Evaluation of preliminary project: video production

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

As this was our first piece of video production i feel that it challenged many of the conventions of real media products. Firstly we have not been conventional with our framing - we have alot of dead space above and around the talent in almost all the shots suggesting we have not stuck to the 'ruleof thirds'. Also our eyeline between the two talents is not matching and some of the cuts are obvious and 'jump'. All these non-conventional features make the piece look scruffy and not as slick as we'd like. This has a negative effect on the audience as they can pick out faults quite easily which we did not realise when filimg and editing, but will know for next time how to improve on these points.
However we did use the continuity editing techniques of the 180 degree rule, match on action cuts and the rule of thirds which made the piece flow much more than it would have done without them.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
  

Our product is representational of teenagers in the way that the talents are talking like they would in everyday conversation, also the fact that they are situated sat on a bed may suggest the laid back, friendly approach that many teenagers take. This is a dominant representation as this is how teenage life is viewd by most people - meeting up with a friend and having a casual converstion.

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
  

I think that a suitable distributor of this would be channel 4. This is because, as i explained, there is many broken conventions of media in our piece and channel 4 programmes often do not stick to the norms of media as strictley as other channels, like channel 1 or 2, do. This maybe because they want to be a little bit different or appeal to a young, modern audience - which is also fitting for our product.

• Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

I think that an appropriate audience for our product would be, in regards to social values, hedonistis and age - teenagers roughly aged 16-18. As they are open to different things and, as i said before, we often break alot of the rules and conventions of real media. This means it may appeal to these groups, as it's a bit different to what they are used to seeing.

• How did you attract/adress your audience?

We used a variety of techniques. We used talents that are the same age range as the target audience which may attract them as it is easier to relate and listen to. Also we used some unconventional media techniques which may appeal to a younger, modern audience that are open to different ideas and a variety of images, not like traditionalists that would not like a change in the forms and conventions of filming.

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I felt i have learnt alot from this project as i had never used any of the softwear before. We used adobe premiere pro 2, which was new to me but now i am much more comfortable with using it and would happily use it again for editing, but this time it would be a much quicker process as i now know what i'm doing and know to name clips carefully. This is one problem we had - the clip names weren't clear enough making them hard to find.

We also used the video cameras with a tripod. This was also new to me but when shown how to work it it came quite easily. When putting the shots we had together we noticed that the eyelines didn't match up and it was quite obvious. We could resolve this by putting something on the wall either side of each talent at the same point for them to look at, so when put the shots together their eyelines match up. Another problem we found was that we left alot of dead space above and around the talents head, but this could easily be resolved by going in closer and filling the frame with the talents head, but still sticking to tyhe rule of thirds.

Dialogue script

Talent 1: Hiya
T2: you alright?
T1: yer im good thankyou, you?
T2: yer im ok thanks
T1: whens your birthday?
T2: 30th December whens yours?
T1: 8th March, yours is quite close to christmas isn't it?
T2: Yer, sometimes it's a bit annoying but i dont mind
T1:Oh right
T2: We better go
T1: Yer ok
(exit)

Plan of the location

This plan shows where my talent will walk and where the camera will be positioned. The pink circles are the talent, the red crosses the camera, the black squares are chairs, and the line of interaction is labeled.

VIDEO PRODUCTION :Continuity Editing

180 degree rule: Firstly a master shot should be taken showing both talents, so we can figure out who is on what side. The camera then cannot cross the line of interaction unless it shows all the camera movement, this is because the sides of the two talents will change as you cross the line and will not make sense. So the camera should stay on the one side.

Match on action: Cutting from one movement to another smoothly so it's not an obvious 'jump cut', the action being filmed should cut and restart and exactly the same point keeping it continuous and flowing.

Evaluation - preliminary magazine project

Our final Magazine and Contents page.

We have now inserted all the final parts we needed to and moved everything around so it fits onto the page sufficiantly.
We also completed a contents page on quark express and inserted a few pictures and some text onto it. It was quite a simple, but effective layout and informed the reader of what was inside and where they could find it.

• Our text is similar to other magazines in that it has a mid-close up of a college pupil, like alot of student magazines do, with a masthead across the top and coverlines scattered over the page. Also it has stories that students would be interested in - I got the ideas for these from the research we did into other student magazines, the same with the colour scheme and general layout.



• We have attempted to be original by basing our colour scheme on pink and aiming the magazine at girls, this is a bit different for a student magazine, but we felt this would be more effective than trying to include things that would suit both genders. I think this worked because it is obvious it is aimed at girls and by reading furthur you would see what age it's aimed at, roughly.



• The technology we used was new to me, I'd never used photoshop, Quark express or the professional cameras before. So using these was a new skill to learn and helped alot in the process of making our magazine cover and contents page.



• The problems we had with the technology included: problems with resizing pictures on quark express - we were not sure how to do it and struggled fitting them on the page how we wanted it, but we were shown how to do it and were ok from then. Another problem included getting the pictures from the camera onto the computer using the sd cards but we eventually got them loaded up and saved so could use them effectivley.



