Focus group information

Gathered a group of fun-loving 16-25 year old with an interest in magazines.

they suggested:

• That both my covers contain direct mode of address, with sell lines that are relevant to the cover image. 
• On my first cover with 'Dan' I needed to draw focus toward his eyes so I edited the colour to bring out the blue in his eyes further, the focus group liked this as they felt it helped capture their attention to the cover more so than before. 
• There needs to be a clear link to my website, with a reference to the 'web address somewhere.
• That the second cover should be in the studio to show a range of different locations.
• Both covers should reference things within the contents pages, creating some call to action to encourage someone from the demographic to want to buy it.

Website - Product

This is the link to the homepage of my website. The video element is at the top of the homepage and should automatically start playing once one the page.

https://orlamcgill11.wixsite.com/mysite-edge-magazine

This is the link to the second page.

https://orlamcgill11.wixsite.com/mysite-edge-magazine/kyle-sanders

To get to this from the homepage you can click on the 'Behind the Scenes' button on the home bar at the top of the page or on the buttons placed throughout the homepage, labelled 'Behind the scenes' and 'More Pics'. These will all take you directly to the second page. There are also video elements on this page. At the bottom of this page, after the gallery, you can click on view more, which includes an preview of an interview, and encourages the audience to buy the magazine.

Website - Planning

This is how my website will roughly be laid out. I have clear sub headings, I could make a colour scheme more apparent on the website. Each sub section is separated further into categories relating to the sub heading, and includes a small description beneath the title of the article.

homepage evolution

featured stories - experimenting

Linked Page screenshots

Website - Research

• all website designs seem plain and simple, 
• they are easy to navigate
• contain a wide variety of articles for readers or audience members to look at, ranging from, music, TV, film and just general celebrity gossip.
• there is usually only one main colour used throughout with headings and subtitles etc. 
• there is a list of sub sections and the front page includes snippets from these sections.
• each heading/ article snippet will usually include a photo, the title of the article is underneath this and more than often there will be a short sentence summary of the article beneath in a smaller font size and lighter colour, e.g. if the title was black then the summary would be a faded grayish colour. 

Audience Website

The focus group has suggested I make my website more appealing than a typical entertainment magazine.

When I asked how I could improve my homepage my focus group of 10 sixteen to twenty-five year olds suggested:

• I include more entertaining stories on the home page.
• The homepage is the first thing people see and should make you want to read on further or buy/subscribe to the magazine.
• They informed me that my layout and design included a lot of blank spaces which could be filled with more for the reader to look at, such as stories and links to my second page.
• Some of  the information on the homepage should be referencing the second page, and guide the reader through to that page.
• I should refer to my magazine and things mentioned on my front page and contents, to create cohesion throughout the products.

My focus group liked the shapes I used when including photos but thought that I needed all the images in the same shape, their favourite was the circle as it is simple and fun, suitable for a fun-loving audience. They also suggested that I try to integrate some other colours as it is clear that purple is already part of the house style.

Music Video - Product

How well does your production demonstrate your understanding of: Representation, Media Language, Genre, Audience?
To be really, definitely honest, no, due to the difficulties we have had with the editing app our video does not demonstrate accurately our understanding of : Representation, Media Language, Genre, Audience.

How well does your production reflect an understanding of existing media?
I don't think it reflects existing media very well. It would be tricky to do this, as the song they chose for us to do, I don't feel is representative of the current zeitgeist, particularly because it has been around for a while, it was released over 20 years ago, in 1992, and comes under the genre rock. considering this was the genre I didn't feel a narrative style music video would fit as it is not a typical convention of a rock song/band music video.

How well does your production address the brief?
I believe we addressed the brief by using a range of conventions: direct mode of address, a variety of different shots from extreme close ups to long and wide shots, including a tracking shot of chip walking down the corridor. We used close ups the most since that was the most common shot type to all music videos. Through editing and lighting we included colour effects and time lapsed sections.
Unfortunately we didn't have a wide range from our demographic represented within the video as it was tricky to all be available outside of class time.

How well does your website and production demonstrate your understanding of convergence between forms?
I don't know we didn't do a website.

Music Video - Planning Draft 02

Draft 02

1. Shot starts facing left. shot panning downward. once a lower angle is reached camera pans to the right to where Chip is asleep under a computer desk. Steady pace. Natural lighting, blinds in the classroom open.
2. 
   
