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Notice(s)
To the best of my knowledge, I have re-worded the diary guidance titles (e.g. "Describe the tasks you have worked on today and what they have taught you") provided on the PowerPoints my tutors Leila Capocefalo and/or Andreas Charalambous have provided via Showbie. This is to avoid quoting the titles without providing the relevant referencing.

Padlet Diary Layout

i. Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
ii. Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your production skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
iii. What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
iv. Write about the production techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
v. From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
vi. Professional practice.

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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.

Firstly, my team and I presented our magazine to the C.A.S.T judges alongside an audience of our peers. From this task, I learnt a number of things but mostly the opinions of the judges and our peers.

One example being that tutor Delta Muntean expressed how she believed we grasped the characteristics of a magazine well and have created a magazine that encompasses not only our interests but the things happening around us. This was informative and can be applied to my personal evaluation of our product.

Additionally, we received a number of pleasant comments from peers about our magazine. One being that a fellow class member Elliott Johnson thought our magazine was "amazing".

In addition to this, my team and I conducted a focus group. After completing this, I am aware that although we have tried to make our magazine diverse in genders it may not appeal directly to male readers upon seeing the front cover as it features a female model. To improve, we could do a re-shoot and feature a male and female on the front cover.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your research and evaluation skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.

The activities aided the improvement of my research skills in the respect that I have again improved on my confidence in presenting. By using a QR to link audience members to the product, I was able to talk them through the magazine and allow them to engage with our product whilst I was presenting. This made things a little less nerve wracking because they were looking at the product as opposed to me.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.

An issue that arose during the presentation was the fact that the video we had compiled together displaying our magazine failed to load. In hindsight of this issue, Sophie Blackmore (Fashion Journalist) and I decided to insert the pages of the magazine into the PowerPoint and also include a QR to link audience members to the magazine and engage them. So, this acted as a solution to the issue we faced and was effective in allowing everyone to see the magazine.

Write about the research techniques you gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.

Today, I gained the knowledge that it is important to involve your target audience to keep them engaged. I did this today by using a QR code to engage each member into our presentation and make sure they were looking at the product. Personally, I think this is important as it means your target audience members can gain an understanding of your product and pose questions on things they may not understand afterwards.

This links to my Showbie target which was "to present the magazine to C.A.S.T and an audience through the audience screening"; I gained audience feedback through presenting my magazine to members of C.A.S.T and fellow class members.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?

Today, I applied my presentation skills as I presented my product to the audience; this skill is going to be applicable throughout the rest of my time at college. As a student, I am required to present my work, ideas and opinions whether it be in written work or in front of a class so these skills will be useful in future lessons.

As well as this, I applied my evaluation and feedback skills as I provided feedback for other pieces of work during the screening. It is important to be able to give constructive criticism to peers as you may need to do it in the future, e.g. you may not like the way your editor has edited part of your work so you have to tell them.

By providing constructive criticism I have displayed a level of professionalism as it is important to be able to provide relevant feedback to colleagues and people in the industry would do so to ensure the outcome is fantastic.

Bibliography

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A voice recording for my Padlet diary log for 13/06/17.

I failed to mention how my team and I would make sure that we fulfilled our deadlines for the day. Sadly, we did not fulfil our deadline in the respect that we did not submit a fully completed magazine; we did submit pieces of the magazine.

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A voice recording for my Padlet diary log for 12/06/17.

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A screenshot that displays the article, my own, I was working on today using Adobe Photoshop.

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One of the drafts for my exam advice article and features editing when opened in Word.

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The current magazine front cover which displays the development I have made with it in regards to visuals as I have added shapes, more text and a barcode to make it seem more realistic. The front cover still needs to be developed.

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The current credits page which has been developed through the addition of more names (text) and the use of behind the scenes images to add a more personal effect to the page. The photos are also of members of the team and contributions in relation to the credits.

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The magazine front cover during the early stages of production which again displays the development I have made with the front cover as it is very simplistic and has been added to.

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i. Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, I worked on the magazine edit by adding a poetry page which is part of my contribution to the magazine. After receiving spoken peer feedback from Callum Carney, he instructed me on how to remove the background from one of the photos of myself for my poetry section. This informed me of how to remove backgrounds from images if I aim to do that to any other photos in the future.

As well as this, I worked on the magazine front cover and again I received spoken peer feedback from Callum Carney. He suggested it may be a good idea to insert a shape coming from the left-hand side rather than stuck on the page to differentiate the article titles; I really liked this idea and implemented it to the magazine. This shows a level of professional practice because it is important to gain feedback, and professionals do during all stages of production, whether it be from members of your target audience (Callum fits within our audience profile as a 17 year old male in full-time education) or from peers.

My photographer, Luke Brace, conducted a photoshoot in our media department photo studio; I contributed to that by directing the models and acting as a model in some of his shots. From this, I learnt the importance of planning shots (especially my ones) as I let Luke improvise them due to the lack of time we had.

ii. Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your production skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
By completing these tasks, I improved my production skills regarding Adobe Photoshop as Callum informed me of how to remove a background from an image which I previously had no knowledge of. This can be seen on the poetry page where I removed a background from an image of me so I look like a floating person.

iii. What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
Due to the influx of students as FMP deadlines are drawing closer, my team and I faced the issue of not being able to work all together in one place; not all having access to iMac computers. Personally, I would have preferred to have been able to work directly with my creative director in the same room with me; I feel as though my job role and responsibilities are merging with hers, but issues occur. So, we resolved this by communicating through the separate rooms which was frustrating as it was inconvenient having to fetch her from another room each time I wanted her opinion.

iv. Write about the production techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
As aforementioned, today I gained the production technique of removing a background from an image courtesy of peer feedback and guidance from Callum Carney. This applies to my target which was to "add a poetry page to the magazine" because the image was for the poetry page within the magazine. So, I achieved my target to an extent as I completed a task that contributed to my target.

v. From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
As stated earlier, I have the knowledge on how to delete photo backgrounds which I can apply to future lessons as I may well need to remove backgrounds from other photos.

Additionally, I have learnt that professionalism is key even in frustrating situations that are out of your hands and that sometimes you must keep your opinions to yourself to avoid conflict. This can be applied to future lessons whether it be a disagreement between group members or with members of staff.

Bibliography
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i. Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
As usual, my team and I had a team meeting which informed us of the plan of action for the day. We discussed how Luke (our photographer) would be going out with Ryan (sports and mental health journalist) and Sophie (beauty and fashion journalist) to complete some more shots taken at the exterior location. Regarding myself, we discussed how I would be staying behind and working on the magazine to ensure that progress is made with the project on Adobe Photoshop. Reflecting on this has informed me that efficiency is important and that I need to keep this in mind when completing future tasks and projects.

