Weekly Progress and Plan

Here is my weekly progress for the Magazine project and also a rough plan. 

Week	Term 2	Week	Term 3
1 (2 Oct)	Brief, Research	8 ( 8 Jan)	Development
2	Research	9	Shoot
3	Research	10	Shoot, Self Reflection
4	Proposal	11	Post Production
5	Development	12	Post Production
6	Development	13 (12 Feb)	Deadline (Monday 12th February)
7	Development	14

Semester 1

Week 1 

- Our teacher introduced us to the magazine brief and it sounds really interesting to me
- Today we learned about magazine terminologies and thankfully, I understood most of them 
- I also started to label my magazine and I found it easy as my magazine had a lot of terminologies found in the cover and the contents. 

Week 2

- Today I started my magazine research where I should research about 6 different magazines and it sound really tiring already because I have to write 2 really detailed analysis however, because Mr Nick has already put the guideline questions for what I should write, it makes it less hard. 

- This week I learned about representation theory by Stuart Hall where meaning is not reflected by the media, it is created by the media after the occurrence which might be useful in my magazine so that I'm more careful when displaying the content of the magazine. 

Week 3

- This week I analyzed two front cover in detail and it was really time-consuming for me as there were many aspects of the magazine's features that I had to analyze; color, typography, main image, and etc.

- I started a mini analysis of the content and double page spread and even though I started early and wanted to finish it early too, there weren't enough magazines that were gathered in my teacher's slides for me to use, so I had to postpone doing it for several days. 

- Problems: This week was really busy for me as I was clouded with tests and quizzes almost everyday so it was difficult trying to juggle both the big analysis part while learning for my tests as they are both equally important to me. 

- Solutions: I can start slipping in doing my magazine analysis in between my little free times whether it's in classes or breaks so after school, I can focus in learning for my tests without worrying about the deadline for the magazine analysis task. 

- To-do: Finish my statement of intent and finish my 4 less detailed magazine analysis before next Friday. 

Week 4

- This week I finished my magazine research analysis where I did 2 big detailed ones and 4 small detailed ones where I had to analyze the media language, audience, representation, and industry. 

- I also worked on my statement of intent for my magazine project where I had to create the demographics, psychographics, dominant reading, and etc. 

- We learned about the genre theory by Steve Neale where a text must be similar enough to be recognized as a particular genre but it also different enough to be new and exciting. We applied this knowledge on a writing practice that compared two media texts in the same genre but with different conventions. 

- Problems: I struggled when working on my magazine research analysis because It turns out to be so long and repetitive and It demotivated me to do more of them as even though I did the 2 big detailed one a week earlier than the due date, It drained my motivation to do the rest. Not only that, for the small detailed ones, I misunderstood the instructions and wrote longer than I should have and wasted my time but thankfully I realized it before I finished it. 

- Solutions: Next time, when an instruction is unclear to me, I should ask the teacher about it and not just rely on my own understanding and beliefs. Furthermore, I should find ways to motivate myself when I'm demotivated during the working of a project as It is really important and even if I have no motivation, I can't procrastinate it to the last minute and rush it as the result will be bad. 

- To-do: In my free time I want to continue my Stuart hall: representation theory research in blog, Magazines: Targeting audiences through Demographics + Psychographics, and magazine development

Week 5 

- This week my class were grouped into groups of 3-4 people where each of the groups were assigned different media theories. My group had to write about the Uses and Gratification theory for social relationships and surveillance including the definition, case studies, our personal anecdote and how this theory is applied in the exam about. 

- This week I also did a research of double page spreads from my 2 chosen travel magazines to help my main magazine project 

- Problems: I still struggle quite a bit to remember the people who created the media theories as there are a lot. 

- Solutions: Every now and then, I should practice my section A and B writing and whilst I do that, I can reread all the materials given about the theory, therefore I'll be more familiar with it and not only will i remember it, I will understand it more. 

- To-do: In my free time, I have to finish Stuart hall: representation theory research in blog, Magazines: Targeting audiences through Demographics + Psychographics, and magazine development and before week 6 Thursday, i have to finish my double-page spread research + development and my blog task about terminology + technical skills (online). 

Week 6 

- This week I practiced section A where I planned the paragraphs with my partner and we wrote about the movie scene's media representation, language, theory, industry, and audience. 

- I also learned about traditional media and new media and how they are connected to each other. 

- I started my 1st draft of my magazine article for my magazine project and I feel like it's going to be really time consuming but nevertheless, It's going to be fun as I'll be talking about the place I've lived all my life and some of my own personal experiences. 

- Problems: I still struggle in my section A writing skills in parts where I have to write about how the media communicate meanings through the use of forms, codes, conventions and techniques as until now, my answers are still lacking of few media terms. 

- Solutions: Read the answers of my classmates that received high scores for their section A writing, analyze what I'm lacking and practice my own writing from that. I can also ask feedbacks from my teacher whenever we're doing the practice and ask what else I need to include and what I'm doing wrong. 

