Diary Entry - 30/09/2013

I finished my weekly task sheet for last week over the weekend. This is the completed copy:

At the start of today's lesson, I was given my weekly task sheet. Because I was completely finished with last week's one, I could start on this one straight away.

In today's lesson, I started task 1 which was toe make a podcast summarising my 4 mood boards. What I did in the lesson was draft what I would say in it. When I got home I finished my draft and finished recording it.

Next lesson, I plan to put all the recordings together and upload them to my blog.

Diary Entry - 28/09/2013

Today I started and finished my Prezi. This was the task I've been most worried about all week because it looked very complicated to use. Once I had been on Prezi for a few minutes I found that it was a lot easier than I'd expected and eventually enjoyed using it. 

I have learnt from making my Prezi that I shouldn't worry about new technology so much because there is lots of support available to me if I do get stuck - which may not happen anyway.

My Prezi is on my research page.

Diary Entry - 27/09/2013

Today, I used one of the media departments digital cameras to take photos for the preliminary task. At first, I was a little anxious to start this task because I had no idea how I wanted my photos to be. But, after a little bit of playing around with the camera and different shots I managed to get the right pictures (they will be uploaded on my Preliminary Task page).

This is the second bit of new technology I have used and it went very well.

Diary Entry - 27/09/2013

My plans for today are to finish my what might hold me back post, finish adding my 4 mood boards, start my prezi and take my photos for the preliminary task. If I do not finish this in the lesson, I will use my free periods today to finish it. Anything I do not finish by then will be made into homework for the weekend.

What might hold me back in this task

One big flaw I have when it comes to coursework is that I find it hard to go out of my comfort zone. What I mean by this is that I struggle when trying to be creative and venture out of what I have been used to. For example, I dislike using different technology to make my work interesting, which is a big problem. This also leads to my work being less creative than I could make it if I was just more open to new things. Already, I have set up this blog on blogspot and soon I will be using much more new technology.

To overcome this, I will need to use smart targets.

Specific
Be more open to the different technologies I need to make my work more creative.

Measurable
Because it is hard to get specific measurements out of fixing this problem, every time I use a new technology or something I didn't feel comfortable with to begin with, I will make a diary entry explaining my thoughts.

Attainable
This is not too far out of my reach because it is not a really high target, whilst still pushing me outside of my comfort zone.

Relevant
This is relevant to my coursework because in order to achieve a high grade, I will need to use new things and change up the way I like to do things.

Time-bound
I will put myself outside my comfort zone in terms of technology every 3 weekly task sheets.

On top of this I will try out as many different types of technology as possible outside of the lessons (e.g. in free periods) to make it easier for myself in lessons. This will force me to go out of my comfort zone and try new, more creative things and will make my coursework much better.

What makes a Level 4 coursework portfolio

This is a summary how to achieve a level 4 in my portfolio. As I am aiming to achieve this grade it is important for me to know how to do it. Making this helped me understand how it is possible and what standard of work I need to do to earn a level 4.

As well as this, I need to meet my deadlines. The main ones are:

• 17th October 2013 - Research and Planning
• 22nd November 2013 - Construction
• 13th December 2013 - Draft Evaluation
• 15th January 2014 - Final Deadline

To help me achieve these deadlines I will aim to finish all my weekly task sheets by Friday afternoon, that way if I still haven't finished all of it, I will be able to do some for homework over the weekend.

An Introduction to My Blog - 25/09/2013

Welcome to my blog! Today I learnt how to set up a blog and I will be using this to present all my media coursework.

For my media coursework, I will be producing a music magazine which will help fill a gap in the market for magazines and will look as professional as possible. The information I will include on my blog is shown at the top of my blog on the different tabs. They are: Preliminary Task, Research, Planning, Construction and Evaluation.

One thing I am really looking forward to in this coursework is the photography aspects for the front cover, contents and double-page spread. I'm looking forward to this part because I used to be really into photography and then didn't have enough time for it and so it will be interesting to get back into it again. Another aspect I'm looking forward to is the research side of the work. I am looking forward to understanding more about how to make a successful magazine for my genre and putting it into practise.