Last year for my AS Media foundation portfolio I had started with a given Preliminary exercise to learn and practise skills when using Adobe Photoshop, an image manipulation programme. The Preliminary task's brief specified that I must use DTP (digital technology programmes) and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid out text and a masthead. Additionally I produced a mock up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate my grasp of DTP. Additional to this I had to research and analyse codes and conventions of existing college magazines.
The main task after the Preliminary task was to produce my own front page, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine with original photographs. I identified in detail the codes and conventions of existing magazines. I then used the research that I gathered in my portfolio to produce the music magazine. I began to learn how to use Photoshop and the preliminary task which was to create a college magazine front cover was the first opportunity for me to demonstrate some of these newly acquired skills and techniques.
I began the planning for my music magazine by choosing a particular genre of music my magazine was going to promote and then the target audience to which it was going to appeal to which I believe was 13-30 year olds. I looked at some existing double page spreads and noticed how the articles are organised into columns with a large main headline across the top of the two pages and quotes pulled from the article that have been emboldened and used as sub-headings for emphasis. I took into account these existing conventions and used them in my own production.
Further research included identifying the codes and conventions of existing music magazines such as NME, Kerrang, Q and Classic Rock Magazine, for example: the masthead and it’s use of typeface, the choice of a main image and its positioning across the page, the use of cover lines and also the choice of a suitable colour scheme. The biggest influence on my magazine was probably Classic Rock magazine because of the genre of music it promotes.
I used the Internet as my primary source of research for visual material, where I was able to gather examples of different music magazine covers and double page spreads which I annotated and then posted onto my blog as examples of music magazine conventions. But had also seen examples of real magazines through my own music magazine collection and magazine's provided by college. I called my music magazine “JSM” which was partly based on NME's title and also my initials. Regretfully and due to informality, I hadn't taken GCSE Media Studies before I started sixth form college, this would've helped me a little by giving me some previous knowledge but I coped okay with the given support at college. All I really knew before I had started studying media was how to frame a photograph successfully which I took into account when photographing the subjects. There were many new creative skills which I acquired during AS, for example learning to use Adobe Photoshop which I had no previous experience with at all. The specific skills I learnt on Photoshop which proved the most useful during my music magazine production were cutting out photographs using the magic wand tool and magnetic lasso tool, changing the resolution of the photographs and organising different layers of a piece of work to resemble a professional standard to be more visually pleasing to the audience.
I also became more fluent in digital Photography as that particular element of the magazine required me to take original pictures for the front cover, contents and double page spread of my magazine. For this task I borrowed a SLR camera from my college to take the variety of images. Many I had taken at live gig's performed by local bands and others were taken within college during lunch/break times. I would of used my own digital camera but I wanted to produce my magazine to a professional standard and I knew that the quality of the photos would be much better in high definition; this also meant that I could edit the photos without losing quality. Many different photos were taken which were eventually transferred onto the computer and I then picked the photos which I felt were the best.
The final product itself was created using Adobe Photoshop technology on the computer where I applied the skills which I had learnt previously during the production of my college magazine and skills which I learnt on the way through advice from teachers and fellow students, to enable me to complete this task. For one of my first ever drafts I used the online font generator “dafont.com” to choose the typeface for my masthead. But eventually decided to take a more original approach via creating my own masthead from scratch on Adobe Photoshop.
During the production of my final piece, I re sized my chosen photos appropriately, for example, my front cover featured a large medium close up shot of the subject which took up the majority of the page, I then placed the masthead at the top of the page and cover lines around the photo, utilising the negative space. My magazine featured a black, orange and white colour scheme because I was advised it is wise to keep this colour scheme all the way throughout the magazine sample pages so it isn't overwhelming and to show the pages are from the same magazine, which I was also very obviously quite popular amongst existing magazines.
After completion of my piece, I uploaded the finished copies of my magazine and transferred them to my blog as jpeg images so it could be viewed and assessed by others. I also printed a copy of each page so I could personally gain audience research by asking questions on particular aspects of the piece and whether or not it was effective and video the answers for evidence. The most challenging aspect of the task for me was the creation of the contents page which has the function of directing the readers to particular articles inside the magazine; therefore it needs to include many small cover lines with images wrapped around the text without looking too packed. My contents page went through many changes and improvements during the creation change and I still wasn't happy and wanted to tweak it further after the deadline time. In conclusion, AS foundation media taught me many new skills that would become useful and can also be carried through onto the A2 work such as photo editing, analysing a media text in terms of its codes and conventions and how to use correct framing techniques when using a camera.
1. Judging by my music video's intended theme, do you think this song would fit the narrative?
Interviewee 1: Yes, I think it would fit perfectly with the narrative as it is a punk rock song.
Interviewee2: Yes, i think the narrative chosen is great as it is a Punk/Rock song.
2. What type of scenes would you expect to be in a music video to this song, include which connotations it could include e.g. connotations such as anger, violence, happiness, romance etc?
Interviewee 1: I think the emotions that could be portrayed in the music video could be anger and violence or even happiness as I can imagine somebody going crazy to this song and loving it. I could also imagine some of the scenes to maybe be filmed in the woods to make some of the music video seem quite abstract.
Interviewee 2: I think there are many emotions that could be used within this music video, these could be anger, violence and craziness.
3. Where do you think a music video to this song would be filmed?
Interviewee 1: Possibly some on the streets and in the woods.
Interviewee 2: I could imagine the music video being filmed at a rock concert, or in a dark woodland area because of the beats to the song and the type of music it is.
4. Do you think this song is trying to portray a message through its lyrics?
Interviewee 1: In some way yes. The word itself 'Riot' conveys serious anger.
Interviewee 2: In some way i think the word 'Riot' conveys a busy club and anger.
