Original photography practice

This is me: As can be seen, I have had a keen interest in cars ever since I could remember.

 

This is me practicing my original photography. The task was to take photos that represent your/your life.

I also love to draw (which is also a bad habit of mine) especially manga art.

Gaming has been an enjoyable hobby ever since my first PlayStation: I like to escape from reality now and then. 

Religion is a huge part of my life as being a Muslim has shaped my values and morals.

I come from Algeria and I'm as patriotic as the next person

Traveling on the bus has become a common thing for me (I can't wait to get a car though)

The view from my balcony: one of my favorite things to look at.

During the course of this project, I have started to enjoy photography and am intrigued by what the camera can do.

Being short hasn't really affected me but I do wish I was a bit taller    

School magazine project: Research: Magazine cover evaluation.

This is my magazine cover evaluation

Magazine: Fast Car

Date: July 2004

The title of this magazine “Fast Car”, suggests that it is not focused on cars in general but instead on high performance/racing cars which is emphasized by the word fast dominating the tile. This suggestion is also helped by the main image which portrays a modified high performance vehicle which also suggests that it is aimed at car enthusiasts as well as people who enjoy modifying cars (which has become a popular pastime over the last decade particularly with males). These two features shoe that the magazine is aimed at males typically aged 20-40, who are car enthusiasts as well as being interested in the modification of cars. The cover also suggests that the magazine is aimed at a more mature audience which is suggested by a second image of an almost naked modal. This shows that as well as focusing on cars the magazine has a sub-section focusing on sexually represented females. This is a typical aspect of magazines aimed at males as they are stereotypically known for their enthusiasm for cars and sexually represented women.       

School magazine project: Research: Questionnaire results evaluation.

 After candidates completed my questionnaire I made an evaluation of my results.

For the questionnaire, I asked 10 males and 10 females as the magazine is school-based and therefore must have the viewpoint of both genders of the student population. As the magazine is also aimed at secondary school students only, I asked for the preferences of students aged 11-18 as they are the target audience. Income wise, students aged 11-15 had an average income of 15-20 pounds per week whereas the majority of students aged 16-18 where either on EMA (average of 20 pounds per week) or where on a part-time job earning an average of 5 pounds per hour. However despite the majority of students having an income, the results from the questionnaire suggested the target audience wouldn’t consider spending money on a small magazine such as that of a school as compared to a magazine from a large publishing organization. When asking what interests and hobbies people had, I received a large variation of hobbies and interests apart form a trend in which virtually every participant stated that they had an interest in music and current affairs (especially with 6^th form students). As it would be very difficult to create a magazine featuring every hobby and interest of my target audience, I decided to focus more on the elements of music and current affairs which the results show are popular among the participants representing my target audience. The majority of participants also stated that their school already has a “school magazine” however most stated that they could improve by mentioning future events within the school as well as including a section with significant and interesting news from the past month. Because of this, I will incorporate these improvements into my magazine to fit their preferences. Finally when asked how regularly a school magazine should be released, a majority of the participants stated that a monthly release would satisfy them, giving them a reasonable amount of time to read the magazine until the next issue was to be released.             

School magazine project: research (Questionnaire)

 Below is questionnaire for research of my school magazine

Q1. Are you male or female?

Q2. How much income do you receive? (Pocket money, part time job, EMA etc)

Q3. What are your main hobbies and interests?

Q4. Do you currently read any magazines on your hobby or interest?

Q5. Would you read a magazine on your hobby/interest?

Q6. In what price range would you be willing to pay for a magazine?

Q7. Does your school have a “school magazine”?

Q8. Do you feel that your schools magazine should/could improve?

Q9. If so, what improvements would you suggest?

Q10. How often do you think a magazine should be released?      

Post # 1: Skills audit.

Through my results, I can deduce that I am able to recognize as well as analyze media texts and determine narrative and genre through certain aspects. As well as this, I am able to analyze representations from media texts and identify institutions involved in the making of a media text. I can also identify the target audience of a media text.

In terms of completing a task, I can work effectively in a team as well as being able to work effectively independently.

However my weaknesses are in that of the design sector of media production. I have little experience in designing logos, magazine, covers etc. However, I have begun strengthening my design skills through getting used to design software such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks.