AS Media Students 2012-13: 2012

Sunday, 9 December 2012

Reminder for Miss Osborne's class - Mon 10th and Mon 18th

As discussed, by now you should have all of the theory and information you need to proceed with planning and producing your music magazine so you should spend our Monday lessons in a computer room working on this.
There are no rooms available for us to use as a class, so please work in one of the following rooms, assuming they are not fully-booked: S2, S13 (some PCs available sharing with Ms. James's Year 11s), M15 or M16 - or the sixth form study area.
I will be based in S12 as usual should you have any queries; please report to me in there at some point during the day so I can mark you present. And of course, don't forget I'll be accessing your blogs to check on the progress you are making!
Tuesdays - Please continue with your coursework as usual.
Thursdays - Our lessons will take place as usual in S13.

Remember that after Christmas, all lessons will be spent preparing for the exam, so you must make excellent use of the remaining lesson time you have!

Good luck.

Monday, 3 December 2012

Blogs of the week!

Congratulations - some of you are working really hard and your blogs are not only looking professional, but they are also really detailed.

We will post links to blogs of the week here to celebrate your work (smiley faces are on their way to you!) and share it with the rest of the class so that they can learn from the excellent examples you are setting!

Week starting 26th November
http://kimmusicmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/

Week starting 3rd December
http://catnealasmusicmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/

Week starting 14th January
http://catnealasmusicmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/

Week starting 21st January

Flat planning and pagination

Before you start finalising the design of your contents page, you need to have decided:
a) How many pages your magazine will have (Think about: price, frequency of publication, existing media etc.)
b) The types of contents your magazine will include (Think about: audience research findings, existing media)
b) The pagination of your magazine - the order in which you'll arrange your pages and why

What is a flat plan?

Link to a blank flat plan

Thursday, 29 November 2012

Planning your magazine cover - linking your design to your brand

Once you have established a clear idea of your magazine's brand identity, how it fits in with existing media and how you plan to attract your target audience, you are ready to start planning.
Refer to this lesson and your analysis of Q and Kerrang! magazine to help you explain your planning and design decisions for your own music magazine

Monday, 26 November 2012

Research - Impact - Planning

• Some people are launching into their photography without having fully established a sense of their magazine’s brand identity or how they want to represent their artists in the magazine.

• It’s essential that you do this first, so that your findings inform your planning decisions and to ensure that you take the right sort of photographs in the first place!

• Think about it like a three-part process…

Refer to this lesson from 26/11/12 to ensure you understand the importance of linking your research and planning together and check that you are able to answer the first four questions in detail before proceeding!

Friday, 16 November 2012

The key features of a magazine cover

As previously discussed and to use as a reminder - Ensure you are able to identify the following when analysing music magazine and also when constructing your own magazine.

The features of a magazine cover

Masthead: The name of the newspaper or magazine.

Skyline: This is at the very top of the page and gives information about what the magazine has to offer i.e. free posters / competitions.

Slogan: The words associated with the magazine or product the magazine is advertising i.e. ‘Because you’re worth it’

Anchorage Text: This is the writing that is next to the main picture so it tells you what the main picture is about.

Price: This is usually hidden in a corner if the magazine is expensive or written in large writing if the magazine is cheap.

Main Image: This is the big picture in the middle of the page or there may be lots of different pictures however there is usually one bigger than the rest. This is the main image.

Bar code: This is so the magazine can be scanned at the checkout till, the barcode is usually in the corner.

Sell Lines: These are the writing down the sides or along the bottom of the front page, this gives information about the other articles inside the magazine.

Layout: Is the front cover very organised or is it very busy? Are there lots of arrows and text boxes or lots of puffs? Does the front cover say ‘You’ or ‘Your’ a lot?

Puff: This is in the shape of a circle or a star and it gives other information about the magazine articles.

Colour Scheme: What colours are being used? Is it pink? Is it for women or girls?

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

As promised an example of a level 1 music magazine!

