry on
a daily basis meant all my shot were crystal clear without any pixilation or need for
major editing.
• I learnt quickly how to airbrush any minor touches I wanted to adjust to my images
which allowed my photographs to transform into the standard of images used in any
magazine. By using the airbrushing tool it showed I was confident to do other things
on the Adobe software and not just stick to placing, alignment and shape tools.
• Being a focused worker and keeping up with my work meant that I could arrive early
for lessons and use the macs for 45 minutes before my lesson and use that time
effectively to research and think about what I wanted to do and achieve in my 2
hours. By arriving early it meant I could get on with design work straight away
because I had already set myself tasks and ideas to achieve, which allowed me to
finish my design work before anyone else and have more time to evaluate my
process and decisions.
• I was constructive with how I used the internet and different programmes to display
my research which made me more confident with macs. I was able to learn how
people within the music industry use the internet to research and receive feedback
on their work. I used my instagram account ask my target audience what they
thought of my work as I was going along to make sure I was heading in the right
direction of creating a product they would want to buy and read. I received lots of
likes which meant that they had a positive response to my work and this allowed me
to carry on and achieve my goal with confidence my age demographic and indie
lovers would appreciate it.
• Having a memory stick meant that I didn’t have the threat of a data crash or any of
the software closing down and I would lose out on my work, this forward thinking kept
me up to date with all my changes and gave me a back up file so I could work on-
the-go and save time in lessons. It gave me stronger time management and
organisational skills.
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8. SWOT ANALYSIS
COMMUNICATED INTENT TO INFLICT HARM OR LOSS
EXTERNAL FACTORS:
T hreats
• I wasn’t fully experienced in using Photoshop so my vision may not
have been fully projected due to my lack of knowledge.
• I wasn’t able to spend time trying to work out minor, I had to keep
my work basic in order to be able to complete the task on time.
• I was narrow minded in my view of what I had to do to complete the
task, which meant I perhaps didn’t stretch myself enough to find
alternatives that may have saved me time when editing or using
different tools.
• I didn’t use both Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, which may have
made my work look better, I wanted to say away from InDesign
after completing my student magazine.
S W
O T
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9. SWOT ANALYSIS
COMMUNICATED INTENT TO INFLICT HARM OR LOSS
• I think knowing so little about Adobe Photoshop was a threat at first as it
meant I was learning and starting everything from scratch with no previous
experience to help me along the way. I think sticking to InDesign may have
T
been a safer choice, however I think that by exploring how to use
Photoshop I allowed myself to be creative with choices and not stick to
what seemed very basic in InDesign. I was able to make choices based on
genre conventions and audience expectations rather than the tools that I
knew. This was helpful, so although time wise it may have been a threat for
future reference I now have a basic knowledge of how to use the software
that industry professionals use on a daily basis.
• Due to having three design tasks I did have the potential of running out of
time when my mac was being slow or not responding. This may have held
me back more than I allowed it too and looking back it could have
potentially become a larger issue than it was.
• I think having such a high amount of good quality images meant I did have
a lot to choose from and I may have chosen images that weren’t as strong
as others. By deciding to use large amounts of imagery on my DPS meant I
only have one column of text. This doesn’t follow the conventions of a
music magazine exactly, but luckily my genre choice allowed leeway with
how I interpreted the conventions for my own work. Only having one
column did mean however I really had to be selective with what I talked
about and I had to make sure I used English effectively to make sure I used
as few words as possible that meant the same as a large description, only
instead of lots of rambling it was well articulated and condensed to give
the same meaning. It was hard to fit all of what I needed to say in such a
small space so I had to think about how changing the font size would solve
this. The problem with this was that the words got cut in half and had to be
continued with hyphens to show the word’s continuation. I could have
researched more on how an industry professional would have solved this
issue or reconstructed my language and formation of paragraphs and
sentence structures.
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I think overall to improve next time would be
to extend my research into how industry
professional construct layouts and tackle
software issues. If I had as much planning as
I did research, I could have created design
work that reflected more of my creativity
and kept to the genre conventions and
target audience expectations. By doing this
© Copyright Showeet.com it would have strengthened my weaknesses
and gave opportunities to my threats.
Together I think I was stronger than I was
weak and had more opportunities than
threats, I think it was more luck due to my
perfectionist personality than anything. This
could have held me back but I was able to
use it to my advantage and complete the
task in time. I am pleased with my decisions
and choices that contributed towards my
final designs. I think I used technology
effectively to communicate my genre and
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