1) In which area have
you seen an improvement in from the foundation to your advanced portfolio?
I feel that there has been a great improvement in my creative thinking from my foundation to my advanced portfolio. During the production of my AS level magazine, I feel that I strongly stuck by the conventions of Indie Magazines. I took more time in thinking about what the audience expected rather than finding a balance between that and the audiences gratifications. I think that if I had focused on both of these, the adhering to conventions would give the audience what they expected, but if I had also considered gratifications, I could have ‘went outside the box’ and considered something that they would appreciate but would not necessarily expect. This is where my AS-Level and A2 work differ. I think that I took a lot more time and thought in more depth about what would make my more successful from my target audience’s perspective. A main convention of psychological films is that they are based around ghosts or evil spirits within the characters home. This is a convention that is rarely challenged, and so I decided to stick by it. However, after careful thought and creative insight I decided to add a twist. When considering my audiences age, I realised that they would have been in contact with an extremely famous and popular urban legend- Bloody Mary. It was after realising this that I decided to use this as a twist, to give my films story line a truthful and realistic angle, which would appeal and scare my audience. It is here that I feel I have been able to be the most creative, my creative skills have advanced so that I have been able to consider not only what my audience expects but what would pleasure them as well.
The idea of considering my audience also links to the fact that I feel that my researching abilities have advanced greatly during the creation of my advanced portfolio. I feel that during my A2 project I have been able to research my target audience to greater depths than when creating my foundation portfolio. I think that the skill of finding information has now advanced so that I now not only find the information but piece it together and draw conclusions from it. I have also been able to draw different conclusions by studying different theories, such as the cultivation culmination theories. An example of this could be if you compare my blog post on my foundation portfolio labelled ‘what I expect an indie fan to be like’ to my blog post on my advanced portfolio labelled “my target audience” or “audience theory”.
2) What challenges did you face in each portfolio? How did you resolve them? And if not, what did you do differently in advanced?
The creation of both portfolios bought new and different challenges for me to overcome. For me, I think that my main challenge has been the Technologies we have used. I’m not very skilled at using new types of computers and software. So therefore, I found it very difficult to adjust and had much to learn. Before taking A-level media, I had never had the opportunity to properly use a ‘mac’ computer, I found it extremely difficult to adapt to the software and became increasingly frustrated when what have been a simple task on my computer at home turned into an hour’s worth of lesson on the ‘mac’ computer. I tried to resolve this challenge by researching how to use different programmes and asking for help whenever I could. However, in the end I decided to use the software on my computer at home to complete some of the tasks... for example the contents page of my Indie Magazine and The Film Poster as part of my advanced portfolio. Although during my advanced portfolio the mac computer has allowed me to use prestigious pieces of software such as final cut pro to complete tasks at a high quality standard.
During my foundation portfolio, I feel that I could have examined and evaluated my work to a greater extent. This is a process that I found challenging as I had spent so much time creating my magazine that I struggled to see it from someone else’s perspective. To overcome this challenge, I made sure that I spent time away from my work before evaluating it. This enabled me to see the portfolio in a different light, and I was able to pick strong and weak points.
3) Which area is your strength? Please give examples of this within your a2 work.
Overall, I feel that the area of ‘research’ is my strong point. It is something that I enjoy as I find the background stories of different topics interesting. I feel that this is a strength because I make sure that I constantly refer back to my target audience through things like focus groups and questionnaires. This enables me to improve upon my work and focus upon the audiences gratifications. (Please see the blog post ‘focus group’). I have enjoyed researching the history of both indie magazines and psychological horrors, I have made sure that I have understood how both have developed.(please see audience theory). In addition to this, I have made sure that I have compared and contrasted a wide range of models, for example when I compared a whole page of film posters. It enables me to establish clear memes and conventions, whilst making note of what colours/ lay-outs were the most effective.
4) What would you do differently for both? Is there an area of weakness?
I think my main weakness throughout both portfolio’s has been my planning abilities. Due to the fact that my peers who had volunteered to take part in either my magazine or trailer take A-levels too, they are extremely busy. It is because of this that plans often had to be re-arranged as their own deadlines for subjects had to be met. I also struggled to ‘find a balance between tasks’, I would often find myself working on multiple things and starting tasks before I had finished others, this lead me to feel overwhelmed at times. I think if I was to do it again, I would make sure I would take time to concentrate on one task at a time and make sure that I would finish it before I started another one. This is would make me feel a lot more calm, and I would be able to focus on each task an equal amount.
5) What advice would you import to a prospective media student?
There are three main things that I would tell a prospective media student. The first is definitely that you should plan ahead and do as much work as you can at the start of the course so that you don’t end up getting stressed out and overwhelmed towards the end. Secondly, I would advise them to pick a portfolio that suits them and that they are interested in. This is because I think that if you enjoy something, you are much more likely to be willing to do the work and go ‘the extra mile’ when completing the tasks at hand. I would finally tell them to find a balance between things that are unconventional and conventional. This is because things that are unconventional often develop and become more popular and turn into tropes, memes and conventions. It is also important to stick to obvious conventions or ‘unwritten rules’ because they are popular and used most for a reason, you should show that you understand common features of the subject at hand.