Moreover, we also discussed the progression of the articles and how all drafts needed to be emailed to myself so I can edit them and send them back if necessary. Upon asking of this, I received an email from Sophie Blackmore (makeup and beauty journalist) and I could edit her work.

So, as planned I edited the magazine cover and added shapes to the magazine e.g. a circle stating, "WIN a free Instagram photoshoot", which acts as a puff (where a magazine offers prizes or benefits to the target audience to draw them in) and features the buzz word "win" to catch the target audience's eye. Upon completing this, I was notified that I needed to add creating a competition to my list of things to do.

In addition to this, I edited photos on my phone as I found this was an easy way for me to do so with the time constraints we have. The only editing I did to specific photos of the team (for the credits page) was colour grading using the app VSCO cam. As shown in a photo above, I edited the photo of Ryan (a member of the team) accordingly. From this, I have learnt that my creative director and I like the use of 'polaroid' images on our credits page (shown below).

Also, I created the credits page by adding the photos I had edited (shown below); also included text crediting those within the team for their job roles and included names of those who had contributed to the development of our magazine, e.g. research respondents. This shows professional practice as having looked at the June edition of Glamour magazine (Nast, 2017, n/a), I conducted secondary research and discovered that a convention of a magazine is a crediting page. From this, I have learnt that I like the font 'Avenir' as it looks professional and sleek.

ii. Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your production skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
The activities I completed did not necessarily improve my production skills as such; it could be said that by using Adobe Photoshop to create the puff and add the photos and text (for the credits page) that I have developed and applied my production skills. Having said this, in my opinion, adding shapes, text and images to Photoshop is part of the basic skillset so, I would argue that I haven't necessarily improved my production skills.

iii. What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue that arose was my inability to choose fonts. This is something that is vital when it comes to a magazine and especially in our case because we're catering for both a female and male target audience. Personally, I found it difficult to find fonts that are both 'masculine' and 'feminine'. Necessarily, I was unable to resolve this but I did find a font
'Avenir' that I thought fit in well with the aesthetic of a magazine for the credits page.

iv. Write about the production techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
In relation to production techniques I have developed, I believe I am continuously refreshing my memory when it comes to using Adobe Photoshop. An issue I am facing is that I need to be constantly using a software programme to be able to retain information and knowledge of it. So, since I am not constantly using it as different projects require different areas of technology and software, I am forgetting how to use it. For example, I had forgotten how to change the colour of a shape on Adobe Photoshop without selecting the colour in the first place but soon realised when looking at the tool bar how to correct my issue. This links to my target in the sense that I did "continue to develop the magazine" through the tasks I completed today, e.g. adding shapes and text to the front page and another page of the magazine which moves production onwards.

v. From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
Today, I gained knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, e.g. you can apply a grid to the document through view to ensure things are accurately placed, as I do every time I use the software with it still being so new to me. In the future, I can apply this when working on Adobe Photoshop during my FMP to ensure all the magazine content is correctly centred and placed where necessary; I can apply it to future projects if necessary.

Bibliography
Nast, Conde (2017) Glamour Magazine June Edition, Glamour, June 2017, Issue 195, June, Conde Nast. Pg.17

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i. Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, my team and I conducted a team meeting which allowed us to establish where we were standing regarding production. For example, my fellow journalists and I discussed where we were in terms of our articles. This displays our level of professionalism as professionals conduct team meetings, including our tutors, to establish things between a team and to keep track of motions and actions that have been taken within a group of people (a production team). From the meeting, I learnt that my beauty and fashion journalist has begun making notes for her article and my sports and mental health journalist has written an article up on the major sports events of 2016.

As well as this, I also experimented with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop to construct the magazine. From this, I learnt that with the time constraints we have our team will have to construct the magazine using Photoshop before transferring it over onto InDesign.

Our tutor, Leila Capocefalo, also wanted us to meet with a journalism tutor to discuss our magazine and ask questions. During the talk, I was made aware that magazine pages are usually counted in batches of 4 so, if we were to have 15 pages we'd need to add an extra one to keep it even (e.g. adding an extra advert).

ii. Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your production skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
The meeting with the journalism tutor was informative and aided the improvement of my production skills; I am now aware of the differentiation between styles of articles. Examples of the three main types are feature articles, opinion-based articles and reviews. Now that I am aware of this, I can hopefully ensure that our magazine has a mixture of all three to keep the magazine interesting for our target audience. This will aid the improvement of my production skills because I personally alongside my team will work to a professional standard by including the article types.

iii. What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue that arose was my lack of knowledge regarding InDesign which means we will be unable to work to professional standards; InDesign is the software that professional magazine companies use to construct their magazines. This is coupled with the time constraints we are facing which prevent us from having time to gain knowledge through experimentation with InDesign. To resolve this issue, I personally concluded that we will construct the magazine on Photoshop and transfer it into InDesign for layout and printing purposes. Overall, this decision is effective as it means we can create the magazine pages on Photoshop (which we all have decent knowledge and confidence with) before transferring them onto InDesign.

iv. Write about the production techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
In relation to the target I set on Showbie, which was to "to meet with the journalism tutor(s) to discuss the magazine, ask questions and gain information", I have developed my existing production technique knowledge. As I previously had knowledge about magazines through my GCSE media course, I was aware of the basic characteristics of a magazine; having spoken to Tom, the journalism tutor, I gained new knowledge which shall enable me to develop the existing production techniques I had.

v. From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
As mentioned, I gained knowledge on the numerical side of magazines (pages in batches of 4's) which I can apply to our magazine to ensure that it fits the characteristics of a professional magazine.

Additionally, with the content I planned to create for my articles in mind alongside the discussion I had with the journalism tutor, I am now aware that I shall be creating opinion-based articles (advice articles).

Bibliography
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i. Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.

Today, my team and I had a meeting; during this meeting, we discussed a variety of things that I had included on my agenda including what my photographer, Luke Brace, had planned for the day. From this team meeting, I was made aware of the ease an agenda has on a team meeting as it ensures that topics of importance are discussed. In future, I shall aim to create agendas for each team meeting so that it can be effectively conducted.

Additionally, our main task for the day was to complete test shoots, which we successfully did. From the test shoots, I have learnt the importance of planning which has worked in our favour because we in fact planned test shots. Planning is essential because if you are faced with issues on set, e.g. if the camera settings are incorrect resulting in grainy images, you can then plan for your actual shoot to ensure you rectify this issue.

By conducting test shoots, we acted professionally as professionals must have test shoots to ensure they are aware of everything that is going to happen and how it is going to work to make production work run like clockwork. Test shots can also highlight any initial issues that can hopefully easily be stamped out during their conduction.

