Assessment of Preliminary Task

Overall, I feel like my magazine could have been much better if I had better time management. My poor time management is what stopped me from developing my skills on Photoshop and InDesign. However, my poor time management is my fault. I was partly lazy, but it was mostly due to the fact that I do not have access to Photoshop and InDesign at home, so I am only able to do the practical work in the sixth form. In my next task, I should spend more time after school working on my magazine as that is the only way to still have access to those programs after school.
I do believe my creative skills are improving, but I also think that having more inspiration could help. I did not have much inspiration for the magazine and that caused my contents page to be very plain. However, I am actually quite proud of my front cover, and I am proud that I was able to make some images transparent and incorporate them into my front cover. Making images transparent is definitely a skill I will be using in the future.
Another problem is that I think I am unable to backup my decisions very well since I do not know many specialist terms, so my blog lacks quality. Not only that, but my blog also has no sense of journey, so it does not feel like I am developing in my skills, and this is also made more obvious with the poor time management skills and large time gaps between blog entries.

Making Magazine Practice pt.4

I have finally completed my magazine front cover and contents page too.

The front cover was mostly explained previously. The new things in this updated version is the headline for the exclusive interview with the head boy and head girl of the sixth form. At the bottom there is also a promotion for WHSmith with a chance of winning a voucher for there, and this can be used to buy more school products such as stationary for example. I have included a date and a price for the magazine.

 

This is the contents page. Overall I think it is very minimal. I only managed to get the layout that I wanted, but not to a good enough quality. I got the picture of the common room that I needed, and despite it being blurry, I feel it is a good picture because there was a large number of students in the room at the time, which showed the communities of the sixth form. The contents had bright colours because they needed to be visible against the also bright background. The contents include things from outside the sixth form because the students are at a point in their lives where they have to get out and start working for themselves. I also included things relating to some subjects which were considered the most popular such as PE (football matches), sociology (meeting with MP), and history (expedition to caves).

Making Magazine Practice pt.3

So after some practice, I've decided that the picture of the first student I used was not going to work for my magazine, as the clothing and colours could not work. The colours were too similar or too different and I found it unappealing, so instead I decided to use a different student. Her clothing was much more better suited to my front cover ideas. Her red jumper was bright and also contributed to my idea of the general colour scheme of the magazine. In the bottom right, I used some pictures of one of my model friends, Sonam, and miraculously managed to edit them on Photoshop to make them transparent so that there isn't any white around the pictures to cover the main medium shot cover picture. Transparency also allows more than one picture of the model to be used and can also be overlapping slightly just to save some space. Her pictures take up more space on the cover and also make it eye catching. Sonam acts as the fashion model so that readers will know to expect fashion in the magazine, even if it school fashion. A white outline has been given to Sonam's pictures to make it look more professional. I've seen magazines such as Vogue giving their models white outlines, and I believe this would make it more visually appealing rather than just making them overlap with no outline.

The idea to have fashion in the magazine was drawn from the lack of school uniform from year 12 onwards. It was also drawn from the Phoenix magazine for King Edward VI High School for Girls.

Making Magazine Practice pt.2

It's the second day of making my magazine and I've already made changed the little work I've done so far in that I've removed it completely and decided to use a different layout.

I've decided to use a picture of a library as my background for the front cover image and put the medium shot front cover image on top of the background.

I also decided to use the image I've taken of one of my classmates as the front cover portrait image. I edited his image on Photoshop and so far I've only edited the background out so that I will be able to place his portrait on top of the library image without the background of the original image also being on top the library image and ruining it.

I'm learning the basics and I'm happy with my progress today, and now my biggest worry right now is fixing his collar.

Making Magazine Practice pt.1

I have finally started to make a magazine. It may become the final product if I feel it is good enough, but for now I am just considering this magazine a practice run.