- To-do: In my free time, for my blog, I have to finish my Stuart hall: representation theory research, terminologies, technical skills (online), magazine development, and the 1st draft of my magazine article. 

Week 7 

- Completed a checklist provided by my teacher to make sure I have everything in my blog labeled, whether or not it's completed, and if I have already written reflections for it. 

- This is the end of my first semester and I will go for a semester break for about 1 month and throughout the break my teacher assigned me to go for a location scout where I have to take minimum 3 pictures of the locations I want to add into my magazine. After my semester break, I will be continuing my magazine project. 

- Problems: Managing my time to complete my 1st draft of my magazine article before this week Thursday in addition to completing all the other incomplete tasks in my checklist and juggling with assignments from other classes too. 

- Solutions: When I have free time at home or self-study sessions in school, I will use those time to add as much as I can to my 1st draft article as it's my priority. The rest I will be doing at home and I should finish at least 1-2 tasks each day before Thursday. 

- To-do and homework: Before this week Thursday, I need to write reflections for all the blogposts under the label "Comp 1", complete my 1st draft magazine article, and fill in the terminologies and technical skills (online) blogpost. 

Reflection 

Making a weekly progress where I listed out all my to-do's and homework helped me organize my time in the midst of juggling other assignments from other classes as throughout these 7 weeks, I've been working on big assignments in this class that requires good time management and because of this class, I've learned the importance of good time management and lately, have been improving it compared to before I joined this class. Furthermore, listing out the solutions to problems I experienced will be helpful in the future where whenever I experience the same problem, I can just look back to this blogpost and see how I previously solved it. Overall, this term was really fun and hectic but since the lessons are organized nicely by the teacher, everything finished up well and I'm looking forward to the next term where we begin shooting images for our magazine and producing it entirely. 

Semester 2

Week 1 

- This is the start of semester 2, so I will go back to week 1 to avoid making it confusing. 

- To start the first lesson, my teacher gave me a feedback (attached below) for my semester 1 work which will be really helpful especially in fixing and improving my magazine article. 

- This week my teacher introduced a new study system to the whole class where we were told to make a connect diary digitally in a Google Document. My teacher will regularly ask a few questions about a certain topic before he introduces us to it and after the lesson, he'll ask a few more questions to reflect on what we just learned.    

- I learned about the three stages of media text such as production, distribution, and exhibition and how media ownership affects those stages. Not only that, i learned that media production can be divided into 2 types and how each type earns money and are funded differently.

- I continued on my magazine project by starting a location scout and risk assessment of the locations I have chosen to shoot the images for my magazine. 

- Problems: I didn't really have any problems in understanding the new material as it's clear and straightforward. 

- Solutions: - 

- To-do: Complete my location scout and risk assessments of the locations I chose 

Week 2

- This week I learned about media consolidation by vertical integration and horizontal integration and their advantages and disadvantages. 

- I sketched 6 front cover ideas and I used them to do a photography test with my friends as my models for front cover drafts. Not only that, my teacher taught me on how different border placements, hierarchy of type, type face, and colors chosen for the front cover of the magazine affects the readers differently. After that, he gave us the time to design those drafts on our own. 

- Problems: When I was experimenting in Google Draw with the layouts my teacher prepared, I had trouble creating ideas on how to format the hierarchy of type, type face, and colors all together to make it make sense and work well together in addition to the position of the model. 

- Solutions: I started scrolling through real magazine front covers in the internet for ideas to see what colors schemes they use and what type faces they use to match with the genre of their magazines. 

- To-do:

    -> Make 2 more drafts to Google Draw file where I did experimenting

    -> Design the drafts with the photography test pictures with my friends in Canva. 

    -> Shooting Schedule: 20 January in Sanur beach and 27 January in Kuta beach 

Week 3 

- This week I learned about cross media convergence where a brand can be showcased in different medias to promote it and this may be a beneficial promotional strategy for both parties.

- In addition to that, I learned on what news stories are selected based on and how they perform agenda setting and framing in order to tell the audiences what to think and influence their opinions.

- This week I also continued my magazine's front cover development where I have to use my 4 thumbnail sketches and photography practice, choose 2 and develop digitally, choose 1 and experiment a lot, and make evidences on all the changes you make.

- Problems: It was quite difficult to design my photography practice images as I had to think about the connotations of all the colors and typography I experimented with as my teacher told me that everything I chose has to have meaning related to my genre. 

- Solutions: I searched for similar travel magazines for typography ideas and searched through Pinterest for color palettes so that I can put everything well together. 

- To-do: Finish designing another 2 of my photography practice images for magazine's front cover development.

Week 4 

(I realized that in my weekly progress and plan, I'm supposed to only be typing down things related to my magazine and my magazine project progress, so starting from now, It will only be just that.)

