Having A Go At Making A How To Video

In Media we had a go at shooting our own How To Video. Me and Natasha chose to film; 'How To Turn On A Light Switch.' We also edited it by putting different effects in and adding music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G1--6B-LQo

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin: Dancing in the Distraction 1992

Theory:

1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.)

Example: Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw&playnext=1&videos=Si6Yv204L14&feature=artistob

2. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again visuals either illustrate,amplify or contradict the music.)

Example: Mitchell Musso - Hey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH3skU9C4T8

3.Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography (such as live stage performance in heavy rock.)

Example: Westlife- Flying Without Wings (Boy band Pop)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1LEISP6e9c

4.There will be demand on the part of the record company for a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.

Example: Justin Bieber - One Less Lonely Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXUSaVw3Mvk&ob=av2e

5. There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of females, but also in terms of the systems of looking. (screens within screens, binoculars, cameras, etc.)

Example: Aaron Carter - I'm All About You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpqGEUQK1CU

6. There are likely to be intertexual references either to other music videos or to films and tv texts.

Alien Ant Farm - Movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ2t4jfVTiU&feature=channel

Review of the 6th of September

In media today we watch 2 examples of short films. To see what we could learn from threm and to see if we could use some of the techniques used; in our own work. We were specifically looking at the features of the short films, how they Informan, Entertain and Educate.
The first of the two short films was; 'The Urban Savannah' directed by; Mathew Cook and Vincent Lund. It was made in the UK in 2004. The basic idea of this short film was; the observation and study of animals in packs but humans were used istead. A group of 'skaters' and 'townies' were used. The features were; an explanatory commentry. There was always someone doing a voiceover in the camera; explaining what was actually going on infront of the camera. Experts were also used. In studys like this to do with animals they always used expertise, so they decided to use them in the study of humans to get some true facts and information. The whole thing was observational; they were only observing the characters, the character didn't actually interact with them. So it was basically a 'Fly on the wall.' To catch the characters behaving like themselves normally. As they would call it; 'Them in they're own habitat' The use of dramatic events made the whole thing a bit more interesting and a bit more comedic. The way the short film informed the audience was; through the formal language. This is because they want to grab people's attention by speaking formally to them but then making the video a bit of a joke because it works well together. Also the terms used help identify the scientific yet comedic nature of the film; words like; 'Dominant male.' This short film entertains the audience by using humour; like taking events that actually happen and making them funny; like arguments and fighting. Like using the teenagers as animals. This short film educates the audience by having experts giving them information to educate them; using they're expertise. I learnt that I could use to things at put them together; like using teenagers as animals. So this was kind of like a documentary but a humourus film aswell.
The second short film we looked at was 'I love my nails.' This was directed by Katherine Freeman and made in the Uk in 2000. For this short film they're was a much closer view of things actually in the camera. It was an observational look at the nails and the people in the salon but also they interacted with camera. They chatted to the camera about the nail salon. The camera followed choronologically because the camera followed the women getting they're nails done hand by hand. The language used in this short film was informal because it's just normal people talking to the camera, there wasn't any commentry to it because it wasn't really a documentry. It's just a look at a nail salon and chatting to people in it. Also the camera does special artistic clips using the nails, some are also comedic. I have learnt from this that; in any clips that I do I can mix it up a bit and put a bit of artistic ideas into them. Also the shots and angles really matter when you are shooting.

How To... Example Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7yaX9-GNeU

A2 Media - Evaluation of Task 2

Task: To produce a sequence paying particular attention to mise-en-scene and camera angles.
Task description: The phone call.