So far I have only done the title. I am using the lines to measure and guide what goes where in the front cover. I have left the title white with an outline because I want to leave it white, but I am relying on the outline to make the title visible and readable. Later on I am going to add the multiple colours that reference the colour scheme in the building's common room. For the picture, I am not going to add any of the ones I have taken so far. Since the magazine is based around the sixth form community, I want the front cover to remind and instill a sense of pride in the sixth form, so I will try to take a picture of the sixth form's 'head boy' and 'head girl'. 

Magazine Cover and Contents Layout

I have been practicing making potential layouts for my magazine cover and contents page on Microsoft Publisher. As is it only the layout, it is not detailed.

This is the first cover layout I tried making. It is not detailed and I have already decided while I was making it that I was not going to use as it my front cover layout. It is very plain and looking at it, I know that it would not make a good cover if it was used.

This is the first contents page I tried making. I somewhat like this layout. My idea is to use a picture of the school's common room, and edit it to make it look darker, giving it a more moody, yet welcoming feel. The contents area is going to be solid white from the picture, fading into black or blue. I'd prefer to use blue since that's the main colour of the main school building, but then with the common room image, I want to make it so that it fades into black towards the edges.

This is the second front cover I made. I really like this layout because there is a lot on the cover, and this can capture a lot of eyes. This layout allows a lot of information on the cover, so anyone who sees it will know what to expect when they open the magazine. Since I can use multiple pictures of students, the cover will have a really communal feeling.

This is the second contents page. I don't like this one as much as the first one. There is a lot of unused space which is unappealing to me, and also unappealing to potential readers. When it comes to magazines, minimalism is not the way to go, in my opinion. The coloured spots are just the spots that I would add if I did decide to use this layout. This is not the entire colour scheme, but this is just an example. If I use spots, I will use the spots following the colour scheme of the common room.

Photography Day

In today's lesson, we have to practice taking photographs, so we are doing a photoshoot-like activity. From this activity, I should be able to practice my camerawork, improving which angles I take pictures in and the lighting too, making sure that I do not overexpose or underexpose my pictures.

No actual techniques were used in taking these pictures. I wasn't going for anything professional, these were just practice shots. Obviously, I will improve my picture taking skills, but I wasn't expecting anything brilliant today. Overall, the light is spread pretty evenly in the pictures, and nothing is overexposed or underexposed as we are able to see his entire face.

Magazine Titles

I have to start thinking of possible titles for my future magazine. Since the theme of the magazine is my school, I want to try and make the title centered around school and the future. However, I think that school-related titles will put readers off. It might be better to use shorter, unrelated titles.

The Common Room

This title is named after the entrance room in our building, and it is where everyone meets up. It is the most communal room in the building, and it's appropriate since the magazine is centered around school, so I hope that I can get multiple students in the building to cooperate with me and be included in the magazine. If I use this title, I would like to also be able to use a wide variety of colours for the colour scheme as our the common room is very colourful. Another thing about making the magazine based on the sixth form/college is that I will be able to make a better fashion page than just lower education schools, since there is no uniform in this building.

Keeping Up with Key Stage 4

If I use this title, then my magazine would have to be aimed at year 9's who are transitioning into year 10, and beginning Key Stage 4. The magazine would be based around giving advice on how to make sure the readers can get the most out of their GCSEs. Along with this, there will be advice on other things related to teenage life, such as struggling with friendships and relationships. Alternatively can be used as the title of a cover story.

Up

A shorter version of the previous one. However, since it is so short, the title can have many meanings behind it, so this one is really effective. Since the magazine is school-based, using a magazine with this title will probably mean the magazine is about achieving academically, so it would most likely mean the magazine will include revision tips. 

Introduction to Photography

Recently, a few of my classmates have made a presentation for the rest of our class about photography. Photography skills are obviously vital when it comes to media, and they were the only ones with any knowledge in photography, so who better to create the presentation? Their presentation taught the rest of us the basics when it comes to taking pictures.

