1. Terminology
Theories
Photoshop
Blogger
PowerPoint
Adobe Design
Microsoft Word
Scanning
Evaluation
File Organisation
Photography Skills
Use of Sound
Planning and Note Taking
Research
What is the most important
thing to do next year?

2. I haven't learnt this yet so it will be something we look at next year.

3. The terminology of Media Studies at A Level is very similar to GCSE especially for the
magazine construction. However, with the textual analysis unit, we went into more
detail in how to analyse the clip and get the higher marks. For example in GCSE, for
the sound, we only knew diegetic and non-diegetic sound whereas this year, we
learnt terms such as ‘incidental music’ and ‘ambient sound’.
For the Film Industry unit, the terminology was new to us. We learnt terms such as
‘exhibition’, ‘distribution’ and ‘above/below the line costs’.
For A2, the advanced terminology of analysing a clip will help in creating the music
video as I can create a more professional video with improved camera angles to suit
the genre of the song.

4. As I studied Media Studies at GCSE, I had a thorough understanding of how to use
Photoshop using tools such as ‘magic eraser’ to remove the background of images
and the ‘red eye tool’. However, at A Level, I learnt how to use new tools that made
the appearance of my work look more professional which also, were time saving.
For example, the ‘magnetic lasso tool’ allows you to draw a line around a specific
piece of the image and remove the rest of the background that is not needed. This
was a lot more effective than using an eraser as it gave a smooth edge to the image.
Overall, I think I have improved my Photoshop
skills as I have a better understanding of the
editing tools that can be used.

5. I had never used Blogger before and so it was entirely new to me. At first I struggled
as I found it hard to navigate around the site and was not sure how to change the
layout of my blog or change the settings such as ‘language and formatting’ to
change the time zone. After using the site more often to post my work, I became
more familiar with how to use it and eventually did not have any problems.
Using Blogger was inconvenient at some times. For example, after posting an
image, we could not see it and therefore, found it hard to know what work we had
and hadn't done and could not relate back to it.

6. I have known how to use PowerPoint since I first started I.T lessons in Junior School,
therefore I did not have any difficulty using this programme.
I mainly used PowerPoint for my research and analysis of existing magazines as it
was easy to use arrows and text boxes. Also, it was simple and fast to upload them
to blogger through SlideShare.com.

7. I haven't learnt this yet so it will be something we look at next year.

8. I had a very thorough understanding of how to use Word. Throughout creating my
magazine, I rarely used Word apart from my audience research questionnaire and
planning photo shoots. It was simple to use this programme as it was mainly used
for text. Again, it was easy to upload the documents to Blogger using
SlideShare.com.

9. I haven't learnt this yet so it will be something we look at next year.

10. For our evaluation, we had to use a range of different programmes to show that we
had knowledge of how to use different technology.
For my evaluation, I did questions 1-4 on PowerPoint and questions 5-7 on Prezi. I
had never used Prezi before so found it quite difficult at first, however after
spending some time on it, I found it a lot easier and was able to add images and edit
it if needed.
I knew how to use PowerPoint, however I do feel that I could have used more of the
techniques on the programme to get a higher mark such as transitions and
animations.

11. As all work was done on the computer and online, organisation of work and files
was essential in order to make it easier to keep up to date with what work was done
and what wasn't. It also saved time. On my blog, I added labels to my work to make
it simpler to find and organise my work into different categories. This was also
helpful for the teacher, as it made it easier to mark work.
As I used a range of different programmes , I made a file for each programme so I
knew where everything was.

12. For my images, I used a
range a of angles to create
a different feel to the
images. I used a low angle
to make my model look
superior as it was a rock
magazine which is
associated with being
rebellious.
I used a long shot as I
wanted the speaker and
guitar to be included in the
image to highlight that the
magazine was all about
‘real’ music.

13. I haven't learnt this yet so it will be something we look at next year.

14. Throughout the construction, I didn’t make many notes as it was all done on the
computer. The only time I made notes was to plan for the evaluation. For this, I
noted down what should be included in each question.
An example of planning that I did was for my photo shoots. For this I wrote about:
costume, make-up, hair, where, when, props, photographer and model.

15. I mostly did my research into existing classic rock magazines, especially Mojo
Magazine. This helped me in creating my magazine as I could follow conventions
and what should be included in my magazine.

16. The most important thing to do next year is keep up to date with work and not fall
behind. To do this, good file organisation is needed so time isn't wasted looking for
work that may or may not be completed. Also, all work should be kept so you can
show the stages of development resulting in a higher mark.