St. Paul’s Catholic College 6593

Candidate Name: Leeza Ah-WanCandidate Number: 6593

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media Studies

Schedule

Week Beginning Work Completed

Summer Holidays N/A8th September As a class we were briefed about what the coursework for this year

would involve. I then created a blog on WordPress. Throughout this year I will be uploading my coursework onto my blog.

15th September We looked at theorists such as Katz, Maslow and Hartley. I then related these theorists to readers of ‘Q’ magazine in my log book. I also annotated a front cover, contents page and double page spread from ‘Q’ and a front cover and contents page from ‘Vibe’. I made these annotations to see clearly what both magazine companies have

included so I know what to ‘repeat’ (Neale) in my own magazine, as they are both extremely successful.

I also decided on my target audience which will be 15-25 year olds, similarly to the younger adult target audience of ‘Q’.

22nd September I created a word document questionnaire and then collated the responses from ten people using Edexcel. I also did a survey on survey monkey. Survey monkey was extremely useful as it allowed me to get people to answer questions, specifically aimed at my target audience. Therefore, these answers will allow me to produce a magazine that consumers will be pleased with.

29th September I completed a front cover and contents page hand drawn draft for my college magazine. Then, I began designing my preliminary task front cover on Photoshop. I ‘repeated’ (Neale) all the necessary conventions needed to make a magazine successful including the use of a masthead, strapline, barcode, price, web address (convergence), cover lines and a main image and main headline, amongst many more. I cropped my main image using the quick selection tool to get me started. I used a mid close up shot as requested.

6th October My college magazine front cover was almost complete however, I needed to move a few things around and make the page look more presentable. I decided to change a few of my cover lines around in terms of positioning as I believed the layout looked messy and so wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. I completed this page and then asked for

feedback. I was told to add a QR code scanner onto the page. I followed this suggestion and placed one in.

13th October I started creating my college magazine contents page on Photoshop. I constantly referred back to my hand drawn draft for guidance. I’ve given myself a target to complete this page by the end of this week. I will try my best to stick to this target as I want to have time to make any necessary corrections. I also took photos of my fellow peers for the page.

By the end of this week I had ‘repeated’ (Steve Neale) all the typical conventions of a contents page and incorporated these onto my page. For example, the masthead is visible and it also has the same colour scheme which I used for my front cover. I am on track and I only need to make a few minor corrections to make sure that the magazine is completely ready and looks fit to be sold.

20th October This week, I made the minor corrections that needed to be done to my contents page. Halfway through the week I was completely done with the prelim task. The preliminary task was a great way for me to get back into using Photoshop after the long break I’ve had since using the software at GCSE. Hence, I’m grateful that this task was part of the course as not only have I re-visited old skills but I’ve learnt new skills along the way which will help me in producing the best music magazine possible.

Half Term

3rd November Referring back to an issue of ‘Q’ magazine which I purchased for guidance, I started to design my front cover hand drawn draft for my music magazine. Producing a hand drawn draft was useful in giving me a clear idea of where I should place all the conventions. I also started brainstorming what names I could use for my music magazine in my own time. ‘New Vibes’ and ‘New Jams’ were my favorite ideas. By the end of the week I came to the decision that ‘New Vibes’ will be the masthead that I will use. I believe it sounds catchy and fresh and will be able to stop a pass along audience.

I also made a very brief start on my front cover towards the end of the week. I used the ruler tool to make sure everything was set out in an organized manner. I used the rectangle shape tool to create a red box behind my masthead ‘NV’ which stands for ‘New Vibes’. I then added a black border to the page using the rectangle shape tool once again. I was also informed that the deadline for my music magazine is the 19th of December.

10th November I continued working on my front cover, incorporating all the necessary conventions. These included a strapline, the use of social networking logos, a barcode, the issue number, cover lines, the price and more. I also began to take the photos for all three pages. I decided my main ‘star’ (Dyer) will be Katy Perry.

During the end of the week I cropped my main image and placed it in

appropriately.

I am currently on track and so I am confident that I will meet the deadline which is Friday 19th December.

17th November I believe that I have learnt a lot of useful skills this week. I used the pen tool to get my main headline text to slant across the central image. Learning new skills such as this was challenging to begin with as I kept making mistakes. However, eventually I got the text to look the way I hoped. Therefore, I am pleased that I persevered and did not give up. I’m thoroughly enjoying creating my music magazine and am very excited to start my next two pages soon.

By the middle of the week, I double checked I had ‘repeated’ (Neale) all the necessary conventions and incorporated them onto my front cover. Then, I had to make a few minor corrections. I then produced a hand drawn draft of my contents page. This has given me a clear plan on where to place the conventions when I start designing my page on Photoshop.

By the end of the week I had started designing my contents page on Photoshop. I added all the typical codes and conventions that I wanted on it. Furthermore, I ‘repeated’ (Neale) aspects from my front cover such as the colour scheme. By the end of this week I had the basic structure of my page. Next week, I need to add in a few more photos.

24th November I drew up a hand drawn draft of my double page spread. I also looked at my magazine of inspiration for ideas and also looked at other successful magazines so that I could get ideas of what I could implement in my magazine.

Towards the end of the week I added more original images onto my contents page and more stories. I also moved some of the previous conventions I had utilized around to make the page look more appealing. Furthermore, I typed up my editorial and deleted a story, so I could place my editorial in appropriately, in its place.