For this I had to evaluate the skill level of the camera work using these skill levels; minimal, basic proficient and excellent. The skills that I had to acces my 'phone call' on were; the ability to hold a shot steady, framing a shot appropriately, using a variety of shot distances as appropriate, shooting material appropriateto the task set and selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting. For the skill; the ability to hold a shot steady I rated it as just being basic. This is because it was a bit shakey in some areas. Though in some parts I rate it as being proficient because we used a tripod, so the camera work was completely still when we used the tripod. The only thing I could suggest so it wouldn't be as shakey would be to use the tripod a bit more. For the skill; framing a shot appropriately I rated it a being proficient because we made sure we framed it very well; using a dolly shot and put a panning shot in to help frame the shot as well to start the scenes of. For the skill; using a variety of shot distances as appropriate I rated it as being profiecient. This is because we definetly used a good range of shot distances. Although it isn't perfect; to make it better we could put a few more in to show we are capable of more than the original video. For the skill; shooting material appropriate to the task set I rated it as being excellent. This is because we did exactely what the task asked us to do; making sure we had all of the criteria in it because it did ask us for certain shots. So we made sure it was all in there making this skill rated as; excellent. For the skill; slecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting I rated it as being excellent. I rated this so high because I thought we did a good job with the mise-en-scene we chose for different scenes. For example one of the characters was a gangster after money someone owes him. So we decided to put him infront of a graffitied wooden fence, we also added in someone to play his girlfriend and we gave him sunglasses. This mise-en-scene helped to make the scene go with the storyline, so people would get what was going on and what type of character he was. All together I think this was an improvement to task 1 because in this task I have rated some of the skills higher than in task 1. So this is evidence of; the more you use the camera and practise filming different things your skills improve with it. Overall I feel like this task was a success. Though there are things we could change and improve to make it better. Including; using a tripod to make the camera not so shakey and using more shot distances to make 'the phone call' look more proffessional and so show we are capable of doing more.

A2 Media - Evaluation of Task 1

Task: To produce a sequence showing shots, angles and movements
Task description: A guided walk around the school

When it came to this task, we had to do a guided tour around the school. The equipment we used was; a camera and a tripod. For the evaluation of this task I have to evaluate the following skills of the task; the ability to hold a shot steady, framing a shot appropriately, using a variety of shot distances as appropriate, shooting material appropriate to the task set and selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting. I had to evaluate these skills using either; minimal, basic, proficient or excellent. When I evaluated the skill to hold a shot steady, I rated i being basic. This is because In parts of the tour of the school it was a bit shakey. We did use a tripod for some of the filming but next time using experience from this we will probably use the tripod more than we did. I rated the skill; framing a shot appropriately as proficient because we zoomed in and panned a lot in the tour so it looked a bit more professional and obvious that we were trying to frame the shots properly. For the skill; use a variety of shot distances as appropriate I rated it as just being basic. This is because I think we only really used a lond distance shot so next time a few more shot distances would be recommended. For the skill; shoot material appropriate to the task set, I rated it as being excellent. This is because it was a guided tour of the school; we showed classrooms, the front view of the school, other areas wihin the school, talked to a teacher and talked to a student aswell. So we definetely shot the material appropriate to the task that was set. The last skill that I rated was; selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting. I rated this as just being basic because I think we could have thought more about the mise-en-scene, objects, lighting ect. I think it all is a bit basic because we didn't really put that much thought into this skill that we could have used. All together I feel like we could have put more thought into the overall task; using more shot distances, using a tripod and thinking more about the mise-ene-scene. We could achieve a better completed task if we thought of and did these things the next time we do a task.

My Prezi

http://prezi.com/yk_7drxuewuq/

Music Magazine Evaluation: 'Country'

This is my finished music magazine. I created it using adobe photoshop. Creating this magazine and also doing the peliminary task which is the school magazine has helped develop my skills in both photoshop and blogger; from the first task right down to this evaluation.























1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The music magazine genre I chose was; Country. When I researched Country magazines on Google there were a lot of images that came up, I noticed quite a big thing that kept popping up though; they were all from the 1970's or 1980's. This is because in our days music like RnB and dance are the most popular genres now. When it came to the front cover I wanted to keep it quite simple because that's what the Real magazines do. They don't put any big fancy images or writing in, they keep it plain and simple. They let the articles within the magazine do the talking for them. So that's what I decided to do. The picture that I used on the front cover was of a girl twirling in a field wearing a long dress and cowboy boots. Now this is what I wanted to go for, I wanted to keep it stereotypical. If this is what people wanted to believe Country music is like then this is what they will see in the magazine. Also since the 1970's Country music has always been about cowboy hats and acoustic guitars, I wanted to continue and develop that stereotype in my magazine. Although, there is one thing that I chose to challenge; when I looked at the images of the Real Country magazines, I noticed that the people that were on the front cover were men. All of the people on my front cover and in my magazine are women. This shows that since the 1970's when these magazines were published, the music has widened to a different audience and different society who are actually in the business because back then it was mostly men. Now look how times have changed; it's 2010 after all.