Another task, I completed was reviewing the images we took and testing out what images looked good as a front cover. With my creative director, I reviewed the images we took and concluded that I would like the photo [below] (Boys, image, 2017) to potentially be the front cover of our magazine. It is important to review images, especially test shots in this case, to highlight issues that may have occurred during the shoot and how to resolve them for an actual shoot or a contingency shoot.

ii. Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your practical skills. A Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.

By conducting the test shoots, both at our local town park and in the studio, my practical skills were not necessarily developed. As editor-in-chief and journalist for Adolescence Magazine, I have the responsibility of reviewing written work and images alongside writing articles for the magazine. So, in a sense, I developed my practical skill of reviewing images whilst on set and upon returning; I did not expand or develop my written skills.

On the other hand, although it does not necessarily fall under my job role I did refresh my memory on Adobe Photoshop with the help of our photographer. This may be necessary if I need to edit the magazine together with my creative director, Sophie Blackmore. Although I did not complete much, what I did complete can be seen in the photo (Boys, image, 2017) I have attached below.

iii. What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.

An issue we faced was the fact that the equipment was not ready when we had booked it out in advance. Having said that, we only waited for roughly 25 minutes; to resolve this, we had a team meeting to ensure that we were not wasting time. This was effective as we could complete a task whilst waiting for another to be resolved.

Another issue that arose was the fact that our photographer had faced issues with the settings on the DSLR so the ISO had caused some of the images to be grainy. We were unable to resolve this issue however, the overall task of completing test shots has enabled us to prevent this issue from occurring again.

Regarding when we returned from the photoshoots, I faced the issue of believing the images were extremely low quality when put into Adobe Photoshop. This issue was resolved when my colleague and I realised that pressing the enter button on Adobe Photoshop changed the visuals of the photo. This resolution was effective as it resolved my panic regarding the quality of the photos taken.

iv. Write about the practical techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.

As I am editor-in-chief, reviewing the photo is one of my job role requirements. So, I did this whilst on and off set. When on set I communicated with my photographer, Luke Brace, and discussed the images being taken. Upon leaving set, I reviewed the images when transferring them to my USB stick and discussed with my creative director which images I liked, as well as reviewing them when experimenting with Adobe Photoshop. This does not necessarily link to my target of being able "to successfully complete test photoshoots both at the town park and at college", however, it does prove that I have fulfilled the responsibility of my job role.

v. From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
Through today's session, I have developed my communication skills. More specifically, when reviewing the text my creative director and I had chosen, I discussed with the photographer, Luke Brace, whether he liked the font. It is important to communicate between team members, to gain an understanding of how everyone is feeling and to ensure there are no withstanding issues.

In relation to my job role, I have developed my evaluation skills; I do need to focus on written work in future lessons to ensure the magazine content is created and reviewed.

Bibliography

Boys, Emma (2017), Adolescence Magazine Design Experiment [Online]. Available at: https://padlet.com/emmaboys/cusqgt4qpxe1 Photo Taken By: Luke Brace (Accessed: 30/05/17)

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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, I completed my pre-production documentation for my team which enabled me to effectively plan for our project. I did this by completing my final document, the contingency plan, which allows you to write up resolutions for potential scenarios that may occur during production. For example, if the weather is bad and we have an outside location shoot for the magazine a resolution to this would be to complete other tasks and re-schedule the shoot. By doing so, the production will not be hindered in other areas other than the photography aspect.

As well as this, I booked out equipment for the test shoot we are going to have on Tuesday 30th May. It was important for me to do so because equipment is limited and booking it in advance prevents issues regarding non-availability. This displays my ability to work to industry practice standards as industry professionals have to plan and book out the necessary equipment from places to hire equipment if they do not have it themselves.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your planning skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
Through the tasks I completed today, I did not necessarily improve my planning skills as there were no particular areas or moments where they improved. Having said this, I did gain awareness of the importance of planning; a fellow group were unable to attain all of the necessary equipment they needed for their production, due to a lack of planning.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue that arose today was my inability to think of many contingency issues that may have occur during production. As mentioned further along, I solved this issue by reflecting on the issues that occurred in previous productions and thought about how I resolved them or how I would have looking back on them. Personally, I believe this was an effective solution as I generated more ideas regarding the issues that may occur.

Write about the planning techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
From today, I have developed my ability to plan for issues that arise during production through a contingency plan document.

At first I was struggling to think of many possible issues and their resolutions but having reflected on past productions, I was able to come up with various issues that may occur. So, through the use of evaluation and reflection I was able to develop my original contingency plans and add more to the document.

This links to my target I set on Showbie as it was to "start and complete my contingency plan in relation to the finalisation of my pre-production documentation". Evidently, I achieved this task as I started, developed and finalised the contingency plan for my production team and production, to which I submitted on time within the time constraints we were given.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
As a result of today's session, I have developed my planning skills and can apply them to my future final major project lessons; also to productions in the future. For example, by completing the contingency plan documentation I can apply the resolutions I generated to any issues that do arise during production or post-production. Hopefully, this should ensure that our production is not harmfully damaged.

Bibliography
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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, I completed various tasks in relation to the planning of my final major project.

Towards the beginning of the day, I sat in a briefing with my tutor Leila Capocefalo and her colleague Delta Muntean. The briefing regarding pre-production documentation and the standards that are set to ensure we achieve merit/distinction grades. From the briefing, I gained information on the importance of voice recording meeting minutes as it ensures you have a source to refer back to when writing up minutes meetings.

Additionally, I learnt about the characteristics of a meeting minutes document and how to write one up to a professional standard e.g. writing about the actions taken following a discussion. Although, I had gained some of this information in units 1-4 of our course, it was beneficial that I personally had a refresher, to ensure that my meeting minutes documents are of a professional standard.

Following this, I finalised the production schedule for my team and added new dates to specific documentation as we were informed that our documents are due in on Friday 26th. To distribute this document, I have placed it on our group Padlet wall (Boys, Blackmore, Hardie, Brace, website, 2017).

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your planning skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
The briefing on pre-production paperwork aided the improvement of my meeting minutes knowledge because I am now aware of the characteristics of a meeting minutes document so, hopefully, I should be able to create professional documentation. It is important to record meeting minutes as it shows professionalism because industry professionals use meeting minutes on a regular basis as a resource for information.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue that arose was the fact that my team and I did not discuss specific job roles in our first meeting so we were unaware of specific documentation we had to complete. So, to resolve this issue, we conducted a second to establish this and the responsibilities we had.

