The document discusses how the author used new media technologies in constructing their media product and related materials. They researched conventions using The News newspaper and Safari. They constructed the newspaper front page and inner pages using InDesign, adding photos and following design principles. They used iWeb to build their website, dragging photos and adding text. Photoshop helped crop and prepare photos. PowerPoint and InDesign supported evaluating stages by allowing reflection on the construction process. Blogging throughout allowed comparison of early and later versions.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? @ Babs MacNeill
2. Website Front Page Information Extras Headline Offer Extras Information Website Headline Offer
3. In comparison … Website People use the internet much more these days. This shown on the top like The News can effect the opportunities available for The Southern News. Thus the opportunity to interact and know more about the paper. Headline Bold, blue and large. Different font. I used a Britannic Bold. Effective as it is eye catching and the boldness follows the conventions of a real newspaper. The title conveys the sense of locality as it’s the Southern News. However if it were to improve then I would specify where about in the south like The News does. Offer Important for the public who perhaps show no interest in knowing about the news in general. However providing an offer will effect the different readers as this would target a certain audience; elderly or young. Extras Information The extras above the title of the paper helps to show as much information as possible which is what a media product does. Following from this convention I think the same font and boldness helps to place it neatly. Also, the little black square dot with the page number is something that The News does so I developed this convention myself which helps the media product to be effective. Helps provide a lot of information, the date is important for general purposes of organising. “NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR” aids the selling point of a media product, if you say something is the best out of competitors then you will potentially earn more readers. And the price is very important, it needs to be easy to read and cheap too as The News is also. A local paper will be cheap as it’s part of a close-knit community and should therefore be more accessible for all ages. Page 23
5. In comparison … Extras Yellow is a common use for breaking up colours and style of The News. My paper was very blue throughout the process of the production so using yellow really aided in breaking up the colours and not over whelming a potential reader with too many colours. Lines in the whole middle section help separate the information so that it isn’t to cluttered. Smaller stories also help to attract different types of ages within the local area. Considering the type of demographic area I have chosen, I haven’t included much multi-cultural aspects like I would for London perhaps. But including people from all ages and positive and negative news helps to keep the paper lively and cutting edge. Headline Bold and very important, how you phrase things is what gets a local citizen reading first before or after seeing the main photo. Alliteration is a typical convention of papers as language that catches the sound is an attractive factor. The photo is very important as this is what will attract a reader to the story and therefore buy the paper. The blue Spinnaker looks attractive however the words juxtaposes as they are negative. This would be effective in a way that a reader would feel concern for a popular iconic symbol of Portsmouth and it’s local area. First line Advertisement Very important to promote local companies and business as these could also aid the paper. Mine was a last minute construction it had originally been a food restaurant one. I had made less space for another story and more space for the advertisement, The News uses this to show more going on in the local area. For a paper to employ a local business helps the paper itself become heard and therefore this convention was something that I wanted to develop. Engages the reader and will give the first insight to the story. The News uses this in order to create a dramatic effect which will encourage the reader to be interested. I have used this and placed it in a way that the white background stands out and the information is simple to find out.
7. In comparison … Images Very important. The audience will see this first and then read what is next to it. I chose to use a group of people for my first photo and cropped this photo. The people are colour-ful and it also attracts the reader’s attention. Details My other photo was cropped like how I have explained in one part of my blog. CLICK. This followed how The News has also done in one of their papers. This would show the individual in a close knit community which would relate to a local citizen. Keeping the reader reminded with details such as the paper they’re reading. The website and the date. The colours were important as I had to establish something attractive so I used colours and evened out the look by spreading the details over the top. Writing Very similar to The News as I used a blue background for the border and white writing. Originally I had used black but it appeared too harsh with the words. Also when keeping the title simple, the words must be bold and present information that is easy to digest but makes you want to read further. With colour I’d developed mine just like The News has in the previous slide and therefore it brought out a more realistic looking media product when following this convention. Babs MacNeill
9. In comparison … Page 2 Image Same background as The News, blue with black writing. Bold and easy to spot. Depending on what news there is to provide in the media, whatever you show can portray any opinion whether positive or negative. Some papers show negative but I felt that after having something negative in the front page, providing a positive image could create a diversion for the reader. The colours in my chosen picture and an individual local citizen smiling employs a diverse choice of what to read which is a good convention to have in a media product. To target a general audience from all ages and backgrounds within my demographic region. Images chosen carefully for an easy understanding. Some were tacky but I liked the look of these. They aren’t like The News one and the details I provide aren’t like how The News presents them. However, I do present them in a formal language and kept short. Content Content being important as I must provide the 5 W’s. Who? What? When? Where? And why? My content quotes the people involved and where the problems or achievements have taken place etc. More details. Definitely a convention I have developed and understood from all media products. ‘For more information’ aspects also employs how useful the product can be. Providing information in different formats like the internet and by phone.
