AS Music Magazine Cover Deadline

Change of Deadline for Year 12 Students

The deadline for the front cover of the music magazine will now be Wednesday 5th January 2011.

This is due to the fact that the school was closed on Friday 17th December 2010 because of the snow.

Make sure that your draft of the front music magazine cover is on your blog by the 5th January 2011.

You also need to be analysing examples of music magazine articles over the christmas holidays. Post some examples on your blog.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Year 13 A2 Advanced Production

Animatic Task

Remember to update your blog during the completion of this task. You could focus on the following:

• How did you develop the 500 word overview for your imaginary film?
• How did you create the storyboard for your trailer? - What were the key decisions that your group had to make during the storyboarding process?
• What is an animatic?
• Why do you need to create an animatic?
• How do you create an animatic?
• How will you use the animatic during the pre-production of your trailer?

You should also upload your animatic to your blog.

Deadline for blog updates: Friday 17th December 2010.

AS: Music Magazine Front Cover

Year 12 Students

You should now be constructing the front cover of your music magazine. Make sure that you book enough time on a computer!

Remember to post a selection of your original images on your blog.

Always save and post an image of your cover at each stage of the production to show how your ideas are developing during the construction stage.

Add notes to your blog to explain the decisions that you have made during the construction process.

Main Task - Music Magazine Planning

Music Magazine Front Cover

You will need to complete all of the following tasks by Monday 29th November 2010:

1. Evaluate the results for your music magazine questionnaire.
2. Create a MUSIC FAN PROFILE for the type of person who might read your music magazine.
3. Write a MISSION STATEMENT which outlines the style and content of your magazine. Use the Frank example as a template.
4. Create a reader READER PROFILE for your magazine. You should use the NME or Uncut reader profils as a template and remember to include images as well as facts and figures.
5. Take a photograph of a person or a group of people who represent your target audience.

All of the above information should be posted on your blog by Monday 29th November 2010.

You are advised to complete the tasks as soon as possible so that you can start planning and constructing the front page of your music magazine.

Remember to book the computer room and digital camera!

The deadline for the front cover of your music magazine is Friday 17th December 2010.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

AS Preliminary Task

School Magazine Front Cover

Analysis and Evaluation

Use the following guidelines in order to evaluate the front page of a school magazine that you produced for the AS Preliminary Production task.

You should identify aspects of your work that are conventional, together with any aspects of your layout and design which challenge conventions where possible.

Masthead

·       Is the name of the magazine appropriate?

·       What are the connotations of the masthead?

·       Is the colour scheme of the masthead appropriate?

·       Is the Masthead a sufficient size?

Images

·       Is there a main image?

·       Is the main image an appropriate size?

·       Does the main image give a clear indication of the story that it is representing?

·       Comment on the composition of the main image.

·       Are there any subsidiary images? (There should be at least 2).

·       Are the subsidiary images an appropriate size?

·       Have the subsidiary images been placed in an appropriate position on the page?

·       Do the subsidiary images give a clear indication of the story that they are representing?

Language

·       Have strap lines and sell lines been used on the cover? (Should be at least 3).

·       Do the strap or sell lines give a clear indication about the contents of the magazine?

·       Is the language informative and entertaining?

·       Have any literary devices been used? E.g. puns, alliteration, etc.

·       Is all of the spelling and punctuation accurate?

·       Have different fonts been used? (At least 2)

·       Is the font size clear and appropriate?

·       Has a consistent and appropriate colour scheme been used for the sell lines or strap lines?

Layout and Design

·       Is the layout of the front page clear and well organised?

·       Is the front page appealing to the reader?

·       Is the design of your page recognisable as the front cover of a school magazine?

Strengths

·       Identify three aspects of your front page which you think are successful.

Targets for Improvement

·       Identify three aspects of your front page which you think can be improved when you produce your front cover of an imaginary music magazine.

OCR Photography Tutorial

Watch this useful OCR tutorial on photography before you take the shots for the front cover of your school magazine.

Photo Shoot Planning Document

Magazine Photo Shoot Planning Document

 Use the following document to plan each of the photographs on the front cover of your school magazine.

Shoot date and time
Image Description
Shoot Location
Model / person contact Details
Permission Details
Props
Plan of shots

AS Media Coursework

Print Production

Preliminary Exercise

Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally, candidates must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Research and Planning

Before you start to create your front page, you will need to research the codes and conventions of magazine front covers. This will involve analysing how front covers are designed and how they communicate with the target audience. You will need to study the layout, masthead, images and text in order to understand how magazine front covers work.

You will also need to carry out some market research into the target audience for your magazine. This will involve creating a questionnaire in order to find out the views of the audience which will enable you to include content that will appeal to the people that are going to read the magazine.

Drafting will also be a very important aspect of the planning stage. You should always come up with a number of different ideas for the layout, images and text that you are going to use to design your magazine page. For example, you might come up with four or five different ideas for the masthead of your magazine, and then find out which is the most popular with the target audience by creating a questionnaire to find out their views.

Any drafting that you do should be presented as neatly as possible.

Create the front page of a school/college magazine.

• Remember, this task is designed to allow you to become familiar with the relevant codes and conventions of magazine layout and design as well as the desktop publishing software Adobe Indesign.
• This preliminary task will prepare you for your main task which is to produce the front cover, contents page and a double page spread of a music magazine.

