Completion of Programme assignment

From coming back from going away for a week, I had completed all pre production tasks within a group therefore that was completed, I had edited all the footage, therefore when I came back I worked on the individual work such as the investigations into editing techniques etc. I have now completed the assignment and submit all group work, individual work, the worksheets, skills profile and evaluation. Overall, throughout this assignment I have gained more knowledge and skills into the Media industry, the production of programmes, how to format a successful research dossier, about acts and regulations within the Media through a homework assignment. I have also learnt about a potential career path within the Media which enabled me to work further on to my CV, a cover letter, and research into the career of a successful figure within the media industry therefore I gained an understanding on the directions and paths to work in the Media Industry.

Update of Editing Both Factual Programme and Social Action and Community Documentary

Throughout this post I will be updating about the editing of both factual programme and social action and community within the software programme Premiere Pro CS3, I have been experimenting with the sound volumns on the factual programme and placing in voice overs. I have also been cutting shots mainly of questions, therefore their is simple answers which is a convention of factual programmes. I have gained many skills throughout editing both programmes and developed on existing knowledge. Editing the social action and community documentary, I have been able to cut shots to show vox pops between students which is a common convention of documentary, to show a variety of different opinions on the cut of EMA from different students. I have also been cutting from a shot of a presenter introducing the questions we asked and then followed with the vox pops of students, then cut back to the presenter introducing the next question. Within editing I have also learnt how to create graphic images to portray the name and occupation on the person appearing on screen, I was able to learn this by creating the graphic in photoshop then saving the file as an mpeg then importing into the Premiere Pro project and placing it aside the timeline therefore there is a graphic visual appearing as well as footage. Throughout the development of editing the factual programme and the social action and community documentary I have now begun the evaluation whereby I will be highlighting the skills and knowledge gained and how I adapted within work ethic, group work and the development of the groups pre production etc.

Homework Assignment Completed and Film and Video Editing Techniques Worksheet Completed

I have completed homework assignment and the film and video techniques worksheet. Throughout the film and video editing techniques worksheet I have created a time line of dates between 1900-2011 of dates of new techniques, development etc. I have now gained much knowledge into the history of film, editing and the development. Within this assignment I also had to explain at least 5 editing techniques with examples, I talked about continuity editing, montage, shot-reverse shot, jump-cutting, transition:cut, i gave an example of the editing technique and how they are applied to film productions. I have also completed the homework assignment which included a number of tasks to gain knowledge into the media industry which included: The history and ownership within the Media industry whereby I researched into BBC and Walt Disney Company (which were already complete) I have now completed a CV, Cover Letter, a portfolio of works, Powerpoint of a successful figure in the media industry who I researched into James Cameron, and a career path in the field I would like to work in. Within this homework assignment I also researched into legal and ethical regulations within the media and acts within the media and how they affect media producers. Throughout this homework assignment I gained in-depth knowledge into the Media industry and to how present works.

Coverting all footage and Editing the factual programme

I have converted all rushes for our social action and community documentary of the cut of EMA within chichester college and began editing. We recorded about 50 rushes and 8 photographs, therefore we have a sound amount of material to work with and edit to produce our social action and community documentary. We have now begun editing the factual programme, I am intending to use simple cuts between each shots as this is a convention of documentaries, I have imported all rushes, and voice over audios into a new Premiere Pro CS3 project.

Completion of pre-production work and Filming the factual programme - activities within Chichester College

Pre-Production Work

As a group we have now all completed our individual pre production tasks for both the factual programme of activities within Chichester College and the social action and community of the cut of EMA. The tasks which I was alloacted to complete included:

Social action and community: Script, risk assessment

Factual programme Tasks: Treatment and shooting script

Completing the Proposal:
Social action and community Tasks: Client and audience needs/ Techniques
Factual programme Tasks: Target audience/ Similar existing products
Camera Booked for: 6th June-8th June

Begining Filming

Day 1 (6th June) :

I had the responsibility to carry the pre production work and the camera, therefore i brought these two to location. We then begun filming for the social action and community documentary at the location of Chichester College, through creating a question sheet i did to ask quesitons to students, experts etc. We managed to retrieve footage from students who recieve EMA and students who dont recieve EMA therefore the programme will not be impartial, we also interviewed a careers advisor and a student tutor to gain a wide variety of different opinions on the cut of EMA.

Day 2 (7th June) :

After charging the battery last night I brang in the camera again today and all pre production tasks. Today, we finished filming all footage for the social action and community documentary and we also went into open access in Chichester College and approached students and asked if they could participate in either the footage of our programme or as a still image of them holding paper stating what they spend EMA on. We were reluctant to recieve opinions and images from a wide variety of students. With the completion of the social action and community we then converted all footage onto our harddrives and then went on to film for the factual programme of activities within Chichester College. We filmed in an exterior location of a student and expert of football to tell the audience about the football teams within Chichester college, there opinions, times and dates therefore there are facts and figures also. We also filmed within the gym, some material of a student using the gym to give the audience awareness of the locaiton, we then interviewed a staff member at the gym who gave dates, times and general information about the gym, and then filmed a student ouside the gym about their use of the gym, the equipment etc.

