1. FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO MAIN TASK
Task
Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine (if
done as a group task, each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the
magazine, following the same house style). All images and text used must be original,
produced by the candidate(s), minimum of four images per candidate.
Where do you start?
A good idea would be to decide on what kind of music magazine you want to
create. This is crucial decision becauseit tells you what kind of research you need to
find. So if your magazine’s focus is on rock music, you will mostly try and find
magazinesof the samegenre.
Do not overcomplicate your project. Magazines work on conventions, it is your job to
understand and replicate theseconventions. But you must also expand on them or
challenge them. Try something a little different. It is really important that you work
with your research, picking and choosing aspectsfrom several sourcesand combining
them to createyour own original concept.
Here are the stepsyou need to take in order to be successful:
1. Decide on a genre for your magazine.
2. Create a band or artist and decide what you are going to say about that band
visually.
3. Research! Research! Research! I noticed that most people didn’tconsult their
research very often or at all. Having your research around will make creating
your covers much easier. Instead of asking a teacher what you should do, take a
look at your research and seewhat it tells you.
4. Brainstorm, create a draft, jot down some words that your audience should
get from looking at your finished magazine. Think about what resourcesyou
have. You need to take your own photos so start casting. Look at your friends
what genre of music would they best portray.
5. Start a blog/diary; write down you thought processesand comment on artifacts
that contribute to your project; i.e. pictures, research, draft copies, etc.
6. Start digitally creating your concept. You must do this assignment in both
Photoshop and Publisher. So decide which program is best suited for certain
effects you want to create. Do not be afraid to experiment. It is easy to make
changeswhen working on a computer. Try different colours, fonts and positions,
your work will definitely benefit from it.
7. Continue commenting/blogging/evaluating the work you do everyday. The

2. OCR wants to know how you think through your work. They also want to ensure
that you keep going back to your research and your main idea, to ensure that your
final product will be successful.
8. Take pictures if you already haven’t. Set up your shots; make sure that
everything in the shot is there for a reason. All good advertisers have a lot of
control over the imagesthey use. There is rarely anything included in the frame
that wasn’tintentional.
9. Bring everything together; get thoseimagesinto Photoshop and Publisher.
Layout your project in an eye-pleasing manner. Do not settle for the first thing
you come up with, keep editing and trying different things, you may stumble upon
something new.
10. Touch ups and feedback. Look at your creation on your own. Do you think it
is targeting the audienceyou intend on? Is it saying or representing the image or
messageyou want it to portray. Ask others what they think about it. They may
spot something that doesn’tquite fit in with project and may have someideas
about how you can fix it. You may also want to refer back to your research.
Does your image look like it could be on a shelf with thosemagazines? If it does,
GREAT! If it doesn’tkeep on working, you will get there.
Finally, put everything together. We will let you know which format to do this in. So
keep everything you use or make. So hold on to research, drafts, notes, comments,
imagesand whatever else you may have used.
GOOD LUCK!!
*Another important note to keep in mind*
In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
• How did you attract/address your audience?
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Acceptable formats for production texts and research presentations
No print item should be larger than A3 size. Web pages must be accessible on line to the moderator for the
duration of the moderation period. The moderator must receive notification of the URL when the work is
sent. The relevant site pages should also be copied as files using the save page function on a web browser
and burnt to CD for the moderator. All CDs and DVDs must be checked before despatch to ensure that the
files are accessible. No hard copy printouts of online materials will be accepted. Research and Planning
may be presented in electronic format, but can take the form of a folder or scrapbook at AS Level only.