Diary Entry 30/12/13

Today I have uploaded the first question of my evaluation and I have started to make my final changes after receiving feedback. I have also learned a new Photoshop technique and that's the 'Opaque' feature and I was told to use that to make my final product look much more better and professional.

Diary Entry 21/12/13

Today I have finally completed the construction of my final article, contents and front cover page. I just have to send it out for my final feedback but other than that I am proud of my efforts and I personally think it looks great. Now whilst I await the feedback I can now work on my evaluation.

Diary Entry 17/12/13

Today I have completed my final draft for my article and contents page on Photoshop but now I need feedback on what to change and what to keep before Friday (20th)

Diary Entry 16/12/13

Today I'm continuing to complete the Photoshop drafts after receiving feedback. I have completed the article now I have to do the contents followed by the front cover.

Diary Entry 12/12/13

In today's lesson I have started to make the changes I have received from the feedback, furthermore I am looking to finally complete my construction page but also add the feedback too.

Diary Entry 10/12/13

Today I received feedback for my contents, article and front cover and there was a mixture in opinions throughout. But I have to make the changes and make it look the best it can.

Diary Entry 08/12/13

Today I have completed my first evaluation question by creating a word document and I might produce a Moodboard to complement the question. I shall upload it all once I have completed all the construction page.

Diary Entry 05/12/13

Today I'm going to retake the photos for my front cover and one for my contents page. Also I am going to make the changes that I got with my feedback on my contents and article before tomorrow as I am going to hand it in for my 2nd and final feedback.

Diary Entry 04/12/13

Today I completed the front cover draft on Photoshop but all that is needed is the image. I am going to retake my images as the current ones aren't as appealing and appropriate to use as a front cover. So tomorrow I will take the photos with someone different.

Diary Entry 01/12/13

Today I have completed my planning and research page of my blog and is all ready to be checked by my teacher. Furthermore this week I look to complete my first draft of my front cover on Photoshop and send it in for feedback.

Diary Entry 27/11/13

Today I completed the construction procedure of my article and started on my contents page. Also I didn't work on my front cover today as I didn’t want to fall behind when completing my construction page.

Diary Entry 25/11/13

Today I sent out my contents page to my teacher and to others for feedback on what to improve. I will complete those improvements once I have finished my first draft of my front cover which I began today.

Diary Entry 24/11/13

Today I finally completed my contents page and I am happy the way my first draft looks. Tomorrow I plan to hand my contents page out for feedback; this will allow me to make any changes necessary.

Diary Entry 22/11/13

Today I was finishing off my contents page draft on Photoshop. As part of the subscription section of my contents page I wanted to use a gradient for the background and I wasn't sure on how to do so without messing up. So I looked up a video tutorial on YouTube which helped me add gradients to a shape and it worked a treat! Link to Video

Diary Entry 21/11/13

In today's lesson I am carrying on from last lesson which is by drafting my first draft of my contents page on Photoshop and also print screen my progress. In my spare time after the lesson I'm hoping to upload and complete the photos to my planning page.

Diary Entry 19/11/13

In today's lesson I was carrying on from last lesson by making my first Photoshop contents draft. The main trouble I had was deleting the background of my image that I will use for my contents page. I have done half of it and will do the other by next lesson.

Diary Entry 18/11/13

In today's lesson I began to draft my contents page on Photoshop but before I started I gave my article draft to my media teacher for feedback on what to improve and what's well completed. This will help me make my article look better.

Diary Entry 16/11/13

Today I plan to complete the 'Planning' page of my blog, and that's by uploading the photos that I have taken for my final magazine cover, contents and article page. Also I will review the feedback received for my article and make any changes necessary.

Diary Entry 15/11/13

Today I decided to change the whole colour theme of the double page spread to match the image and it looks great. Following this decision I have decided to use the same colour scheme (Brown and White) for the contents and front page.

Diary Entry 14/11/13

In today's lesson I've finally added the image of my double page to the Photoshop draft and I'm happy with the way it has turned out however the text isn't visible so I will have to figure something out tomorrow and make it look professional.

Diary Entry 13/11/13

Today I finally took the photos I needed for my final music magazine cover, contents and article page. However one person I needed as the 3rd member of my group wasn't here so we couldn't wait another day because time was running out so we went ahead with the photo-shoot. However with that change I have to change the article and the plan because of the absence of one member of the group. And at the end of it all I was happy with the photos and I believe it will look great once it's completed.

