Hello Sir,
I have completed something for every section. The current versions of my magazine covers/contents pages are in the planning section not the final. I still need to take four pictures for my contents page, I intend to do this this week.

Audience Website

For my focus group research into websites, I again used the focus group of 10 from Instagram.

The general consensus regarding websites was that they were a bit boring for a fun-loving audience. They all reported the colour schemes being basic, and there not being any interesting visuals. They reported wanting to see a website that didn't stick to the typical plain look and feel.

They mentioned liking the idea of some kind of extension of the magazine being featured on the website - for example if the magazine contained an interview, the video of the interview could be found on the website. They said that featuring previews of magazine content on the website may encourage them to buy the magazine.

Audience Production

I decided to gather a focus group in order to develop ideas for my magazines. To do this I gathered a group of ten people from my target audience (fun loving 16-25 year olds) from Instagram, as a lot of the people I communicate with there are my own age (and therefore in my target audience). I questioned them on their preferences for what they'd personally like to see in an entertainment magazine.

The general consensus from questions regarding the front covers was that they'd rather have a model that was like them in some way than an actual model - for example actors/musicians that represent them and that they can relate to (be that through their similar age, gender or just their own personal struggles/accomplishments).

They wanted the clothes and settings of the magazine to represent the artist/s that were featured on the cover, so that the audience could see more clearly what it was that they represented. One person in particular stated that it would 'help them to connect'.

In terms of sell lines and content, there were varied answers, with different people being interested in different things. Most said that they didn't really mind what the sell lines looked at - though some said that bright, garish sell lines can make a magazine feel a little childish. In terms of content some people wanted more interviews, some wanted insights to upcoming events/music/tv shows/movies.

In terms of what actually draws them to the front cover, they said that the actual articles in the magazine did affect their decision on buying, however a majority stated that they would buy a magazine based purely off of the front cover or the 'aesthetic' of the magazine. Interesting and unique magazines were stated as being 'exciting' and having a cohesive look to the magazine was said to be very appealing.

Music Video - Product

Music Video - Planning Draft 2

Music Video - Planning Draft 1

1. Shot panning right to where Chip is asleep under a computer desk,  stopping on his face as his eyes open. (Close up of eyes opening)  

2. I’d shot of him sitting up and looking around, then a shot from his own perspective (POV) with the camera panning right to left.  

3. Wide shot of a bad performing, cut in with close ups of a random person performing with their instrument (maybe the guitarist strumming in time with the music). 

4. Mid shot of him climbing up onto a chair looking worn out from the side.  

5. Two close ups of band members performing. 

6. Close up from his face of him sitting down then falling asleep. Eyes suddenly open to a shot that gradually zooms out while the people around him move quickly as he lip synchs the lyrics at a normal speed.  

7. Camera rapidly turns to the right and we see the lyrics ‘life’s an illusion’ appear on a computer screen. 

8. A very quick shot of him looking confused at the screen before and other rapid turn to the right to see him appear on a stage performing (wide shot) 

9. Close up of him performing looking bored (extreme close up) 

10. Camera turns to face people cheering in the seats, switching place randomly. 

11. Quick second long clips (close ups) of people smiling, played I time with the chords of the song). 

12. Another shot of the cheering crowd. 

13. Another rapid camera turn to face the computer screen again, this time with the lyrics ‘I was so tired of being upset’ 

14.  Mid shot of him looking at the screen. 

15. A shot from another angle of him standing up and walking out of frame. 

16. A slow motion wide shot of him walking down a corridor while those around him walk by rapidly in ‘fast motion’. He is lip syncing the lyrics again. 

17. Another quick mid shot of the band performing. 

18. A very similar shot of the smiling people, but this time they’re different people. Once again, in time with the chords being played. 

19. Another scene of the bad performing but with each chord it’s a close up of each member, ending with chip looking bored. 

20. A collection of very short clips in varying places from varying distances. Each time chip is somewhere in the shot singing a line from the lyrics. 

