Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
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Quality
When taking the images for my preliminary task, things were quite spontaneous so consequently, there was not much thought put into it. Although I did consider the setting (I chose to shoot in college as this was a college magazine), I did not plan the costume what so ever. My magazine, on the other hand, was much more thought out which I feel is reflected in the fact that it looks to be of a more professional standard. -
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Preliminary Task
When looking back at my preliminary task, I have discovered the importance of the significance of the elements and how they can construct representations. As well as this, I have also learnt that acquiring photography and editing skills can make the overall outcome be of a more professional standard. -
Schedule
Planning is a huge element when creating any form of media product. When undertaking my AS coursework, I produced a schedule so that I could manage my time correctly. It also meant that on the day of the shoot, things ran more smoothly than if I had not planned it out and also made sure that I took all of the photographs which I needed. -
Image Resolution
For my media coursework, I shot all of the photographs with a DSLR camera (the Nikon D3100).This meant that these images were of a much higher resolution than the ones taken for my preliminary task as I took these on my smartphone. Not only did shooting on a DSLR give my images a higher resolution, but it also meant that they were of a much more professional standard as DSLRs enable you to give images depth of focus, something which cannot be done on smartphones. -
Camera Equipment
I also understood the importance of camera equipment when shooting images for my music magazine. I used a tripod, meaning the camera was more stable when taking photographs and reducing the risk of the image being blurred. I also used studio lighting (in particular, soft boxes) in my A2 coursework, making my images more evenly lit and eliminating shadows. These two pieces of camera equipment resulted in higher quality photographs than those used in my preliminary task. -
Editing
After briefly dabbling into the world of 'Adobe Photoshop CC' in my preliminary task by using it to crop images and add text, I had gained editing skills which I could carry forward into my AS coursework. Here, I was able to decrease the level of saturation in my images in order to give them more of a cool tone which was the desired effect. I then went on to adjust the colour levels to make sure that my model did not look ghost-like after desaturating the image. -
Representations
When making my media magazine, I discovered the importance of how camerawork, miss en scene, and editing construct representations. Consequently, representations were far more constructed in my AS coursework than in my unplanned, rushed preliminary task. The recognition of the importance of these elements also resulted in a much more professional end result which is evident when comparing my preliminary task with my AS coursework. -
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AS Coursework
