Double Page Spread

Points to remember:

1. In terms of layout the most important thing to remember is the sense of proportion. You could fit 6 columns of text across an A3 spread.
2. You want a sense of the brand identity flowing throughout your magazine.
3. Use the exact typography of your title as a brand identity on all your pages.
4. Have a variety of images taken on different locations and with different clothes, you may only use 2 live performance images.
5. Think in terms of 'Representation'. How are you representing your artist or group?
Old, established icons?
New, groundbreaking artists?
Sex symbol?
Boy/girl next door?
6. This visual representation should be continued in the copy that you write. Are they a serious artist or are they more of a pop/celebrity artist? Will you use a pun or play on words in your title that sets the tone of the article?
7. Who is your target audience? What do they want to read about in the article? What sort of language would they expect to read? Chatty colloquialisms or specialist, referenced language?
8. Does the magazine as an institution have an on going relationship with the artist? Is there an enticement, free, cd, or tour to promote? Are they in awe of the artist or is there a sense of criticism within the representation.

22nd Nov

You should be finishing the front cover today. Think about a colour scheme, don't obscure the models facial features.

Tuesday 16th Nov

Task for this week,

Create a reader profile and brand profile for your music magazine.

Look here 
 and incorporate the language from the powerpoint you saw today.

Aim to have this completed by the end of the week.

Really good courses in Southend

These are based at TAP in Southend, very cheap for these kinds of courses

Presentation from big chief

View more presentations from petefrasers.

Nice, zippy presentation device

Sign up to use

Labelling your blog

Don't forget to clearly label all your posts on your blog, you may wish to link to a separate one for your music magazine.

eg: Student magazine: Flatplan
Music Magazine: Focus Group

etc.

It is not up to the examiner to make sense of your work, you have to make it really clear.

Issues to consider: Institution and Audience

Research the institutions that produce your favourite music magazines.
How have they diversified from print magazines? Why do you think this is?
Cross media platforms: how do these utilize new platforms?

Issues to consider: Genre and Representation

Try and identify the codes and conventions within your chosen genre.
Music style, typical song content and themes
Appearance of artists and fans
Lifestyle/entertainment choices of the fanbase- consider the products that are advertised in the magazine. What tastes do these portray?

You should present a reader profile/mood board of your typical reader & consider the representation of lifestyle and youth identity, gender and race are you representing. Have you used stereotypes positively or negatively?

8th November

You need to be completing your mini documentaries to show on Wednesday.

After this generic research you then need to turn your attention to audience to ensure your publication targets its audience effectively.

From your focus group, discover how they 'satisfy their interest in music'. You should then incorporate these ideas into your planning for your artefact.

Researching music magazines

Study  a range of music magazines and examine their advertising information. Think about how audiences are targeted in terms of:

editorial decisions
design principles
mode of address (language or register)
balance of promotion and critique.

Prepare a short documentary film illustrating these points for at least 4 different music magazines.
You may briefly mention the history or development of the magazines first.
You can prepare it as a powerpoint that you provide a narration over.

half term work

1. Read the booklet I gave you on the history of the music press. This should be annotated and highlighted on your return.
2. Take photos to include in your music magazine. You need at least 3 different artists/scenarios.

11th October

Work for this week.
1. All textual analysis should be completed
2. Focus Group
3. What is the purpose of a flatplan? Consider and answer this question.
Look here for an electronic template

4. Also look at



5. Create your flatplan(fine to be handdrawn). Get some feedback from your focus group. Consider how its done in the industry for example from here

My Life Reader Panel: How/Who/What?

What is the My Life Reader Panel?

The My Life Mail reader panel was launched in March 2007 to enable the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday to develop insights into the attitudes and behaviours of the readership.
Brief Overview of Reader Panel

• Total Number of Panellists: 6,000 Daily Mail/The Mail on Sunday Readers
• Readership Criteria:
  • Daily Mail Readers  - read in the last month
  • The Mail on Sunday Readers - read within the last 3 months
• Data weighted to AIR - NRS Average Issue Readership
• Methodology:  Online/ secure web based portal
• Response rate: 35%-40%
• Questionnaire length: 20-25mins
• Research Agency: Kantar Media

Associated Newspapers Limited, along with Kantar Media has created a secure web-based portal where readers can answer the questionnaires. Other features include newscorner, charity tracker and discussion area
6. Consider Typography & content
7. Start laying out your front cover: It should be completed by 18th October when we will start on Music Magazine research.

Work for Monday 4th October

1. All your blogs should have 3 textual analysis on them.
2. Upload your mid shot images. Put up ones you have rejected as well as those you consider suitable for a prospectus and/or a student magazine.
3. Flatplan some designs for your front cover. This means sketching out how you want it to look.
4. Photograph these and upload to your blog.
5. Show flatplans to focus group (whose profiles should also be on your blog) and ask them which they prefer and why.
6. Research the meaning of the term 'Typography'. WHen you have found out what this means, consider what typography you intend to use.

