Skills Development

When i previously began my pre-production for my magazine in AS media studies, i have different strengths but i also had areas that i needed to develop and improve. I think that researching and analysing existing magazine covers was one of my strong points and was very beneficial in helping me decide how to make my magazine fit the chosen genre. As looking at the different genres gave me a chance to understand how the appeal to the target audiences, and was helpful in order to make mine follow the typical conventions of magazines and appeal to my audience. Another one of my strengths during the pre-production process finding out the information of what appeals to my chosen target audience by conducting a questionnaire as this gave me ideas of what to include in my magazine so that it is interesting and appealing.

The weaknesses in my pre-production were the institution research, as when i was finding companies that would distribute my magazine i should have gone into a lot more depth and detail in my analysis. I did find this difficult as i was unsure of what sort of companies to research and how to explain why they would distribute my magazine. So i would need to improve my research into institutions to find out more information therefore creating a more detailed analysis. Another one of my weaknesses was the planning for my photo shoots, as when it came to the shoot i needed to be more prepared and know more about what sort of poses to use etc. so i would need to plan more ahead so that i know exactly what i am doing.

In the production of my magazine my stronger areas were choosing images that suited the genre well as from researching and analysing existing magazines i was aware of what sort of layout i wanted for each page of my magazine. also had a set plan of each of the pages and how i wanted the layout to appear so i was prepared when using photo shop in order to edit certain titles where i wanted them to be. However, i could have improved the research into the font styles and colours etc. as i found it difficult finding certain fonts that fit in with this genre, so i would research in more detail what sort of fonts and colours are appropriate for the chosen genre.
Another area that i feel i was weak in is my photo shop skills, as i struggled to edit my chosen images to make them look professional so i would need to improve my skills by working on editing a lot more.

Overall, i have areas that i am confident in that i have explained above that will be very useful to me in my next practical. But i also have certain areas that need to be improved and developed as i need to research in more detail which allows me to have an analysis in more depth and also be more prepared in my practical and have in mind have it fits in with the genre. Each of my weak points need to be improved as they are very important in creating my practical and useful skills to have.