21. A mid shot of the whole band performing. Jump cut to chip singing ‘but I know its’ (extreme close up) 

22. Two extreme close ups of the smiling people from earlier singing the words ‘ok ok’ 

23. A medium shot of Chip running out of the back door of Clarendon. 

24. Immediate jump cut to Chip running through the front door as if he’d never left the building (medium close up) e looks confused. 

25. A close up of the drummer from the band playing in time with the music in the background. 

26. With each chord, a shot of chip running through the front door again looking more and more confused each time, from a different angle every time.  

27. A dejected mid shot of him returning back upstairs. Shot from the side so we see him walk offstage. 

28. Another scene of the band performing but close ups to each member smiling again except Chip. 

29. Two identical scenes of him sitting back down under the table and him sitting down at the end of the song ‘mixed together’ (quick cuts between the two scenes ending with chip asleep under the table again).

Music Video - Research

Choose a genre of music that will allow you to fulfill your brief and then decide on five or more music videos that you feel are typical of the genre.
Post links to those five videos (or more) on your blog.
Based on those five (or more) videos, compile a list of generic conventions that you wish to include in your own production.




http://youtu.be/k6EQAOmJrbw

http://youtu.be/Ee_uujKuJMI

http://youtu.be/KSNKCfxcYvE

http://youtu.be/3YxaaGgTQYM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kemivUKb4f4 
  Conventions

Conventions:

• Elements of live performance
• Extreme close ups
• On screen lyrics
• Quick shots flowing with the speed of the song
• Drab, dark or very bright videos

Music Video - Statement of Intent

Decide which social groups you intend to include in your music video (this will be subject to availability).
Consider the stereotypes surrounding those social groups and the relationships between them.
Decide whether you wish to present a hegemonic representation (reinforcing the stereotypes) of the social groups or a pluralistic one (presenting countertypical representations).
Present this as a mission statement on your blog.

Mission Statement:
We aim to include representations of teenagers aged 16-18 as this is the social group we know the best, and the one that we can represent the most easily in our video.
Our representations will lie somewhere in the middle of hegemonic and pluralistic, as we are aiming for a more 'realistic' representation of the main character (bordering on hegemonic), while aiming for an almost pluralistic representation of everyone else in the video. This is because a stereotype people have of teenagers is that they cause disruption, dislike school and are generally quite angsty. Our main character will be unhappy and feeling trapped in school while those around him are happy - so (minus the destructive element) our main representation could be seen as hegemonic, and we don't really know enough of anyone else in the video to say what kind of representation they are (though it comes across as pluralistic) as the video is mainly from the main characters perspective, and his view that 'everyone is happy nowadays'.

Research and Production Task

Brief
In groups of 2 - 4, plan and produce two minutes of a music video in the genre of your choice. 

• The target audience must be a sophisticated audience between the ages of 16 and 25.
• The music video must feature representations that cover at least two different social groups.
• Your research must identify at least 5 generic conventions
• Your music video must use all 5 (or more) of those conventions

I’m our video, we intend to represent teenagers, as they are social group that we feel we can represent the best.

I would like to include both pluralistic and hegemonic representations in our video, as it will focus on the typical life of a teen and show that while they may conform to some stereotypes, there are many that will not apply to them.

Layout and Design Task - Product

Layout and Design Task - Investigation

Layout and Design Task

Brief:
Create mockups for the front cover and contents pages of two issues of the same fashion magazine aimed at a sophisticated target audience of ages 16-25.

The ethnicity and gender of your target audience is open to your own choice. However, you need to be cognisant about the availability of potential models should you choose to go from 'found image' mock up to original production.

Tasks:
i) Find an existing magazine that fulfills the brief and carefully consider the generic features and house style.

ii) Find images that will allow you to construct the cover and contents pages using either Adobe Photoshop 3 or Adobe Illustrator, or a combination of the two.

iii) Carefully consider the representation you wish to convey.

iv) Combine anchoring text and image in a dynamic way to fulfil the brief.

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