Create an A4 advert for your media product

Create a promotional advert for your film in Photoshop.

You must aim to include:

–Appropriate Text/Pull quotes

–Tag Line

–Certification information

–What kind of release it will be (wide/platform/exclusive limited runs/territorial release.)

–Choice of font will reflect the genre – and create a brand identity.

–Image and colours should be chosen to appeal to the audience.

–Must include appropriate conventional information.

Create a promotional advert for your magazine in Photoshop.

You must aim to include:

–Appropriate Text/Pull quotes/sell lines 

–Who will be the publishing house?

–How often is it published?

–Which platforms will your magazine be available on?

–Choice of font will reflect the genre of music – and create a brand identity.

–Image and colours should be chosen to appeal to the audience.

–Must include appropriate conventional information.

How to wrap text around an image in InDesign

To wrap text around an image make sure that your image is saved as a PNG with a transparent background.

Then selects WRAP TEXT and select the following options to allow the text to wrap around the edges of the image.

Evaluation Presentation Methods

Platforms

Wix - Use this to create a themed website to showcase your work and also show creative skill in presentation. Allows you to embed a host of content.

Weebly - Use this to create a themed website to showcase your work and also show creative skill in presentation. Allows you to embed a host of content.

Blogger - Simply create an EVALUATION page and link all 7 answers.

Digital Presentation Methods

PowerPoint (only use once)

Video - Can be created in a whole host of ways! Directors commentary, documentary style, DVD extras, interviews with cast etc. Always include cuts to images/videos to exemplify your points.

Podcast/Audio

Prezi (only use once)

Text with images in a Word Document (only use once)

InDesign Advice

1. Save all of your images as a TIFF format.
2. Open a new document and decide how many columns you want on your page. It is advised that your gutter be set at 3mm which is magazine standard. You may also want to minimise your margins too to make full use of the page.

3. To insert text select the text box icon and stretch out where you want the text to be placed. Then copy your text in and set the amount of columns which you require. You must also set the gutter width.

4. You will need to add in images to your document. Make sure that these are saved as 'TIFF' files. Go to edit, then PLACE, and then select the file which you want to put in to your document. You then get to place the image into your document. Make sure that if you need to WRAP TEXT around the image that you crop the image appropriately. InDesign works like Photoshop and you will access your layers here:

TIP! When resizing images hold down the cmd and shift key to ensure the ratio is kept correct. Otherwise you will CROP your image. 

5. To WRAP text around the image, first select the image and then select TEXT WRAP. This is where you will find this option:

You will need to set a gutter around the image. I would suggest 3mm.

6. You may wish to incorporate some shapes such as a rectangle to highlight your contents page etc. You can do this in InDesign by selecting the shape tool and then drawing out your shape on your page. You can then re adjust your layers so that this image is behind the text.

TIP! You may want to change the opacity of the shape. You do this on the top menu bar and change the percentage:

7. If you have any other types of shapes such as a puff star, these should be saved as a TIFF file and then imported in to your document. 

FINALLY - You may wish to use a grid to help you position the elements on your page.

Magazine Hints and Tips

When constructing your magazine consider the following:

1. Does your image have impact? Does it connect with the reader? Your central image is very important. There should be very little space between the top of the page and the head of your model.
2. Think about positioning of text around the image. You don't want lots of empty space but at the same time you don't want too much text.
3. Use a variety of font size. Keep your font choice clear and simple but show you understand the need for a variety of font size.
4. Follow appropriate conventions such as bar code, pricing etc.

Film tips and advice

Here are a few tips to help improve the quality of your work.

1. Think about the camera work. I have included some interesting and creative camera shots from film openings below. You need to really consider framing and ensure that everything you show on screen is there for a reason.

2. You must think about the craft of the edit. Which techniques will you use? Are you going for a continuity edit, flashback or fragmented narrative?

3, Introducing a narrative. A key part of this task is to introduce a narrative and character. Remember, the camera is the eye of the audience. YOU decide what you want to reveal about the protagonist/antagonist and at which point in the opening. Your opening must leave enough enigma to engage the audience. You must give clues as to what the narrative may entail.

4. The inclusion of titles. This is an essential part of the task and they should not be placed on the film as an after thought. Consider how you will integrate titles effectively. Select an appropriate font. Follow institutional conventions.