An example of a level 4 music magazine

Friday, 9 November 2012

Research and planning: Progress check

Remember, you should be keeping a close eye on the production schedule for your magazine, which can be found here.

Many of you are falling behind and you are not making use of the resources on this blog. In order to move forward with the planning phase you should have done the following and posted your findings on your blog:

Researched the music magazine industry
Researched examples of music magazines - their brand identities, audiences and content analysis
Identified the genre for your own magazine - explaining how you have reached your decisions (not just because you like it!)
Researched the conventions of this genre and the personae of typical artists from this genre (mood boards would be useful for this - check out the examples on the blog)
Researched the conventions of magazine design for your chosen genre - including detailed textual analyses of front covers, contents pages and double page spreads, which you link back to the magazines' respective brands and target audiences.
Taken this research to your audience and get their feedback on what they want from a music magazine

As we stressed when you produced your school magazine, it's essential that you reflect on your findings and identify how they will influence your decisions about your own magazine.

Then, you are ready to start planning the following and explaining reasons for your decisions, based on your research findings.

The magazine in general:

Your magazine's 'brand identity' and mode of address - You should explain how you will lay out your magazine in a way that reflects the brand identity. Use the example we did together, analysing Q magazine to help you.
A flat plan for your magazine showing the contents
Your magazine's title and masthead
Your choice of register, colours, fonts etc. to form a style guide for your magazine

The artists you will photograph for your magazine:

Your choices of models
The 'star images' or 'personae' you are going to construct
Costume, hair and make-up
Gesture codes and modes of address
Camera shots and angles and lighting you will use
Locations, props, colours you will associate with these artists

Your front cover, DPS and contents page:

What you will include and how they will be laid out (hand-drawn drafts are fine for this at first - you can scan these in and upload them on to your blog, accompanied by either a written or audio commentary)

Sunday, 4 November 2012

Please email your new blog addresses URGENTLY

If you have not already created your blog and submitted your address, you are behind schedule, and your progress is deemed as 'Red'.

Please read this post carefully: http://beaverwoodmediaas.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/new-blog-address-for-music-magazines.html

I have only received links to music magazine blogs from these students.

A reminder that the deadline for these blogs to be set up was Thursday 25th October - over a week ago. By now, your research should be well under-way, but without access to your blogs, we are unable to monitor your progress and give you the feedback you need. Please email the link to beaverwoodmedia@gmail.com urgently.

Please ensure that you are checking the AS media blog hub regularly to make use of the resources that are posted for you and to ensure that you are on top of all coursework deadlines - remember your time management skills are formally assessed in this unit!

I will be contacting parents of all those students whose blogs are still judged as 'Red' by the end of the week.

Good luck and if you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact me. 121MS - please use our lessons on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th to continue with your research.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Links to students' AS Media blogs - Music Magazines

http://emilytownsendsmusicmagazine.blogspot.co.uk - Emily Townsend

http://emilyaugustmusicmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/ - Emily August
www.megansmusicmagazine.blogspot.com - Megan Lee

Sunday, 21 October 2012

Research music magazines: Media Packs

Remember, you should not be making sweeping generalisations about existing media and their target audiences based on personal hunches.

Publishers spend a great deal of time putting together media packs, which can be a useful starting point for finding out about magazines and their audiences - so make the most of them!

Here are some links to get you started - and then it's over to you to find out more information about your chosen magazines...

http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/kerrang

http://www.vibelifestylenetwork.com/VLN-Media-Kit-2012.pdf

http://www.ipcmedia.com/nme

http://www.ipcmedia.com/uncut

http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q

A case study of NME's advertising campaign for Dell

A case study of the relationship between Shockwaves and NME

A case study of the relationship between River Island and NME

Why not really impress the examiner and produce a Media Pack for your own music magazine and upload it on to your blog as part of your planning phase? Or if you really want to show off, you could film yourself pitching advertising space in your magazine to a key advertiser for a product that would appeal to your target audience...