1st December I continued to design my contents page, and typed up all the necessary text onto the page. I made sure that the web address and page number were placed appropriately on the right hand side of the page. I also ensured that all the stories from the front cover were referenced to clearly, for consistency.

When comparing my original hand drawn draft of my contents page and the real thing on Photoshop, there are differences. I have changed certain aspects from my hand drawn draft such as the positioning of items. I have done this to benefit my magazine, as I believe I have made the page look more professional.

Towards the end of the week I began working on my double page spread, using my hand drawn draft for guidance. I duplicated the web address, masthead and page number from my contents page, and

placed it on the right hand side of my double page to ensure consistency. I also used the shape tool to create a red rectangle in which the ‘star’ (Dyer) of the interview was clearly referenced. I then also created my pull quote using the shape tool.

This weekend I plan to take a range of photos. I will then select the one most appropriate for my double page spread; as I don’t believe the images I took a few weeks back are good enough. I will also be typing up my interview.

8th December At the start of the week I used the Quick Selection Tool and Quick Mask Tool to edit out the background of a picture that I believed would be suitable for my double page spread. However, I was not happy with the result. My front cover and contents page both have a white background and so in order to ensure a consistent colour scheme, it’s important that my double page spread has a white background also. However, this meant that when I cropped my image the left hand side of the page looked very bare and empty. I therefore decided to retake my images.

In the meantime, I used the pen tool to place in my interview. I used a drop capital at the start of my interview as this is a typical convention that I wanted to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale). This was definitely the task I found the hardest so far, since I’ve been doing this coursework unit. However, after many attempts and perseverance I believe that I used the pen tool to a good standard and my interview looks appealing and professional.

At the end of the week I retook my image for my double page spread and placed this in. Knowing how bare the page looked before, I wanted a background that really stood out. So, I decided to take an image that featured a lot of vibrant colours. Therefore, I changed my main ‘star’ (Dyer) from Katy Perry to Shakira as my friend had a Colombian flag which she said we could use as part of the background.

15th December This week, I typed up the caption and credits and placed these on the left hand side corner of my double page spread. I also placed in social networking logos and typed up their relevant links, along with other relevant text onto the page.

I also had to go back and edit my interview because I changed my main star. I typed up my interview on Word to avoid any spelling or grammatical errors as this would be extremely unprofessional and so all I had to do was go back to the saved file and change some of the responses and answers. However, this also meant I had to redo the layout of my interview using the pen tool. Fortunately, as I had already done it previously I was familiar with what I had to do and so it didn’t take me too long.

By the end of the week my double page spread was completed and I was waiting on feedback. In the meantime I went back to my front cover and contents page and also made sure that I changed all the text that said ‘Katy Perry’ to ‘Shakira.’ I was also forced to change the main

headline so it matched and was relevant to my newly edited interview.Once receiving feedback I made all the necessary corrections to my double page spread. Some of the corrections and feedback from my peers included enlarging the text in the red rectangle at the top of my page so it filled the shape fully. After making this change I could see that a little correction like this actually made a massive difference in making the page look more appealing.

After seeing how useful my peers were in helping me improve my double page spread, I plan to obtain feedback for all four pages after Christmas holidays.

I am extremely happy with the work I have produced this term and I have successfully completed all four pages by my deadline which was the 19th of December.

5th January This week I made minor changes to my double page spread following feedback from my teacher. I added more social networking logos across the bottom of the page and also added #shakira on the bottom of the page. I believe adding a hashtag is beneficial because many consumers will use social networking sites such as twitter, so utilizing the hashtag will increase awareness of ‘NV’.

12th January This week I started to mind map questions that I could ask members of my target demographic to see if ‘NV’ was successful and appealed to them. I thought it would be useful to obtain audience feedback so if anything was drastically displeasing to someone I would have the chance to change it before submitting my work to the examiner.

2nd February This week I began my evaluation.

By the end of the week I had answered 1 out of the 7 questions that need to be addressed within my evaluation.

9th February During this week, I completed a further three questions for my evaluation. I also added in relevant images onto my PowerPoint to make it look appealing. I am currently on track and am hopeful that I will have completed the evaluation by the end of next week.

23rd February I managed to get a lot of work done this week in regards to my evaluation. As well as answering the last three questions, I also showed evidence of photography planning for all three pages and annotated my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I proof read the whole presentation to ensure there were no mistakes or errors and then with my evaluation complete, I moved onto planning for audience feedback.

9th March I want to show my ability of using technology so I have decided that I will not obtain audience feedback through a questionnaire, especially because I have already done two as part of my planning and research previously in the year. Instead I will obtain feedback through videoing those within my target demographic of ’15-25’ year olds.

We are currently halfway through the week and I am pleased that I have managed to interview 5 people within my target demographic. I have rewatched the videos and the overall feedback towards my magazine is positive which I am extremely happy with.

Rather than doing ten videos, I have decided to show my other skills through creating a Prezi presentation that features additional feedback

from a further five interviews I plan to conduct next week.16th March This week I interviewed another five people in order to get feedback

about my magazine. I then typed up their responses and the questions I asked them onto a presentation on Prezi.

By the end of the week I had finished my Prezi presentation and I am extremely happy with it. I believe Prezi is a great way to present work as its fun and interactive.

By the end of the week my coursework was complete. I uploaded all my files onto my blog page with relevant explanations for each area.