Media City

On Tuesday 31st January, the Media Studies students including myself went to Media City in Manchester. While we where here we went on a tour around the BBC building.

The first room we went into was a recording room for BBC Radio 6. We learnt about its set-up and how they switch between different locations for recording. When we where in there, I thought that it was a lot bigger than I expected it to be, though it made quite a bit of sense when the guide informed us about how everything works.

The main layout for radio recording studio.

Music equipment in the recording room for when a live band comes in to record.

This is a stage where sets are built for television shows. They have numbers to coordinate how large the set needs to be. We were told that the floor is regularly painted for the sets which is removed once they have finished using the stage.

After going to a studio, we went into the stage for BBC Breakfast. Here we learnt about how the lighting works to make the stage look bigger than it actually is and how they read their dialogue off the screens in front of them.

This is a recording of the weather report. A weatherman would need to stand in front of here and read their lines in front of them. The weatherman could see a screen showing them in front of the map showing where to point.

We went into another set for BBC Breakfast and here some members of the group got the opportunity to report the news and do a weather forecast with text screens in front of them.

To do the weather forecast, the person needed to stand in front of a greenscreen, read their lines and on the screen the map will be shown.

The final thing we did before we left was take some time to try to answer some sports questions on a quiz.

Some students examining a few props.

Overall, I found the trip and tour around the BBC building to be very informative on what goes on behind the scenes on thing such as radio and television and how much work and effort goes in to make them work.

Evaluation Questions

1. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my music magazine would most likely be fans of rock/metal music mostly males who are in their teenage years. The reason for this is because I assume from what I have observed from actual magazines in this genre, male teenagers who come from a working class background would make up the majority of the readership since the genre appeals to people who are sometimes disillusioned and aggressive towards others. I don't have a specific ethnicity in mind on who I am trying to reach so my magazine can have a larger audience.

2. How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience by making the front cover for my magazine unique and non-conformist compared to other rock/metal magazines. This also would attract a reader because it fulfils the 'uses and gratifications' theory which fulfils the readers need for simple entertainment. The readers are also potentially drawn in by the picture on the front cover where the two people in the picture have a direct mode of address towards the audience. I also attracted the audience by utilising pathos, which appeals to other peoples emotions on the front cover.

3. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As the target audience for my music magazine consists of male teenagers who have an interest in this genre of music, things such as ethnicity doesn't matter that much as due to the nature of the front cover the people's skin colour is ambiguous. The front cover also connotes towards the audience that the people on the cover are aggressive which conforms to a gender stereotype.

4. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The technologies that I have utilised in the making of my product are; Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, PowerPoint and the Internet. Before the main task, I didn't have much experience in using InDesign and Photoshop. Using both the Internet and PowerPoint wasn't that difficult, with PowerPoint I only took screenshots to show the progress I made in my development of the magazine and I used the Internet to find the magazines to base mine off and use a barcode. With InDesign, I learnt how to make more complex layouts for my magazine and how to use Photoshop to manipulate images to create a more appropriate mood for my magazine.

5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine follows standard codes and conventions compared to actual magazines in certain ways and goes against them in others. When I compare my magazine to what it was based off, the front cover keeps the masthead and headline in prominent positions which make them similar to other rock magazines. The central image was also in a position in which the reader would be drawn to. I also saw that the regular music magazines in the genre, have a very intense and moody atmosphere so I attempted to replicate that in my own product.

6. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A media institution that might distribute my media product would be the Bauer Media Group. The reason for this is because they are well-known for publishing the rock magazine; 'Kerrang!' so, logically, it would make sense to publish one from within the same genre. They reach all across the world though they are primarily based within Europe. However 'Kerrang!' is published in the United Kingdom which would contain the target audience I intend to reach with my music magazine.

7. Looking back at your preliminary work what have you learnt in the progression from the college magazine to the full product?
When I look back at my college magazine I created at the beginning of this unit and the recently completed music magazine I can tell that I have become much more proficient at using InDesign and Photoshop. I've learnt more about how to edit and manipulated photographs beyond what I did in the preliminary work where I mainly edited the lighting and removed spots. This has moved on to where I started to change the photos colouring to look more unique and eye-catching. I also feel that I've become better at making the pages more complex, this is apparent when comparing the content pages for the college and music magazines. Another reason as to why my music magazine was superior to the college magazine, besides my better proficiency in utilising the programs, was because I did interviews with my target audience which gave me more feedback on what worked and what improvements could be made. When making the music magazine I also had more photographs available for me to use. I would say that the main task's magazine is closer to the codes and conventions of a regular music magazine when compared to the preliminary work as there was a larger group of examples I could take reference from.

Risk Assessments

This post contains the risks that had to be taken into account during the process of the main task. I felt that most of the risks came from when the pictures were being taken in front of the greenscreen and in town.


Greenscreen:
Had to make sure that we didn't cause it to fall down.
Make sure we didn't drop the lights we were using to take the pictures.

Town:
Not fall off the edge into the water (unlikely as it would be).
Make sure where we were going/not getting lost.

Costume/Prop/Actor List

Costumes:
Red shirt (Indie)
Gray t-shirt (Rock)
Jeans
Trainers
Coat (Rock)

Props:
Guitar
Drums

Actors (featured in the pictures):
David Hutchings
Dean Curran
Jamie Donovan

Introduction to brief (September 2016)

In this unit of Media Studies I will create;
A college magazine for the Prelim Task.
A music magazine for the Main Task.