Music magazines: Getting started

You should have already read this post from 14th September, to start you thinking about the music industry and the magazines are already on the market and the issues and challenges they face.

Using the magazines you brought in for homework, your next step is to analyse the contents of at least three different magazines and from this, begin to draw conclusions about genre, target audience and the mode of address that your chosen magazine adopts.

Click here for the powerpoint for Monday's lesson (22nd October 2012) and here for a blank content analysis grid

Click here for a useful list of UK Music magazines, recommended by The British Council

Click here for a guide to existing media (grouped by genre) that another AS Media student has published via Slideshare

New blog address for music magazines - Deadline this Thursday

- Click on the Blogger icon in the top left section of your blog to go to your dashboard.
- Click on 'New Blog'
- Call your new blog something like 'Name's AS Music Magazine Coursework' and choose an appropriate blog address
- Please email your new address to beaverwoodmedia@gmail.com
- Your first post should be entitled: 'Link to School Magazine Blog' and you should copy and paste a hyperlink to your school magazine blog (even if this blog is still in progress)

Monday, 15 October 2012

Rethinking Research

As promised, this post include lots of links to useful resources to help you with your research for your music magazine.

Here's the powerpoint from Monday's lesson, which outlines the key points we discussed:
Reflecting on research lesson - Monday 15th October

Audience research

What are focus groups and how to run them
Conducting a focus group
A guide to using focus groups for research
An example of a student's analysis of her focus group findings (it would be better to include a video link as well, though)

A few examples of mood boards - useful prompts for focus groups

http://catherinebaker-as.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/moodboard.html
http://brianair.wordpress.com/as-film-studies/moodboard/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTY8vueiYSM - a multimedia example!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajzeu8cgj-0&feature=related - a student talking about her mood board and how it will influence her new music magazine

Using your blog to gather information

Check out these very simple instructions which explain how to include a survey using blogger. The drawback is, you can only ask one question, so choose carefully! But remember you could update it at different points in your research. E.g. Which of these music magazines do you read? Then, later in your coursework, you could upload your magazine and ask your audience questions such as whether they think you have successfully followed the conventions of your chosen genre; would they buy the magazine; do they think it represents the star image in 'X' way, etc. etc.

Alternatively, if you'd like to be able to ask more questions, you can sign up for a free Survey Monkey account to create a whole survey online.

Research into existing media

Click here for the powerpoint for Monday's lesson (22nd October 2012) and here for a blank content analysis grid

Click here for a useful list of UK Music magazines, recommended by The British Council

Click here for a guide to existing media (grouped by genre) that another AS Media student has published via Slideshare

Media packs and target audiences of existing media

Thursday, 11 October 2012

Link to Photoshop tutorials

Need to crop, edit or manipulate your photographs?
Need to produce a CD digipak or a front cover of a magazine?
Then use Photoshop!

Click here for video tutorials on every aspect of Adobe Photoshop CS4. This program is installed on all PCs in S13.

Link to Indesign tutorials - for your page layouts

You should NOT be using MS Word or MS Publisher to lay out your magazines or newspapers!

Click for video tutorials on every aspect of Adobe Indesign CS4. This program is installed on all PCs in S13.

Sunday, 30 September 2012

The importance of colour

Remember, as part of your house style, you will need to come up with a colour palette that best reflects the brand of your magazine, appeals to your target audience and represents both in the way that you intend.

Here are some links you might like to check out when thinking about your magazine's colour palette:

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html - a useful guide to colours and their connotations

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/28/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color/ - a very detailed article, aimed at designers

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397565&section=1.3.3 - Guidance for creating websites, but with relevant references to using colour to target different audiences

http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes/new/all-time/meta?page=1 - a wide range of colour palettes created by different users for inspiration.

Language and Register: Mode of address

How will your magazine 'speak' to its readers?

Language Registers

There are five language registers or styles. Each level has an appropriate use that is determined by differing situations. It would certainly be inappropriate to use language and vocabulary reserve for a boyfriend or girlfriend when speaking in the classroom. Thus the appropriate language register depends upon the audience (who), the topic (what), purpose (why) and location (where).