Use the following elements to create a draft of the front page of a school magazine:

1. Masthead: Think of a name for the magazine.
2. Images: What picture(s) are you going to use?
3. Strap lines or sell lines: What information are you going to include on the cover?
4. Captions: These are used to place the pictures into context.
5. Codes and Conventions: Details you would expect to find on the front of a magazine
6. Layout and Design: The way the words and pictures are organised on the page.

·        You should aim to spend at least 3 hours using the computer during the construction of your front page.

·        You must book your time in the computer room in advance.

Task 1 - Thursday 14th October 2010

Create a draft of the front cover of a school magazine using the codes and conventions listed above. Think about the layout and design of the magazine cover that you analysed when drafting your front page.

Task 2 - Deadline – Thursday 4th November 2010 

Produce the front page using the desk top publishing software, Adobe Indesign. You should demonstrate the ability to use some of the following aspects of Adobe Indesign when you produce your front cover:

·        Using the Object tool (rectangle, ellipse, polygon)

·        Using the Type tool

·        Using at least 3 Layers

·        Using Colour for background and text

·        Using appropriate fonts

·        Creating text effects using Stroke function.

·        Altering the size of text

·        Using the Rotate tool where possible

·        Taking appropriate images

·        Importing images from Adobe Bridge

·        Resizing Images

·        Cropping Images

·        Background Removal of images using Paintshop Pro

·        Creating a Clipping Path for images

·        Using Feathering where appropriate

·        Using Corner Effects where possible

Year 12

Foundation Portfolio

Preliminary Task

Deadline for School Magazine Front Cover:

Thursday 4th November 2010

Tasks to Complete:
1. Complete your market research questionnaire and post it on your blog.
2. Photocopy the questionnaire and distribute it to at least 10 people who are in the target audience for your magazine.
3. Analyse your results and post a summary of your findings on your blog.
4. Create basic rough drafts of your school magazine front cover and post them on your blog.
5. Plan the photograph(s) that you are going to use on your front cover.
6. Take the photgraphs.
7. Edit the photograph(s) if necessary using Paint Shop Pro.
8. Design and create your school magazine front cover using Adobe Indesign and post the finish page on your blog. You should aim to spend at least 3 hours using Adobe Indesign. Remember to book the computers.
9. Evaluate your school magazine front cover and post the evaluation on your blog.

Example of a Magazine Cover Mock Up

Compare your own mock up to this one that I prepared earlier!

Year 12 Foundation Portfolio Preliminary Task

AS Preliminary Task
School Magazine Front Cover

The preliminary task is designed to help you learn the basics of page layout and design. You will not achieve a mark for the finished product, but if you do not complete the task, then fifteen marks will be deducted from the main task, the four pages of the music magazine.

You need to think about the following codes and conventions when you design your front page.

The Masthead

· What is the name of the magazine?
· What are the connotations of the masthead?
· Is the colour scheme of the masthead appropriate?
· Is the Masthead a sufficient size?

Images

· What is the main image on your cover?
· Is the main image an appropriate or conventional size?
· Does the main image give a clear indication of the story that it is representing?
· Is the composition of the main image clear on the page?
· You should include at least two subsidiary images.
· Are the subsidiary images an appropriate size?
· Have the subsidiary images been placed in an appropriate position on the page?
· Do the subsidiary images give a clear indication of the stories that they are representing?

Language

· You should use strap lines and sell lines on the front cover in order to give the reader an idea of the stories that can be found in the magazine (Should be at least 3).
· The strap lines or sell lines should give a clear indication about the main stories within the magazine and should appeal to the target audience.
· The language should be informative and entertaining.
· You should try and use literary devices in order to make your cover more interesting. E.g. puns, alliteration, etc.
· Spelling and punctuation must be accurate.
· You should use a range of appropriate fonts. (At least 2)
· The font size should be clear and appropriate.
· You should use a consistent and appropriate colour scheme that appeals to the target audience.

Layout and Design

· The layout of the front page should be clear and well organised.
· The front page should appeal to the reader.
· The design of your front page should be recognisable as the front cover of a school magazine.

Key Tasks to Complete During the Planning Stage

1. Analyse the front cover of at least three different types of magazine. Try to identify the key codes and conventions of layout and design.

2. Plan your ideas for your front cover. Think about the following: Masthead, Sell Lines, Strap Lines, Slogan, Main Image, Subsidiary Images, etc.

3. Find out what the target audience for your magazine thinks about your ideas for the front cover. Create a questionnaire in order to help plan the content of your page.

4. Create a rough draft of your magazine front cover.

5. Complete the planning documents to plan your photo shoots.

6. Take your photographs. You will need to book the camera if you are using school equipment!

7. Edit your photographs using Paintshop Pro. You should spend a minimum of 1 hour using Paintshop Pro.

8. Create your cover using Adobe Indesign or another suitable Desk Top Publishing Programme. You will need to book your sessions in the media room. You should aim to spend a minimum of 3 hours using Adobe Indesign.

9. Evaluate your front cover.

10. You should update your blog at every stage of the production process.

Welcome Back

Welcome back Year 13!