Write about the pre-production techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
From today, I have gained knowledge about meeting minutes techniques that I need to apply to ensure my work is of industry standard. For example, that discussions had in the meeting need to be spoken about alongside actions that are taken to fulfil deadlines and tasks etc. I applied this when writing up a meeting minutes document for a meeting my team and I had yesterday which fulfilled my target of continuing with pre-production documentation.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
Today, I have developed my planning skills through the creation of a production schedule (both of which I did for units 1-4 and 5-6 as I took on managerial responsibilities). These skills are going to be essential throughout pre-production as this stage in our production leads up to our production and ensures we have thoroughly planned for it. Overall, I can apply these skills to the remaining duration of my final major project.

Additionally, as aforementioned, I have gained knowledge and developed my existing meeting minutes writing skills through the use of a briefing by my tutor Leila Capocefalo. These can be applied to the remainder of my final major project as meeting minutes are a regular document that need to be created

Bibliography
Boys, Emma, Blackmore, Sophie, Hardie, Ryan, Brace, Luke (2017), FINAL MAJOR PROJECT: FIRST YEAR [Online] Harlow: Harlow College. Available at: https://padlet.com/emmaboys/okd55ofx98y2 (Accessed: 23/05/17)

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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, my team and I conducted our first team meeting as our pre-production section commenced. Having evaluated the meeting by listening to the voice recording I took, I am aware that I need to remember to ask other team members if they agree with my points or have any queries etc.

Additionally, I started a draft edit of the production schedule which majorly highlighted the little time we have left for our final major project; therefore, it displayed that planning and dedication is essential when it comes to creating our product.

Moreover, my team and I conducted a focus group as part of our research task as we previously had difficulties finding participants on Friday 19th May.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your research and pre-production skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
Through writing the production schedule, as aforementioned, it aided my understanding of upcoming deadlines and highlighted the importance of planning, dedication and working efficiently. In turn, this has aided the improvement of my pre-production skills, as I know that it is important to complete the documentation within time constraints.

Pre-production documentation may not be the most fulfilling tasks when creating a product however, they are essential. Industry professionals have to complete said documentation to ensure their projects are thoroughly planned and achievable, e.g. in my case a production schedule, which therefore proves the importance of the tasks. By doing so, I will be working professionally which in turn should hopefully reflect on the product I create.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
During our team meeting, we faced the issue of trying to create a team name and the process of generating one was taking a long time. To resolve this issue, during the meeting I asked the team if we could move on to other pressing subjects and come back to the name as it may be thought of when discussing other things. Much to our delight, it did in fact and we are now called HB3 Publishers.

Write about the research and pre-production skills you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
Today's tasks have allowed me to develop my team meeting conduction skills (in relation to pre-production). Previously, I believe I would have spent a lot of time fretting over the team name and as mentioned, I diverted the meeting to more important issues. We were still able to come up with a team name whilst discussing other areas within our planning.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
The results I gained from the focus group we conducted can be applied to my research portfolio which is part of my independent study. As well as this, it can be applied to production design decisions, for example one participant Sidonie Ellis (Boys, Blackmore, Brace and Hardie, focus group, 2017) stated that purple was her favourite colour which could influence our design decisions.

By doing all of the tasks I did today, I was able to fulfil my target of "conduct[ing] a focus group...alongside starting pre-production work".

Bibliography
Boys, Emma, Blackmore, Sophie, Brace, Luke and Hardie, Ryan (2017) Primary Research Focus Group [focus group], 3 participants, Harlow College, 22 May 2017. 2 female and 1 male Level 3 Creative Media Production students in the 16-19 age group at Harlow College.

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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Upon reviewing my work, I am dissatisfied with what I achieved today. Today, I planned to gain a wide amount of research (1:1 interviews/vox pops/focus groups) but I only received one vox pop response. The reason I was unable to obtain an extensive amount of research was a result of many students (our target audience) not being on campus or teachers (many students were in lesson) denying us use of students (for a focus group) as they had deadlines to meet. This has taught me that it is important to plan in all stages of a project like my FMP but more specifically research otherwise you cannot acquire data to analyse and apply to your plans.

When conducting the vox pop (Boys, online video, 2017), I was made aware that I personally need more time to plan my questions as I would have preferred to extensively think about the questions I was going to ask my target audience. For example, my questions… Again, this has highlighted to me the importance of planning in research to ensure that you gain prime results that will aid the development of your project.

Comparing my own work to professional practice, I am aware that professionals would thoroughly plan their research ahead of conducting it, so this is something I need to apply to my own work to ensure I am working professionally and to distinction standard.

In relation to conducting the vox pops, I also learnt that it is important to plan specific times to conduct research. When we visited our local town centre, it was just after lunch and hardly any students were around (hence why I only obtained one result for my vox pop). This may have been a result of the bad weather, the timing (may have been in college) or simply because they do not visit the town centre on a Friday in the afternoon.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your primary research skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
Personally, I found that the activities did not aid the improvement of my primary research skills as I only conducted one vox pop (Boys, online video, 2017). However, the activities did highlight the importance of organisation and planning which I can apply to the rest of my final major project.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue that arose was being unable to find people to participate in my primary research, which resulted in me only gaining one response to a vox pop. During the issue, I was unable to resolve the issue as there were no students around to interview (other than fellow media students) and teachers did not want us to take their students out of class, so myself and the rest of my “team” plan to conduct more research on Monday.

Write about the research techniques you gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
From the minute amount of research, I conducted today, I gained no research techniques but simply developed my confidence when conducting vox pops as I asked the questions for 75% of the vox pops we conducted.

Having completed the diary log workshop, what knowledge do you now have?
Upon completion of the diary log workshop, I have gained knowledge on the level in which I am working at (for my diary logs) which is a distinction. My tutor Leila Capocefalo has informed me that by including quotes, linking back to my targets and Harvard referencing in my Padlet diaries is distinction worthy work, so I aim to apply this to future diary logs to ensure I achieve a distinction.

Analyse the peer feedback you were given and discuss the alteration(s) you applied to your work. Provide examples.
After listening to the feedback my fellow peer Sophie Blackmore gave me, I am aware that I give “relevant information as to what [I have] done and how it will help [me] with the rest of [my] unit” (Blackmore, voicenote, 2017). This is important feedback, as I now know that I need to continue writing about the activities I have completed or achievements I have had throughout the day that will further my learning and work in future lessons throughout my FMP unit.

Other than this, I did not receive any negative feedback that I am aware of as I sadly was unable to listen to feedback given to me by another peer, Luke Brace, because his recordings (Brace, voice note1, 2017) (Brace, voice note2, 2017) do not have any audio.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
The tasks I completed today have informed me of the importance of organisation, as aforementioned this was an issue that caused the lack of responses I gained, which I know I need to apply to the rest of my FMP project.