Day 3 (8th June) :

Today we proceeded onto finished the filming of the factual programme, we filmed footage of Chichester College to give the audience knowledge of the location which we will put at the start of our programme. We then tried to retrieve more footage about the film club, we retrieved information from a student who is a member of the film club who gave us facts and information on the film club, however we tried to get footage of the expert of the film club Harry Dhami, however he didn't want to be filmed, however we overcome this problem by recording the voice overs of one member of the team playing the voice of Harry and another member of the team asking the questions, and for on screen we are intending to put a simple screen of 'this person could not be shown'. We then converting all factual programme on to our hard drives, therefore we could now proceed to edit our footage.

Editing Skills Profile complete

I have now completed the skills profile which highlighted all the skills i have previously gained to date.

Editing Skills Profile

Throughout this editing skills profile I will highlight the skills I have previously obtained through any previous related experiences and media assignments within Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro CS3, also how I will apply these to this assignment and the skills which I hope to learn throughout this assignment. As this assignment is to produce a factual programme and a social action and community documentary there will be adverse amount of editing involved within the editing software programme Premiere Pro CS3, whereby I have learnt a number of skills through previous assignments which can help enhance the quality of the final outcome and I can develop on previous skills.

Editing within software programmes

What skills I already acquired

Within this section, I will identify the skills I have already achieved from editing software programmes such as Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro CS3. Through previous education I obtain prior knowledge and skills within Adobe Photoshop however it was basic skills such as cropping, brightness and contrast etc, however being fortunate enough to become a digital artist assistant at Venture photography studios where I work, I have learnt many editing skills such as how to photo manipulate such as the use of the curve tool to enhance the contrast and brightness, clone tool and patch tool which can ultimately clean up flaws in an image or repeat a section of the image, I also learnt the use of colours within an image of a RGB and CMYK and how it is possible to saturate and desaturate and many other editing tools and techniques which I could apply to the quality of the images, font or graphics within the documentaries. Throughout previous assignments within this media course, I have learnt the importance and different file formats and their ideal use which I can then apply to the production, for example, to create a graphic to show the name and occupation of a participant within a documentary, the ideal file format is to save these as mpegs. I also learnt the ideal page set ups for title pages or visual graphics which include the stages to create a new canvas of the set up film/video and DV Widescreen and then to add the relevant text or image and to save as an mpeg and then import into premiere pro and drag into the timeline to then set to scale. Another technique I have learnt from the previous assignment of the DVD Menu is how to create an animation whereby through research I have identified the graphics can be animated to appear/disappear or to move on the screen by producing either text or image etc, click on windows on the tool bar to then select timeline, to create the animation is to place the subject to its first appearance wanted and then to duplicate the layer and move the animation to where it is wanted to end to then apply 10 frames in between to add the progress from one movement to another, to render as a video and import into premiere pro and apply onto the timeline. Another editing technique within Photoshop I have learnt is codec’s which help to make the applicant work for a DVD Menu such as roll over effects.

The other software programme for use of editing is Premiere Pro CS3 whereby I have completed assignments through this programme of a television advert and previous education. Through creating the television advert and previous videos for GCSE, I have learnt the editing effects which are possible such as; dissolve, wipe etc which can add more interest between different shots, however within documentaries it is generic that they only use a simple cut to not distract the audience away from the subject. How to cut footage, audio or image on Premiere Pro is a valuable skill which I have gained through previous assignment and which I will definitely apply to this assignment, how to cut is by the razor tool where I could place the cursor on the section which is ideal to cut and then correctly slice with the razor tool also and then delete the material which is not needed. Another technique I have learnt within Premiere Pro is how to import and export files and the different options such as if the project is complete to then export it as a film therefore it is saved as an avi. Through previous assignment I have also gained the skill of using tools within the programme such as the timeline and how to insert an image, graphic, audio, rush into the timeline to create a product with sound, graphics and footage.

Target

Throughout this assignment, my target is to learn how to adjust sound levels to try to lose any unwanted sounds and to enhance the main sound level, such as excess noise in the surroundings such as birds, people etc and to enhance the sound of the interviewee. I will try to achieve this target by experimenting with sound levels and to research into how to adjust sound levels at a professional manner.