Narrative
1. In many punk rock music videos there's a 'mosh pit' featured, a riot or general scenes of chaos & rebellion. I think it would be appropriate to include a 'pit' almost as crazy as Minor Threat kicked up?
Interviewee 1: I think the idea of creating a 'pit' is great and should deffinetly be seen in your music video as it also following the codes and conventions of you're genre.
Interviewee 2: I think the idea of using a 'pit' is good as it fits into the genre of music you are using and also it is usually a stereotype of Punk/Rock. i could imagine a 'pit' working well within this narrative.
2. Do you think I should record live artists performing as a band in my video?
Interviewee 1: I think this would be a really good idea and would fit in well with the 'pit' scene.
Interviewee 2: I think recording live artists would be good and also maybe use scenes from a club that would usually involve a 'pit' as this would work well within your editing.
3. Where do you think I should film this mosh pit and how?
Interviewee 1: I think the night clubs 'Spiders' and 'Welly' would be pretty cool locations but if this is not possible you could always create your own in the Theatre and create your own.
Interviewee 2: I think recording your music video in 'Welly' would work well as this usually consists of this genre of music and also would work well, however if this cannot be done maybe gather a few friends and just film it on a field, skatepark to create a good scene for your music video.
Style: Abstract
Looking at this photo...
1. Do you think a similar setting would look effective for a music video to a punk rock song, such as the one above?
Interviewee 1:
I think these images fit in well and if you could find the right location you could definitely take inspiration from these images and do a similar thing.
Interviewee 2:
I think these images create a good location that could be re-created by you as it isnt a hard location to find.
2. After seeing this photograph how do you visualise the music video?
Interviewee 1: I visualise the music video being rather a punk rock boy or girl walking the streets and pitting going crazy.
Interviewee 2: I can visualise trains going by the people within the music video going wild and having a good time.
3. Do you think the main character should be male or female?
Interviewee 1: I think either would work really well. At first thought I would of chose male however I think it would be pretty cool using a punk rock girl and would really make your music video stand out.
Interviewee 2: I could imagine a male being a good main character rather than a female as the stereotype of a punk/rocker is male and would fit with the style of genre, i think using females as backing dancers would work well.
4.Do you think the music video should be shot indoor or outdoor?
Interviewee 1: I think the music video shouldn't stick to one location and could be filmed both indoor and outdoor.
Interviewee 2: I think shooting the video outdoors would work better as you can use various locations and there is more room to use 'pits'
Music Videos I vision mine to be similar to
1. Can you visualise a music video similar to this to fit to the song I have
chosen?
Interviewee 1: Yes I can.
Interviewee 2: Yes i think it would work well visually.
2. Do you think this music video will fit into the same catagory of music video I
want to create?
Interviewee 1: Yes.
Interviewee 2: Yes as it is played in the same clubs as other punk/rock songs.
3.Do you think the hand-held camera technique in this video is effective in a postitive way?
Interviewee 1: Yes I think it works well with the genre of music.
Interviewee 2: Yes as the point of view shots would work better than using a still camera, it creates a more realistic music video.
4.How effective do you think it is using only one person as the main focus of the
music video?
Interviewee 1: I think it will be very effective as it can make the audience relate to the song better if they can relate to the character.
Interviewee 2: I think it is a good idea to focus on one person, however using other would also work well but maybe blur them out so you can see them but they aren't the main focal point.
5. On a scale of 1-10 how
well do you think the editing is?
Interviewee 1: 9/10
Interviewee 2: 8/10
6. On a scale of 1-10 what
would you rate this music video?
Interviewee 1: 10/10
Interviewee 2: 9/10
1. Do you think it would be effective the use animatics to portray some of my narrative in my video?
Interviewee 1: Yes
Interviewee 2: Yes i think it would work well as it creates a different effect.
2. How effective do you think it is using a group of people in a music video?
Interviewee 1: I think it can be effective but careful not to focus on too many as audience could lose interest.
Interviewee 2: I think it would work well, just make sure that you use a focal point so the audience connects to music video throughout.
3. On a scale of 1-10 how
good do you think the editing is?
Interviewee 1: 10/10
Interviewee 2: 10/10
4. On a scale of 1-10 what
would you rate this music video?
Some methods
provide data which are quantitative and some methods data which are
qualitative.Quantitative methods are
those which focus on numbers and frequencies rather than on meaning and
experience.Quantitative methods (e.g.
experiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests) provide information which is
easy to analyse statistically and fairly reliable.Quantitative methods are associated with the
scientific and experimental approach and are criticised for not providing an in
depth description.
Qualitative
methods are ways of collecting data which are concerned with describing meaning,
rather than with drawing statistical inferences.What qualitative methods (e.g. case studies
and interviews) lose on reliability they gain in terms of validity.They provide a more in depth and rich
description.
Quantitative
methods have come under considerable criticism.In modern research, most psychologists tend to adopt a combination of
qualitative and quantitative approaches, which allow statistically reliable
information obtained from numerical measurement to be backed up by and enriched
by information about the research participants' explanations.
You will find
that many of the core studies do collect both types of data.
Demographic Definition
Demographic information is the kind of stuff that can be categorized and labeled from a statistical perspective. Things like age, race, gender, income, religion, schooling and kind of work are all demographic information, as are memberships the target market belongs to, how many and which credit cards they hold, what car they drive, where they live and how big their houses are, whether they rent or own, and how many people are in the household. Demographic information consists of the facts and nothing else.
Psychographic Definition
Psychographic information, as opposed to demographic information, isn't quantifiable with numbers. Psychographics define how the target market feels, what they want, how they go about their day to day lives, what is important to them and how they make purchasing decisions. Psychographic information derives from demographics, and can only be created after a demographic profile has been created.