Look at each others blogs and last years. Some of you are falling behind already, you really need to keep on top of this.

Glossary Test Wednesday 21st September

You need to write a sentence explaining the meaning of the word and giving an example.
signifier
signified
polysemic
mediating
representation
target audience
genre
format
hybrid genre
micro elements
macro sum
multi modal
verisimilitude

What you have to do:

Print
Preliminary excercise : using DTP and Photoshop, produce:
1. The front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead.
2. A mock-up of the layout of the contents page.

3. Main task: the front page, contents and double age spread of a new music magazine.
All images and text used must be original and produced by you. You must include a minimum of four images.

4. Blogging: Presentation of the research, planning and evaluation should be done in the format of a blog. This MUST be kept up to date. It should be as multi- platform as possible, for instance, you can film your focus group & interview them about magazines. You could film your photo shoot. Scan your flatplans & include those. You should include screen shots of links & quotes to research sources. Try nimating your mood board & include background music. You could keep a video diary of your progress through the work. You can create powerpoint presentations & upload them to slideshare to include on your blog. You can record a podcast of you answering the evaluation questions.

The more imaginative and multi-modal, the better!


Assessment:This unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for presentation of the planning and research; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation

Analysing Magazines

Some useful prompts to think about when analysing magazines.

Consider the title of the magazine: Why is it called that?What are the significant words?What connotations do they have?
The publisher of the magazine: Who publishes the magazine? What other magazines (if any) does it publish? What other media interests (if any) does it have?
How much does the magazine cost? How often is it published?
What is its circulation/readership?Does the magazine have a website?

The target audience for the magazine: What type of reader is it targeting?
How do you know this (i.e. types of articles and advertisements)?
How does the reader ‘interact’ with the magazine?
The cover of the magazine: Analyse the images on the cover; the types of facial expressions, body language, clothing, etc used.
What do they tell us about the target audience for the magazine? What else appears on the cover?
Why are particular typefaces, types of graphics, colours, etc used? Why are particular items in the magazine featured? Does the cover look similar to other magazines? If so, why? If not, how does it look different?
The ‘style’ of presentation of the magazine:What do you notice about the magazine’s presentation? Does it look cheap or expensive? How does it compare with other similar magazines? How does it use colour, print style, artwork, etc, to convey an overall effect?

The ‘mode of address’ of the magazine: How does it address its reader? How and when are readers allowed to address the magazine?What types of articles/features does it contain? What subjects are covered?
The advertisements that appear in the magazine: What are the main types of products being advertised? What is their price range? Who are they aimed at? Why are these products featured particularly? How do the models featured in the advertisements relate to the target audience?

Representations in the magazine: How are men and women represented? (look at both the images and the text) re there conflicting representations? If so, why is this? How do these representations relate to readership? Is there a limited range of representations for men and women? If so, what are they and why?
What groups do not appear in the pages of the magazine? Why?
Are celebrities featured in the magazine? If so, what kinds of celebrities? Why have they been chosen? The competition for the magazine: What other titles are in competition with it?What are their circulation/readership figures? How much do they cost? What are the similarities/differences?
and finally...
What do you think are the reasons for its popularity (or otherwise)? What does the magazine offer its readers? What ‘values’ or ideologies are implicit in the magazine?

Work for Monday 6th September 2010

Outline of course.




Assessment Objectives


Candidates are expected to demonstrate the following in the context of the content described:

AO1

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates,

using terminology appropriately and with accurate and coherent written expression.

AO2

• Apply knowledge and understanding to show how meanings are created when analysing

media products and evaluating their own practical work.

AO3

• Demonstrate the ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and

creative skills.

AO4

• Demonstrate the ability to undertake and apply appropriate research.



2. Intro to using SLR cameras.
Use of lighting,
 framing,
 composition,
depth of field,
codes of gesture,
expression,
clothing.


3. Using the above techniques take images of each other to evoke sentiments of:
surprise
suspence
anger
love

4. Upload into Photoshop

5. Choose one to create a film poster.

The Course Outline

AS
GS322 Key Media Concepts TV Drama: Exam
GS321 Foundation Portfolio: Coursework


Print


Preliminary excercise : using DTP and Photoshop, produce:

1. The front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead.

2. A mock-up of the layout of the contents page.



3. Main task: the front page, contents and double age spread of a new music magazine.

All images and text used must be original and produced by you. You must include a minimum of four images.



4. Blogging: Presentation of the research, planning and evaluation should be done in the format of a blog. This MUST be kept up to date. It should be as multi- platform as possible, for instance, you can film your focus group & interview them about magazines. You could film your photo shoot. Scan your flatplans & include those. You should include screen shots of links & quotes to research sources. Try nimating your mood board & include background music. You could keep a video diary of your progress through the work. You can create powerpoint presentations & upload them to slideshare to include on your blog. You can record a podcast of you answering the evaluation questions.



The more imaginative and multi-modal, the better!





Assessment:This unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for presentation of the planning and research; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation