Welcome to my blog:

Welcome to my blog, where my Media studies coursework has been completed. Throughout this work, I have been asked to produce a magazine based on music. My product development progressed through 3 stages.
1. Research and planning. Where I analysed other music magazines, and a suitable target audience.
2. Product making. Where I used Photoshop software in order to produce my cover, contents and DPS.
3. Evaluation. I answered a set of questions using various technologies.
Just to state, the order blog posts should be viewed are indentified via a [[number]] tag at the end of each label. The (1) is different as it shows how many posts have that label title. Just to distinguish...
I had a lot of fun creating the porduct and progressing through my media coursework.
Have fun looking through my work...

Final product:

During an extension period, we were allowed to make small but important adjustments to our final products. Here were the slightly changed products of mine:

These were images made during the last few days of our magazine designing. These images were used for the final evaluation questions, as they were orginally going to feature the first version of the final product. However, the evaluation formatted questions have been changed and are now directly related towards the progression of producing these edited products instead. (Proof = Questions 1, 5 and 7 all display images of this product.)

Evaluation: Question 7: (Final)

Extension notes for Q 7:

- E.g of improving understanding is how the colours were used to conform to media magazine conventions. The colour palette used for Key Point, for instance, featured black, white, yellow and red. A common used schematic for a rock genre magazine. Understanding of how colours have affect on a magazine's representation is an example of how my porgression through creating the magazine product has helped me to gain a superior standard of knowing media. 

- Another example is the layout. The layout had to be made more neat and aligned correctly. The alignment of all content within the final product by far exceeds the standards of the draft, something which many times was shown to be a criticism full piece of work.

- A third example of how my progression of understanding of capabilities is the general representation of a media product. For instance, what content is featured, what bands are mentioned, the target audience and appealing factors, etc.. What is likely to gain more sales!

- Also, the terminology usage. How close are images, is it a mid-shot or a wide angle shot? What is the image on the cover featuring and how does it help to protray the product? (E.g. my magazine had a band in causal clothing used to represent the genre of rock.)

Evaluation: Question 6: (Final)

Evaluation: Question 5: (Final)

Evaluation on question 5. How did I attract my audience? on Prezi

Evaluation: Question 4: (Final)

Evaluation: Question 3: (Final)

Media Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation: Question 2: (Final)

Above is an image regarding a stereotypical view of a rock music fan. Badly dressed, wild, considerably poor, low in education, and generally low class in both appearance and character content.

This is a chart extracted from a source regarding different socio-economic groups. Typically, when referring to a rock genre magazine, we are thinking lower class, such as C2 or D. This is due to the stereotypical image of a rock star or rock fan. Low class. This means that a rock magazine, in this case, Key Point, should appeal to a lower socio-economic group due to it being a product which appeals to the characteristics of these individuals within the low groups. A reason Key Poitn might recieve good sales for appealing to 'low class' rock fans is because of how groups such as C2 are shown to be fairly high on the green bar, representing how most of the regular, more poor and less educated members of society belong to these lower groups. This is why Key Point aims at these people, and this is how the product is able to represent these certain types of social groups.

Evaluation: Question 1: (Final)

Media Studies Evaluation 1

Draft 2.0 product:

Note: This was originally going to be my final product, but changes were made to later to produce a final product.

Note: Since the product only shows 3 memebrs of The HIT now, the idea will be slightly altered. Mr Messai, played by me in the draft, will now be scrapped as an idea. The new band member names will be 'Power punch' for the member in the blue jacket, 'super stew' for the one in a black and white tracksuit, and 'Cool Cad' for the member on the far right of the Double page spread... (DPS)

08/03/12: Improvements:

Final day of practical coursework. This is where the following final changes were made to the product:
- The contents page was transformed a lot so that it would fit to the overall product, and would look a lot more interesting and appealing, with the recolour, and layout of boxes and text.
- The cover main image was resized and fitted more accurately, so that one of the member's faces was not covered up by the 'Key Point' title.
- The member on the left side of the cover had a broken guitar (symbolising the band going 'split' story) to indiate that this magazine still generally followed its original intentions that it is a rock magazine, focusing on bands such as 'The HIT' and primarily on guitars and keyboards.
- Key boards were not visually displayed in these example pages but the contents page listing and the title of the product still were desinged to indicate that they were a general focal point of the magazine.
- The final product then, once finished, was printed off, the uploaded later, all before the deadline... The DPS was printed off in A3 to be of appropriate size...