Preparation techniques; pre-production, research and planning documents

What skills I have already acquired

Within preparation techniques in relation to pre production management, through previous assignments I have obtained the skill to complete all pre production work allocated and needed by the ideal deadlines therefore able to successfully follow through the assignment up to the each deadlines. I have gained prior knowledge and skills within pre production of the use of planning documents which enhance the development and quality of the project. A key planning document which I have learnt to create and work with is the production schedule, which highlights the t asks with allocated time to complete and their deadlines. I have gained the skill of management and time keeping by working with a production schedule  and with this gained the skill to complete all pre production tasks for their ideal deadline. Another skill within pre production to arrange client meetings to ensure the client understands the aims and objectives which a team is trying to achieve, the client meetings should progress through pre production of initial ideas, planning documents therefore the client knows exactly what is aimed to achieve and alterations can be made if necessary. Other preparation techniques include the completion of pre production documents such as; script, treatment, storyboard which enhance the development of the project as by completing one document the project can then work with this document and go forward with the project. Planning documents which include the preparation techniques of a contingency plan to highlight and prevent potential problems, risk assessments to identify risks on location to shoot footage to prevent any damage to equipment, the team and surrounding people, other planning documents are the shooting schedule which clearly shows the shots to be filmed in a chorological order which is similar to the storyboard however this document shows the footage visually and in the correct order, and the shot log which portrays who filmed which shot. Another document is the script  which plans and shows the dialogue of either a presenter, character and also identifies whether the footage is outdoors (exterior) or indoors (interior), as well as showing whether its day or night and the editing effect which within a documentary is usually ‘a cut’.

I have also undertaken all of these essential pre production work within other assignments such as creating a television advert, therefore I have gained valuable preparation techniques which I can apply to the development of production 2 documentary’s. Other preparation techniques which corresponds within having time management skills, is being able to secure resources such as booking out equipment of a camera and tripod, ensuring location permission access, ensuring there is computer access to be able to covert footage and edit within post production. Another preparation technique I gained is research which I learnt is crucial as if a documentary is highlighting a subject, they carry out primary research to experts and people to gain opinions and some facts and retrieve secondary research of facts and figures and definitions from other sources, to have an advanced knowledge and understanding, therefore all facts and opinions on the specific subject are valid, reliable and true.

Target

The target throughout the process of creating a factual programme and a social action and documentary is to complete all pre production tasks at a professional manner and to research into many different styles of real existing products to identify trends and the ideal quality.

Use of equipment; camera, tripod

What skills I have already acquired

Throughout previous assignments from GCSE and AS level I have learnt the basics of using a camera and tripod, however this was refreshed within a camera workshop whereby we learnt how to adjust the camera on the tripod, how to take the battery out, how to delete unwanted footage as well as how to record and stop recording footage, which are useful skills which I can then apply to the production of this assignment when creating two documentary’s. I also learnt how to alter the trip to be able to achieve different camera shots such as pan, tilt to achieve different perceptions. I also have the ability to be able to film the footage as well as capture still photographs, therefore I have the option to include both within the documentary’s.

Target

Within the production of this assignment I would like to develop on the existing knowledge and skills of the use of the camera by experimenting with different camera shots and angles to show a different angle or meaning.

Process tools;  converting, editing, importing, uploading rushes etc

What skills I have already acquired

Throughout previous assignments of creating a 30 second television advert I learnt how to covert footage using AVS video converter 6 and the correct way by changing the settings of ‘split’ and ‘batch mode’ and to covert by saving all rushes into suitable folders which also refers to preparation techniques of creating folders of ‘audio, images and footage’. I also learnt how to set up a new project within the editing software programme Premiere Pro CS3 by create a new folder and then to import all the folders by selecting import in the file options and select the suitable folders. I also learnt how to export the rendered footage as a film when finished by selecting export which then will convert into an avi movie file. I also learnt how to export animation/graphics from Photoshop by saving the files as a film or mpeg file format and importing into Premiere Pro CS3. Within process tools to edit within Premiere Pro CS3 I have gained the ability to be able to apply editing/transition effects, audio effects/transitions by selecting an editing tool and applying it to the footage where wanted which could be editing techniques such as; transition effects of wipe, dissolve, blur & sharpen, image control etc. Gaining knowledge on how to convert footage, import/export material, upload rushes and to edit footage, I can then apply to post production of creating 2 documentaries.

Target

A target is to learnt more about creating a graphic of the name and occupation of participants, expert within documentaries which is a common convention of documentaries, as I would like to create graphics on a professional manner. I would also like to learnt more about how to delete unwanted footage completely from all folders.

Post-Production tools; sample viewing of editing techniques, reviewing work

What skills I have already acquired

Within post production tools I have learnt how to successfully create and propose a sample viewing to the audience to gain valuable criticism and feedback and also be able to gain feedback from lecturers, a sample viewing will consist of a questionnaire of relevant questions such as their opinions on the editing techniques etc and reviewing the production  created. I am also able to review work myself  to then be able to identify errors, alter and to add improvements. Throughout creating a television advert I successful carried out a sample viewing of the editing techniques I used which included effects and transitions of cut, dissolve etc, also the effect of altering colours and using the effect of pick colour, also applying slogans created within Photoshop which I used within the television advert.  Through the previous assignment of creating a television advert I successfully retrieved valuable feedback through a sample viewing and gathered improvement plans of editing techniques, feedback included that the audience felt the editing of pick colour by de saturated all colours apart from the red was effective and reflected the colour of the chocolate bar Kit Kat packet.

Target

When retrieving feedback from the audience and lecturers, I would like to explore all the potential ways to improve the work and to do so in an in depth manner. I would also like to review work more in depth before submitting to identify any possible error.