3. Cut to an extreme close up of Chips' face, his eyes open. (Close up of eyes opening) he consumes the frame, his eyes are the focus of the shot, rest of face is not visible. Natural lighting, blinds in the classroom open.

2. A MLS shot from a high angle of him sitting up and looking around. Natural lighting, blinds in the classroom open.
3. 
   
4. Cut to a POV with the camera panning right to left.  Steady pace again. Natural lighting, blinds in the classroom open.

3. Wide shot of a band performing, location - Garage. dim, harsh lighting. camera on a tripod.
4. 
   
5. Cut in with MCU of Chip performing with his instrument: the guitar, strumming in time with the music, focus on the instrument. face not included in the frame. location - Garage. dim, harsh lighting. Possibly Steadicam.

4. Mid shot of him climbing up onto a chair looking worn out from the side. Natural lighting, blinds in the classroom open. camera handheld and positioned either facing toward the widow or away from the window allowing the natural lighting to shine from behind, to be determined in production.

5. Cut in with Medium Close Up of a band member performing with their instrument e.g the Bass strumming in time with the music, focus on the instrument face not included within the frame. This is repeated with the third member of the band. The drummer, however shot angle changed to behind him. location - Garage. dim, harsh lighting. Possibly Steadicam.

6. Close up from his face of him sitting down then falling asleep. face fills frame, tired expression. Blurred backround. Eyes suddenly open.
7. Camera gradually zooms out while the people around him move quickly as he lip syncs the lyrics at a normal speed.  Natural lighting, blinds in the classroom open.

7. Camera rapidly turns to the right 180 degrees and we see the lyrics ‘life’s an illusion’ appear on a computer screen. 

8. A very quick shot of him looking confused at the screen camera positioned in front of the computer screen, sat on the table.
9. other rapid turn to the right to see him appear on a stage performing (wide shot) 

9. Close up of him performing Facial expression: looking bored (extreme close up) 

10. Camera turns to face people cheering in the seats, switching place randomly. Shot type: long shot all people in view. multiple cuts each time the people are in different positions.

11. Quick second long clips (close ups) of people smiling, played I time with the chords of the song). For the chorus. Example a group of people from school smiling 

12. Camera turns to face people cheering in the seats, switching place randomly. Shot type: long shot all people in view. multiple cuts each time the people are in different positions.

13. Another rapid camera turn to face the computer screen again, From right to left. this time with the lyrics ‘I was so tired of being upset’ displayed on the screen.

14. Medium close up of him looking at the screen. camera positioned in front of the computer screen, sat on the table.

15. A shot from another angle of him standing up and walking out of frame. camera positioned at the back of the classroom. long shot.

16. A slow motion wide shot of him walking down a corridor while those around him walk by rapidly in ‘fast motion’. He is lip syncing the lyrics again. Medium long shot - shoulders in view.

17. Another quick mid shot of the band performing. location - Garage. dim, harsh lighting. Possibly Steadicam.

18. A very similar shot of the smiling people, but this time they’re different people. Once again, in time with the chords being played. Shot type: long shot all people in view. multiple cuts each time the people are in different positions.

19. Another scene of the bad performing. location - Garage. dim, harsh lighting. Possibly Steadicam. with each chord it’s a close up of each member, ending with chip looking bored.focus on the instrument face not included within the frame. This is repeated with the third member of the band. The drummer, however shot angle changed to behind him. 

20. A collection of very short clips in varying places from varying distances. Each time chip is somewhere in the shot singing a line from the lyrics. 

21. A mid shot of the whole band performing.location - Garage. dim, harsh lighting. Possibly Steadicam. 
22.  Jump cut to chip singing ‘but I know its’ (extreme close up) 

22. Two extreme close ups of the smiling people from earlier singing the words ‘ok ok’ 

23. A medium shot of Chip running out of the back door of Sixth form center. side on so we can see him reach for and open the door.

24. Immediate jump cut to Chip running through the front door as if he’d never left the building (medium close up) he looks confused. again shot from the side.

25. A close up of the drummer from the band playing in time with the music in the background. The drummer, however shot angle changed to behind him. 

26. With each chord, a shot of chip running through the front door again looking more and more confused each time, from a different angle every time.  

27. A dejected facial expression mid shot of him returning back upstairs. Shot from the side so we see him walk out of frame. 

28. Another scene of the band performing but close ups to each member smiling again except Chip. 

Two identical scenes of him sitting back down under the table and him sitting down at the end of the song ‘mixed together’ (quick cuts between the two scenes ending with chip asleep under the table again).