Another skill I have developed is the ability to conduct a vox pop with members of the public which links to the target I set on Showbie where I stated that I “would like to be able to successfully conduct…vox pops”. This shows how I have fulfilled my target to an extent but disappointingly only through one type of research; despite this, I can apply this to future lessons as the results I received will shape my FMP project.

Bibliography
Emma Boys (2017), ‘FMP | Primary Research | Vox Pops | Respondent 1’ [YouTube], 20 May. Available at: https://youtu.beyUxfRNLOTps (Accessed: 20/05/17)

Sophie Blackmore (2017), Sophie Blackmore Feedback [Video], Harlow College. Available at: https://my.showbie.com/classes/209c108a16edec5ae1556b2f63caa53f954973f5/assignments/5933926/posts/146252770-96042991 (Accessed: 20/05/17)

1 Luke Brace (2017), Luke Brace Feedback [Voice note], Harlow College. Available at: https://my.showbie.com/classes/209c108a16edec5ae1556b2f63caa53f954973f5/assignments/5933926/posts (Accessed: 19/05/17)

2 Luke Brace (2017), Luke Brace Feedback 2 [Voice note], Harlow College. Available at: https://my.showbie.com/classes/209c108a16edec5ae1556b2f63caa53f954973f5/assignments/5933926/posts (Accessed: 19/05/17)

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A video from when we were conducting vox pops stating how we found it difficult to find people within our target audience.

Bibliography
Emma Boys (2017), 'Vox Pops Padlet Video'  [YouTube], 19 May. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ7g4UzLnFo (Accessed: 19/05/17)

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The targets for the day set by my tutor Leila Capocefalo.

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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, I completed a small number of tasks. One of the first being starting my secondary research as part of my target market research.

From talking to my tutor, Andreas Charalambous, I have learnt that I need to use a wide range of sources such as the 'National Readership Service' and 'abc.org.uk' opposed to my original plan of just researching into media packs.

In addition to this, I also watched Charlie Brooker's 2016 Wipe (Andrew1707123, online video, 2016), that satirically covered the topics and events of 2016 which acted as a form of research. From this tasks, I gained information on some of the events of 2016 such as the death of David Bowie. This video is an excellent source of information that I can potentially apply to the planning of my magazine as the magazine does content is a roundup of 2016's events.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your research skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
The activity and discussion I had with my tutor, Andreas, improved my research skills as it made me aware of how widely I need to research into existing magazines as part of my target market research. More specifically, the multiple sources I need to use to gain a wide amount of data. By doing so, I should hopefully achieve a better grade as wide research is more accurate.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue that arose was the difficulty I had in starting my target market research, which was resolved by talking to my tutor who guided me to start my beginning paragraph discussing the importance of target market research. This was effective as I was able to develop my ideas from here.

Write about the research techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
It wouldn't be counted as a technique as such but I gained the knowledge that I need to use secondary research resources such as the National Readership Survey alongside media kits for magazines to develop and widen the results I find and analyse. This should hopefully ensure I gain a distinction for my research. This links to my target to an extent as I "aim[ed] to conduct secondary research that contributes to my research portfolio".

By using a wide range of sources, I shall be conducting research to a professional level; existing magazines such as VOGUE, GQ and Cosmopolitan conduct extensive research into their magazine to ensure it appeals to their target audience and has a unique selling point.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
Evidently, having gained the knowledge of how I need to conduct wide research using multiple sources, I can apply this to my current research but also to other research tasks I complete to ensure my grades are consistently improving. So, I aim to apply this knowledge to future sessions.

Bibliography
Andrew1707123 (2016), 'Charlie Brooker's 2016 Wipe 29/12/2016'  [YouTube], 29 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XanyPq5BcoA (Accessed: 29/12/16)

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Describe the tasks you completed today and what they have taught you.
Today, I have found it extremely difficult to concentrate and complete work. Regarding my research tasks, I have been confused about the number of industry professional and job role analysis documents I needed to complete to achieve a distinction grade. So, I had multiple in depth conversations with my tutor which enlightened me on the tasks I need to complete and the standard they need to be for me to achieve the grades I want.

One of the tasks I did complete was the discussion session in which my tutor Leila Capocefalo explained to my class and I how to effectively Harvard reference to distinction level. From this, I gained the information that to conduct and analyse my research I need to use a wide range of research sources. Using this information, I aim to complete industry professional and job role documentation to a distinction standard so my research portfolio is excellent.

Additionally, my tutor explained the different terminology and research points we need to use to ensure our work is of distinction level. This consisted of a review on psychographics, demographics and geodemographics which is something I aimed to revise, as I had forgotten their relevance in regard to research.

These key terms have a significant role in research and by conducting research into demographics, psychographics and geodemographics I will be professionally researching. Professionals research into geodemographics to ensure that their product suits and/or appeals to people in a specific area. For example, product advertisement could be adjusted to appeal to people from one country to another e.g. British people archetyped for liking tea whereas people from America are archetyped for drinking coffee so, a supermarket brand may adjust their advert to have tea for those who are British and coffee for those who are American.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your research skills. Provide examples and refer to specific documentation and tasks.
The tutorial sessions on Harvard referencing and research terminology aided the improvement of my research skills. For example, the revision of psychographics, demographics and geodemographics was important and relevant to me because I had forgotten about their significance in research. Now, I am aware of their role in research and can apply it to my own which should hopefully improve the professionalism of my research; in turn, shall boost my research grades.

What problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
A significant issue that arose today was my inability to concentrate. This permitted me from completing work and therefore distressed me as I wanted to accomplish the tasks set. There was no specific resolution to this issue, I did remove myself from the noisy classroom (not of my teacher’s fault) and went to work outside in our open plan area where it was evidently quieter and more relaxed.

As a result, of this decision, I could come to a conclusion about the work I need to complete in the upcoming week as part of my research portfolio. Also, I could plan for the industry professional and job role research I aim to do. This was a significant achievement, since I had been unable to independently work earlier on due to the distraction of the classroom.

Write about the research techniques you have gained and developed. Provide examples and link to the targets you set on Showbie.
From the tutorial session, I completed having listened to my tutor, I gained information on how to effectively reference work whether that be through citations or footnoting. These are both vital referencing techniques as they ensure your research is not critiqued and condemned for an absence of the required source referencing. So, I can now apply these techniques to my work in the hopes of achieving a distinction grade for my research portfolio.

