Weekly Progress & Plan (AS)

 This part of my blog will be for my weekly progress & plans

Week	Start Date		Task		Blogpost Title	Content	Deadline
W1	26 August	Pre Production	Research	1	Brief	Description of the brief, embed powerpoint	W2
				2	Plan & Weekly Progress	Plan for the whole project, Weekly diary	W2
				3	Research	Research into magazines of the same genre	W4
W2	2 September		Plan	4	Statement of Intent	Plan for the product	W4
				5	Magazine Development	Your ideas, and how they develop
				6	Location Scout & Risk Assessment	Possible shooting locations, risk assessment table	W5
W3	9 September			7	Terminology	A list of the new vocabulary you have learned. And the definition
				8	All of the new thinigs you have learned	Summaries of learning. Youtube Tutorial videos. Articles etc.
W4	16 September	Production	Produce	8	Behind the Scenes	Images of the shoot	W8
				9	Magazine Article (Draft + Final)
				10	Front Cover Development	The design and layout of these pages.
W5	23 September			11	Contents Development
				12	Double Page Spread Development
W6	30 September	Post Production	Edit/Reflection	13	Editing Process	How did you edit and use software to finish the magazine? Challenges, solutions	W9
				14	Self Reflection	Self Reflection Presentation	W9
W7	7 October		Edit
W8	14 October		Submission	15	Final	Final mag	W9
W9	21 October		Feedback

Week 1:

I am a new student in this school. I was homeschooled before and never took media studies as a subject. For my final year, I wanted to challenge myself by going to school. Regardless, I've always had an interest in media and plan to major in something media related. Here I felt lucky as I was presented with media studies as a subject option. I've been enjoying it so far, even though it's a LOT of work. So, I've decided to take the AS level exam in the winter series. 

Magazine:

My teacher, Mr. Nick, explained what I need to do. It was a lot and I felt kind of overwhelmed but I'm really grateful he's been pretty helpful. It's a lot but I've done a lot of crazy things academically so I still feel excited :D

After that went to the library to look at some magazines for my research. I'm not sure what sort of magazine to do yet so I'm looking into multiple genres to see which speaks to me most

I did some stuff for my magazine last week but I didn't really know what I was doing yet so I was mostly shooting in the dark

Theory:

By looking through my classmates' previous AS level material, the current 11th grade's materials and additional outside resources I found myself, I've managed to study quite a lot on my own.

I started by learning the key terms then moved on to genre conventions, semiotics and technical terms.

I've familiarized myself with camera, sound, edit and mise-en-scene. I am most confident in sound and least with edit because of all the terms.

Problems: a lot of work, unsure what genre to pick for magazine
Solution: I am someone who enjoys a lot of work so that part will be fine but I will make an effort to find free time for my mental wellbeing. As for magazine genre, I will look into multiple genres to see which one I am most fascinated by
To-do: Magazine research, more theory studying

Week 2: 

Progress: After thinking about what inspires me most creatively, I've decided to do a paranormal (and maybe satirical) magazine. I worked on more research and I've started sketching some ideas for my magazine. I also learned some media theory (reception theory, cultivation theory, representation theory etc.)

Problem: It's been hard balancing time & work for media with other subjects

Solution: When I'm bored/don't have anything to do, I study so I have less to do later on

To-do:

• More research
• More magazine development
• Statement of intent
• Location scout

Week 3:

Progress: I've started my statement of intent and magazine development. I've done some review for media theory as well

Problem: I have not done a lot this week due to health reasons and I have no knowledge in typography

Solution: Take better care of myself from now on and do more research on typography

To do:

• More research
• Finish statement of intent
• Do some magazine drafts
• Learn typography
• Location scout

Week 4

Progress: I've finished my statement of intent, worked on magazine development and location scout & risk assessment. I also did a post on magazine related terminologies and things summarizing the things I've learned while trying to create a magazine. I also did a lot of work on theories, focusing mostly on convergence and audiences by doing past paper questions

Problem: It was the last week of submission for my documentary project for school so I had a hard time balancing doing both projects

Solution: I did some work during school hours whenever I had free time instead

To-do:

• More research
• Finish location scout & risk assessment
• Start making some magazine drafts

Week 5

Progress: As this week was our term break, I managed to catch up on a lot of work. I finished a lot of research and took all my pictures. I also did a lot of development on my magazine. I practiced theory through past papers

Problem: Balancing studying time with other exams I'm doing. Particularly math and psychology

Solution: I focus based on what it is most due and did some studying in school when I could

To-do:

• Article
• Editing

Week 6

Progress: I practiced some past papers and worked on my magazine pages

Problem: Honestly this week has been really hard. I've been feeling really unwell and I also need to manage my studies on top of that. My Cambridge math exam is also coming up really soon so I haven't had much time to dedicate to media

Solution: Do what little I can and ask for help from teachers

To-do:

• Article
• Finalize magazine pages

Week 7

Progress: I edited a lot of my pictures and finished my article. I also did a lot of theory practice using past papers

Problem: This week is another week with a lot of exams so my progress is slowed down a bit. My laptop also broke this week so I have to work on my magazine on my phone

Solution: I decided to prioritize media studies and psychology as I believe these subjects are the most important for the future I want and I fixed my laptop even though it took a while 

To-do:

• Finish contents page and double page spread
• Finalize article
• Work on critical self reflection

Week 8

Progress: I received some feedback from Mr. Nick and updated my magazine according to his suggestions. He also told me what I needed to do for my CCR and although it feels overwhelming, I should finish my final exam (other than media studies) soon so I can focus entirely on it

Problem: I've had a hard time figuring out what works in a design

Solution: I received feedback and advice from my teacher

To do:

• Finalize magazine pages
• Finish CCR

Week 9 - Final Week

Progress: I finished all of my work this week. I focused on improving my work based on feedback and finalising my CCR. However, I ended up having to rush a lot of work as time was running out

Problem: I had a lot of issues with my software and deciding what worked best in my magazine layout

Solution: I tried to figure out ways to work around my software issues and asked frequently asked for feedback from other people

Reflection:

• I struggled with keeping track of time especially since I had to do my comp 3 outside of classes which made it harder to keep track of. A lot of the times, I would log my progress & plans too late or too early because of this. However, I made an effort to better keep track of my time using my phone's calendar which helped a lot
• I often felt overwhelmed or confused with the amount of tasks so this journal really helped me visualize what I've done and what to focus on the next