• Key creative decisions we had to make included our choice to edit the picture of the college pupil on photoshop, we felt making the model look more flawless would connote freshness and make it look more slick and finished. Also the way we blurred it a little made it look a bit different. Another creative decsion was where we positioned the text. We were oringinally going to have the masthead at an angle across one of the corners, but when we tried this it did not look right and you couldnt read it properly, so to make it stand out we placed it towards the right hand side of the page.



• I think we were able to communicate to our audience very effectivley because it is obvious what audience the magazine is intended for by just looking at our front cover. You can see this from the picture - the model is about the age we are aiming at, the stories - the coverlines show what is inside, and these would be of interest to our intended audience, also the colour scheme and layout is attractive to a certain audience.



• Social groups represented in our text were 16-19 year old female college students. This was represented through our use of colour scheme and images, the pink text and the coverlines to do with fashion, celebraties etc all connote that the magazine is aimed at girls of this age.



• Messages and values we tryed to comunitcate were things like staying in college is good. The way the model on the front was smiling connotes happiness in college and a positive image. Also some of the stories we include need to appeal to our target audience but give out positive messages aswell.

What else we've done

We have loaded the picture we chose into photoshop and have edited it to a standard we are happy with. We slightly blurred the picture and cleared the models skin so it look flawless.
We have now loaded the picture onto Quark express and have inserted a masthead - we decided to name the magazine 'blah blah blah' because it's a bit different and connontes fun and friendly stories and information. We also included some coverlines which are about festivals,fashion, celebrity gossip, top 10 clubs and bars & driving lessons. We feel these things are of interest to the target reader and will encourage them to read it.
What we need to do now is insert a bar-code, a date, a price and really just look over the final layout and see what we need to improve on, for example the colour scheme may need some adjusting.

Schedule

I will try to stick to this schedule of work for the project:

1) Conduct research and plan this production: this task should all be written up in my blog by approx 1st Oct

2) Production - photography: A number of photos should be taken by approx 2nd Oct.

3) Post-production : Photos should be downloaded, chosen the one we wont, edited in photoshop by approx 3rd Oct, photo should be put in Quark Express and coverlines etc inserted by approx 4th Oct.

4) Contents page designed by 5th Oct.

5) Final comments and an evaluation written up on blog by 6th Oct.

More ideas for the font page/what we've done so far

I have now decided that the main model on the front will be in mid-close up looking straight into the camera, not away. I think this will be an improvement because it is more focused on this person and draws your eye in.
We will keep the idea of the layout of the masthead and the cover lines the same, so now need to come up with things to write. We thought of some things about the latest festival fashions and news, so maybe a coverline could read 'fresh festival fashions'. The alliteration is catchy and connotes new, modern ideas. Also we could include goods on offer, or maybe somthing you could win - for example ' win a new i-pod nano' this is another method of drawing in the reader.
We have taken a picture of my friend and are now onto editing it in photoshop. We have looked at the different settings and have experimented in how to improve the picture. So now it is starting to look improved because all inperfections on the picture, and things we didn't think look right for our image have been removed or sucessfully modified.

Connotations I will try to communicate and how

I will try to portray that the magazine is fun, modern and new. Also that it is different and looks interesting to read. The masthead will be bold and eye-catching, so will the main image.
The masthead I would put at and angle across the left-hand corner of the page, this connotes that it is maybe a bit out of the ordinary and different. The main image would be of a female student smiling in medium close up - maybe looking away from the camera. This suggests that maybe she is with friends and having fun. She would be outside with trees and grass, maybe a bench and other students burred out in the background. This makes the image stand out, but also suggests she is in college grounds but still having fun - smiling.
The cover lines would be dotted around the page in a bold font and colour, maybe a 'hot pink', that can be seen easily against the blurred background. This connotes that the magazine, inside, looks interesting. Also it may attract more female attention with the colours and patterns. These cover lines would display headlines of inside stories and new merchandise avalible on the high street. This connotes that the magazine is modern and up-to date.

Audience profile

My ideal reader for this magazine would be :

• Teenage girls aged 15-19
  
• Students who attend college
• Some-one who is into the latest music/festivals/gigs
  
• Some-one who likes to socalise and have fun with their friends
  
• Some-one who still get on with their studies, but has fun too
  
• Some-one who is interested in new t.v programmes/films/make-up
  
• Some-one interested in fashion
• Some-one who cares about issues round the world.
  

MAGAZINE PRODUCTION:Internet research into student magazines

I did some reasearch, on the internet, into the differnt types of student magazine and magazines targeting the same audience as mine will.

These magazines are all targeting a similar audience to mine :


This is a popular magazine for music lovers, i like the picture also the way that the text is all different and the colour scheme works well.









I like the use graphics on this student magazine, also the way they have introduced the idea of gadgets.











This is a magazine specifically for students so helped me with my reasearch alot, i likethe main picture and the font and different text types.










This magazine is aimed more at teenage girls, so it depends what gender I aim my magazine at, but it is for a similar age range. I like the masthead and medium close up shot on this one.