In addition, I was re-informed of key terminology and research points (psychographics, geodemographics etc.) which I can apply to my research to ensure it is of a professional standard. This applies to the target I set on Showbie which was to “refresh my memory on key research terminology…know what psychographics, demographics and geodemographics are”; I am now aware of these classifications.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future lessons?
From today, I have gained important research skills regarding referencing, e.g. citations and footnoting, and classifications, e.g. demographics, which I can apply to future lessons as I continue to develop the research I conduct for my final major project.

Bibliography
N/A

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Describe what tasks you worked on today and what they have taught you.
Today I completed a script writing session with my peer Sophie Blackmore, as we had to create an original script for a set theme and piece of equipment. This was part of a video workshop my class and I completed today. From the script writing session, I learnt that one page of writing normally equates to around a minute's worth of footage. This is important as I may have to apply it to future projects where I am script writing.

Although it may seem I would apply this to my FMP, I will not as my planned FMP project is a print based project.

Regarding filming, my team and I completed a filming session for the short film we were creating based on someone who has lost their phone. From this filming session, I significantly remember tension between myself and a fellow team member. We both had conflicting ideas about the shots despite me writing the script with Sophie, so I got quite defensive over the plans we had already written in the script.

In the end, I let him direct the video and he failed to follow the script as closely as I would have planned to as he directed based on his vision.

When applying my actions to those of a professional, I can evaluate that I did not act as professional as I possibly could have. A professional would have kept their feelings to themselves where possible and acted professionally to ensure the production is completed to a high standard. From this, I am aware that I need to be accepting of others' contributions and act professionally by ensuring I do not cause unnecessary tension.

When it came to editing, I felt quite confident in creating a basic edit. Having decided to do an individual edit as part of my unit 5&6 work for our group promotional videos, I gained knowledge and skills of Adobe Premiere Pro. Therefore, I felt as though I could piece together a basic edit without help from our technical tutor Dave. Having said this, I did ask for help when trying to add a colour grading effect to my video edit (Boys, online video, 2017).

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your practical skills. Provide examples and mention film and editing videos.
When conducting the script writing activity, I felt as if I did not learn anything.

As for the practical session, I gained knowledge from using the DSLR camera which my fellow peer Luke Brace helped with.

From the editing activity, I feel as though I benefitted as I am now aware of how to add colour correction and grading effects on my video. If asked to recite my knowledge, I believe I would not be able to do so. Upon reflecting on this, I believe it would be more beneficial for me to make notes to refer back to when editing in the future.

During production, what problems arose and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue we faced during production was the fact that two groups, my own and another, wanted to film in the same location. To resolve this issue, we split up the time we had (90 minutes) into 45 minute slots and we filmed elsewhere whilst the other team filmed in the location. This worked successfully, as it meant we could get alternate shots whilst waiting for the other team to finish using the location.

From the session, what practical skills did you gain or develop? Provide examples and link back to personal targets you set on Showbie.
From the session I gained colour correction and grading skills using Adobe Premiere Pro. This links back to the personal target I set on Showbie as I wanted to film and edit a video of which I did successfully today. Video can be viewed using the link in my bibliography.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you plan to use in future sessions?
I have gained skills using Adobe Premiere Pro, which I would like to develop throughout future projects. As my FMP project is print based I feel as though these video editing skills will not be applicable specifically during this unit; they will come in in use in future units of work.

Bibliography
Boys, Emma (2017) 'Where's My Phone? | FMP Video Workshop[YouTube], 09 May. Available at: https://youtu.be/S6LIpfBcOeI (Accessed: 09/05/17)

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Discuss what you accomplished today and what you have learnt.
Today, I completed the following tasks:

A project proposal in which I outlined my ideas and plans for my submission to the assignment and C.A.S.T brief. From this, I have learnt that I need to work on making my written work concise and to the point as I continuously struggle with compulsory word counts.

A pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) to my tutor Leila Capocefalo where I aimed to persuade her to select my proposed idea of a magazine. Having completed the pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) , I am aware of the importance of planning. As it took me quite a while to complete my project proposal, I did not have any planning time ahead of the pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) (as our deadline was 4pm), so I did not conduct my pitch as I'd have liked to, although I am a perfectionist.

How did the activities aid the improvement of your academic and presentational abilities? Provide examples and relate to the project proposal and pitch you completed.
Completing the proposal allowed me to understand that I am still academically struggling with concise writing (as aforementioned), and I am constantly going to be aiming to improve this when working on written projects. My proposed idea of a magazine is a written project so it will hopefully challenge me to improve my literacy.

The pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) I completed definitely aided my presentational abilities because I can reflect upon the presentation I did for unit 8 and apply the knowledge I have gained from it for example, I need to plan ahead of the pitch more thoroughly to future assignments.

This interlinks with my professionalism; although I successfully conducted the presentation and persuaded my tutor of my ideas, a professional would have organised their presentation potentially with a short PowerPoint to outline their ideas and engage their audience. To a certain extent, I did so because I displayed my mood board on the interactive whiteboard.

What problems arose and how did you resolve the issues? Provide examples and justify them.
An issue I faced was time keeping. In conjunction with the issue of not being able to keep my writing succinct, I found it difficult to complete my project proposal within a reasonable time limit. So, to resolve this issue I worked during my lunch break, which resulted in me being able to complete my work. Having said this, due to my lack of strict time keeping, I was unable to successfully and effectively plan for my pitch (Boys, online video, 2017).

Another issue that arose was the fact I did not have time to effectively plan for the pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) I was soon to conduct. This therefore resulted in my pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) not being as structured as I would have personally liked (being a perfectionist is one of my weaknesses), which was shown by the fact I did not mention everything I would have liked to during the recorded pitch (Boys, online video, 2017) (e.g. secondary research). I was unable to resolve this issue but plan to apply this issue to future tasks.

From the session, what innovative techniques did you gain or develop? Provide examples and refer to the personal target you set on Showbie.
Upon discussing my difficulties with making my writing concise with my tutor Leila Capocefalo, she advised that I speak to one of my peers Ryan Hardie who has strong English skills. Ryan allowed me to understand some of my weak points in writing which allowed me to summarise my points effectively. As a result of this, I was able to complete my work; also, I achieved my personal target of being able to "complete project proposal documentation". I hope to continue developing my summarisation skills so I can work on written projects more effectively.

Again, as I have previously mentioned throughout this unit of work, I gained confidence skills during this session from pitching. The first time I pitched my ideas (Change Their Mind assignment) I was not as confident which resulted in me relying on my PowerPoint a lot however, this time I did refer to my mood board but spoke freely from memory. This technique I gained relates to one of the personal targets I set for the day which was to "be able to complete...a persuasive project pitch".