5. Sound. Any dialogue must be clearly heard and understood by the audience. Diegetic sound must be successfully mixed with non diegetic sounds. DO NOT simply make a sound track in Garageband and hope for the best! The best sound tracks will be those which enhance and underscore the action appropriately. Meaning in film is made of 50% sound so it is key that you spend time on this element.

6. Reflect your chosen genre. Your product must look like the film genre it is meant to reflect. Think carefully about the choice of mise and scene and conventions you choose to follow.

InDesign Pinterest Board

Follow Sally's board InDesign Tutorials on Pinterest.

InDesign Tutorial

Useful to show you how to create a basic page layout in InDesign.

https://www.wildern.hants.sch.uk/attachments/179_Designing_a_Magazine_spread.pdf

Useful presentation tool for Print students

http://issuu.com/ 

Could use this presentation tool for your flat plans to bring them to life!

Useful link for PRINT Students

http://www.magazinedesigning.com/pull-quotes/ 

Useful for PRINT students

G321 teaching print (jayson burns) from petefraser

WEEK 8 | Planning Documentation

FILM BRIEF 
1. Analysis of audience research. (Analyse the data you have collected from your target audience. You can present this data using PP, Word or Prezi. Use visual examples to display your data such as bar charts and pie charts.)

2. Storyboard. (This should be DETAILED and show each shot in your film opening. 12 shots is NOT enough!)

3. Call sheet. (This is a planning document which will detail who is involved in the shoot and when and where you are shooting. It may be that you need more than one call sheet for each location.)

Call sheet photogstudio from Liam Hedley

4. Shot List. (This adds an extra layer of detail to your storyboard. Your shot list should detailed each shot and describe the action and mise en scene in each shot. Make sure that you include your company logo on your document)

Shooting Schedule from Liam Hedley

5. Risk Assessment.

Risk assessment from Liam Hedley

PRINT BRIEF
1. Analysis of audience research. (Analyse the data you have collected from your target audience. You can present this data using PP, Word or Prezi. Use visual examples to display your data such as bar charts and pie charts.)

2. Flat plans. (These are rough paper designs of your front cover, contents and double page spread. Use correct terminology for the different elements of your magazine.)

3. Shooting calendar and shot types. (This should take the form of a diary entry to show which dates you plan to film. You can also detail the types of shots which you hope to acquire on the shoot.)

4. Call Sheet (See exemplar in the film info. This sheets should show the planning of your shoot. If you feel that this has ben covered in your shooting calendar then DO NOT complete this task.)

5. Risk Assessment. (Use the exemplar for film. This task should identify any possible health and safety risks involved in your shoot.)

Assessment 6: Primary Audience Research

For both the PRINT and VIDEO brief you must conduct PRIMARY audience research. PRINT students must also conduct research into the chosen musical genre.

Create a survey or research questionnaire to gather feedback about your initial ideas from your target market.

Your questions must be meaningful and be linked to the assessment of your own ideas of the project. Try not to ask too many closed questions. Ask multiple choice questions to gain a variety of answers.

You may use the following sites to do this:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16fiVxxI94qpwxEsii3I7aMt3kdZEEvJVLQpBkRo_Fno/edit#

Assessment 5: Logo/Pitch or Treatment Sheet

‘Dial tone’ treatment sheet from dusty96

Print and Video Brief 

1. Create a company logo (film) or create title of your publication (print). 

You can use this logo/title to create a house style/brand identity between your products. For video students this is a group task. 

The following link will take you to an example of how you can show the creation of your logo for film. http://liamhedleyg321.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/company-logo_15.html

FOR PRINT STUDENTS you must decide on a name for your publication. This must reflect the genre of music which you decide to create a publication for.

You can experiment with colours and font styles. Try the following sites for ideas about fonts.

http://www.dafont.com/
http://www.fontsquirrel.com/
http://www.urbanfonts.com/free-fonts.htm

2. Create a mood board of ideas/initial ideas.

This is the start of the development of your ideas for your project.

For film you could start and consider narrative, characters, style of titles, location, actors etc.

For the print brief you may start and formulate ideas for the layout of the front page/contents/double page spread, type of music your magazine will feature, cover stories, images etc. 

Film example: http://liamhedleyg321.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/initial-ideas.html 

Print example: NOTE: This should be more detailed than the example given here! This is provided just a basic guide.

3. Create a PITCH for your ideas. 

Film Brief

Use the example below for guidance as to what to include in your pitch. You must also create a front cover for your pitch with the title of your company logo, proposed film title, certificate and genre.  

