Georgina Bishop – Skills Development essay:
During
the process of my first year in Media Studies, I developed many transferrable
skills such as using digital technology like Photoshop and Prezi. This was
completely new to me, as I had not previously used anything but PowerPoint and
Word. I believe I adapted to the software relatively well almost instantly.
Whilst I struggled with Photoshop slightly to begin with, I think that after
some practice and time using it I managed to begin to use it effectively. Also
the use of Blogger was different for me, as I had never used it before. I feel
now, however, that I can use Blogger in an efficient way in order to show the
process of the development of my final product.
Using
the camera to show the use of different angles, and to show my ideas was
difficult for me. I feel that I am more confident with expressing my ideas on
paper than through a physical product. Nonetheless I feel that these skills
have improved vastly and I now have more confidence when given such tasks. I
feel that my use of digital technology has progressed hugely as a result of
completing tasks using such software. This has improved my confidence within
the course and I can use these skills in application to my music video product
in the second year of my course.
The creativity that
I have applied to my work, with regards to ideas and ‘thinking outside of the
box’, has improved hugely. This has become apparent in the range of software I
have used to show my thinking processes and also the way in which I have
presented my work. I have linked my
creativity to the use of digital technology by presenting my work in many
different ways on Blogger, and also the way in which I follow conventions in
Photoshop.
I feel that my
creativity has been positively affected by the use of many of the skills I have
learnt and developed. My creativity also, can be linked with many practices,
such as post-production, as this process directed me to be creative in the way
that I presented what I had done throughout the process of developing my
product. Also using conventions from real media texts can be influenced by
creativity because whilst using conventions I feel that it is difficult to look
at real media texts and not copy anything directly such as sell lines.
My research and
planning has also improved greatly, for example before I started my course I
relied mainly on the internet, however, now I rely on focus groups, audience
feedback, existing products, peer analyzing of each others work and also
previous work from students. I believe that my skills have developed further in
many aspects of my work. Before I began my media course I did not know how to
use Photoshop, now I feel relatively confident when asked to complete a task on
here. This has also become apparent with other software such as Prezi and
GoAnimate.
The research
that I conducted consisted of looking at real media texts in order to analyse
conventions to produce on my own work. I feel that these conventions allowed me
to create a product that I was happy with.
Post-production
was an area that I struggled with because I was not sure how to show my
processes, and I also failed to record my process of creating a music magazine
effectively. This therefore meant that I was not able to review much of what I
did in order to complete my product on my blog. Using my process to show on my
blog what I did proved to be relatively difficult, however, after I recorded my
progress I began to find it easier. Within the post-production development I
noticed that my work began to get stronger throughout.
Post-production
is something that I feel comparatively more confident about within my second
year of my media course. I will focus more on the recording of my process and
therefore will find it easier to analyse my strengths throughout the course and
also identify my weaknesses and make them stronger in terms of technicality.
Researching
existing products allowed me to identify conventions and apply them to my own
product. This also assisted in the choice of genre of my magazine. I decided to
create a magazine with the rock genre, because I feel that I had a good idea of
the sell lines that I should use due to my knowledge on the genre. However, I
also used work from previous students to help me to create an idea of what to
include in my product and also what to include within my blog. I feel that my
blog developed a lot throughout the course as I began to use more media texts
to help me.
When
conducting audience feedback on my final product I received a lot of positive
feedback in relation to genre and the suitability of house style and
conventions. My target audience could clearly tell that my magazine was
targeted at people who enjoy rock music and also those who are generally aged
between 15-30. This made me understand the importance of conventions in order
to attract the correct target audience, also for people to be able to establish
the content of the magazine. I feel that I used the correct house style in
order to create a rock magazine. I also feel that within my research and
planning I learnt the relevant information in order to create a product that
re-enforced the genre of my magazine.