What skills did you gain and/or apply that you hope to use for your work as part of the next lesson?
From today, I gained confidence skills which I hope and plan to apply to every piece of work that requires presenting or speaking in front of others.

Additionally, I also gained concise writing skills which as aforesaid I hope to apply to other units as writing is a significant part of this course. For example, writing Padlet diary entries requires summarisation skills.

Bibliography
Emma Boys (2017), 'Task 1d) Pitch'  [YouTube], 05 May. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRtPXHIeb8Q  (Accessed: 05/05/17)

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Describe the tasks you worked on today and what they have taught you.
Today, I completed the following tasks:

A workshop with our technical tutor David Jameson – we were given a refresher workshop with our technical tutor so that we had the correct information about the equipment to make sure our videos were of the highest standard. From this workshop, my memory regarding lighting, track and dolly and audio was refreshed whereas the information on the jib, Steadicam and hand held rig was newfound information for me.

A practical session where my production team (for the day) created tutorial videos regarding equipment and how to set it up (jib, hand held rig, lighting, audio, track and dolly and a Steadicam). From this session, I learnt that I should probably regularly refresh my memory on how to use industry equipment as I had forgotten from the last workshop; at the same time, it may be more effective to keep notes and diagrams on the equipment for referencing.

In conjunction with this, professionals in their field are constantly working with industry level equipment and have expansive knowledge and experience so, they are less likely to forget information like I did. So, evidently as I gain more experience and knowledge of the equipment I shall hopefully be able to work to a professional standard. As aforementioned, it may help my professional to keep notes and diagrams on equipment for personal referencing.

Alongside this, I completed an editing workshop and session on iMovie. Having previous experience using iMovie, I found that I did not learn anything from the workshop given by our technical tutor. This also relates to the editing session I completed using iMovie to edit the clips taken of my lighting tutorial (Boys, online video, 2017) as I have already used iMovie in the past and have moderate knowledge of the application.

Explain how the activities did or did not aid the improvement of your practical skills and teaching of others. Provide examples and mention the tutorial videos you created.
In my opinion, the workshop improved my practical skills, teaching of others and my general knowledge to an extent. As aforementioned, I had knowledge of 3/3 pieces of equipment which was refreshed and the others I gained a small amount of knowledge about.

I feel as though I personally would have benefitted more from the workshop if it had been broken down into separate workshops for each piece of equipment. To try and counteract the issue of me forgetting said information, I did record the beginning of the session on my iPad but I faced the issue of not having enough storage.

Having said this, completing the lighting (Boys online video, 2017) and dolly and track videos with Sophie alongside the audio video that Luke and Sophie presented, refreshed my memory most successfully and effectively. For me to understand how to use the other pieces of equipment (jib, Steadicam and hand held rig), I think booking practice workshops will work more effectively.

In terms of improving my practical skills, as aforesaid I feel as though the dolly and track, lighting and audio videos were most effective in aiding my knowledge and confidence with practical equipment. It can be seen in the lighting video (Boys, online video, 2017), I created with my production team that I speak confidently when instructing the viewer on lighting. Therefore, I’d like to say that my teaching of others has improved as I confidently presented information in the video I edited (Boys, online video, 2017).

In reflection of the videos that we created today (Blackmore, Boys, Brace and Tiley, padlet wall, 2017), I believe we could have made them more informative by including more b-roll, so that audience members could see specific parts of the equipment.

During production, what problems did you face and how did you resolve them? Provide examples and justify your answers.
During production, collectively my team faced the issue of locations and people walking and making noise around our filming area. To not so successfully resolve this issue, we waited in between people moving across our set or for those making noise on set we asked them to be quiet before continuing. This meant that we could try our very best to create professional tutorial videos.

Having completed the workshop, what new practical skills did you gain and/or develop? Provide examples and link to the personal target(s) you set on Showbie.
From the completion of the workshops today, I have gained the ability to set up a track and dolly (Blackmore, Boys, Brace and Tiley, padlet wall, 2017) which I had minute knowledge of before. In relation to the personal targets I set for myself on Showbie, I have been able to fulfil my second target which was to “expand my knowledge regarding and confidence in using industry equipment”.

As I stated, I expanded my existing knowledge in relation to the track and dolly, lighting and audio equipment and have newfound confidence in presenting for a tutorial video concerning lighting.

The other target I set was to be able to “effectively work as part of a team to create six instructional videos”. Personally, I believe I have achieved this target to an extent. When working together my team and I were effective as we managed to complete the work, however I believe we could have worked more effectively if we’d taken time to plan quickly ahead of filming to ensure our video content was professional and informative.

After today’s session, what skills did you apply to your work or gain knowledge of that you plan to use in the next session?
From today’s session, I applied my knowledge and skills of iMovie to the edit (Boys, online video, 2017) I created which I could potentially use in future sessions if I were to create more instructional tutorial videos for my future reference (for example, editing skills, Steadicam – as I still need to get used to using this, different DSLR settings etc.).

As well as this, I evidently refreshed my memory on lighting, audio and the track and dolly which I may apply to my FMP dependent on the project I work on. As for the small knowledge I now retain in relation to the Steadicam, hand held rig and jib I believe I need to gain more confidence and knowledge on the equipment before I go ahead and apply it to any future lessons or projects.

Bibliography
Boys, Emma (2017), 'Lighting Instructional Video', [YouTube], 02 May. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ7g4UzLnFo (Accessed: 02/05/17)

Blackmore, Sophie, Boys, Emma, Brace, Luke and Tiley, Ben (2017), 'My terrific padlet' [Online], Padlet. Available at: https://padlet.com/sophieblackmore88/d7grlwg91or3 (Accessed: 02/05/17)

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Set targets for 02/05/17.

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A development in the generating of my ideas through the use of a mind map on Popplet. Although the PNG is not previewing on Padlet, if you click on it the photo should appear. Available via the link as an alternate option: http://popplet.com/app/#/4034485

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Describe what you completed today and what you have learnt.
In today's lesson, I analysed the brief and started a mind map based on the content I read and the ideas I generated.

From these tasks, I have learnt that the client brief has various requirements that my final major project submission should fulfil alongside boundaries that my project should not exceed. These are vital pieces of information to ensure that I achieve my personal target grade of a distinction.

How did the activities help you to analyse your skills and generate ideas? Give examples; refer to your mind map and annotated mood board.
Personally, I found that the mind map I created on Popplet was an easy way for me to present my ideas; when I usually use paper I find it difficult to create a detailed mind map as I make mistakes and want to start from the beginning again. Using Popplet online means that I can make adjustments easily e.g. if I have a spelling mistake or change my idea.