PRINT TREATMENT

This document should present your ideas for your music magazine publication and showcase the features, colour scheme, house style, images and target audience for your product. You should also discuss which publishing house you would hope to publish you magazine and state why this house is suitable.

These are the subheadings for the contents page of your treatment sheet:

- Design (Detail how your front page will look. Discuss the choice of masthead and what genre of music your publication will promote.)

- House style (Discuss the choice house style of your publication. House style is 'the specific usage and editing conventions followed by writers and editors to ensure stylistic consistency in a particular publication or series of publications'. This includes font, colours, design of contents and page layout.)

- Target audience (who would be the target audience for your product? Give a detailed example of who your target market would be.)

- Cover information (how much will your publication cost? Will it be monthly/weekly/bi monthly. How much revenue would you expect to make?)

- Publishing house (which publishing house would print your magazine and why? Look back at your previous institution research.)

The pitch/treatment sheet should explain all of your ideas in detail. It should be professionally presented.

Assessment 4: Titles Timeline

Video Brief

Art of the Title

This task requires you to plot the order of titles shown during the opening of a film of a similar genre to your choice.

This will enable you to see the pattern of the title sequence and you will follow this when incorporating your own titles in your own film opening.

You may present your task like the example below. The best methods of presentation of this task is either in Word or in Prezi. The example below was created in Photoshop, so if you are confident in Photoshop then you may use this method as well!

See Example:

http://liamhedleyg321.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/title-sequence-analysis.html

Print Brief

Students following the print brief must complete their prelim exercise. See tutor sheet for details.

Assessment 3: Institution Research

PRINT BRIEF

You must conduct research into different publishing houses. This task can be presented in PowerPoint or a Prezi.



1. What titles are published by these publishing houses? Analyse the brand identity of their products. Are there any similarities between the products and house style?
2. Analyse the profits of the company. Which is there most successful publication and why?
3. Who is the target market for their product?
4. Offer a brief history of the company and consider how they have attempted to stay at the forefront of the industry.
5. Finally, how will you use this information in light of the ideas you have for your own magazine publication?

PLEASE REMEMBER: These questions are not exhaustive and I would encourage you to explore issues around institution further.

Here is an example as a guide:


  

Publishing Houses from laurensainsbury

VIDEO BRIEF

Conduct research into FILM DISTRIBUTORS using the following research questions. This task can be presented in PowerPoint or a Prezi. Use screen grabs to exemplify points. DO NOT simply copy text from the internet as you will receive NO marks.

1. Explore and analyse the data for your chosen genre of film on these two websites:
http://www.the-numbers.com/
http://boxofficemojo.com/
http://launchingfilms.com/research-databank/

2. Do you notice any patterns or trends in terms of genres/film releases?
3. What are the audience figures like for your genre of film? How does this compare with other genres?
4. What is the average profit for your film genre? How can you use this information to ensure your film is a success?
5. Who tends to distribute your genre of film? What films have they released recently and have these been profitable?
6. What kind of release does your genre of film receive? Platform/staggered/wide release.
7. Summarise how you will use this data in light of your production. Who would distribute your product? Who is your target market? What kind of profit would you hope to recoup?

PLEASE REMEMBER: These questions are not exhaustive and I would encourage you to explore issues around institution further.

Here is an example:

Institutional research from BethandVicMedia

Assessment 2: Detailed Analysis

AS detailed analysis:

You must conduct research into similar media products. When you create your own product you must show that you understand the micro elements and be able to discuss the connotations of these. Remember the micro elements create meaning for the audience!

Presentation: this task can be presented in a PowerPoint or Word document. Make sure the video/image analysed are embedded onto your blog correctly.

Video
Choose the opening sequence of a film noir/horror/thriller. Analyse the first 3-5 minutes of the sequence. This should be an integrated analysis of all the elements below. Make sure that you use images to break up the text and exemplify your points.

1. Discuss the Cinematography (camera and mise en scene).
2. Discuss how sound is used throughout to create meaning and underscore the action. Use appropriate media terminology.
3. How is the narrative introduced to the audience?
4. How are the characters represented in the film?
5. Finally comment on how the titles are integrated within the film. Discuss the order of the titles and the style of font.

Opening sequence analysis from Thacker123

Print
Choose the front page, contents and double page spread of a magazine. Make sure you choose a genre similar to the genre you wish to make a music magazine for. Use the magazines in class if you wish. Take a picture and post onto your blog.