06/03/12: Improvements:

Today the whole product was adjusted to improve my mark from a 2a to a likely level 4. This was where the cover page recieved its new cover, this time with a wall Bg featuring Martyn, Josh and Alex S. The main cover image was toyed with, such as colour correction being automated, the brightness turned up and the contrast reduced.
The DPS was also adjusted entirely. For instance, the images of band members with glasses were removed and so was the green square. Now it had a Bg of the band members sitting on a spiral staircase from the school site. The image had a white Bg above it but the opacity was reduced severely so the image could still be seen, though shined with white covering.
The layout for the DPS content was also changed. The text was now layered out into columns of text and the questions were changed colour to be distinguished visually from the answers. The text, both interview and summary of article, were placed in front of black but only slightly opaque boxes of colour, this is so it would stand out against the the brightened Bg and everything else...

05/03/12: Improvements:

Today a few minor adjustments were made, including further correction of colours for each image used, and the text size and fonts were also changed so they would conform more to the standards of a media magazine. The title was made less desktop-like, and the new images for the final product were taken, here is what they were:
Final images taken, excluding some that were already used in the draft design of the product:

As it would have it, only two or three of these were actually used, the one with the 3 together , for the replacement of the cover main image, and the spiral staircase picture, used for the DPS of the product.

01/03/12. Improvements:

In today's lesson, I have made some major changes to my product work.
- For a start, I have completely rearranged the DPS by layout. Instead of the middle image going across the two pages and the page split, the images of band members have now been placed in the corner, on the side of and below all main text. Also, the article itself is not arranged more correctly, with a lost of columns which make the layout seem more professional, and contribute more to the following of media layout conventions.
- Also, another major change to my work was the colour arrangement of the cover page. Instead of having a black silhouette and a white background, the colours have been reversed. While this modification was simple to execute, the result is an entirely different representation of content. The dominant surrounding colour is now black, which makes the cover look darker and more interesting in comparison. The text that was put on the side of the page has now been reversed in colour too so it can be seen properly while over the background or silhouette. (Red to yellow, yellow to red.)
- The main image was also enlarged so it was a more dominant feature on the page and looked more like an actual mid-shot. Media conventions of front covers usually associate with the main image of a mid-shot being the main focus of the magazine.
- The DPS also had a new background, instead of white with a grey corner, the entire page now has a black to white gradient from corner to corner. This makes the entire page stand out more as more interesting. Though part of the page was darkened to add visual interest, the laying out of the graident background was cleverly executed in order for the gradience not to make the text of the article, or other content, appear less noticeable. The text is not blended in with the gradient black BG too much.

27/02/12. Improvements:

What I did in order to improve my draft product into my final design were:
- I changed the size of the cutout image to look more like a midshot.
- I changed the font of the title to look better and less like a desktop font.
- I made alterations to my subhead text on the cover page. I instead of having subheads over diagonal red banners decided to have it placed on the side of the page as text which either appears red or ylellow depending if it shows over the white BG or black silhouette. This colour contrast was used to challenge typical media conventions.
- I changed the colour scheme of the whole product to just black, white, yellow and red. Blue, orange and green were all removed from the colour palette. This was so that the covnentions of colour use would be used better and not messed up.
- I changed the font of my DPS text to time new roman to look more standard of an article, and not look like a strange capital letter font which is not fitting with the content of the magazine.
The DPS BG behind the image of band members, instead of dark green, now has a more interesting gradient.
- Finally, I saved this new image as cover page final to be distinguished from its draft level counterpart. Already have many of the vital improvements to the product been made.

What I need to improve?

Document displaying teacher comments on draft product:
jack k

This is a document that was sent via Microsoft Outlook 2010, and was used to give me feedback, mainly based on the areas for improvment requried for higher grades on each of the 3 pages, the cover, contents page, and DPS. Going on what has been said, these are my main concerns for areas of improvement with the draft product and its procession into a final product:
- Fonts chosen need to be more suitable. E.g. with the title, make it less 'desktop' and make it more fitting, more nociteable and attractive when applied to the magazine product. Do this for all font, also, vary whenever necessary.
- Rethink the colour palette for the product. E.g. the unique colour palette is nice, but try to make the scheme of colours more fitting to the genre. Either lay the colours out more effecitively or change the colour scheme used. Remember that colours need to be attractive to the reader but also make surrounding content attractive at the same time.
- Experiment more with the typography used to create the product. Have better fonts, effects, colours, more variety, more style, etc...
- More pages on the contents page need to be added. 18 is too small, really...
- Resize all conntet where ever appropriate for task at hand. E.g. the cover has a price tag and barcode which are way too large to be realistic to apply to a cover page. The data must also be added.
- Get rid of main text font used for DPS. It looks strange. Other than that, DPS seems to be okay.
- Possible rethink main image of cover page. Maybe silhouette should be replaced with actual image of the band standing there.
- Possible rethink of concept. Should guitars and keyboards really be a main focus of the magazine?
- The photos used. They could be retaken. This can be either in order for there to be a better quality of images used, or for a larger variety of images to be used for the final product, thereby adding a larger amount of actual interest to the product.
- Other things that may or may not be featured in the teacher feedback sheet above. Many things will need to be done if I am to achieve a high level 4/A grade in my media studies coursework.