2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
There are two social groups represented in my music magazine; they are late teenagers to mid twenty's and Country music lover. When you see the images in and on my magazine, even though they are the artists they are still the same age as the target audience. It shows thats the teenage social groups aren't afraid to say what they like and what they don't and they like country music. It paints them in a good light considering the bad press and teens have been getting for so many years. The other social group would be; Country music lovers. Which are most likely to be as I said sixth form students or/and aspiring musicians. What the magazine says about them is they consider the better things when it comes to music and they like to be different. They don't want to be like everyone and do what they are doing. This is why I have added in a competiton to win an acoustic guitar signed by two famous musicians.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When it came to the kind of media institution that I wanted to distribute my magazine in, there were two major institutions that I looked at; Bauer and IPC. I researched both of these media institutions and first of all i considered Bauer because it is a big worldwide institution that distributes magazines to 15 different countries. Then I thought everyone of these county's are bound to have a Country music magazine but the UK doesn't. The IPC media is just national and not worldwide, it only publishes in the UK. This is why I went with IPC because my music magazine would take of here in the UK because there isn't anything like it; Country. So there is a big gap in IPC for it.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
My music magazine is a Country music magazine, so obviously like all other magazines they have to have an interest in the music genre that the magazine is. So to be interested in, read and buy this magazine they have to be interested in Country music. The gender that will most likely be interested in this magazine will be females. The reason it will most likely be women is because stereotypically boys/men are interested in either R&B, rock, punk or screamo and girls are known to like a softer music like pop. So country is more in the areas of the female presuasion because it is a softer sound and when you think country you imagine girls with long dresses, cowboy boots, acoustic guitars playing on fields. The ages of the audience that would read my music magazine are; 17-25 year olds. This is because these are years they are at Sixth form/college and University. They could be studying music at university or sixth form or they could even just be interested in music but not studying. They may just feel music is a way of escaping from they're busy schedules of university. Country music is a good way to express yourself because it is very REAL. It isn't really fake at all, mostly everything is acoustic in the genre. This is what they're occupations are most likely to be; university student or sixth form student. As I said before they most likely will be studying music in Uni or Sixth Form if they're are passionate about the music that they listen to; Country. They're interests would mostly likely be; REAL music, acoustic music. They will be quite smart and maybe a bit higher class to appreciate Country music. Also they will have a different taste of everything to alot of people they're age group. They will like to do things that are different to what everyone else is doing. They like to express the fact that they are different.


5.How did you attract/address your audience?
When it came to actually addressing and attracting my audience which as I have already established are; girls aged 17-25. So to attract them I put used things such as posters, concert stickers, exclusive interviews and competitions. I knew that if I put in that there was posters included of boys, the girls would want to buy it straight away because steriotypically girls are obsessed with boys and even more; male musicians. So this would attract them to buy the magazine. I knew that if I put that my magazine contained stickers the buyers would want it because everyone loves a freeby, this is because the magazine is worth the money because of the freebys inside it. Exclusive interviews were included because anyone who listens to music and in this case country music has to be interested in the artists and the new music involving them. So when it comes to seeing the magazine they might see a line from an article involving the band they like or just the bands name like for example on my music magazine; 'The Cherries.' Someone might see they're name and want to buy the magazine because they want to read that exclusive interview. Also if they are especially interested in Country music, the title; 'COUNTRY' will catch they're eyes and they will notice that it is a country magazine. When it came to the overall look of the magazine, I kept to Country colours like using grass and fields as background; keeping it very stereotypical. Also the clothes are stereotypical as well. If the audience likes Country music then they will be drawn to this magazine because it is obvious to what music genre it is because of the clothes and colour scheme.

6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When it came to actually makeing the product on Photoshop at first I really didn't know what


I was doing. The only things I really knew how to do were; adding pictures in and cropping them. As I was going along I learned that it's not that hard using Photoshop. As time went on and I was using it almost everyday I picked up how to do something new and use different tools. Some of the new things I learnt how to do or change were; the effects of different pictures, the backgrounds, add text in with different fonts and colours and use the different tools in the side bar. If I was faced with another task involving Photoshop, I would be ready for it because of the things I have learnt involving using it for this task. The second technology I used was cameras; taking pictures for the magazine. Everyone knows that I am hopeless at using a camera. All you have to do is push one button and it done. I usually cut people's heads off, so I normally ask someone to take the pictures for me. I couldn't do this, this time because I had to take them myself. So I learnt how to actually take descent pictures and upload them to the computer as well. When I was using the camera, I was also thinking about the camera angles as well because this is what media has taught me to do over the years.