Update of Pre-production work

Within the previous few days, my team have been completing their individual tasks for both factual documentary and social action and community documentary We have completed both proposals for the factual documentary and the social action and community and we have carried out numerous minutes to check that we're individually keeping up with pre production deadlines, and it is fantastic that matt has completed his social action and community tasks which included; the treatment and the shooting schedule, Max completed the tasks of the storyboard and the shooting script and I completed my tasks of the script, risk assessment, call sheet and secure resourses, therefore we have completed all preparation work for the social action and community documentary therefore we are ready to film our documentary on the effects of the cut of EMA, with interviews with a career advisors, interviews with students who recieve EMA and those who do not, to gain a wide range of different opinions and gain a better understanding on the potential effects it may cause.

Group Work and Pre-Production begun

We have now been allocated into groups to complete pre-production, production together. I have been allocated with Matt Long and Max, I have worked with Matt before and we worked very hard together previously which is a bonus, Max is a hard working student, therefore our group is promising and positive. We have contributed within 2 meetings and recorded within our minutes records. Our first meeting we proposed individually our ideas for both factual and social action and community programmes, My idea for factual programme was what goes on within Chichester College such as; activities, course, events etc, a factual programme giving the audience facts about what is available within the college, my proposed idea for the social action and community was the cut of EMA and the effect it will have on students. Matts ideas were similar, however his factual programme was based just around activities within Chichester College and focuses on the activities available within the college, his social action and community idea was based surrounding the cut of EMA, Max proposed the idea for the factual programme on facts about gap years for students leaving college, and his social action and community was based around the effect on smaller businesses when Big Tescos arrived in Havant. We overviewed all potential ideas and looked at the advantages and disadvantages, as a group we came to a decision to establish the concept for the factual programme of activities within the college and the social action and community of the cut of EMA, with different ideas interpretated and expanded onto the basic concept.

We have begun our pre-production stage and completed two production schedules for factual programme and social action and community and allocated individial roles and tasks to be completed with ideal deadlines to follow the production schedule successfully and be able to film all shots in mind. My tasks include; completing for the factual programme; the treatment and shooting script and for the social action and community to complete; the script and risk assessment. We also divided both proposals equally and differently, therefore we have a chance to respond to different tasks within the proposal and have the same workload.

Completing Tasks Part 2 and 3 within Homework Assignment

I have now completed Part 2 and 3 within the homework asssignment booklet which included; identifying media regulators, government acts and the impact on media producers and case studys whereby media companies have broken guidelines and been punished by regulating bodies. Within task 1 of part 2, I have researched and found the regulating bodies within the media industiry of television, film, print publications and computer games, included with a summary and their contact details. Proceeding from this task, I have also researched into government acts and stating the summeary of the act with answers as to how they impact media producers.

Assignment: Film and Video Editing Techniques

We have been introduced to a film and video editing techniques worksheet, which consists of researching into the history of film and video editing techniques which should be presented in a timeline to show the dates and development of editing techniques with the people who have introduced the different techniques and for what reasons. On the worksheet there are also other tasks we should be completed which include examples od developments such as; development in shot variation, multiple points of view etc, included with examples of purposed which include engaging the viewer, relationship to genre, develpment of drama. Task 2 on this sheet there is also the task to research into at least 5 conventions and techniques within editing whereby I have given definitions and examples with techniques including; jump cut, continuity, shot reverse shot, montage and a transition effect.

Proposals Complete and Update of Social Action and Community Worksheet

I have now completed both proposals for proposed ideas for the factual programme and social action and commnuity, which includes and highlights; the audience, the budget, the equipment etc. The proposed idea for the factual programme which was based from MY Magazine assignment, was facts about Chichester College and what is available such as; activities, course information etc, Where as the proposed idea for the social action and community was the concept of the cut of EMA and the effect it will have on students. Through both proposals I have highlighted the establish concept and portrayed my knowledge within copyright, budget, codes of practice etc.

I have also completed the social action and community worksheet which gained me knowledge into different existing social action and community documentaries and understanding within a social action and communtiy documentary. I researched into existing social action and community documentaries to gain an unerstanding and highlighted the impact on peoples lives and the community. Within this worksheet I also highlighted Quantitative and Qualitative research methods and Primary and Secondary Research, and how I will be applying this within the production of pre-production and post production. Within this worksheet I also explained the issues and needs which I need to consider within creating a social action programme and how to overcome these.

Assignment: Social Action and Community Task sheet

I have now completed the task sheet based around social action and community factual programmes. Tasks included within this tasksheet consisting on highlighting and describing existing social and community documentaries which I researched into 'The Secret Millionaire', 'Home is where the heart is' and 'Living in the slum'. Through researching into each programme I identified and included each programme's purpose of the documentary, the director, title, year and production company. Throughout this worksheet I also highlighted Issues and needs with resolutions for the proposed Idea, the last task within this worksheet was to create a proposal to highlight the content within producing the production, through research I also included the budget, locations, facilities etc.