Peer assessment:

Notes based on assessment for my draft Key Point magazine:

Feedback from peers:

The criteria, based on 3 reviews, as follows:

Criteria.	Martyn.	Josh.	Alex S.	Improve? My response:
Framing a shot. Including and excluding as appropriate.	Level 3. ‘Pictures suitably framed with relevant headings.’	Level 3. ‘Good framing.’	Level 2. ‘Images cut-out well but some edges are sharp.’	Images are generally considered to be satisfactory. Area for improvement includes better cut edges for professional quality.
Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.	Level 3. ‘Many distances used. Close-ups, mid-shots.’	Level 4. ‘Great variety of shots.’	Level 3. ‘A variety of distances used.’	Shot variety is generally praised; perhaps a few more distances should be taken just to be sure.
Shooting material appropriate to task set.	Level 3. ‘Yes.’	Level 3. ‘Shots suit genre.’	Level 4. ‘Appropriate for task.’	Another liked quality of my magazine. The shots taken and used seem to be generally suitable.
Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.	Level 2. ‘Backgrounds could be used. Even lighting is good though.’	Level 3. ‘Clothes again suit genre.’	Level 3. ‘Mise-en-scene for all areas is relaxing again.’	A slight concern for this criteria. Though generally good, more backgrounds could be used to add to the representation of the magazine.
Manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including cropping and resizing.	Level 2. ‘Images on contents could be larger. Some jagged edges need to be smoothed.	Level 3. ‘Cut and shading used well.’	Level 2. ‘Some manipulation of images. Needs more.’	A cause for concern. Images do need to be smoothed and the contents need to be edited. Manipulation needs to be clearer.
Accurately using language and register.	Level 4. ‘Good grammar and language used.’	Level 4. ‘Correct language.’	Level 3. ‘Only a few mistakes.’	This area is generally fine. Besides a few spelling/grammar errors, language is perfectly fine.
Appropriately integrating illustration and text.	Level 3. ‘Quotes on DPS work well. Layers are good.’	Level 3. ‘Good level of text.’	Level 3. ‘More text and image integration.’	Generally okay. More may be necessary and to a better quality.
Showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design.	Level 4. ‘Layouts on contents page is organised, DPS well structured.’	Level 2. ‘Layout seems muddled.’	Level 1. ‘Some more though needed for layout.’	A real concern, as well as a slight contrast in opinions. The layout either needs to be improved or explained as to how and why it shows understandings of media conventions.
Showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size.	Level 3. ‘Headers appropriately sized. Body text too.’	Level 3. ‘Very clear fonts suit genre.’	Level 3. ‘Variety of text sizes and fonts.’	Generally well used text. The variety of size, font, type and everything is wide. Text could be more fitting too.
Using ICT appropriately for the task set.	Level 3. ‘Essentials.’	Didn’t mark.	Level 4. Ticked.	Seems generally well, could be improved with more input and skill.

Scans of peer assessment:

Self assessment of draft product:

Criteria.	Me.
Framing a shot. Including and excluding as appropriate.	Level 3. ‘Pictures are framed well but could be made better. Graphics and cut-outs could also be worked on.'
Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.	Level 4. A lot of different shots were taken and used. Their relevance to the product is debatable.
Shooting material appropriate to task set.	Level 3. ‘Yes it is.’
Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.	Level 2. ‘No backgrounds were used, only gradients. The colour scheme seemed to be unorganised.’
Manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including cropping and resizing.	Level 2. ‘Images need to be larger and cut out a lot better.'
Accurately using language and register.	Level 4. ‘Mostly good grammaer and relatively well thought typography.'
Appropriately integrating illustration and text.	Level 3. ‘Quotes on DPS work effciently and the illustration is mostly appealing.'
Showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design.	Level 3. ’Layout is structured very well but is not very clear to a lot of the audience, its relevance to the product is also questioned.'
Showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size.	Level 3. 'Many different fonts were used for different sections of the magazine.'
Using ICT appropriately for the task set.	Level 3. ‘Most skills and abilities required were used for a "decent" model of the final product.’

However, it is still fair to say that many adjustments need to be taken. From this point, I will update my blog using a log diary, which notes my progress during each lesson, from now until the middle of march, when the final product is due-in...