Guide to coursework posts

AS Media Studies:

An essential guide for your coursework Research & Planning Blog Posts

Research Posts Textual analysis of existing media products. (LABEL C) For this post you will do six textual analyses of existing magazines. Two front covers, two contents pages and two feature articles (double page spread).

They do not have to be exclusively music magazines, as many music magazines can be considered to be ‘lifestyle’ magazines as well but you will need to analyse at least one front cover that is of a similar genre to the magazine you intend to make.

The actual analysis of front covers will focus on the genre of music, images used, fonts, colours, layout, cover lines, masthead, selling line, rule of thirds and anything else you wish to mention.

A similar analysis will be used for the contents page along with other information you get about the actual contents of the magazine. Make sure you discuss the conventions used in the contents page – layouts, regular / feature article sections, other conventions used that are specific towards that magazine – e.g. NME always have a band index list on their contents page.

For the feature article you will need to discuss layout, columns, gutters, drop cap, pull quotes, images used, colours, fonts and style along with anything else you wish to mention.

Each analysis is approximately 400 words.

To present them on you blog you can use either ‘flipsnack’ or ‘Issuu’ or another online document viewer, or you can produce them in PowerPoint and upload them to Slideshare.

Don’t forget that you will need to convert the finished word document to a PDF file if you want to upload the analysis to Flipsnack or Issuu.

Complete analysis of a music magazine (LABEL C) For this post you look in more detail at one music magazine of your choice. You will need to discuss the history of the magazine; how long it has been around; any changes over time of the magazine; the music genre/s it covers; the target audience of the magazine; the style of the magazine. The multi-platform aspects of the magazine such as web-site, apps, T.V channels, and any events it sponsors. Do a good job with this research as it can be used again for the magazine industry question in the exam. This post can be uploaded straight to your blog and most of the information you will get from the magazine’s website and media pack.

Minimum 300 words.

Overview of the Magazine Industry (LABEL C) For this post you will discuss the magazine industry as a whole (Again this can be recycled for the exam). Look at facts and figures, top selling magazines, top selling music magazines. There will be a handout but try and find some data yourselves about how much we spend on magazines and how much advertisers spend on placing their products in magazines.

Minimum 300 words Information on Magazine Publishers (LABEL C) One of the evaluation questions asks you to think about who would publish your magazine so it is good to have some evidence of researching into magazine publishers. Below is a list of publishers you can look at, you only need to choose three of them. Look at who owns them, what other magazines they publish along with their music magazines, how many magazines thay publish, what percentage of the market they have, their audience and their multi –platform products.

Approximately 250 words for each company.

Choose from: IPC Media Bauer Future PLC Conde Nast BBC Magazines Livingly Media (On Line Only Publishers)

Mood Boards for Research (LABEL C) You will need to create 2 ‘mood boards’ to supplement your research. Mood boards are essentially a collage of images which can be used to represent a social or demographic group or some kind of thematic idea.

It is relatively simple to make mood boards in Photoshop, but these can also be done in Word.

You will need to create TWO mood boards: 1 – Target audience: any magazine will target a specific demographic and psychographic. Use images to show a clear representation of who the target audience is for the music magazine you wish to create.

Think about your typical reader as magazines do in their media kit; the best way to approach this to think of a day in the life of your typical reader. What clothes will they wear, what will they eat for lunch, what car might they drive, what will they watch on T.V, what bands will they listen to, what technology might they use, where would they go for an evening out, their job, their favourite holiday destination, anything that helps to build a visual representation of your typical reader 2 – Advertisers: advertising is a key revenue stream for any magazine and the companies that advertise in a magazine are chosen specifically to target the right audience. Create a mood board to show which companies you would be targeting to advertise in your magazine based on your target audience.

Some obvious ones to start you off would be technology companies, cameras, mobile phones etc. Music stores, car companies, clothing brands. Have a look at some existing magazines if you need some inspiration.

Each mood board needs to be accompanied with a written analysis of approximately 200 words explaining the choices you have made and giving more information about your intended product and the target audience for the product.

Audience Research (LABEL C) For this post you need to carefully create a questionnaire that will help you to determine what your readers want from your product. There is a fine art to creating useful surveys so you will need to do a draft first and get some feedback before you upload the finished survey.