Diary Entry 12/11/13

Today I was making progress to finish my Photoshop draft and also producing some print screens of my progress of constructing my draft once I have finished. I learnt many new functions too such as how I can undo more than once by clicking 'Ctrl+Alt+Z'. This has helped me a lot because it was causing me unnecessary stress but now I know it I can work quickly and won’t have to waste time by redoing the mistakes I made.

Diary Entry 11/11/13

Today I have almost finished my draft Photoshop article. I was struggling to put the text in columns but I have figured how to do so and am on my way to completing it. Furthermore I have done print screens of my progress which I will post on the construction page of my blog once I'm done with my draft on Photoshop.

Diary Entry 05/11/13

Today I received my weekly task sheet and I only have to do three tasks this week (Look below). However I have to complete a couple of tasks from before and that’s the creation of the  Feedback sheet which I’ll make today and ask others tomorrow, the justification of my drafts which I’ll do tomorrow as well and the photos that will hopefully be taken on Friday if not Thursday.

Diary Entry 04/11/13 Feedback

Today I have read and listened to the feedback I have received from my teacher on what to change for each page and what's good about it;

Homepage: For the homepage it was just the diary entries that were on the page so the only thing I had to do was update it regularly.

Preliminary task: I had done everything I needed to do but what was required was to explain what this task is about because I just go straight into the project and don’t explain it at all.

Planning: For the planning page I had to get feedback and justify my drafts. Furthermore I had to add my photos and the computer rough drafts. And lastly I needed to explain the comparisons of my magazine to real ones as shown on the first draft. My teacher was pleased with my survey monkey analysis which I spent a lot of time on.

Research: I had to firstly order my page because it was a complete mess, so it had to be in this order; Moodboards, Podcasts, Prezi, Essay, Go animate and then the audience research. For the Prezi presentation I hadn’t included a summery at the end which I had to include completing it. And finally I had to label my Moodboards.

Construction/Evaluation: Not started yet so nothing to report.

As shown above I have made a lot of minor mistakes and I have to avoid that so my product is at the highest quality with everything completed. The key to this is by following my task sheets week in week out because if I don’t do so I will fall behind and I won’t complete everything I would need to in time before the deadline.

Diary Entry 31/10/13

I have completed all the tasks that needed to be completing (excluding the current ones). And I am relieved that I have completed it because it was tough coming back and trying to complete everything. I learned that I should carry on with my time management and never mess it up because if I do I will fall behind as I did in the past week.

Diary Entry 27/10/13

I am back from my trip up north to Manchester where I was unable to do any work for my Media Coursework. I will look to complete everything from the previous tasks so it can be checked from my teacher. I need to upload everything to my blog which will take some time but will do so as soon as possible.

Photography Demonstration Tutorial: 22/10/13

Today I attended a demonstration session which taught me how to take the best pictures and what not to do. The session began with teachers explaining where we can take the pictures which is the Art building, but before we can go to the photo studio we were told that we have to confirm with the technicians and our media teachers to when we are booking the room. There are also rules we have to follow the main one is that no food is allowed which is obvious to know. Moving on we were told on how to take the photos and what you shouldn’t do. The teachers and also some former students gave us some advise; the mise-en-scene has to be appropriate, you have to have a minimum of four pictures and you must have high quality pictures preferably SLR cameras are the best to use which are available at college. The former AS students also gave us some considerations on what to do. The lighting must be good and visible because having a really dark background would affect the final image however if you decide to use a dark and abnormal lighting there must be a connotation behind it such as relating to the genre. Mise-en-Scene is important too and that is about the clothing, background and pose. They said it has to be different and effort needs to be put in these images however I’ve decided to go for a casual look and everyday clothing for my ‘models’ this is because it relates to my magazine and genre and I explained this in my pitch. The quality of image was mentioned vastly in the demonstration, they showed us the good and the bad and it has motivated me to have the best quality image I can possibly have.

Diary Entry-21/10/13

Today I have received another weekly task sheet to complete however I haven’t yet finished last week’s tasks as I was away for the weekend for a family occasion so I am a bit behind but I will catch up. In today’s media lesson I was unable to do anything with my blog since there was a power cut in college however that didn’t mean I did nothing in lesson, I used every minute to make sure nothing becomes chaotic with all the tasks I had. I then created a list of tasks to do and what day to do them. I began with the hand drawn drafts and hopefully 1500 word article. Another problem I will encounter on Wednesday (23^rd) is that I am going to meet with family which means I probably won’t be able to complete last week’s and this week’s tasks before then nonetheless half term is next week giving me a lot of time. But I want to complete everything ASAP and in the highest quality (SMART Targets)

Diary Entry-18/10/13

I am currently doing a survey at which font I should use for my 'Undiscovered' Masthead. Once I have made my decision on what typeface to use I am going to then complete my 2nd hand drafts. Also if I have time I will do a pitch for my magazine; still deciding whether to do a Prezi or a Video, a Power Point presentation is out of the question.