Assignment (Homework): Company Ownerships within the Media

I have now completed task 1 within the homework assignment booklet which was to research into two global companies with their history, ownership across different media platforms with a research dossier and powerpoint presentation. I have carried out secondary research into two large companies of The Walt Disney Company and The BBC News, and researched into the history and identified their ownerships within the media industry and their media outlets to the audience. Within part 1 and 2 of this task, I also identified both companies main sources of income, employees and their main competitors within the media industry, within part 2 I also stated how surprised on how much the companies own and the main advantages and disadvantages of owning such large companies. I have creating a research dossier of both companies and put together a PowerPoint presentation of both companies including detailed summarys of the companies. Within this work sheet there were also two questions to be answered which included the amount of employees of both companies with their main competitors, income and the disadvantages with advantages of owning such big companies.

Documentary Assignment; Investigation into Factual Programmes

We have now started the investigation into TV Factual Programmes whereby I have been researching into Issues needed to be considered on the television such as; the accuracy of material deliverd to the audience, privacy issues for the contributers with issues of consent from the contributer or a third party, also about information on withdrawing consent, also the issue of Impartiality and the priority to portray fairly equal information to the audience, with information on all sides of the story. I have also undertaken an investigation into the codes and conventions of factual programmes on of the News on TV such as; field reporters, interviewing, actuality footage etc. I also have included the different modes of documentarys such as; observational, interactive, reflexive etc. Within this investigation I have also learnt and highlighted examples of the different modes of documentaries and the styles used also I have researched and seen examples of codes and conventions used within factual programme of the News and how different factual programmes used these, I have compared different News Programmes such as;Sky News which is a 24 hour news channel which is targetted to a working audience of people at work or at home, another news programme of South Today which is a local news channel which is targetted to those who finish work at a generic time of 5, the other news programme was Newsround which is targetted for a more younger audience. I have researched into their different styles to target to a specfic audience such as formal, or informal. I have annotated onto all research undertaken within factual programmes and about to start writing my investigation in a word document to represent my findings.

Introduction to New Assignment: Factual Programme & Homework Assignment

We have now been introduced to our 4th Assignment which involves creating a factual documentary of a specific topic or subject which can portray informative facts and the audience will gain more knowledge into a certain aspect, the subject will also include social and the community, whereby we I am aware we will be creating our own factual programme and then editing another group's factual programme as a social community based film. I have also furthered my knowledge into documentaries and identified the components and conventions used to portray a documentary by watching a number of documentaries such as; Michael Moore's popular documentaries, and seen the different styles and modes which can be found in documentaries. Conventions of documentaries include portraying to the audience some background of the subject which films also generally use to portray the audience the scenery and become familar with the background and location, interviews are very popular within documentaries and they generally include interviews with experts within the subject, interviews with the general public and interviews that have been affected or have an opinion on the subject, therefore the audience can retrieve more knowledge and understand more.

Within the next few days, I will be developing and adapting an idea for a factual programme with some relevance to social and the community such as; health issues-smoking, drinking, STI'S, Enviroment Issues, Crime Issues to raise awareness and to hopefully be beneficial to people affected by these issues.  

Completion of Evaluation/Paper work & Responding to Feedback

Production of Front cover, Double Page Spreadsheet and Contents Page

Front Cover
Through research I found generically within student magazines and community magazines that one main striking image is used across the front cover with over lapping texts and other images. This style is very striking and as the image is large, this catches the audience's attention, especially if the model within the image is making direct eye contact to the audience, it creates a sense as if the person on the front cover is looking and talking to the audience. The main image portrays what can be seen within the magazine, therefore the image must have relevance and be eye catching to the audience. Commonly the main image consists of one person to show the simplistic, easy to read nature of the magazine and to create a more interesting, bold impact, however I will be using 4 images of 4 different students within my magazine, as the brief stated the magazine is for both sexes and different socio economic backgrounds, I felt it was suitable to use 4 images of 4 different students of both sexes to portray the magazine is for all student readers, and as the students within the magazine are within the same age of the target audience stated within the brief, they can relate and will be intrigued as they're within the same age category. The layout of using a number of different images but layed out so they are all within the main image, I also found through research within magazines such as; a rock magazine called 'Fireworks' and also a feminine magazine called 'Nylon' which also uses a number of different images but appearing as the main image which I have included within this post. In conclusion, I have begun the production of my front cover for the magazine and added the style of using a number of different images, as the same image, I have also added the masthead which I have designed, also included the features with yellow symbols next to them to highlight them, college logo for the magazine, the bar code which will link to the college magazine. I included an advertisement of discount on a fashion shop, appearing on my front cover as students are interested in fashion and try to keep up to date with  as the brief stated that the secondary audience would be potential advertisers, therefore if there audience is students, then they are garanteed their target audience will notice their advertisements if they appear within their student magazines. Within the a layout, I included within the Masthead, the college logo and title, with the date and season of the issue, therefore students recognise where the magazine is from, and can keep up to date with the issues, Then as I used 4 images as the main images, I positioned them across the page within the model which simply consisted of the images, therefore it didn't seem too busy, then at the bottom was where the features and content of the magazine is found with a sub title stating the magazine is new and free to the audience. I believe my magazine front cover is striking to the audience as they can relate to the images as the images are of students, interesting features are portrayed on the front cover and the layout is easy to read and clear. I will carry out primary research to the target audience again to gain feedback on how they feel about the outcome of the final products, and ways I could improve.