The first thing to consider is ‘What do I want to know’ and then design your questions to be able to extract useful information to help you create your magazine. Once you have your questions you will need to upload your survey to SURVEY MONKEY and then wait for responses. Survey monkey will generate graphs for each of your questions which we can load into flipsnack along with a written analysis of approximately 250 words which discuss your findings and how you will use this information in the construction of your products.

Don’t forget to share your survey! Get your friends to complete it, share it on facebook and twitter. A survey is no use with minimal responses so ensure you get a good number of responses to use as your market research.

Planning Posts Original ideas statement (LABEL D) This is one of your shorter posts and is just a brief statement about the type of magazine you are going to make. Is it just music or is it other things as well as music, who is the intended target audience and why have you chosen this particular type of magazine.

Approximately 150 -200 words.

Mood boards for planning (LABEL D) For the planning of your magazine, you will need to create an additional 2 mood boards to show what fonts and colours you intend to use or are considering using on your magazine. These should relate to the genre and target audience of the magazine as well as including a range of design ideas.

Don’t forget to look outside Photoshop for examples of fonts. DaFont or any other online font websites can be much more effective in creating an individual look for your magazine.

For the colour mood boards, look at various shades of the colours, and include these as well as the mood is merely an indication of intention. It may well be that during the design and construction process you will experiment with colours extensively so by including various shades, you cover this with your mood board.

Each mood board needs to be accompanied with a written analysis of approximately 200 words explaining the choices you have made and giving more information about your intended product and the target audience for the product.

Drafts You need to create drafts for the products you plan to make. These can be done by hand and then scanned or they can be created in photo shop. They need to identify your proposed layout for the three products and give an idea as to the colours and fonts that will be used. You need to complete at least one draft for each of the three pieces. (LABEL D) During the construction process, you will inevitably make changes to the work that you create. This evaluative process is vital for the planning process and should be recorded on your blog. You will receive continual feedback from your tutor on your work, so the best process to introduce into your work is to make sure you save multiple copies of your work as you progress.

For example, if you think you have completed your front cover, and your tutor gives you some feedback on how to improve what you have, save the file as it is at that stage and then re-save the file under a different file name (front cover ver.2?) and then make changes to the new file to keep the original file intact. When the work is complete, you will be able to upload the old version onto your blog and make some evaluative comments on why you changed it.

This process is an important part of the construction process. (LABEL B) Location / Props / Costumes (LABEL D) This post will obviously differ depending on your plan. You need to detail where you will be taking your images and any props or costumes you will be using in order to create the right image for your readers. If you are using a studio then say why you feel that this is the better option, if you are using a location explain why you think this is a good location. Do the same for any props and costume you use, why have you used them and how does this reflect and connect with your target audience?

Approximately 200 words Additional Paperwork to complete where appropriate (LABEL D) Talent releases – adult or minor (essentially permission forms); Risk Assessment; Location recce form; Location release form Blank versions of these forms are found here: Student Shared(P:)\Media\AS MEDIA COURSEWORK

Construction Schedule (LABEL D) This post simply explains when you plan to make your products and how long you will spend on each one. It also needs to include all your photo shoots. (remember to save all your images as they need to be uploaded onto your blog as a separate post. You can make a contact sheet in photo shop and upload your images to this) A construction schedule may look something like this or could be in the form of a monthly calendar: Week 1 (date) Work on drafts for three products Week 2 (date) Photo shoot for front cover image/s Week 3 & 4 (date) Construct front cover Week 5 (date) Photo shoot for contents page and feature article Week 6 & 7 (date) Construct contents page Week 8 & 9 (date) Construct feature article Week 10 (date) Final changes to finished products Include as much detail as necessary and you have 10 weeks in which to plan out and organise your construction schedule.

Contact Sheet and Unedited Images (LABEL D) This is simply an A4 sheet with thumbnail images of all the photos you have taken for your coursework. DO NOT DELETE any photos you do not intend to use as they will go on your blog. A contact sheet is very easy to create in Photoshop and is basically an automated process.

Select FILE – AUTOMATE – CONTACT SHEET – navigate to the folder where the photos are stored and hey presto!

You should also keep unedited, full resolution versions of your photos that you intend to use on your coursework to add on to your blog.

Discuss why you like the images you will be using and how you think these images will attract the target audience.

Remember – there is a wealth of support and guidance in handouts and online documents which will help you through the creation of your blog posts. www.enasmediablog.blogspot.co.uk is a good starting point but if you are unsure how your blog post should look or what information it should contain, have a look at some exemplar blogs from previous years.