Throughout this unit, I will be learning how to use Adobe InDesign to set up my layouts for these magazines as its DTP (Desktop Publishing) package. I will also be using Adobe Photoshop to edit all my photographs taken in a studio and outside locations.

Main Task-Interview with Target Audience

Front Cover Version 1:

Q: What positives are there of this cover? What do you find negative?
A: I find the image to be very effective due to its atmosphere and being minimalist in style. However, the text is hard to read because of the font and the colouring of it. I also find the image to be too small.


Front Cover Version 3:

Q: I'd like you to give me your opinions on the cover.
A: I find the text easier to read thanks to the change in font, the image is a more suitable size to attract readers. Also it looks more professional as a magazine because of the date, issue number, price and barcode. However, I think that there is too much text and it distracts from the main image.


Contents Page Version 1:

Q: What do you think of the contents page?
A: I think that it looks good so far. I think the image at the top is particularly good and the layout is simple but effective. The only thing that I think needs changing is the position of the other images.


Double-Page Spread Version 1:

Q: I'd like to hear your opinions on this.
A: The image in the background, I think is really good, and so far the text looks promising with a quote in the bottom left and different fonts and colours for other bits of text.

Double-Page Spread Version 2:
Q: What are your opinions?
A; The headline on this is good and definitely engages the audience and the text helps it appear more legitimate. However, the text is hard to read because of the background.

Double-Page Spread Version 3:
Q: Can you give me your opinions on this?
A: The text is slightly easier to read compared to before and the change in layout with the headline being flipped on its side on a an empty, white part of the page.

Main Task-Double Page Spread Version 3 and Final

Here I changed the colour of the text to make it easier to read. I shrunk the photo to leave the white column on the left to make it look more appealing and flipped the headline onto the side to give it a more unique feel. I believe that overall the double-page spread is unique and eye-catching towards a potential reader. I should note that I attempted to edit the text boxes on the image so that it would be easier to read but it didn't work.

This is the final version of my music magazine's double-page spread. As it seems, not much was changed between this and the previous version, here I merely added a few extra words and altered the colours of the 'Ghosts In The Machine' in the top right of the page since I wanted it to look a bit more unique compared to the other coloured text on the double-page spread.

Main Task-Double Page Spread Version 2

This is the double-page spread from 09/12/16. I dropped in the text for a false interview with the band that was on the magazine's front cover. I then added in the heading split across two text boxes and put them in different fonts and colours to make it more dynamic to the reader. As a minor alteration, I changed the name of the member giving the quote at the bottom left which I would eventually do again for the final version as I didn't like the sound of the name.

Main Task-Double Page Spread Version 1

This is the layout for my Double-Page spread. I created multiple text boxes. The one on the bottom left is for a quote of a band member. The one below the 'Ghosts In The Machine' is for a brief introduction to the band. The two below it are for the title. The remaining boxes are for the story on the pages. I created another layer so the text would be in front of the picture that I will use.

This is my double-page spread from 01/12/16. I added in my central image into the background. I then put in some text into the text boxes. In the bottom left box, I put in a made-up quote from one of the members of the band. The top box features the band's name which I then flipped onto its side to make it more appealing. The text below gives a brief introduction to the band. I chose for the picture to be taken here as the background was good and the pose was to invoke a casual, almost approachable attitude to the audience.

Main Task-Contents Page Final

This is the completed version of my magazine's contents page. What I did was add in the text for the page, telling us the stories inside the magazine, and put the numbers in bold and underlined them to make them more visually striking. I also brought down the picture at the bottom on the page, to make the top picture more visible. I changed the position of the 'Contents' so it didn't obstruct the main image. The advertisement in the bottom right, I decided to change its colour to blue to help make it stand out among the rest of the text and to indicate it isn't part of the regular contents.

Main Task-Front Cover Final

This is the final version of my music magazine's cover. I decided to remove the text from the left of the page believing it to be unnecessary as the same information would be in the contents page and I wanted the picture to be less obscured by text. However, I decided to leave the text at the bottom left as I didn't want it to appear to be too bland. Throughout all my designs for the cover I decided to keep the top with the masthead blank and unaltered as I felt it provided a nice contrast with the central image.

Main Task-Front Cover Version 2&3

In this version of my front cover, I decided to change the headline because the original font and colouring made it difficult to read. First, I changed the font to something more simple and easy to understand. Then, I changed the colouring to green since I felt that it was more unique and striking, I then followed up with adding black outline to the text to make it stand out more against the black and white background.

This is an updated version of my magazine (from 09/12/16). I first put the image into Photoshop and used the crop tool to make the two people in the image the immediate focus to the reader. I changed the font and colouring for the headline to make it easier to read. I also added some text for stories that will feature in the magazine. I went to Google and used a barcode to meet the standard codes and conventions for magazines and then proceeded to add a price.

Main Task-Contents Page Version 1

This is the layout for my music magazines contents page. I added boxes where I planned to put pictures in and some information on what would be contained in some text boxes. The layout would allow me to add different details to fit my style and still remain close to the original magazine. At this point I felt confident enough with using InDesign.

This is an early version of my contents page. Here I put in some images that I felt would capture the readers attention. I also changed the font and colour of the 'Contents' title to make it more eye-catching. The central image I chose was one that I used threshold on in Photoshop since I found it very interesting giving the picture a good atmosphere. I experimented with the image beneath the main one by giving it a bold, red outline.