- This week my teacher introduced the critical self-reflection presentation and we had to start brainstorming our answers to the guideline questions in our reflective diary. When we finished brainstorming, he gave us time to start the actual presentation and I chose to do it in Canva.

- Problems: When I was brainstorming my answers, I was quite overwhelmed as there were so many things I had to think about and in addition to that, I haven't done a critical self reflection since the storyboard project so I was worried that I'll do worse than my first one. 

- Solutions: I opened my previous critical self reflection to refresh my memories on what I'm supposed to do and how detailed my answers in the actual presentation should be. Not only that, I also read the feedback that my teacher gave me to know what I had to improve so that my critical self-reflection this time will be better than the last one. 

- To-do: I will divide the task of completing the critical self-reflection into 2 weeks where this week I will try to finish answering question 1 and half of question 2. Next week I plan to continue finishing half of question 2 and the entire of question 3. 

Week 5 

- This week I continued developing my front cover in Canva however this time, I started creating the final drafts with the real pictures and not the experiment ones. Because up to this point, my teacher has kept reminding and teaching the class about the use of borders and typographies, It was much more easier than the first time I practiced. 

- Problem: I had a few difficulties in designing my front cover magazine to put everything well together, two of them being picking the correct font that matches with my genre and the design as well as placing the main coverline and the other coverlines in the correct place and the need to still be able to make it look minimalistic and clean as that's the overall design of the magazine. 

- Solution: I did several research of other minimalist travel magazines in Google and Pinterest and found multiple ideas for my own design and layout. 

- To-do: Finish the final drafts of my front cover development and put the results of the researches, developments, and self-reflection of it in a blog post. 

Week 6

- This week I continued my front cover development and started my contents page and double-page spread research and development where my teacher taught me how to use guides in Canva to organize columns and make everything look neater. 

- Problem: There was a ceremony near school resulting the roads to close down and students having to come at a later time, therefore my class time was cut off my a half and I had less time to work on my magazine with my teacher's supervision and I also received less feedbacks because I managed to only work on further developing my front cover development and less of my contents page and double-page.

- Solution: Because I didn't manage to finish it at school, I'll have to continue the rest at home. 

- To-do: Finish my front cover, contents page, and double page research and development. 

Week 7

- This week my teacher gave me time to finish my front cover, contents page, double page spread, and critical self-reflection in all the classes this week. In addition to that, I got to receive feedbacks and advices to improve my work, which really helped me a lot especially when I'm not sure how to continue certain things. 

- Problem: I was going too slow in developing my front cover, contents page, and double page spread, so I was struggling in finishing them on time before the deadline as it's a really big project. I was also pressured by other things going on in my other classes such as unit tests and mocks and I was really overwhelmed and frustrated on how I can balance all of them equally and not miss the deadline. Because of this, I rushed some things and I fear that the outcome might not be as good as now that I'm looking back to my finished work, I definitely could have done better. 

- Solution: I came up with the idea to use my Google Calendar to divide the days in which I do other class's tasks and media projects equally as they are all as important as the other and I can't prioritize one of them over the others. Therefore, the only solution i can think of right now is that and putting the reminder notification on to avoid forgetting about it. 

- To-do: The deadline for the entire magazine project is 22 February 2024 midnight. 

Self-reflection

My weekly progress tracker helped me organized and remind me of what needed to be done every week as I get to list down my to-do's and their deadlines. Therefore, I can efficiently divide the time to do my work and not fall behind as again, I'll know what has to be done every week. Not only that since I had to list down the solution to the problems I've encountered, whenever I encounter the same problem in the future, I can go back here to know how to solve it in case I've forgotten about it. Since this is the first term after coming back from a long semester break, I became less discipline in my time management and ended up procrastinating a lot, which was a huge mistake as it effects the result of my magazine project, which is also a big graded project. In the end, I had to grind and rush to finish everything in the last 3-4 days instead of dividing the tasks each day consistently. I lost a lot of sleep and energy because of this, and I never want to experience that again. Making this weekly progress help me get used in becoming consistent whether it'd be doing something I like or something I dislike since here, I have to update my weekly progress every week and do the same repetitive questions. 

Bonus week 

- This week I worked on improving my overall magazines based on the feedbacks I received from my teacher and the corrections from peer checking with my friends, in which I have listed all in each of the blog posts, specifically for contents page and double-page spreads. This was really helpful for me as it turns out, I did a few silly mistakes that I didn't even realize I did even after double-checking them myself. 

Problems: I was quite overwhelmed with the amount of things I had to improve as there were multiple amount of feedbacks for my contents page and double-page spread. Not only that, after I fixed them, I had to update my final magazine blog post, the flipbook, and the google drive as well where this process was quite complicated to do as I had to convert files to another file type and organize them. 

Solutions: I wrote down what I had to do on a notes app online therefore it was easier to follow along the steps I had to take as all I had to do was follow it and check them when I'm done with one of them.