Skills Development Essay

Before I started studying Media Studies, I had little awareness of how everything which is contained within a media product has a meaning and has a reason for being there. I didn’t know that often, many key elements are placed within a media product in order to attract or satisfy an overall target audience’s needs. Over the duration of studying Media I have developed my skills massively in terms of Digital Technology by learning how to use Photoshop with ease, Creativity in producing my own individual and successful product, understanding the conventions of a media text, and how to research and plan before approaching a task effectively.

After carrying out research into different types of music magazines I quickly learnt and understood the conventions of a magazine. For example, all magazine covers have a masthead, bar code, headline, main image and assisting cover lines. I learnt this by carefully analysing a magazine’s language, institution, ideology, audience and how it is represented. With a music magazine the main image will often show an artist or band which will be the subject of a double page spread, where the cover lines are often associated with music related topics. In order to carry out good research I looked at many different types of music magazines such as Kerrang, Q and NME which were similar to the genre I wished to recreate in my own magazine. I did this in order to understand what attracts their particular audience, the magazine’s function and the overall layout. These new and improved skills of research helped me create a product which looked legitimate and professional. Furthermore, whilst I was carrying out further research into an existing music magazine’s reader profile, it increased my awareness of how all media texts are aimed at a particular demographic.

When it comes to planning a media product I have learnt that some tasks need to be carried out before attempting to create a music magazine. For example, now I know that I should brain storm my initial ideas and research the different key elements when it comes to creating a media product such as font types, shot types, and what image would work best for each of my final products. I needed to plan the layout of the product and the overall mise-en-scene. A vital part in planning my music magazine was to ask the target audience what they would like from a music magazine of the particular genre which I had chosen. I did this by carrying out a focus group and asking other people within that target audience what they would like to see. By carrying out a focus group and researching the Users and Gratifications theory I have learnt that all media products should satisfy their needs as a consumer. Without this, the product would be unsuccessful.

In terms of digital technology I have gained a wide range of skills when it comes to the usage of Photoshop, which was a vital programme when producing a magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. I have learnt how to properly use tools that I was already aware of on Photoshop, whilst gaining knowledge of tools and functions which I didn’t know were available. For example, the quick selection tool which was used to cut the outline of the model out of the image’s original background to place onto a new image. I also learned how to use the blur and smudge tool and the spot healing brush tool; this helped me in creating a clear, smooth and refined image. These new and improved skills helped me improve my work as it contributed to producing a much more, professional product compared with my first college magazine cover, which I produced at the beginning of the year. Before starting AS Media Studies, I had no awareness of the importance of different shot types, lighting and what makes a picture brilliant or bad. This is reflected in my college magazine cover which I produced at the beginning of my coursework. The image on the front cover of my college magazine is cluttered and not well composed. Whereas, with the main image on my magazine cover it is clear, in focus and is clearly a mid-shot. Furthermore, when creating my media product I learnt about different styles of fonts by using the text tool and the effects of the layer blending tool and adjusting a layer’s opacity.

When I started my first year of Media Studies, I had no understanding of the many processes that are behind the creation of a Media product. Throughout the duration of the year I learnt vital skills such as understanding and establishing an Institution’s ideologies through analysing the deeper meaning of a media text. In order to do this I learnt the importance of the mise-en-scene and cinematography when creating a media product such as the task I completed for coursework. I found out that a certain camera angle or shot type can portray a certain meaning. For example, if I took a picture of one of my artists at a low angle I found it could make them look quite powerful and intimidating. By being creative with mise-en-scene and cinematography I learnt how to make a media product which was unique and individual, but followed the typical conventions of a music magazine at the same time. For example, the front cover had a main image accompanied by a complimentary headline, my contents page had a letter from the editor, and my double page spread had an article in a journalistic form and so on.

Upon completing my work I learnt how to critically evaluate the finished product which I had created, this helped me discover what I had done successfully and what could be done differently if I was going to approach a task similar to that again. Instead of simply stating what was successful about my finished product, I looked at what wasn’t as successful and which parts appealed to my target audience directly.  In order to do this I used different methods of evaluation. For example, I analysed my own product and I issued questionnaires to members of my target audience which included questions that found out what they liked and disliked about the product.

Overall, comparing my overall knowledge and skill level to the beginning of my first year of Media Studies to what it is now, I have a much greater understand of the Media than I did before. For example, I often watch advertisements on television and automatically think about what its purpose is and the ideologies behind it. I also understand the use of mise-en-scene and cinematography within an image (for example, an advertisement) and what meaning that consequently creates.