Diary Entry 17/10/13

In today's lesson I am looking to make my final decision on what name I should pick for my magazine and band. To do this I used survey monkey to decide the final decision. Then I will decide on a font of the masthead too using a font making website.

Diary Entry-15/10/13

Today I created a survey asking which band name would suit an indie band and a list of names that would be great to use as the name of my indie based magazine. I created a list but was tough to think of but in the end I am happy with my options. When I have access to Facebook and Twitter I am going to share my survey so people can answer it, similar to what I did with my preliminary task. I am going to check tomorrow night to see which option has the most votes and that would be my final choice.

Diary Entry 14/10/13

Today I received my weekly task sheet and have made a great start to it already having completed the first three tasks; Housekeeping, Blog entries and the SMART targets. I will hope to finish everything before the weekend as I am unfortunately away again. Also I have to upload my hand drawn drafts to my blog but I have to scan it first which I will do later today.

 

SMART Targets Update

Looking back at my S.M.A.R.T targets from week 1, the main target I set for myself was to manage my time management as it has been a massive problem for me in the past. This is because I used to leave everything on the last day to finish it which gave me a lot of stress and pressure. However I have followed my S.M.A.R.T targets because so far I have been completing everything set (Weekly task sheets). So whenever I am set the tasks I aimed to finish it as soon as possible so the following week I won’t have the pressure of finishing two weeks tasks in one week. I have been following this principle since the first week and it has worked a treat because now I won’t have the tension of completing the work on the last day till midnight. However there have been times when I’ve been away for the weekends but this time management has motivated me to finish everything ASAP. The smart targets have helped me know what to and how to manage my time but I have to carry on managing my time correctly because if I stop now it will come back to haunt me.

Diary Entry 13/10/13

I have completed all the weekly tasks; survey monkey analysis and hand drawn draft comparison was all completed this morning. This helps me because I won't fall behind and there won't be a lot to do when I get my weekly tasks next week because I don't have the pressure of completing last week's tasks because it's finished!

Diary Entry 11/10/13

I have completely finished with the preliminary task; drafts, Photoshop and evaluation are all complete from the preliminary task. Now before Monday I shall complete the Survey Monkey Analysis and the drafts for my actual music magazine cover, contents and double page spread.

Diary Entry-10/10/13

Yesterday I completed the preliminary front cover and content page tasks using Photoshop. I have a lot to learn yet but overall I am impressed with my efforts. I need to check with my teacher first before I upload it to see if it is valid to be posted onto my Blog.

Diary Entry 08/10/13

Today I uploaded the essay which I spent a very long time on in the research section and I am very proud of my efforts. Also I began my preliminary task of creating a front cover and contents page of my colleges magazine; Pulse. To do this I used the software, Photoshop. I similar software's but not Photoshop so it was fairly new for me. I finally got the hang of most features but practise makes perfect and it has to be once I begin my official and final music magazine cover, contents and article.

Diary Entry 07/10/13

Today I received my weekly task sheet that needs completing before next week. I have to complete a survey on music magazines that would help me produce my own music magazine. And I have to upload my pictures of my preliminary task to my Blog.  I intend to complete everything before the weekend so there’s no stress at the end of the week, starting with the survey.

Diary Entry 06/10/13

Today I have completed all the weeks tasks ahead of tomorrows deadline. On Friday the Go Animate was completed and uploaded the next day. For the podcast I completed it yesterday and uploaded it today and I also completed a draft of my preliminary task magazine cover and contents page but I still need to upload it to my blog and scan it tomorrow. As for the analysis of the two articles I have completed that too but again I still need to scan the Metal Hammer article and will do tomorrow so I can add it to my essay.

Diary Entry 03/10/13

Today I checked the task sheet from last week to see if anything was missing before I proceed. So from that I added an extra paragraph to my Prezi of Music Magazine timeline and also I managed to embed the Prezi onto my Blog with the support of my colleagues in class. Furthermore I created accounts on archive.org, a website where I shall upload my podcast, I have started writing a script already. And a Go Animate account was also created for my animation task. This will save me some time when I work on it tomorrow.

What makes a Level 4 Coursework portfolio?

