Preliminary Task Review

Preliminary Task Review

Jim Kite

Introduction to the task

For my Media Studies preliminary assignment, I was asked to design, take a photo for and create a front cover and contents page for a sixth form magazine, using my knowledge of the many conventions of other magazines I’ve analysed.

Front Cover• Masthead: I chose a large, clear, and bold sans serif font for the Masthead as it’s easy to notice and read. I wanted the name to be easy to recognise and remember, so I used three letters which stand for Sixth Form Weekly, inspired by NME. I chose white, as it stands out in front of the black and I made the ‘F’ red to link it to the colour scheme and highlight a key letter, which could also stand for Fallibroome, the school that the magazine would be based at.

Front Cover• Key Image: I chose the conventional shot for my front cover’s key image, a mid-shot of a person looking directly into the camera. I also considered mise-en-scene when shooting my cover, I wanted the image to look like a shot taken as if of a model, so I used studio lights to make the face’s features softer and more professionally done. I used a black and white filter to make the image look more classy and I also told the model to try and do a serious, model-like pose. I tried to do this in an ironically humorous way. Considering the costume, I told the model to wear a light grey suit, as it would work better with the black and white and also fit in with the idea that this is a sixth-former. To keep the photo classy and professional-looking, I used a plain black background for my image.

Front Cover• Key Cover-line: The first cover-line is the main one, it reads ‘The Look! The best hair and beards in the sixth form scene right now!’ This cover-line refers to an article inside the magazine, presumably about the style-orientated side of sixth form. In this article the reader would expect to see images of sixth formers who are wearing particularly stylish clothes or are sporting a very cool hairstyle or beard. This is why the cover-line helps to anchor and support the key image, as the key image is of a sixth former who is posing as if they are being photographed for a fashion magazine.

Front Cover• Language used in cover-lines: All of the cover-lines have an initial title (‘The Look!’, ‘Griff!’ and ‘Inside!’) that are all followed by a short description in order to give the reader an idea of whether they are interested in the article and if they want to read more. There is also an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence to make the article and the magazine seem exciting and also to get the reader excited about reading it. The way it is written also suggests that the story each cover-line is referring to should be of great interest to the reader.

Front Cover• Other Features: I decided to establish a colour scheme of three colours which work well together before making and shooting the cover and decided on red, black and white. I chose these because it gives the cover a classy look and the colours all contrast very well against each other. I also considered the hierarchy of font size, which has the most important things, like the masthead and the cover-lines in a larger font than the descriptions and interview feature because they need to be noticed more, so that the reader would want to go in for a closer look.

Contents Page• Key Conventions:

Contents page title

Grid layout

Issue number and date

Consistent font and colour scheme(Brand identity and house style)

Montage of images

Witty cover stories

Clear, bold, sans serif font(Draws the readers attetnion and makes it easy for them to read)

Construction – Taking the photoComments:

• Pose of the model is effective• Facial expression works well the impression that the photo was taken on a photo shoot.• Model’s clothes are appropriate

Improvements:

• Use make up to enhance parts of the model’s face and hide freckles.• Use a model who has particularly good hair or an exceptional beard, to make it more relevant to the cover-line.• Have the model face the camera, as it would engage more with the reader if the person on the cover was facing towards them.

Using Photoshop

When using Adobe Photoshop for creating my front cover and contents page, I used certain tools to enhance my photo. For example; I used a black and white filter on the photo and adjusted the contrast and brightness settings until the model stood out enough to draw a readers attention to it. I also used a patch tool to make the model’s skin clearer and softer looking. I encountered a couple of difficulties during the process, including finding it hard to use the tools and to position the text around the model so that it wasn’t too small to read but didn’t cover the model.