Double Page spreadsheet

I have now completed my double page spreadsheet, I used the colour scheme for half of it of blue to follow through from the front cover and contents page and the other half of pink to relate to the ballet interview. Half of my double page spreadsheet includes activites throughout which are highlighted ontop of boxes which symbolize important notes and reminders with the symbols of pins, to emphasise this. I added images with the activite to add more interest and intrigue the audience to join in with activites, I presented the images slanted as through research, this was popularly used, and added more interest and creativity. I kept with the colour scheme blue as it flows with the front cover and stands out. Within the other half of the double page spreadsheet I included an interview with a past student which from secondary research into similar existing products, interviews with artists or students were included; which could inspire the audience, also through primary research, I carried out a questionnaire to the target audience, and they stated they'd like to read about interviews and past students achievements, therefore I combined the two which would add more interest to the audience. The audience also stated they'd like to read about sports, therefore I chose dance as it can be both sexes and is inspiring, which as the colour scheme for the interview on the double page spreadsheet is pink this symbolized the topic of ballet, as ballet clothes and shoes are pink.

Contents Page

I have now completed my contents page, where I also used the colour scheme blue with the colour yellow which was also found throughout the front cover, therefore it flowed. Through secondary research into similar/existing products, I found that contents page can use some images of the content of the magazine to intrigue the audience furthermore, as the audience will scan the front cover and the contents page, therefore it is important to make the contents page attractive. Through research, I also found the use of using boxes for the layout for images and content list to overlap them, to seperate the images contents, therefore it is clear to visualize. I used 7 box layouts for the masthead, images and contents list of a darker blue then the background to follow the blue colour scheme. I used interesting images to appeal to the audiene of; a qr code, a smart camera, students having fun and sports, therefore contents of social life and student life are included. Within the contents list I included features within the content of the magazine of; sexual health, ucas information, fashion, interviews, competitions, film reviews etc, to appeal to the audience. In terms of font, I continued to use the font Garamond to make the font clear and flow with the rest of the front cover, I also used Bickham Script Pro for the page numbers and the C for contents, to combine traditional and modern to make it appear more interesting. I am now going to create a questionnaire to gain valuable feedback from the target audience.

Designing the Masthead and Logo for my Magazine

In todays lesson, Simon portrayed the importance of choosing a font and to research into the history of fonts, as they all have meaning and reasons, this made me become aware of the work and effort inputted into creating fonts, and the difference of impact when using different fonts and styles. He also emphasised the ability to design a font in many different ways, he inspired me in demonstrating some masthead designs, in which I responded by designing a number of different mastheads for my title Inspire, which ironically the title is inpirational as they're so creative and experimented. I altered colours throughout the font, for example one letter a blue and the rest of the letters being black which added interest, I also became creative and rotated individual letters, therefore it became more creative and effectively appeared inspiring and to intrigue the audience more. Through creating different styles by changing the colours of some letters and rotating some letters, I also began to further the creativeness by using symbols within the masthead design, such as I used the symbol for information which is an italic i and tried experimenting with this by using this for the i on inspire, I also used a symbol which was a swirl which I rotated to 'appear' as the e for inspire, other symbols I applied to the masthead included using a symbol which consisted of a number of tiny little swirly symbols, which resembled confetti almost, which I used in between the title 'inspir' and the 'e' which had been rotated, I used this as it portrayed the e had been seperated from the rest of the title and the symbol portrayed the little bits of the letter breaking off.

These are my designs for the Masthead and the Logo; I have decided to use the font Garamond as through research it is used for magazines and within trends of magazine fonts and graphic designs, Garamond is within the 7^th favoured font, I also feel the font is big and bold, with traditional edges of the letters, which I felt was ideal as it was bold and stylish. I have also used symbols within the masthead designs to add more creativity and as the title is Inspire, it could be ironic the title could be inspiring, also as students are more attracted to fun, creative styles, I felt this fitted with it, I also used effects on some masthead designs such as the Horizontal Mask Type Tool, which made a letters made out of images which added more interest and creative design.  I chose the final masthead which I have pointed out with an arrow, as I felt the use of the symbol ‘I’ for information, emphasised the magazine will contain information, I also added a design of the e flying of the inspire, to add creativity and emphasise the new opportunities and roots from the college.

I also created a number of logo designs to portray the magazine is for Chichester college, I again used symbols, rotated lettering, use different colours for each word of Chichester College, combined traditional and modern font, which I felt they were all creative, however I went with the logo which is pointed out by an arrow, as I felt it portrayed the connectivity and togetherness between students within the college. Using different colours to add more interest and to follow within the college scheme of blue.

