Development of Skills

Development of skills- AS Media

Throughout the course of my first year, and prior to my first year, of the media studies course, my skills have developed in multiple ways. I began with little knowledge in regards to technology, and even less when considering media language. I had previously looked at adverts and had to identify purpose, audience and what the language/images tell the audience, but not in detail where micro features are concerned.

My prior experience with technology was in the use of Photoshop and cameras. The knowledge wasn’t very broad, as I didn’t know much about different shots and framing, I didn’t know about mise en scene and I didn’t know much about the editing software’s tools. In the first year, this all changed. My skills with Photoshop developed to create better products. A clear example of my skills development with Photoshop can be seen when looking at my earliest product made in media alongside my final product. The final product looks a lot more professional compared to the first product I made due to better abilities with Photoshop and a clearer idea of conventions and what to include on a magazine.

However, the first product demonstrates my first choice of colour wherein I considered connotations, in this case- green for envy. Connotation and denotation are both terms I learnt in my first year, the former being the perceived meaning and the latter being the true meaning.  This has been important as everything in a media text has different connotations, so I have needed to carefully think about what connotations mine will give. When it came to my music magazine, I had to create and artist and create an image. When considering connotations, I had to keep it in mind when choosing what my artist would wear. I chose for him to wear a hoodie, as rappers and people who live in the lower end of demographic groups. He wears a hat, as once more, it conforms to expectations of a rapper. The connotations the character of a rappers give include being dangerous, and wearing clothes that look like you’re going to cause trouble. Money is also a big thing in rap and so I also had my artist leave money hanging out of his pocket. It gives connotations of wealth, or lack thereof where considering the hard life of these people.

Also, I developed a greater understanding about the music industry, and came to better understand what to research into when researching for my product. For example, I came to understand representations of rappers (or hip hop artists) in the media, which in turn helped to shape my product. Along with this, I learnt that rap artists appeal to mainstream audiences in some cases (there was two artists in the charts at the time of research), but as there was a lack of media products for the genre it could only appeal to a limited number of people too.  By learning this, it helped develop some of my research and ideas (such as trying to appeal to mainstream audiences).

In addition to this, I also learnt how to analyse texts in better detail. The method I was thought was called “LIIAR” which stands for-Language, Institution, Ideology, Audience, and Representation. To elaborate, this basically means when looking at the text, you analyse the language, such as what is written, what connotations the images have etc. The Institution is who made it, the company and maybe some of their history. Ideology is the message or beliefs of those who made the product(what they are trying to convey, what’s their message or beliefs). The audience is who it’s intended for (demographics are considered here, such as where someone is from and their social class) and the representation is how everything is shown to be, what the connotations and denotations are (e.g. a rappers attire/ bling gives connotations of wealth). So for instance, a rapper will have bling and won’t smile often. Punks will have Piercings and dyed hair. Stereotypes are often used to give a representation as they are instantly recognised by an audience.

On top of this, through any research I did, I could use this in my own work. When looking at magazines, I would see representations of certain rappers. I saw conventions, which related to the stereotype. The only time the rapper stereotype is broken is when people like Eminem are on the covers of magazines. Rappers are often represented to be of ethnic origin, from a ghetto where they lived a hard life. However Eminem, and the artist I created, go against this.

Returning to an earlier allusion, I lacked the knowledge of shots and framing when it came to camera work. Throughout the year, I learnt many terms in relation to this and what they were. A low angle, for example, is taken so the camera is angled upwards- this makes the subject of the photo look larger and can make it look dominant. By knowing this, I could effectively utilise it if I ever needed to make anyone look dominant in an image if I needed to do so.  I also learnt how to make people look more vulnerable (high angle), so the camera would be tilted downwards onto the subject of the picture.

One more thing I learned was utilising backgrounds that were easy to remove in photo editing. While taking images, I had trouble finding a place with a clear background. With the help of a photographer and his advice, he told me to find a white wall outside and have my artist stand a few inches away from it. This meant the sunlight and the distance from the wall would make the image seem clear. This is an example of how I developed using somebody else’s advice.

Finally, I also learned to coordinate with a group member to help further my work. My coordination developed as I had to plan ahead to when me and my artist were both free for a photo-shoot, so I could book out a camera and take my pictures.