Little Heath AS Media Coursework: Print_____________ _________________________________________________

Start Date: 4th September 2015 Submission Date: 22nd April 2016

For this coursework assignment you will have 2 separate tasks to complete; a Preliminary Task and a Main Task. Each of these will need to be completed to achieve a grade for this assignment.

During this unit you will cover:1) The codes and conventions of a college and music magazine2) The importance of research and planning when creating a product3) How to use DTP software to create a magazine layout4) How to use DTP software to create a FC, CP and DPS5) How to reflect on and evaluate your own project

Further assistance for this coursework can be found on the blog:http://heathenmedia.co.uk/asmediastudiescoursework/

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Preliminary Task:

For the preliminary task you will need to research, plan and create a Front Cover and Contents page for a school magazine. In order to complete this you will need to complete the following tasks:

Task 1: Analysis of Existing School Magazines

For this task you will produce:

An analysis of 2 school magazine front covers An analysis of 2 school magazine contents pages

You will need to look at how they attract their audience and what conventions of a school magazine are used.

Presentation Methods:

Annotated paper Front Cover and Contents PageOR

Annotated Front Cover and Contents Page on SpiderScribeo http://www.spiderscribe.net/

OR Annotated Front Cover and Contents Page on Prezi

o http://prezi.com/

These annotated FC’s and CP’s will need to be posted on your blog and titled clearly.

Task 2: Paper Plans

For this task you will produce:

1 Draft/mock-up of layout for your own front cover 1 Draft/mock-up of layout for your own contents page

o These mock-ups should clearly identify where you would put your: Masthead Pictures Coverlines Any additional features

Presentation Methods:

You can produce these on paper then post the images in a blog post You will need to take a picture or scan these paper plans in order to post these on

your blog.

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Task 3: Photoshop Skills

You will be taught the basic skills of Photoshop in a number of lessons, each of these lessons will need to be evidenced by a blog post showing:

The skills you have learnt in this lesson Evidence of these skills (a before/after image) Explanation of how these might be beneficial to you when you make your own

magazine

Presentation Methods: The Photoshop tasks will need to be posted in a blog post You will need to convert the before and after images from .psd files into a JPEG

format in order to do this.

Task 4: Final School Magazine Front Cover and Contents Page

You will also need to create a:

Front Cover containing: A photograph of a student in medium close-up A masthead Appropriate laid-out text with considered font choice Barcode, issue number and date

Contents Page containing: Title Appropriate laid-out text with considered font choice Appropriate contents with page numbers Additional images to anchor contents

Presentation Methods:

Each the final FC and CP will need to be posted in a blog post You will need to convert the .psd files into a JPEG format in order to do this.

Task 5: Voice Thread Evaluation

Your evaluation should answer the following questions:

How does your school magazine compare to existing school magazines? How does your final school magazine compare to the drafts you have made? Who was your target audience for the school magazine? How did you try to attract your target audience? What have you learnt from the preliminary task?

Presentation methods:

You should use Voice Thread to create your evaluationo http://voicethread.com/

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Main Task:

For this task you will produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new music magazine. This magazine will be in a genre of your choosing and all of the photography and editorial content will be produced by you.

To complete this task you will be required to conduct research, plan, produce and finally evaluate your product. Marks for your coursework are awarded as follows:

Research and Planning – 20 marks Construction (FC, CP, DPS) – 60 marks Evaluation – 20 marks

Research:Deadline: Friday 11th December

In order to complete this task you will need to conduct a variety of different types of research looking at different magazines, magazine companies and at your audience. This research should inform your planning for your music magazine.

Presentation Methods for Research and Planning Section:

The blog has a specific post listing all the useful pieces of technology you can use for presenting your research and planning work.

Try to select something that is suitable for your piece of research or planning and be inventive and creative with what you use.

Feel free to research other presentation programmes or websites independently, using different presentation methods effectively can make your blog stand out and help push you into a Level 4 mark.

Task 1: Music Magazine Institutions Research

For this task you will produce:

An analysis of a minimum of 2 media companies, 1 large company [Bauer, IPC] and 1 small company [Future, BBC Worldwide]

This analysis show contain the following information:o Who are the company?o What is their company history?o What publications do they manage?o A detailed look at 2 of these publications and their target audience. At least

1 of these publications should be a music magazine.

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Task 2: Uses and Gratifications

For this task you will produce:

An explanation of Uses and Gratifications theory An application of Uses and Gratifications theory to a contents page of a music

magazine

Task 3: Music Magazine Analysis

For this task you will produce:

An analysis of 3-5 Front Covers An analysis of 3-5 Contents Pages An analysis of 3-5 Double Page Spreads This analysis should look at different genres of music This analysis should contain the following information:

o What are the conventions found on this magazine? o How is the cover band/artist being represented? (Denotation and

Connotation)o How is the magazine representing itself? (Denotation and Connotation)o Who is the audience for this magazine? (be specific) o What genre is the magazine? How is this shown?o What features of the magazine will you use/not use in your own music

magazine?

Task 4: Audience Questionnaire

For this task you will produce:

An Online surveyo https://www.surveymonkey.com/

AND a Paper survey

These surveys can ask the same questions but should each be focused on getting information about your potential audience.

The questions should focus on finding out what your audience like, dislike and expect from a music magazine as well as information about themselves that will allow you to create a music magazine that will appeal to them.