Update of Creating my Magazine and Images being used

Update of creating my Magazine

So far from following the production schedule and meeting the strict deadlines, I have completed all research undertaken which included Primary research to the target audience of a questionnaire to gain information on what the target audience would like to read about, also Secondary research which is all of the deconstructing and analysing of existing products which has helped within the development of my work, also secondary research into trends within graphic designs, to identify trends used for images, fonts, layouts which has helped within choosing features and designing my magazine. I also completed a detailed report into graphic file formats on Photoshop and Illustrato and Research into magazine conventions and Typography, with experimentations of fonts using different effects such as 3D, Shadow effects, Rotating etc. I have also produced a target audience profile which states their usage, what they want which has helped when choosing specific aspects of my magazine such as imagery, font, topic information etc, also putting together a research dossier on budget, legal and ethical considerations and health and safety issues and how to overcome them, with the contiguency plan highlighting problems and how to deal with them. From completing all of the research for pre-production and post production, I then completed the initial ideas with the help of sketches, moodboard, mind map, which highlighted the colour scheme, images, layout, font, title name what i'm going to use for my Front Cover, Double Page spread and Contents Page. Through completing all of the research stage of; research dossier, intial ideas, mood board, sketches, etc I could then go on to generating my images.

Images

I have photographed some images for my magazine with my Nikon D500. As the brief stated the target audience will include both sexes, and of different socio economic backgrounds, I therefore took the approach to include this audience within the magazine to interest and appeal to the target audience. I therefore planned to shoot images of both sexes, of different styles and ethnicity to portray everyones inidividuality and to show every is equal within the college, therefore the friendly atmosphere is shown and students considering joining this college will have a fresh, friendly look  to the college. As the brief stated to produce a front cover, double page spreadsheet and contents page, through research within these 3 products, I found that images were found within these documents, therefore I recognised I will be taking a wide variety of images based and related to different topics. For the front cover, my plan was to emphasise the equality between students withint this college by portraying a large image of different students of different sexes, style, ethnicity looking happy therefore I originally took a number of images of different students to layer together as one image, however the final ouput didn't appear professional, therefore I have planned to take an image of students together, also for featured images of the cover, I have photographed a male using a camera to advertise the camera competition, also photographed a female to show the interview found within the magazine. Images I have taken include; a footballer, a number of students with work, group photographs.

Pitch Completed

I have now completed my pitch and presented it to 2 Lecturers Andy and Simon and an Assistant Callum, and a combination of group a and b of who were here, and a camera filming my presentation. My presentation was 19 pages including introduction and questions pages, where I stated my initial ideas of; title name, colour scheme, images, fonts etc, backed up with primary research of a questionnaire to the target audience. I stated explanations for my reasons and developing ideas, and portrayed what I will produce for a magazine Front Cover, Double Page Spreadsheet and Contents Page, with deconstructions of similar/existing products, and my mood board showing the theme/mood of my magazine, sketches of the layout of my pages. My initial thought of presenting infront of a possible 2 classes, teachers and a camera, was nerve wracking and I was slightly worried I would just loose my words, however after viewing a couple of my peers presentations I felt confident and understood we were all in the same position, when I presented my presentation I felt confident and explained all my ideas in detail and spoke directly to the audience, I felt my pitch presentation went really well and the audience were engaged and understood were I will be trying to achieve.

Initial Idea for my magazine; Colour Sheme, Font, Sketches, Images, Title

Through preparing for my pitch I have created ideas for my colour scheme, fonts, images and title name through research into existing/similar products, into trends within graphic design for 2011, creating a mood board to set the mood of my magazine and creating sketches to visually process what my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spreadsheet will appear like.

Title Name

Through research into title names, I generetated some possible title names for my student magazines which included; Inspire, Achieve, Fresh, Soul and Unique which I felt were all inspiring, clean, bold titles. Through the questionnaire results I found the title 'Inspire' gained most results with 55% of the target audience favouring this title with comments such as; it reflects that the college inspires the students, therefore from the questionnaire results from the target audience the title of my student magazine will be 'Inspire'.

Colour Scheme and Why?

The colour scheme I will be using is blue as through research into the target audience by producing a questionnaire, I found the target audience favoured the colour blue, therefore as the brief states this magazine is for the target audience of 16-21 of both sexes, different economic-backgrounds, and the questionnaire asked these students, the results are reliable and by using the colour blue, the target audience will be attracted to the magazine by the use of colour scheme as they chose it. Also through researching into different trends of graphic designs for 2011, I looked into colour trends for magazines and I found the popular colours used include the colour blue (Peapod, Curacao and Regatto), therefore by using this colour scheme it is guaranteed to be attracted by the audience and graphic designers as it is a fact that it is a trend at the moment. Another reason I considered the colour scheme blue was because the college for my student magazine will be Chichester college which uses the colour scheme blue with their title. This is a print out of my colour scheme and why page on my pitch for the PowerPoint presentation which uses the colour scheme, and also shows the chart of results gathered by the target audience stating they preferred the colour blue.

Images

Images I will be using throughout my magazine include the images for my double page spreadsheet of activities which is an opportunity for students within the college, as there is an article of an interview of a past student to inspire other students there will be an image of the student which is being inteviewed. Throughout the contents page there will be accompanied images with the contents titles to show features within the magazine. For the main image on the front cover it will be different images of all different international students together to emphasise the college work together and support eachother, and to show the atmosphere that everyone is equal and friendly.