By creating a mind map, I worked professionally as it is a form of planning. Industry professionals must plan and organise when generating their preliminary ideas; mind mapping is a fantastic way of thoroughly developing ideas, thoughts and plans.

As I didn't develop onto a mood board, I am unaware of how effective that activity was in generating ideas for my FMP.

What boundaries and parameters have been set with the FMP CAST brief?
The FMP CAST brief has various parameters:
> The deadline for my final major project is Monday 19th June 2017.
> Any video based work has a duration limit of 5 minutes.
> Photography work is limited to 5 photos minimum alongside a maximum of 8 images.
> The target audience for my work ages between 16-19 year olds who are students currently in further education, alongside potential students under the age of 16, "local secondary schools, local businesses and the local community." (Harlow College, client brief, 2017)

What problems do you see arising and how are you going to plan to solve them? Give examples and justify your reasoning.
One of the problems I see arising in the future is my lack of knowledge regarding the ideas I have planned for my FMP. To solve this issue, I understand that I need to extensively research into various sectors of my plans, e.g. if I were to create a podcast I would need to research into equipment requirements, copyright issues, existing podcasts, characteristics of podcasts etc.

Another problem I can see occurring will be the stress of only having a maximum of four people per production team. When creating a media product, I find it is easier if the responsibilities are spread out over a larger team; we do not have the luxury of that. As well as it being a lack of luxury, production teams of 3-4 are more realistic as industry usually have small production teams for projects. To resolve this 'issue', it will be essential to strategically plan so that despite having a smaller team the responsibilities, practical (pre-production [research e.g. vox pops], production and post-production [e.g. editing]) or pre-production based [paperwork and research etc.], are fulfilled.

What skills have you used/learnt that you plan to apply into your work next session?
By watching a video on brainstorming (Slide Genius, online video, 2015), I am now aware that it may be more effective to write all my immediate thoughts and plans down onto paper before developing them using a mind map. This skill can be applied to future lessons as I will continue to brainstorm and plan throughout production whether it be for my own individual idea or a production team idea.

Bibliography
Harlow College (2017), 'Producer's Brief for Digital Moving Image or Print Production', Level 3 Creative Media Production (Extended Diploma) Client Brief, 28 April. Available at: https://my.showbie.com/classes/209c108a16edec5ae1556b2f63caa53f954973f5/assignments/5827706/posts/143964824-93143432 (Accessed: 28/04/17)

Slide Genius (2015), '#QuickTips: Brainstorming Techniques', 7 October.[YouTube], Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bNvs_qElIw (Accessed: 28/04/17)

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SMART targets set on 28/04/17.

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SWOT analysis

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The vox pop (Boys, online video, 2017) I conducted today which is part of my primary research that contributes to my research portfolio.

Bibliography
Emma Boys (2017), ‘FMP | Primary Research | Vox Pops | Respondent 1’ [YouTube], 20 May. Available at: https://youtu.beyUxfRNLOTps (Accessed: 20/05/17)

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FMP | Primary Research | Vox Pops | Respondent 1

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Task[s] I completed today and what I have learnt from them
Today, I completed a peer feedback task which enabled me to understand my strengths and weaknesses from ex-colleagues perspectives.

Peer feedback
Callum Carney
Emma is a diligent worker who takes care and consideration in every piece of work she produces. She inputs a high level of effort and inputs her natural leadership skills where necessary. This was very clear when working with Emma for the duration of Unit 5 and 6. I would however like to see Emma input in a variety of tasks other than post production work, allowing her to display her full potential.

Callum Chung
Emma is a hardworking individual who takes her time to completed the tasks at hand. She shows a large amount of dedication to the course. She is very good at leading a group and organising everything. I worked with her during unit 2 and 3. She could improve by being slightly more understanding towards people in her group.

In what way did the peer feedback activity examine your skills? Provide examples.
Through the peer feedback activity, I was provided with feedback that analysed the pros and cons of my skills. This then allowed me to examine my strengths and weaknesses so that I can apply the feedback to future projects such as my final major project. For example, I was told in feedback given by Callum Carney that he would "like to see [me] input in a variety of tasks other than post production work, allowing [me] to display [my] full potential" (Carney, written feedback, 2017). This informs me that I should potentially take on another job role in a future production, more specifically my final major project, in order to develop and expand my skills.

Courtesy of the peer feedback activity, I was also notified that I have "natural leadership skills" (Carney, written feedback, 2017). This indicates that although I have been told by Callum Carney that he would like to see me experiment in a different job role, I have "natural leadership skills" which stipulates how I should potentially apply these skills to a leadership role which is more suited to my skillset (e.g. producer/production manager).

In conjunction with that indication, Callum Chung stated how I was "very good [at]...organising" (Chung, written feedback, 2017). This again suggests that I should potentially take on a managerial role such as producer/production manager in my final major project, meaning I can apply my organisation abilities to ensure I work successfully in my job role.

Peer feedback is essential in life as it ensures that your strengths and weaknesses are highlighted. Sometimes it can be hard to recognise ones personal advantages and disadvantages and receiving feedback from colleagues can be enlightening and an influential factor on someone's self growth both as a person and professional.

Industry professionals gain feedback from colleagues and can be under assessment from their superiors on a regular basis; can also provide feedback. So, by gaining peer feedback, personally evaluating myself and taking the constructive criticism on board I am working professionally.

In your opinion, what are your strengths and weaknesses? Did you expect your feedback? Explain why.
Personally, I was expecting some of my feedback (as stated above) as I am aware of my organisation and leadership skills being my strengths.

On the other hand, I wasn't expecting to hear that I need to improve my "understanding towards people in [my] group" (Chung, written feedback, 2017). Hearing this was difficult as it is not a direct criticism towards my working/practical skills (e.g. editing abilities) but towards my personal skills as an individual. Having said this, I will take the feedback in my stride and attempt to apply this to future production teams I am in, for example my final major project production team if I do not work independently.

From today, what skills have you gained or applied that you want to hope to implement into the next session?
It isn't necessarily a skill; I have gained knowledge regarding the importance of peer feedback. In my opinion, having had a peer feedback activity I am now aware of my strengths and weaknesses which I can apply to future sessions and projects. This is vital, not only in my growth as an individual but as a young media professional; more specifically, this is important as I need to be able to evolve and improve as a media professional to ensure I am working to the best of my ability to secure clients, employers and apprenticeships/university placements.

Bibliography
Callum Carney (2017), Level 3 Creative Media Production student, written feedback to Emma Boys, 25th April.

Callum Chung (2017), Level 3 Creative Media Production student, written feedback to Emma Boys, 25th April.

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SMART target: Be able to prioritise my workload and manage my time effectively in the lesson.