7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at the preliminary task which was; the school magazine I feel that more in all of the areas including; using cameras, camera angles and how to use Adobe Photoshop. When you look at my magazines the comparisons and differencies are definetly big and seeable. You can clearly tell which is the better one that I spent most of my time on. My music magazine is the best one because after using photoshop for the first task and using it for so long on the second task it got easier to use therefore made everything look better because I knew what I was doing. I feel that I have learnt how to use Photoshop properly and how to edit pictures and make a successful piece of work. I think that I learnt how to make things look better and more professional. Also how to manage my time more on it because on the first task I didn't manage my time very well, so I made sure I did on this task. So I didn't spend ages on just tweeking the small things. Since the first task I think I have used learnt more about camera angles and learnt how to use them in my work, even if I'm not even thinking about it. I think I have learnt that when I'm using a camera it's not just about taking the picture. It's making sure everything to do with the mise-ene scene is right too. Like the background and the clothes because when it comes to putting it on or in the magazine it has to go with the theme and even the colour scheme.

Feedback
We all wanted feedback on our magazine so a few of the class analysed my music magazine and answered a few questions on it. From these answers I found good points, bad points and improvements. A good point about the answers was the audience. All of the students that answered the questions all guessed the right target audience that I predicted to this means that this really would be the target audience of the magazine. Other good points were; good house style, bright exciting colours, consistant pictures and they stand out as well and the language suits the magazine as well. The bad points that kept popping up was; the text overlapping and the pictures looking too streched. So if I was going to make any improvements I would space the article out a bit more and not try as hard to make the picture bigger and fit on the page more.

My Completed Music Magazine

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Kerrang Presentation

Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4

Slide 5

Audience Profile of Hammer Magazine

For this task we have to write an audience profile for any music magazine that we looked at during our media lessons. I chose to look at the Rock music magazine; Hammer.

I think the particular age of the readers who read this magazine is 16+. This is because there are certain images and articles that under 16 year old's wouldn't really want to read and wouldn't find very pleasent. The articles and images may be old for them. It's like a 13 year old reading it; it's not for them. It's for the readers over 16 who like the lifestyle and maybe live it themselves. The particular gender of this magazine would mostly be male because the music is all about rock and roll, sex and drugs. This is what the music and lifestyle of the rock bands are based around. Just look at the magazine; there is a band with machine guns and explosions all around them. So stereotypically you would associate this type of bahaviour and music with men because they like anything violent, blood and gore and the idea of a rock and roll lifestyle. The most likely occupation of the readers that read; 'Hammer' is probably students at sixth form or college who like rock and roll. Or maybe the people who work at special rock places in towns for example like; The Sqaure in Harlow. There are like over 20 year olds who like rock and roll and who have that type of style, they would definetly read this magazine. Also teachers who teach students how to play the guitar and things like that, who adopt a particular style and like for rock and roll so they teach it through things like Rock School at The Sqaure. Also the type of people who like working backstage at gigs that low key rock bands play at, they just like to be around anything rock and roll. The interests of these people would most probably be going to rock concerts, playing the guitar or drums, being in a band, getting tatoos, piercings and anything rebelious really. The social class of people who read this magazine would be middle class. This is because the magazine isn't particulary expensive and you don't need much money. So the people who read this magazine aren't going to be upper class snobs, they will just be middle class musiicians or wherever they work who love rock music and the lifestyle.

