Production Log - Lesson 7

Research of Similar Product Material - Front Cover Analysis

This is my analysis of similar magazine front covers to the style of magazine I want to make. This helped me see the different styles of magazines and also the genre of magazine that there are. I believe this will help me in chosing the design for the front cover of my magazine and also the kind of artists I want to include.

Production Log - Lesson 6

In todays lesson, I tiedied up my blog and made sure that it was organised and easily accessible. I sorted out all of my lables and made sure that all of the work I had done, had been handed in. As well as this I also started my research task for similar products to my magazine and set up a lable for that called 'Research'. Next lesson I hope to continue with my magazine research and also gain some ideas for what I could aspire my magazine to be like.

Production Log - Lesson 5

In todays lesson, I did two things; firstly I edited my blog to make it look professional and then I evaluated my preliminary task. Stasrting with editing my blog, I just changed a few things in regards to design and layout to make it look appealing as well as professional. Moreover, I made sure my embed quotes were in the right place so that everything worked as it should. I then moved on to evaluating my preliminary task. This was fairly easy as I have evaluated in many subjects prior to media so I was able to easily depict the good and bad aspects of my magazine. I did a faily detailed evaluation as i wanted to ensure I could justify what I did, why I chose to do it and how I believed it would be effective/not effective. Next lesson I shall be learning how to film my work and post it.

Evaluation of my preliminary task

Evaluation of my preliminary task

During the first two weeks of AS Media we were required to complete a preliminary task in the style of a school news magazine. We used the software InDesign and Photoshop. I find both of these applications easy to use as I previously did media at GCSE level so I already knew the basic skills of how to make a magazine. I believe the skills I used best were the text tools as my prior knowledge enabled me to move text (e.g. bringing it together so it’s all in alignment) to try to give my magazine a professional feel/follow similar conventions of a news magazine.  

I titled my magazine ‘Haydon News’ as it was straight and to the point so everyone, whether it be teachers or students, will know what it’s about. I also believe my use of bold colours (black, red and white) would entice students and teachers to pick up a copy of the magazine as it is eye-catching and clear as to what it is about.

Moreover, I tried to keep the house style to 4 specific colours: black, white, red and blue. I decided to do this as it kept my magazine looking professional and trustworthy as well as clear and bold.  They also incorporate similar colours to Haydon’s uniform and logos with the colours black, white and blue; this was a good idea as it relates the magazine specifically to Haydon.

 On my front cover I decided to use a picture of a new year 7 boy as the full bleed as year 7’s typically look smarter than older years as they are new and also much more enthusiastic. He is represented as a happy and enthusiastic which not only highlights him in a positive light but also reflects well on the school if anyone else other than students/teachers were to see/read the magazine. This was also good as it would entice people to pick up a copy of the magazine as the happy face and thumbs up makes him look appealing to the audience.

Furthermore, I also tried to keep the headings of the articles within my magazine quite short and sweet so students could just walk past and see if it was something they wanted to read about. I also made the topics relevant to a variety of students and teachers so that they would feel getting the magazine would be useful.

In addition to this, I kept the magazine as a free product as students don’t have a lot of money and would probably be more likely to spend it on sweets at the shops after school, so this way students feel like they’re getting a freebee through it not costing anything; however if it was popular I would consider charging 20p to start with so I could possibly gain profit as that is something I currently wouldn’t be getting.

Moving on to my contents page, I decided to keep this fairly straight forward and simple so that it easy to navigate no matter what age, experience or reading ability. I chose to do this as I understand that both teachers and all levels of students will be reading the magazine and will want to be able to access information quickly and easily. I did this by making sure the text was easy to read, the colour was clear and that it wasn’t too small e.g. I kept the page numbers bold and relatively big so the magazine was easy to navigate. I also highlighted the article names that I kept the same as those on the front page so not to cause confusion and also to make them stand out as important.

In addition to this, I continued with the same house style just so I could keep it at the same level of style as the front cover.

Finally, I decided to use a range of pictures involving both students, teachers, food and the general school environment so that it was both enjoyable and easily understandable magazine for everyone. Moreover in all of the pictures I made sure they were clear and good quality so to reflect and represent the students and the school itself as a very positive and happy environment to be a part of. I decided to include the picture of the head teacher as this enforces that my magazine is reliable as it is approved by him and it also makes it clear for students, outsiders to see and know who the head teacher is and what his school has got going on.

Analysis of previous AS Media blogs - Johnny Fonseca

This is my analysis of a previous blog by an AS Student called Johnny Fonsecca. I believe I did this well as I made sure I analysed in lots of detail and said what I throught he did well and not so well with his blog. I believe this will help me when figuring out what I need to include in my blog and also the level of the work I want to achieve at the end of the course.

Final preliminary task

Final Preliminary Task

 

 

This is my final front page and contents page for my preliminary task. I believe they have been successful because they adhere to the codes and conventions of news magazines e.g. having a masthead and a button.

 

 

Production Log - Lesson 4

Today I managed to finish my preliminary task. I completed the front cover last lesson and also made a start on the contents page; so this meant that I only had to finish off the contents page this lesson which wasnt a very tedious or time consuming task as I have done it before. I am happy with the final product of my preliminary task as, despite it not being my best piece of media work, it definitely fits the criteria we were given. I shall begin evaluating it next lesson.

Production Log - Lesson 3

Today we continued with designing our school magazine front cover and contents page. I finished my 'Haydon News' front cover as shown here and am currently in the middle of my contents page. Next lesson I aim to of finished my contents page too!

Production Log - Lesson 2

Today we carried on with our coursework and for this we were required to use InDesign. Personally I enjoy using InDesign as I have used it before at GCSE so I already have prior knowledge of all the tips and tricks! My magazine front cover is coming along well and I am going to continue with it next media lesson.

Planning of my preliminary task

This is a powerpoint of some of my preliminary task ideas. They helped to shape my preliminary task product as I always had somethuing to go back to, to get inspiration and ideas from that I may have forgot to consider along the way. It had ideas such as titles and pictures I could include which was really useful to refer back to. I believe it helped me in creating my final design and is a really good representation of a small part of my planning skills.

Production Log - First Day

Today I had my first ever AS Media lesson! It all went pretty fast but I managed to keep up relatively well (I think). We were introduced to the coursework aspect of the AS course and got thrown straight into the deep end by being asked to sketch out designs for a front cover and contents page for a school magazine. I didn't struggle too much with this as in doing media at GCSE I had sketched for comics and magazines before. I finished the task pretty quickly, and although my artistic skills are much to be desired, the basic layout was there. Once that was checked over by my teacher, Mr Robson, me and some other students got to go out and take some pictures for our front cover and contents page. Admittedly, they aren't the best pictures I've ever taken but they will suffice for now until I get the opportunity to take some more. I really enjoyed my first lesson and look forward to seeing what else AS Media has to throw at me.