I feel that there has been a great improvement in my creative thinking from my foundation to my advanced portfolio. During the production of my AS level magazine, I feel that I strongly stuck by the conventions of Indie Magazines. I took more time in thinking about what the audience expected rather than finding a balance between that and the audiences gratifications. I think that if I had focused on both of these, the adhering to conventions would give the audience what they expected, but if I had also considered gratifications, I could have ‘went outside the box’ and considered something that they would appreciate but would not necessarily expect. This is where my AS-Level and A2 work differ. I think that I took a lot more time and thought in more depth about what would make my more successful from my target audience’s perspective. A main convention of psychological films is that they are based around ghosts or evil spirits within the characters home. This is a convention that is rarely challenged, and so I decided to stick by it. However, after careful thought and creative insight I decided to add a twist. When considering my audiences age, I realised that they would have been in contact with an extremely famous and popular urban legend- Bloody Mary. It was after realising this that I decided to use this as a twist, to give my films story line a truthful and realistic angle, which would appeal and scare my audience. It is here that I feel I have been able to be the most creative, my creative skills have advanced so that I have been able to consider not only what my audience expects but what would pleasure them as well.
The idea of considering my audience also links to the fact that I feel that my researching abilities have advanced greatly during the creation of my advanced portfolio. I feel that during my A2 project I have been able to research my target audience to greater depths than when creating my foundation portfolio. I think that the skill of finding information has now advanced so that I now not only find the information but piece it together and draw conclusions from it. I have also been able to draw different conclusions by studying different theories, such as the cultivation culmination theories. An example of this could be if you compare my blog post on my foundation portfolio labelled ‘what I expect an indie fan to be like’ to my blog post on my advanced portfolio labelled “my target audience” or “audience theory”.
2) What challenges did you face in each portfolio? How did you resolve them? And if not, what did you do differently in advanced?
The creation of both portfolios bought new and different challenges for me to overcome. For me, I think that my main challenge has been the Technologies we have used. I’m not very skilled at using new types of computers and software. So therefore, I found it very difficult to adjust and had much to learn. Before taking A-level media, I had never had the opportunity to properly use a ‘mac’ computer, I found it extremely difficult to adapt to the software and became increasingly frustrated when what have been a simple task on my computer at home turned into an hour’s worth of lesson on the ‘mac’ computer. I tried to resolve this challenge by researching how to use different programmes and asking for help whenever I could. However, in the end I decided to use the software on my computer at home to complete some of the tasks... for example the contents page of my Indie Magazine and The Film Poster as part of my advanced portfolio. Although during my advanced portfolio the mac computer has allowed me to use prestigious pieces of software such as final cut pro to complete tasks at a high quality standard.
During my foundation portfolio, I feel that I could have examined and evaluated my work to a greater extent. This is a process that I found challenging as I had spent so much time creating my magazine that I struggled to see it from someone else’s perspective. To overcome this challenge, I made sure that I spent time away from my work before evaluating it. This enabled me to see the portfolio in a different light, and I was able to pick strong and weak points.
3) Which area is your strength? Please give examples of this within your a2 work.
Overall, I feel that the area of ‘research’ is my strong point. It is something that I enjoy as I find the background stories of different topics interesting. I feel that this is a strength because I make sure that I constantly refer back to my target audience through things like focus groups and questionnaires. This enables me to improve upon my work and focus upon the audiences gratifications. (Please see the blog post ‘focus group’). I have enjoyed researching the history of both indie magazines and psychological horrors, I have made sure that I have understood how both have developed.(please see audience theory). In addition to this, I have made sure that I have compared and contrasted a wide range of models, for example when I compared a whole page of film posters. It enables me to establish clear memes and conventions, whilst making note of what colours/ lay-outs were the most effective.
4) What would you do differently for both? Is there an area of weakness?
I think my main weakness throughout both portfolio’s has been my planning abilities. Due to the fact that my peers who had volunteered to take part in either my magazine or trailer take A-levels too, they are extremely busy. It is because of this that plans often had to be re-arranged as their own deadlines for subjects had to be met. I also struggled to ‘find a balance between tasks’, I would often find myself working on multiple things and starting tasks before I had finished others, this lead me to feel overwhelmed at times. I think if I was to do it again, I would make sure I would take time to concentrate on one task at a time and make sure that I would finish it before I started another one. This is would make me feel a lot more calm, and I would be able to focus on each task an equal amount.
5) What advice would you import to a prospective media student?
There are three main things that I would tell a prospective media student. The first is definitely that you should plan ahead and do as much work as you can at the start of the course so that you don’t end up getting stressed out and overwhelmed towards the end. Secondly, I would advise them to pick a portfolio that suits them and that they are interested in. This is because I think that if you enjoy something, you are much more likely to be willing to do the work and go ‘the extra mile’ when completing the tasks at hand. I would finally tell them to find a balance between things that are unconventional and conventional. This is because things that are unconventional often develop and become more popular and turn into tropes, memes and conventions. It is also important to stick to obvious conventions or ‘unwritten rules’ because they are popular and used most for a reason, you should show that you understand common features of the subject at hand.
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