So that is the audience for; 'Hammer' but how does the magazine target it's audience? Well, we know that audience are mostly men and most males like violence, explosions, fighting, guns and anything rebelious. So the magazine promotes this on the front page by making it as viloent as possibel. They put two men from a band looking very hard and muscly surrounded by explosions and using big machine guns. The colours are mostly browns, yellows and oranges so to show the explosions and fires. The magazine is telling the readers that you have to be hard and extreme to read this magazine. So it is almost saying you are girly if you don't read this magazine. The readers will think they need to buy this magazine in order to keep they're; 'manly' status. This method is very effective because it makes men think that they have to buy this magazine in order for them to keep they're status and to let everyone know they are extreme enough to read this magazine. Also with the magazine there are free gifts; a dog tag necklace, posters and a CD, because it is mostly middle class people who read this magazine they will love freebees because they know they don't have to pay through the nose for it, which they can't afford. Also the dog tag necklace represents the rock and roll atmosphere that readers love so much so they will want to buy this magazine. Also the posters are the bands that the readers listen to so if they see that the posters are in the magazine they will want to buy it. The magazine is appealing to the readers interests through the posters. Also the CD contains new bands for 2010, readers love finding and hearing new rock and roll bands so that's why they have put the CD in here. They love all of the freebees because this is stuff they wouldn't be able to buy normally, they couldn't waste they're money because they need it for more important things. But in this magazine you get; a dog tag, a CD and psoters for just £4.25 so readers can afford to buy it because they love a good bargain! On the magazine there are different bands mentioned on the front cover with little extracts from the articles under them, they have done this because the readers know these bands because some of them are rock and roll legends. So the writers of the magazine add these in because they know the readers will want to read the magazine if they're favourite rock bands are in it. But how will they know if they are in it? So this is why the magazine has the band names on the front cover so the readers can seen them and want to read the magazine. This is an effective method of targeting the audience because they have gone straight to they're interests; they're favourite bands and maybe the bands they want to aspire to and look up to.

Audience Profile: Nature magazine

My nature magazine is all about the waters of nature; so seas, oceans, waterfalls, rivers and lakes etc... So the main audience would be anyone who is interested in anything with nature and water. You can't exactley say which gender would like the magazine more but maybe more of the type who like to spend there time outside so to be stereo typical the gender that is aimed at through my magazine would be males. The ages that are targeted at would most likely be the ages that can see the the bigger picture of nature. So maybe retired older people who wish to see nature that they couldn't see when they were younger. The magazine isn't aimed at teenagers because they do not appreciate nature the way older people do. Also the readers of this magazine would be sophisticated people who appreciate nature and can afford to go out and visit the places within the magazine and that's why they can buy every issue as well. The readers of the nature magazine will also be interested in all different types of nature and have quite a lot of money. So to round it up really the readers are mainly; males over 50 with quite a bit of money and who like nature.

School Magazine Evaluation

Front Cover Contents Page

For this task I had to go around the school taking pictures of the school for a school magazine. Then I had to choose the simages, texts, colour and others things for the magazine. Now I need to evaluate what I have done. On the left you can see a picture. This is the front cover of my magazine. I will be evaluating the images, text, colour, logo and strengths and weaknesses. I will also be discussing the changes I would make and what I have learnt from this task.

Images

On my front cover of my magazine I have put 9 images from all over the school. I decide d to put this many to make it kind of a montage of what the school is like and the classes. I decided to put all of these pictures diagonal because it looked better this way and more artsy. Also it appeals to more people, more people would see it this way if there were less pictures and they were just straight and normal then the cover wouldn't catch the readers eyes. The first image on the left hand side of the magazine is of two drama students acting out a scene, readers can clearly see that these students are drama students. This is a good image to see on or in a magazine because readers can see St Marks offers a range of different classes and things. The shot is a medium shot because I wanted to keep in the whole of the scene to show the body language because they are of course acting. The second image is of a student b eing taught how to play the drums in a music room. Thisis an especially good picture to put on the magazine becuase it is showing that the school isn't just about the subjects like english or maths, it offers subjects that the students enjoy and love like; music. This shot is a high angle shot because I thought it would be a good idea to get the whole drum kit in and also to see him actually playing the drums, him looking down and playing the drums gives it more of an effect. The third image is of pupils in the libary on the computers, this is to show that there are facilities that the school offers and the pupils choose to use them. I used a long wide shot because I wanted to get quite a lot of students in the phot and also I wanted to see them using the computers from a distance because I wanted to get a lot of them in. The fourth image that Is on the left hand side of the magazine is of a business interprise meeting between a few teachers and business students. Although readers do not know this, they will know that it is a meeting of some sort. The shiot is a medium shot but also if you look it is an over the shoulder shot as well. I used this shot because I wanted to let people know this was a real meeting and it was serious and these students were really listening and it wan 't just posed. This is also why the over the shoulder shot is used as well because it shows the student is listening to the teacher. The fifth image is of a P.e class on the trampolines, this is a good image to use because everyone can see that P.e is also involved as well and the students look like they are enjoying it. The shot I used was a low angle one to make the trampolines and students look bigger and it makes them look bigger and more superior so it almost says this makes them feels big and it shows that they are enjoying it. The sixth image is of a piece of artwork. This is to show the students at st marks are very creative and artsy. The seventh image on my magazine is of the students in dram a again. I thought this was a good image to use because it shows off one of the props that the school owns. The shot is a mid shot to get just the right amount of the scene in. The eighth picture was the critea required shot because it is a medium close-up shot. I decided to make the medium close-up shot of student in libary because it shows them working hard. The last image is of the front of the school, I thought this was important to add in because people would want to see what the school looks like and what the magazine is based on and around. The shot is a wide long shot to get the whole of the front of school in with the sign and everything. On the contents page I decided to just have one picture on there, as the background. Now; when you think of a contents page what do you think of? Well I think of books. So that's what I put as the background of the contents page. I took a picture of a bookshlef in the libary and put it as the background to make it look creative also tie in with the word; 'contents' so it links in.