You must control the use of language registers in order to enjoy success in every aspect and situation you encounter.

1. Static Register

This style of communications RARELY or NEVER changes. It is “frozen” in time and content. e.g. the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord’s Prayer, the Preamble to the US Constitution, the Alma Mater, a bibliographic reference, laws .

2. Formal Register

This language is used in formal settings and is one-way in nature. This use of language usually follows a commonly accepted format. It is usually impersonal and formal. A common format for this register are speeches. e.g. sermons, rhetorical statements and questions, speeches, pronouncements made by judges, announcements.

3. Consultative Register

This is a standard form of communications. Users engage in a mutually accepted structure of communications. It is formal and societal expectations accompany the users of this speech. It is professional discourse. e.g. when strangers meet, communications between a superior and a subordinate, doctor & patient, lawyer & client, lawyer & judge, teacher & student, counselor & client,

4. Casual Register

This is informal language used by peers and friends. Slang, vulgarities and colloquialisms are normal. This is “group” language. One must be member to engage in this register. e.g. buddies, teammates, chats and emails, and blogs, and letters to friends.

5. Intimate Register

This communications is private. It is reserved for close family members or intimate people. e.g. husband & wife, boyfriend & girlfriend, siblings, parent & children.

Rule of Language Use:

One can usually transition from one language register to an adjacent one without encountering repercussions. However, skipping one or more levels is usually considered inappropriate and even offensive.

Source: Montano-Harmon, M. R. “Developing English for Academic Purposes” California State University, Fullerton.

OCR Media Studies - Basic Camera Shots

Remember, the front cover of your school magazine MUST include a mid-shot of your model. This means a shot of them from the waist up, so it's essential that you plan for this when mocking up your layouts and - most importantly - taking your photographs!

Links to useful resources:

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/
http://www.urbanfox.tv/creative/shotsizes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_techniques

Fonts/typography/type face/lettering

These resources should help you denotate and connotate the fonts used by existing media - and , most importantly, choose your fonts for your own magazines carefully, linking them to the overall 'brand' or 'image' you are trying to represent.

Remember, you only really need to choose two fonts that are used throughout your magazine - if you go for many more than this, your magazine will be in danger of looking disorganised and confused!

The first four pages of this pdf file provides a helpful introduction.

Dafont is a popular website for downloading fonts

Click here for an interesting article from an online design magazine

AS coursework: Blog progress check

AS coursework: Your schedule

Monitor your progress against these deadlines – and if you see yourself falling behind, CATCH UP! Record key dates in your diary and work out when and how you will use your independent study periods and homework.

During the course, you’ll be able to see what your teachers think of your blogs here.

Red = We are concerned you are falling behind. If you do not catch up and improve/add to your blog, you are in danger of failing the course.

Amber = You are making satisfactory progress, but there is more to be done to secure yourself the grade you are capable of.

Green = You are on top of your coursework, and are making good progress. Keep up the good work and refer to the comments we have posted on your blog to help develop your coursework even further.

By 5^th October

Research into existing media

What are the conventions of a magazine front cover?

What is a school magazine? What are their different purposes and audiences?

Analysis of 2-3 different existing school magazines

Research into target audience

Who is your target audience? (Particular age group/niche if applicable)

Audience questionnaire/interview/focus group etc. – What they want from a school magazine

Results and evaluation of research

Collate your findings and present appropriately

What have you learnt from your research and how will this influence the decisions you make about your school magazine?

Planning and drafting

Based on your research, develop a clear idea of your brand and your target audience: How will you communicate? How will they be positioned? How will both be represented?

Identify which conventions you will follow and why

Which locations, costumes, props and actors have you considered? Which ones will you use and why?

Mock up layouts and from these, draw up a shooting schedule (include shot list, location, props etc.), ensuring you have permission to take photographs in these locations

By 19^th October

Production

Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence. This will form an ongoing 'Behind the Scenes' commentary on your production work (and pick you up LOADS of marks for your evaluation if you do it well!)