As part of my coursework it's important that I achieve the highest grade possible so it could give me a real boost going into the exam. To do so I would need to produce work on time in the upmost quality. This would not only increase my grade but will give me a momentum boost ahead of the exam if I am to complete a level 4 piece of coursework. It won't be easy that's for sure but it's definitely possible if I follow this mind map (below). I would then be on track with the coursework and hopefully complete every task expecting a level 4 at the end of it, if not I will be very, very disappointed.

Diary Entry 01/10/13

Today I learnt how to analyse magazine articles which will then help me write up the analysis of two music magazine articles set for coursework. Also I was told that there wasn't much that needed improving on my essay on two magazines that we did two weeks ago so that gave me a boost and also more time to work on the other tasks set.

Diary Entry 30/09/13

I managed to complete the weeks tasks in time and with the lack of time I had I'm satisfied with the work that I've completed. However today I was given another weekly task sheet which I shall begin tomorrow starting with the podcast on the moonboards followed by another essay which has to be completed by next Monday (07/10/13). That's plenty of time and I shall do bit by bit, day by day and will hopefully be done in advance before the deadline.

Diary Entry 27/09/13

Today I'm hoping to complete most of the tasks due in for Monday (30th). Since I'm away for the weekend it will be really difficult to hand in everything on time. But I'm making progress by starting of the Music magazine timeline and hopefully it will be completed by Monday.  

S.M.A.R.T Targets

My prime weakness when working on coursework or any other work set is time management. I’ve always found it trouble to reach the deadline date with quality and completed work. To make sure this doesn’t become a consistent issue and to make myself well organized, I have set myself S.M.A.R.T targets.

Specific: Time management is vital not only in exams but in coursework too. So I’m going to have to work extra hard in order to meet the deadline set or even before the limit. This doesn’t apply for only one task or for a limited time I have to be stable and reliable with the work I do by that I mean hand in work on time in the highest excellence.
Measureable: So when I receive my checklist of the tasks that need completing I plan to finish it ASAP. That doesn’t mean rush the work I complete, I believe that it has to be at the highest quality to attain the grades I want to achieve. This doesn’t apply to every task I get because the tasks vary in coursework; it can either be a lengthy task or a short one. It’s obvious that an extensive task won’t be completed within a day or two so I can complete bit by bit each day and then eventually it’ll be completed. As for the short tasks I can complete it as soon as it’s set so I can not only concentrate on other subjects but also move on with the other tasks given on the same coursework. Applying to short and long tasks, if they are completed before the deadline I can then edit the work produced and maybe add some extras to improve the quality.

Attainable: Accomplishing a Level 4 coursework portfolio takes a lot of effort and dedication but it’s possible that I can achieve it. This is by going over these SMART targets on a regular basis and relate it to my work. Not only will this increase my work rate but will help my grades increase because it’s been completed by the deadlines and it’s been managed in a great way, a way that will help me achieve the grade I desire.

Relevant: These targets are vital if I am to reach the grades I want; if I don’t take note of these targets on a regular basis then the quality of work produced will no doubt decrease. Furthermore it has to be consistent because following these targets for a couple of weeks would be pointless and will lower my chances of achieving the grades I want at the end of this AS Media course.

Time Bound: The first thing I need to take note of even before staring a task is to the deadline date. This is vital because not having the knowledge of when the task is set is the worst possible start to when writing up coursework. So I have taken note of the vital dates on my planner, phone, Email and on the calendar I have at home. Now there won’t be any excuses for not handing in work on time.

Diary Entry-26/09/13

Today I've learnt how to upload images to my blogs from that I uploaded the four Moodboards created for my research task to the research tab. This week I'll complete the poster that talks about what makes the perfect level 4 coursework along with my SMART targets and photos for my preliminary task.

Introduction to my Blog

In this blog I will write and publish all the coursework I'll be completing for my AS Media Studies. The coursework will cover the conventions and typical features of music magazines. From this I will analyse various music magazines. I will also create a front page contents page and a double page spread as part of my coursework. From this I will learn how the music world in media works i.e. the stereotypical features you would see in music media. Furthermore it'll increase my knowledge of the conventional features of magazines too. Moving on I will hope to achieve the highest grade possible and that won't come over night. To reach the grades I desire I have to work hard, hand in work by the deadline in the highest quality. I also believe that once I have completed one task in the highest superiority I will have to carry on that momentum on with the other tasks and from then I'll eventually have the grades I want. All that requires is knowledge of the music press, quality work and determination. With all of these done then I believe my AS Media Coursework will be a success.