1. Discuss the font and images used on the front page/contents/double page spread. Consider how these create meaning for the audience and reveal the genre of the product.
2. Identify the conventions of the product and analyse the layout of the front page/contents/double page spread.
3. Analyse the story and language used in the copy. What is the feature about? What kind of questions are asked in the feature? How is the story told - does the story use quotes etc. Describe the register which is used in the copy - is it formal, informal, consultative, casual or intimate?
4. Summarise the house style shown in the products.

Assessment 1: G321 Research and Planning

You must conduct research into the genre conventions of your chosen brief. 

Present using PADLET. 

Conventions of Film Noir from kellymorris92

Brief 1: Video 

Using the following subheadings you must explore the generic conventions of FILM NOIR, THRILLER or HORROR. Make sure that you reference films and images in your discussion of the conventions. You may embed images and YouTube videos into a Padlet. The Padlet should be embedded onto your blog.

1. Characters (List the typical characters you would see in this genre of film)
2. Visual Style (What micro elements would you expect to see in this type of genre of film?.)
3. Iconography (Are there any props/costumes/locations are typical of this genre of film?)
4. Themes (What IDEAS are typically explored in this type of film? Eg. Film Noir has themes of paranoia)
5. Settings (What is a typical setting for this type of genre of film?)
6. Narrative Devices (How is the story normally told in these type of films? Eg. flashbacks/flashforwards) 

Brief 2: Print

Using the following subheadings you must explore the generic conventions of MUSIC MAGAZINES. Use images to support your analysis of conventions of products.

- Genre Conventions/Conventional layout (What are the typical conventions of a magazine front cover and contents page. Use the correct key terms to identify these elements)

- Visual style (What colours, images and text are used on the front cover and contents page)

- Font analysis(What font is used? What does the colour and style of the font suggest about the genre?)

- Themes (Identify what kind of stories are usually printed in the magazines.) 

- Audience devices (Explain how all of the above attracts the target audience? Who is the target audience for music magazines? Be specific when describing audience demographic.)

ices

Extra Photoshop Activity and Pinterest Sign Up

This is a Pinterest board which are great ways of collating ideas.

1. Join Pinterest.
2. Create a Photoshop board for your coursework. The title of your board could be 'G321 Foundation Portfolio'.
3. Your board can be used to pin any ideas from films, Photoshop tutorials, title sequences, creative camera techniques etc.
4. Embed your board onto your blog by copying the embed code and then posting into the HTML option in 'New Post'. The title of this post should be 'G321 Ideas'.


Follow Sally's board Photoshop Tutorials on Pinterest.

Opie Self Portrait Evaluation Guidelines (Map 1: Assessment 1)

Answer the following evaluation questions in as much detail as possible.

1. Which tools did you use to complete the task and describe how you used them to complete your self portrait.

2. Were there any parts of the task/specific tools which you found difficult and if so, what were they and why?

3. Finally, how successful were you in completing the given brief and what improvements would you make next time.

Make sure your Opie task and evaluation are neatly presented. This can be directly into a blog post or you could write this up in Word, upload to Slideshare and then embed onto your blog.

Extension Activity (MAP 1: Assessment 1)

Here is a link to another Photoshop tutorial to try. Make sure you save the final image and post onto your blog together with an evaluation. You may use the same guidelines as the Opie Self Portrait guidelines.

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photoshop-text/text-effects/image-in-text-photoshop-cs6/

OPIE SELF PORTRAIT - MAP 1: ASSESSMENT 1

Julian Opie Portrait Guide from Sally Pickford

Initial skills analysis from Sally Pickford

G321 Evaluations

Evaluation Criteria

Each candidate will evaluate and reflect on the creative process and their experience of it. Candidates will evaluate their work digitally. The format of the evaluation has some flexibility and its form can be negotiated between teacher and student: it may take place with individual candidates or with the production group as a whole, or each individual candidate or production group may make a formal or informal presentation to the whole class. The teacher must allocate a mark according to the contribution/level of understanding demonstrated by the individual candidate. Each candidate should give a clear indication of their role in any group evaluation and the presentation must be evidenced by the Centre.

AS Evaluation questions:

1.     In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2.     How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

4.     Who would be the audience for your media product?

5.     How did you attract/address your audience?

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

7.     Looking back to your Preliminary Task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?