What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

Upload final layouts and explain the denotations/connotations, with reference to magazine conventions

By 2^nd November– MAIN TASK (MUSIC MAGAZINE)

Research into existing media

What is a music magazine? What different types exist? Who publishes them? For whom? What are their different purposes and audiences?

Analysis of 3 different existing music magazines

Research into your chosen genre

Which genre(s) have you chosen and why?

What seem to be the conventions of this genre? Who is the target audience?

Who are the main publishers for magazines of this genre? Are there particular conventions that are specific to these types of magazines?

Choose three artists associated with this genre and analyse how each one’s ‘star image’ has been created. How are they represented and how does the target audience relate to them?

Research into target audience

Who is your target audience? (Particular age group/gender percentages/geographical/brands they buy/where they shop/interests/values/etc.)

Audience questionnaire/interview/focus group etc. – What they want from a music magazine

By 16^th November

Results and evaluation of research

Collate your findings and present appropriately

What have you learnt from your research and how will this influence the decisions you make about your music magazine?

Planning and drafting
Based on your research, develop a clear idea of your brand and your target audience: How will you communicate? How will they be positioned? How will both be represented?

Identify which conventions you will follow and why

Which locations and actors have you considered? Which ones will you use and why?

Mock up layouts and from these, draw up a shooting schedule (include shot list, location, props etc.), ensuring you have permission to take photographs in these location

By 30^th November

Production

Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence ensuring you record evidence (again - an ongoing ‘Behind the Scenes’ commentary - see point above!)

What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

By 14^th December

Production continued

Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence ensuring you record video evidence (an ongoing‘Behind the Scenes’ commentary)

What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

By 11^th January

Production continued

· Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence ensuring you record video evidence (an ongoing ‘Behind the Scenes’ commentary)

· What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

Upload layouts and explain the decisions you've made and denotations/connotations, with reference to magazine conventions

By 25^th January

Production continued

What has your audience said about your finished magazine?

How does it compare to other music magazines on the market?

What have you changed as a result of this? What effect has this had on your finished magazine? Upload any amended layouts and accompanying analysis.

By 8^th February

Evaluation

Multimedia evaluation uploaded to include at least three of the following: text, images (screen grabs etc.), hyperlinks to research, video footage, voice-over.

Friday, 28 September 2012

Linking Research and Practice

As promised, some help with making links between research and practice.

Year 12 AS Media Studies

You should, by now, have completed research into comparable texts and a potential audience. You will probably have uploaded annotated magazine covers and contents pages and sample questionnaires/results.

It is now essential that you consider how this research will inform your decision making.

Here is an example of the way in which you could present your ideas. A table like this one shows that you have made the vital link between your own research and your own practical work.

The observations that you make will, of course, depend on the texts which you have studied so don’t expect them to be exactly the same as those recorded by other students.

Observation	Impact on My Work
Most covers use a single image – often a medium shot, featuring one or two students. They are engaged in either a classroom/extra-curricular activity but a direct mode of address is employed as they look into the camera.	I will follow this convention as I intend to photograph two students and position them centrally. A medium shot will enable me to include the students whilst capturing something of the background. However, I want the students to seem unaware of the camera and engaged in the activity of film making.
The mise en scene creates a sense of a well-equipped school which promotes dynamic learning. E.g. inclusion of computers/sports equipment.	My inclusion of video cameras has been influenced by this observation. I hope that these connote a sense of creativity as well as suggesting that the school environment promotes active learning with up to date equipment. I will ensure that text referring to the activity anchors the image and makes it clear that the students are engaged in a film making project.

You must try and link your observations about the content and composition of images/ text/audiences with your decision making.

Some useful terms:

Representation ,denote, connote, iconography ,mise en scene, composition, framing, focus, foreground,colour,lighting, background, text, anchors, audience, traditional, contemporary, contrast, extend, complement, convention, follow, subvert, experiment