Text

Now for front cover of my magazine I had only one bit of writing; St Marks School Magazine: The First Issue. This is because I think that the pictures did all of the talking, there are nine. So I thought I would express the school through images rather than boring words, because the pictures are what the readers will look for on the front cover, not the words. If the pictures look interesting they will read the magazine. I just put this writing in black writing because I wanted it to still look sophisticated because it is still a school magazine. Also it goes well with the auburn background; these are the school signature colours. I chose these particular words because I wanted to let people know that it is in fact St Marks School Magazine and is the first issue. I put the first issue because you have to when it comes to magazines because readers will want to know when did this issue come out and for istance what issue came first out of the 3 they have. I have also put this in bold so it will catch readers eyes. On the contents page of my magazine I have put; 'Contents Page' In big bold black writing to keep to the original book contents format, this is because the background is busy enough so I wanted to keep the title simple. I Have also kept the contents format aswell so it is like a real contents page because it is supposed to be one. I have kept the writing neat, fancy and black to keep it simple and sophisticated. The sentences I have used are all about school, mainly about; trips, school news or talent shows. This is because it is a school magazine so I needed to keep it to news that is happening within the school.

Colour

The colours that I have used are mostly black and an auburn reddy colour. This is because these are the school's signature colours. So I thought I would use the red colour as the background and black for the text to keep it original like the school and it's website. So it keeps it traditional. I didn't add in any other colours apart from the colours in the photos. This is because the magazine doesn't need any more colours, black and red is enought, it doesn't need to be too colourful. It would be to busy and bright otherwise.

Logo

For the logo I took it off of the school website because I thought that the St Marks Logo is essential to have on the magazine because It is showing who owns and writes the magazine. Every magazine has a logo, why does this magazine have to be any different? I decided to put the logo on the front cover and contents page at the top of them both because this what looked both and best. I decided to put them on both of the pages because these are the main and important pages of the magazine. So what is important in the magazine should have the logo on it. To show that St Marks is part of it.

Strengths

The particular strengths of my magazine are; the pictures. I have a range of pictures on my magazine. I have made sure that I have packed the front cover of my magazine with pictures that show the school off and it's special departments and also it's students. Making sure that I have a range of different shots within the pictures. Also how I have kept to the particular colour scheme of the school, keeping traditions.

Weaknesses

There are some areas of my magazine that I thought were the weaknesses. For example even though I thought the fact that my front cover's pictures were good and jammed packed were a strength. It could also be seen as a weakness because there is hardly any writing so maybe it looks boring with just pictures and reader will want to see a bit more on the front cover.

What changes would you make next time? improvements

The improvements that I could make would probably be to the front cover. I would maybe add some more writing on there about more things and just make it a bit more bolder and eyecatching. Although I wouldn't take anything away. Maybe I'd even add a bit more colour.

What have you learnt from the preliminary task?

From this task I have learnt that I can actually use photoshop and it isn't that hard to use. Also that when it comes to making a magazine the bigger picture is the main thing and the small details don't matter as much as the bigger ones. Also that there is alot more to a magazine than just taking pictures and adding them to the magazine. The text, images and more is a lot more important.