When it comes to a school magazine, the picture on the left would be inappropriate because it is a medium shot, as opposed to the one on the right which is a medium close up. The medium shot would show too much of the person, which is unnecessary in a school magazine. Furthermore, the one on the right is also formally dressed, which is appropriate for a school.

We also learnt about 'overexposing' and 'underexposing' pictures. Overexposed basically means too bright, and underexposed basically means too dark. It is important to not overexpose or underexpose pictures because they need to be able to be seen, but when editing pictures, playing around with lights is a good thing because we are able to create different moods with different lights. This also links to black and white pictures. We need to be able to decide if a picture is better in colour or in just black and white. Making a picture in the monochrome colours can also create mood, but we need to decide what kind of message we want to convey in our pictures, and sometimes it may be better to just edit the lighting rather than the colours, depending on the desired mood and theme.

Survey Results

Today, I logged onto my SurveyMonkey account to check my results after emailing my survey to my classmates. Some of them responded and I was able to check their responses, but of course there's always those people who don't take surveys seriously.
On the other questions such as the music genre questions, the answers were pretty evenly spread out. This may mean that I will have to focus on multiple genres within one topic in my magazine, but as far as I'm concerned, they are only a test sample for my survey. In the future I will create a better survey for a wider audience and use their results.

The music question is pretty evenly spread out, and unfortunately, I don't really like most of these genres anyway. The comedy won the movie genre question. I guess I'll have to try and be funny in the magazine...

Adobe InDesign CS3 - Finished

As I said a few weeks ago, I would eventually come back to this. I've finally added the missing pictures and text. All that remains is some colour to the page which I haven't learned how to add yet. Not everything is in the exact place as it is in the magazine, and not all the pictures are the same as the ones in the magazine either. However, I like to think that I had a good attempt for my first time using Adobe InDesign.

Phoenix Magazine - Analysis of Content

The last task of the half term was to analyze some school magazines to find out what content I will need in my magazine. The school magazines I analyzed are from King Edward VI High School for Girls.

The first magazine I examined was the Phoenix 2007 Edition.

The contents page is minimalistic, and the white background contrasts the black text, making it easy to read.
The contents is based heavily on creative and performing art subjects, along with extra-curricular work. It could be centered around these subjects because they are more active subjects, but it could also be purely because of the school's curriculum. However, performing arts is something I might include in my future magazine. The 'Trips and Expeditions' and 'KEHS News' sections act as an event and notices type of section in the magazine.

The second one I checked was the 2008 edition.

Once again, the contents page is easy minimalistic and easy to read with the colour contrasts. This edition has more content than the previous one, and seems to be more focused on individuals rather than the school as a whole. There are pages on interviews and tributes with teachers. The contents of this edition also includes some of the school's history. Finally, this magazine also introduces reader interaction - something the previous magazine did not have.

So overall so far, the magazines are based heavily on the creative/performing arts subjects, and are very much for extra-curricular news. Teachers are also important to the school as they should know more than the students, but student interaction is also very important in school magazines, as they are the focus of the school.

Creating Questionnaires

In today's lesson, I had to create a questionnaire online to help me decide my target audience and content for my future magazine. This is the start of my questionnaire. I ask questions like age and gender as they are important factors in deciding content for my target audience.

After a while of thinking about which questions to use, I completed my questionnaire. This is the web link showing that I have made the survey.

Afterwards I had to email the web link to other people in my media class. They are a small sample and are acting as my pilot study sample. This is so I can find out how to improve my next survey for when I ask a wider audience. My task today is complete. 

Learning Adobe InDesign CS3

In the last session, I had to trace a page or two from a magazine, to get their layout. Then, we had to use Adobe InDesign CS3 to try and recreate the layout and everything else on the page. At first, I just created lines to try and get the positioning for the text and pictures right. I tried to make it almost like the magazine, trying to get every millimeter and centimeter right.

It is very confusing at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's more confusing trying to remember which lines create what.