10. Website Search bar. Being able to be interactive with the news. The News Stories, short headlines like The News and a picture which can attract certain readers depending on their social needs. For comparison Subscription for my news. Not always in the website of The News however I wanted to involve more readers and present a deal which is how media products like The Sun or magazines do in order to keep regular customers by keeping them ‘happy’.
11. Evaluation of Media’s Advanced Portfolio In addition,how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? Babs MacNeill
12. Tower story: as it plays an important role in the reputation of Portsmouth for it’s local outlook. Therefore linking my story of the tower from the front page and to the poster would help get more local people involved. Combination of the logo: Keeping to the same logo I combine my paper with my website and use dark blue along with Britannic Bold font as this would be important to keep to the iconic outlook of the media product. Linking with advertisement to really promote a business Linking in stories: Opportunity to interact or comment on stories like the BBC News. Part of the Web 2.0 element in technology. From the example on the right, the offer to comment or ‘follow’ the BBC either on Facebook or Twitter etc.
13. Evaluation of Media’s Advanced Portfolio What have you learned from your audience feedback? My feedback had begun with more advice in how to improve my front cover and inner page as both of these had started off unorganised. This would be due to the colours and font for the small detailed parts of the front cover and also the language for how I should word my main story. Once I had initially understood the main conventions of a newspaper as a media product, my paper had begun to shape, and more audience feedback was getting positive. Over time, a few tweaks were added but having a potential reader of my paper really helped to gain an outside view. When asking a peer from my media class who is also doing a newspaper had both aided each other well as we could bounce our ideas off together, yet still create different pieces. By asking a peer who was doing a film trailer helped to gain an outside view on how to improve the colour, and shapes of the structure of my paper and website and this enabled me to focus on detail more, as these peers understand the technology more. When focussing on detail I have learned to give myself more time to finish my practical pieces so this part of audience feedback has helped me a lot in my work. In contrast though, when getting feedback from a different type of audience like my family and friends outside of college, hadn’t really helped my improvement. I think this is because they see it as general course work rather than a real piece. I had asked for more detailed answers and more my close friends could see that they liked the colours and how it wasn’t too over-whelming like how it had originally begun at. From gaining audience feedback for my media product I have been able to improve on the layout of my work, and also help my general understanding of the conventions of a real media product. I got the feedback from saving clips and pictures on how it had developed from my blog, and had a positive reaction as the audience saw the ‘after’. This was mainly at home or being situated near any other computer with access to the internet. Having the blog there has saved a lot of time instead of searching for my files, instead, I can access it easily and the audience can see it much clearer on a web page in comparison to a Mac document like InDesign. So in conclusion, receiving audience feedback helps me improve my work and gain a better understanding on what to target if it were a real media product. It has also been a learning curve, because last year’s course work hadn’t been up to how it could’ve been due to lack of understanding of the technologies involved from a Mac. Therefore for future products or anything else, my insight to the media and how things are produced can improve over time as I get used to the new technologies. Audience response is important as this is how I have improved my work over the time that it was produced. For an audience’s opinion, I had to consider that they can be different to each other’s depending on that individual’s needs. This could be what is referred to as The Uses and Gratification Theory; and that we have inner individual needs which the media meet; therefore I had to consider this when getting feedback for The Southern News. For example, Stuart Hall’s theory is that not all people come back with the same message from the media. When designing my paper and presenting the Spinnaker Tower with bad news, I was hoping to achieve a dominant reading because of what I have mediated. However, people are individual and their opinions are developed more by their social construct and personality, therefore my headline could give them a negotiated or oppositional reading; thus not making the paper as successful looking as I’d hoped. So through the stages of how to portray the Spinnaker Tower and other aspects, I had to focus on colour, font, language and even sizing; as this had an effect on the audience’s response and feedback.
14. Evaluation of Media’s Advanced Portfolio How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluating stages?
15. Evaluation of Media’s Advanced Portfolio How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluating stages?
16. Research In comparison to last years work, my understanding of new technologies has improved and I’m much more willing and open to learn more. Generally when using a Mac instead of a PC, the documents I use to produce my work is very complex to me. When beginning my media product I had to research on other texts in order to gain a basic understanding of the conventions. For this I used The News that I receive at home and I analysed daily papers to get an idea of the layouts and languages involved. For the website I produced and types of stories I’d include has been helped by safari. I had used Safari to research website conventions. See blog for details on research.
17. Construction I used InDesign to produce my front cover and inner page of my newspaper. I used aspects such as placing photos in, following margins and columns, exploring the uses of font in which it offers and the whole over view of the InDesign enables me to focus on detail. When completing each stage of my work, when blogging it it enabled me to see how I have improved and where I started from. Probably the most used icon on my desk. I use this for posting onto my blog and evaluating and it really helps to capture just the small details of my work and talk about this in comparison to the big picture. iWeb, like Microsoft word in a way as I start off with a blank page and then drag photos onto my page and use a text box to place words into it. Photoshop has been there for me to crop my pictures, and to turn my files into JPEG’s so I can upload these files onto my blog.
18. Evaluating Using power point and InDesign to enable me to express my evaluating when going back into my work and how it was constructed.