Fonts



                Through research into different fonts and Typography styles, I decided to use a more traditional font style for the title ‘Inspire’ and throughout all other fonts within the magazine to use model, bold fonts. I looked at different fonts on the website dafonts.com which had a wide range of different styles, modern and traditional, fonts I found included; Accents Romance Fatal Serif and Epitazzio.  For the masthead, I’m going to use a serif style font of more traditional styles, to show elegance and fancy style to the title ‘Inspire’.   I also looked at font styles within Microsoft Word such as; Bickham script pro which was within one of the most popular used fonts for graphic designers which are mainly used for formal occasions.   The font highlighted within the red box is the font I will be using for the masthead title, which is called; Monotype Corsiva, which is made within the style of the early Italian cursivies, which exemplifys by the work of the writing master Ludovico degli Arrighi in the sixteenth century. The capitals are of swash design, with characteristic flourishes, designed primarily for use as initial letters. Corsiva can be used for short text passages in advertising but can be  used to add sparkle to invitations, greeting cards and menus, and to give a sense of occasion, I felt using this one for the occasion of a new student magazine was relevant.   For the font throughout the rest of the magazine front cover to show headlines and features within in the magazine, I will be using the font Garamond as through research I found this font is popular and used by graphic designers, this font realeased in 1989 is through research seen as a great font for magazines, books, websites and was recently named the second best font after (Helvetica) by a German publication.



Research into Graphic Design Trends and Colour Schemes

Through keeping up with the production schedule I have completed the tasks of; skills profile where I stated existing knowledge skills and skills I'd like to learn through this project, Mood board of the theme of my magazine and Typography, Market Research of a questionnaire to the target audience to gain information of what they like and dislike within a magazine and their hobbies and interests. I have also started creating my sketches of the front cover, double page spreadsheet and contents page with annotations and explanations. This is my mood board of my theme and Typography:

Mood board of colour scheme, images and fonts

Mood board of Typography styles for 2011

Through secondary research into magazines and deconstructions to see they styles, techniques and generic conventions used, I have also researched into trends into graphic designs for 2011 which include trends within; layouts of mobile devices, websites etc, colour schemes which are popular used by graphic designers for websites and magazines etc, typography trends and their meaning, imagery trends within graphic designs, which can help when generating initial ideas and developing on ideas to use popular trends to attract the audience furthermore.

Image trends within graphic design 2011 : Manipulation and Vintage

Photo Manipulation

Through research into trends for 2011 of graphic designs, I researched into trends for imagery and it is clear photo manipulation by using effects, filters, editing still remains highly popular because the talent to do it which not many people can achieve effectively such as editing the image so detailed that the image is as a surreal imaginative. I found through research photo manipulation is highly used for mobile advertisements to emphasise the quality of the technology within the phone.

Vintage

Gerdarntz Memory game

‘The game contains 250 from the more than 4,000 pictograms Gerd Arntz drew between 1928 and 1965, and were scanned from the original prints in the Arntz archive of the Municipal Museum The Hague’.

“As a politically engaged graphic artist and designer Gerd Arntz (1900-1988) portrayed the world in wood and linoleum cuts. During the 1920s, he conveyed his vision on social wrongs and the rise of Nazism in Germany in his prints. He did this in such a simple, direct style that anyone - regardless of their education and nationality - was able to understand his images.”




Colour Trends

I have researched into Popular trends of colour schemes for 2011 to find the best appealing colour schemes to use throughout my magazine. From research into trends of magazines I found popular colours used in magazines which is a trend for 2011 include Blue colours of; Peapod, Blue Curacao and Regatto, then through further research into colour palette trends I found the colours dark blue, light blue and green which is seen in this website, which stands out and is eye catching. Other colours which are within the colour trends for graphic designers in 2011 include, honeysuckle, coral rose, russet etc.

Layouts: Influenced by related media; website design  

Massive Images as backgrounds

With the internet speeds becoming faster, websites are pushing to the limits with animations, HD Videos and huge beautiful images. This websites use larger photographs to portray their message, the web content and functions lay over the top of the photograph which shows good contrast. The use of using huge images on a layout with accompanied font is the message is clear to the point, also it creates a very impressive visual impact towards the readers. Web designers play with different design variables which include being used by photographers such as; depth of field or focus. Within website design, there are other possible ways to portray the message clear and big, such as large videos or illustrations, typography. There are different large background styles which include;

·         High quality photographs as backgrounds

·         Graphics and illustrations as backgrounds

·         Animations as backgrounds

However, the use of photographs and illustrations are more commonly used as the bandwidth is becoming cheaper with the internet connection speeds increasing, websites can afford to use this more and more. This style of using large images for the background is what I’m going to use for my magazine front cover and double page spreadsheet, as it is striking and the subject of the magazine will be clear and stand out. I will also accompany images and font surrounding the main image such as the website layout of champney’s website.