Evaluation Question 6

2. Without the use of technology, I would have found it extremely difficult to
produce/create the music magazine as it helped me in a variety of ways
such as with planning, production and post-production.

3. BLOGGER
 Blogger is an online blog publishing site that has enabled me to
bring together all my research, planning and production and
comment on each of these steps and my ideas behind them. For
example, I completed the prelim task (print product of a sixth form
magazine) and I have compared this to my final product of a music
magazine so I can see how I’ve improved and it shows how I have
built up different skills through the use of multiple posts where I
explain how certain effects/features were achieved.
 It has allowed me to reflect on my learning journey as I have been
able to see the differences in my skills from the preliminary task.
 Blogger allowed me to embed links to YouTube videos and other
websites as well as Prezi and SlideShare presentations onto my
blog so that all my relative information can be accessed in one
place. This makes it easier to refer to the planning than if it was all
on paper in a folder.
 From this website, I have learnt how to embed links, format posts
and organize posts which has made the overall production of my
magazine a lot simpler and quicker.

4. ONLINE
 Prezi  This website enabled me to brainstorm ideas and present
them in a unique way which I uploaded
to my blog. It’s an alternative to PowerPoint and is more suited to
visual display of ideas. For example, here is a link to my ideas for my
music magazine
 http://prezi.com/gfifshcp78ce/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=c
opy&rc=ex0share
 Google Forms  I did not know that this website existed until, as a
class, we did a terminology test on it. I realized that it was very useful
for surveys and audience feedback as they were easily accessible
and quick for the audience to complete. It was very effective because
I gained knowledge on what my target audience would like to see in
the magazine; their ideas helped me to put together my magazine. I
was able to collate my results and therefore was easier to make use
of the feedback I received.

5. SOFTWARE
 iPhoto  This was the first time I had used iPhoto in order to organize and edit a
large selection of photos. I created a Contact Sheet as I took over 700 photos
which made it easier to condense them down to my favourite 20. This editing
feature allowed me to make alterations to photographs during the image selection
process. For example, I altered the contrast levels on the images that I used for
the contents page. Also, I could share my choice of images with my focus group
more easily to get their input on what would be the best photos to use.

6. PRODUCTION
• Adobe InDesign  This was the application I used for the creation of my school
magazine which I found very difficult to run at first however, I watched videos on
YouTube which really helped. I found that this was the best application to use as its
features suit the criteria. For example, Its good for multipage and text heavy prints
whereas Photoshop doesn't’t handle large amounts of text very well. I learnt how to
create columns which made the whole process a lot easier.
• Photoshop  I used this application for my coursework at GCSE level so I had some
background knowledge of its features. I used this program for the front cover of my
music magazine as its effective for short line of information, headlines as well as
images and banners. A convention of music magazines is a medium/close up shot of
the main artists which is why I decided to use Photoshop for this page. However, I
did continue to learn things about this program such as ‘superimposition’ which is
where the artists head covers part of the masthead. I also used YouTube to change
the colour of the background so that it fit more with the codes and conventions of
typical indie magazines. I played around with the hue/saturation too.

7. PHOTOGRAPHY
 This was the first time I set up a posed photo shoot using a professional
camera. I took some test shots in order to find out where my weaknesses were
so I could improve them.
 I used sports mode so that I could get some high quality action shots of the
interaction between the models which makes the magazine look more natural. I
also learnt from the test shots that I would need bright diffused lighting which
enabled me to light up certain areas of the model to produce more effective
shots.