You will also need to analyse your results from this questionnaire. This should include:

Bar graphs and pie charts where appropriate You should also answer the following questions:

o How will these results affect how you plan your magazine?o What will you include/not include based on these results?o Based on these results, who will be your target market?

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Task 5: Readership Profile

For this task you will need to produce:

A readership profile of your audience looking, in detail, at who your target audience are.

This profile should provide the following information:o What age range do they fit into?o What gender are they?o What brands do they like?o What music do they like?o What socio-economic group do they fit into?

This profile should be engaging and inventive, try to think of innovative ways you can show who your audience are.

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Planning:Deadline: Friday 11th December

You will now start planning your magazine, allocating your time and deciding how your music magazine will look. This will involve planning and creating the images you will use, as well as carefully considering the fonts and colour schemes for each of your pages.

Your planning should reference the research you have already completed, making sure your decisions are informed by both your audience research and your research into existing products. This is vital if you want to achieve top marks for your coursework.

Presentation Methods for Research and Planning Section:

Don’t forget to use this blog posts to help you find interesting and innovative ways to present your planning tasks.

Try to use a variety of interesting presentation methods and don’t forget you can always research your own presentation methods too.

Task 1: Calendar/Timeline

For this task you will produce:

A Calendar or Timeline This should include:

o When tasks will start and finish o Photo-shootso Deadlineso Class work and work outside of class

Task 2: Mood Board

For this task you will produce:

A mood board illustrating your initial ideas and inspirations for your magazine This could include:

o Potential colours o Potential fontso Inspirational front covers, contents pages or double page spreadso Inspirational images

Each of these should be accompanied by a brief explanation illustrating why these images/fonts/colours may be suitable for your magazine

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Task 3: Models

For this task you will need to produce:

Proof of contacting your modelso This can take the form of a screenshot of an email or text message

Remember to remove personal data (emails/phone numbers etc..) from these screenshots before you post them on the blog

A final list of the models you are using This should contain:

o Photographs of each modelo Information about each modelo An explanation illustrating why you have chosen these modelso An explanation illustrating why these models are suitable for your genre and

audience?

Task 4: Props/Costume List

For this task you will need to produce:

A list of potential props you may use in your photo-shoot A list of potential costume items you may use in your photo-shoot You should:

o Include images of the props and costume itemso Explain why these props and costume items are suitable for your genre and

audience.

Task 5: Photo-shoot Planning

For this task you need to produce:

6-8 storyboard style images planning your images and poses for your photo-shoot You should:

o Label each image, indicating the type of shot and lighting to be usedo Explain why these planned images are appropriate for your genre and

audience

Task 6: Location Recces

For this task you will:

Analyse the pros and cons of a minimum of 3 different locations for your photo-shoot

This analysis should include:o Photographs of the locationo An explanation illustrating why these locations are appropriate/not

appropriate for your genre and audienceo Your final decisions on locations for your photo-shoot

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Task 7: Contact Sheet

For this task you will produce:

A contact sheet of ALL of your photo-shoot imageso Create a contact sheet using Adobe Bridge

An analysis of this contact sheet highlighting:o Which images are appropriate for your magazineo Which you will useo What pages you will use these images ono What you like/dislike about specific images

Task 8: Fonts

For this task you will produce:

6-8 examples of potential fonts for your magazine Each font must be analysed looking at:

o The pros and cons of each fonto Why this font is appropriate for your genre and audienceo Your final decisions

You should also produce 3 drafted Masthead examples looking at:o Pros and cons of each designo Why this Masthead is appropriate for your genre and audienceo Your final decisions

Task 9: Mock Ups

For this task you will produce:

3 Front Cover Mock Ups 3 Contents Page Mock Ups 3 Double Page Spread Mock Ups These designs should be analysed looking at:

o Pros and cons of each designo Why this is appropriate for your genre/audienceo You final decisions

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Production and Post-Production:Deadline: Friday 18th March

Task 1: Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread Development

Throughout your production process you must keep a record of developments you make to you magazine. This could include:

o Screenshots of major decisionso Different drafts of your FC, CP and DPSo Experimentations with different design elements o Drafts of your DPS article etc…

These will form part of the development of your final product and show evidence of planning and developing ideas throughout your project.

You should have 3 development posts, one for each your FC, CP and DPS, these should:

o Chart the chronological progress of your project o Illustrate key decisionso Explain why changes have been made

This could include any audience feedback you have received for your designs

o Link to your research and planning postso Explain why these developments have made your magazine suitable for your

genre and audience.

Task 2: Final Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

Your final images of your FC, CP and DPS will need to be uploaded to your blogo Don’t forget they need to be in JPEG format

These should be accompanied by an analysis including:o Why these are your final designso How they are appropriate to your audience and genre

Level 4 Examples of Final Products:

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Evaluation:Deadline: Friday 22nd April

You must now produce an evaluation answering the seven key questions listed below. This evaluation should be inventive and creative using a wide range of the digital technologies you have come across so far in your coursework project.

Each of the evaluation questions should be answered in a different blog post and use different forms of presentation, don’t just produce 7 different Prezi’s. Be creative and inventive with your presentation for each question.

Evaluation Questions:

1. In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?

2. How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine and why?

4. Who would be the audience for your music magazine?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

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

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

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