I can't find the exact pictures on Google, and it's taking very long to find the exact font as well, so for now I'm trying to use the closest ones I can find. The proportioning of the text is also wrong, but I'm going to fix it eventually. For now, I will take a break from this and continue (and hopefully complete) it another day.

Magazine Analysis

As part of my course for media, I had to compare a few magazine covers and layouts to help me decide which layout would be best for my target audience. This activity was also done to help me decide who my target audience will be.

This magazine is thick, which means there should be some form of quality within it. The title is white, which contrasts with the black background, making it easy to see. The red colour also somewhat contrasts the black background. The colour red is used to represent danger, and the theme of danger is also continued in the headline 'Murder and the media'.
The target audience is for teenagers as the magazine is based around the subject of sociology - a subject that a lot of teenage students are learning, or want to learn. The bloody handprint also sticks out to teenagers as a lot of them are interested in crime and gory things. 'Sex, lies and deviance' will also stick out to a lot of teenagers, as these are some of the main things that the majority of teenagers will/do experience.

This magazine is very similar to the last one in that it is also based around an academic subject with a similar target audience. The background is much brighter than the previous one however. There is a picture of a salmonella bacterium which is green and has some black around the cell, contrasting the really bright background. The text on the cover is white, which gives it an sophisticated, academic look to the cover.
The readers are also addressed on the cover, as they are asked for their 'Name, address, hair colour?'

This news article is different in that it's not a magazine, but a newspaper instead. This could make a big different in who the intended target audience is. However, while newspapers are normally presented in the media as being shown read by adults or elderly people, this media is an exception in that it's meant for 'young people' as shown at the top right (teenagers). The cover picture has a colour scheme of blue and white, and also has a picture of a kid with the Scottish flag painted on his face, and this links to the main topic of the newspaper, which is about the children's opinion on Scottish independence.
Compared to most newspapers, this one has more colour than most. This could be to appeal to the younger eye, as the intended audience is teenagers. The newspaper isn't as thick as most newspapers either, which could be to not put off teenagers from reading.

Like the previous one, this is a more patriotic magazine, being heavily based on the theme of anything American. The magazine is thick, which means there has to be some quality to it. The people on the cover are dressed in an old fashioned manner, and are sitting on a hat with the theme of the American flag. The slogan 'Land of grit and glamour' is used to attract readers into American culture. There is also a theatre theme, as the words 'drama', 'showbiz', and 'scandal' are also the main topics of the magazine. They are also all put in capitals and have an exclamation mark at the end to stress the gossip they have, along with making it easy to see. The magazine is also somewhat shiny, and this can be a bad thing as it can make them hard to read. Along with the white cloud background, it's still has to read, but the colour fades into a blue colour, which fixes it. At the top, there are titles, and are put into separate colours so that the readers can differentiate between them.

I also took pictures of some of the layouts within the magazines, so that I can get some ideas when it comes to the time where I have to make my own magazine page. The first magazine is a double page spread, and has the same colour scheme throughout. This could be done to not distract the reader, as these two pages are very informative. 

This one is different in that it's not a double page spread, but both are somewhat advertising something different. This one is less text heavy, and it's a good thing as it's meant to be advertising, and not teaching. 

This is the final one. This is a comparison between two sources. It seems that age has a significant impact on the type of layout, font, colours etc used. However, mood is also present on the Acton High School article as well, as it is formally informative, but also done to celebrate achievements in the school.

Introduction

This is my OCR AS Media portfolio blog which will be used to show my development in media skills and development throughout the media course.

Over the year I will be doing two tasks, consisting of a preliminary exercise and a main task.

The preliminary exercise will demonstrate my image manipulation skills, and how I will use those skills to create a front page of a school magazine. I will also produce a DTP mock-up of the contents page to show of my skill with the DTP program.

The main task will require me to create a front page, contents page, and double page spread of a music magazine.