Finished School Magazine

Front Cover

Contents Page

School Magazine Mock Up

Preliminary task- To design and produce the front cover and contents page of St Marks School Magazine. (Must include medium-close-up shot.)

-Images
-Camera angles
-Mis-en-scene
-Props
-Locations

-Colours
-Text
-Stories

-Produce a mock up of front cover and contents page.
-Include details of all images text etc...

Images

-Camera angles

-Long shot of the school from the outside gates- wide shot.
-Long shots of the school from the left and right hand side.
-Birdseye view shot in the libary.
-Medium close-up of students acting in drama.
-An over the shoulder shot of a student working at a computer.
-A long wide shot of students working in Art.
-A medium close-up of a student displaying what they have cooked.
-Low angle shot of students in the common room.
-A close-up of books in the libary.

-Mise-en-Scene, Locations and Props

-Outside the school
-The libary- books and stationary
-Drama studio- Drama props
-ICT room- Computers
-Art room- Art stationary- paper
-Food tech room- What people have cooked- aprons
-Common room- Smart clothes
-The libary- Books

Colours

Background- Auburn and a musty red.

Text

-St Marks School- Big, bold writing- red with a black outline.
-Contents page- Black, big bold writing.
-Different types of story titles on contents page- black, smallish writing in contents format.

Stories

-School based stories.

School Magazine Update

Last week in media we were sent around the school to take pictures for a school magazine. We will be designing the front cover and the contents page. Within the cover or contents page it must have medium close-up shot. These are some of the pictures I will be using. Some of these I will be cropping and some I will be editing. These are just a few but there will be more on my magazine, I will be posting it soon.

Homework task two

For our homework we were asked to do a textual analysis of any magazine and I chose Sugar.

Nature Magazine Evaluation

During our media lesson the other day we were sent out in pairs with cameras to take pictures for a nature magazine. So me and my partner went out looking for things we thought symbolised nature. We came accross a little river and a mini waterfall. We thought that if we took the picture from a low angle shot it would look bigger and would look like a real big waterfall and would look like it was taken in a whole other town. So people that would buy this magazine will think that it's full with pictures of exotic waterfalls and think it's exciting and want to read it. It is also a wide shot so we could get the entire environment so the readers could see the surroundings and think wow and want to read it. The next thing we had to do in media was edit the photo on photoshop so it will look like a proper nature magazine cover.
To make it a proper magazine cover I had to add effects onto the picture, add text and add in a barcode all using Photoshop. When I added the text in I had to consider; what it was going to say, the size, the colours and exactley where I was going to put it. Within what we have to do; we had to include; the title, the date, the named pages of what is in the magazine and the price. When I named the magazine I thought of the picture; because it's a waterfall why not call it something to do with water? So I called it; 'The Waters Of Nature.' So readers could tie it in with the picture. As all magaiznes have, I put the date on the magazine; 'January 2010.' I then priced it; 99p. The reason I priced it this particular price is because it has only got a few pages in it and there isn't alot in it. Also Nature magazines aren't that popular so why overprice them when not a lot of people read them anyway. So I priced it as 99p because it is only 1p under a pound so readers think it is cheaper than it actually is and is good for it's price. I put all of the writing in green and bold. This is because it ties in the natural colours and blends in with the image because the greens and browns. I decided to put most of the text at the top of the cover to headline it and grab attention. I put the titles of the pages near the bottom so people could see them but not draw too much attention to them to take they're eyes of the picture. For the image I added an effect using Photoshop to make the photo stand out and catch readers eyes. The effect made everything a bit more blunt and brighter but darker at the same time. Which is good because it meens the picture has a mix so it appeals to everyone. The denotation of this picture is; that it is just simply a waterfall or a river. The connotation of this picture is; anything that the reader see it as. Maybe they see it as a magic waterfall or it symbolises something.

Practise Magazine Cover

Original Image
In yesterday during our media lesson we got put into groups and got given a camera to go out and take pictures of nature for a practise nature magazine cover. Then today in media we edited our pictures on Photoshop and made the picture into a magazine cover for a Nature magazine.

Nature Magazine Cover
This is the Magazine cover I created using the original photo and Photoshop. I added in different effects and text.

I will be posting an evaluation soon.

Photoshop :)

In media today we learnt how to properly use photoshop :). We were taught how to change image effects, colours and different layers. This will help us with our upcoming coursework :). I am quite confident with using Photoshop now :)