We have now finished our newspaper and two ancillary tasks which consists of a poster and radio advert for our A2 Media studies practical production.
We tried to stick to conventions of current local newspapers because we knew that these styles and methods used for newspapers worked and people bought them, we didn’t want to stray too far away from the conventional look as that might deter the potential buyer from purchasing our newspaper over another.
We have created our newspaper following various conventions of real newspapers you can find in your local area. Our newspaper front page contains many things you would find on a newspaper front including a masthead which has our logo and title. We also had a slogan which reflects the logo which we found a common theme in local newspapers.
We mimicked the layout of newspapers we looked at with headlines and picture placements, using newspapers which we had a good accessibility to such as the Portishead Times we looked at many of their issues to find the most frequently used layouts for stories and pictures. For example having the text on the left hand side of the page and the picture on the right, also including a bar on the side containing details of other stories/elements you could find inside the newspaper. Another element on the front page we noticed was used frequently was a bar under the masthead containing small but important details about the newspaper such as the date it was published, the price and a link to its website.
We looked at various adverts in newspapers and singled out the most common features of them, they were often pretty simple designs, which appeared "cheap and tacky" we tried to replicate this and made very basic adverts. Things that made the adverts look so simple were the use of bold blocks of colour and bold clear fonts. There is little use of photo editing or effects to manipulate the colours; basic fonts you would usually find bundled with an operating system are used.
Our productions follows conventions consistently and pretty much follows the tried and tested format of modern day newspapers, there are instances where we went against conventions for example in our Celebrity spot of the week section which was an original idea where readers can send in their photographs of themselves posing with celebrities and have it featured in the newspaper. We added this to have a bigger emphasis on community and thought we could link it to other media such as a website (if we were to actually create the product) where we could post all the photos, so ones not featured could still be viewed by the public.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
Our ancillary tasks to accompany our newspaper were a poster advertisement for a section of the newspaper and an advert for the newspaper to go on the radio.
When first deciding which ancillary task we wanted to create I researched a variety of newspaper websites and websites in general, I looked at the styles and conventions used including placements of buttons, usually under the masthead of the page or along the side of the page next to the main body, and article layouts which for newspaper articles usually contained small thumbnails you could click to see a bigger image which were integrated in the text. I looked into programs we could use to create the website which included Macromedia Dreamweaver and Apple’s iWeb. I eventually decided to change our ancillary task from a website to a radio advert as I thought it would be the more interesting and involving option.
To research for our poster we looked at various posters for other media texts for example film posters and looked at their various conventions. We then looked at posters advertising for newspapers and looked at the themes used there; we went on to use some of these themes in our production. Some posters we looked at were for the evening post, a newspaper local to us and we used several conventions from this which included using large bold letters to attract people’s attention.
Our use of a poster to accompany our newspaper works well as we can show a little more about whats inside the newspaper and add more volume to it. The poster follows a similar theme with the masthead being the same and the style and colours of blues and whites to match a sea location.
Our radio advert also matches our newspaper as it connects more with our target audience which is middle aged/ older generations by including older characters with real life problems which will encourage we hoped this would encourage our target audience to buy it. We also have a "modern" jingle giving out the information of the newspaper which also might encourage younger generations to read our newspaper.
We studied a variety of radio adverts though as it was difficult to find specific adverts for newspapers we looked at adverts in general to get the correct tone for our advert and make sure it will suit the newspapers themes by adding a sense of local community through the people talking in a local place and using jingles to make it seem more interesting.
Overall the two products work well with the main product and give a full rounded view of our newspaper. In the poster we included the masthead from the actual newspaper and the slogan and colour scheme which easily shows it’s linked to the newspaper. Similarly with the radio advert we included the slogan and the name of the newspaper.
When first deciding which ancillary task we wanted to create I researched a variety of newspaper websites and websites in general, I looked at the styles and conventions used including placements of buttons, usually under the masthead of the page or along the side of the page next to the main body, and article layouts which for newspaper articles usually contained small thumbnails you could click to see a bigger image which were integrated in the text. I looked into programs we could use to create the website which included Macromedia Dreamweaver and Apple’s iWeb. I eventually decided to change our ancillary task from a website to a radio advert as I thought it would be the more interesting and involving option.
To research for our poster we looked at various posters for other media texts for example film posters and looked at their various conventions. We then looked at posters advertising for newspapers and looked at the themes used there; we went on to use some of these themes in our production. Some posters we looked at were for the evening post, a newspaper local to us and we used several conventions from this which included using large bold letters to attract people’s attention.
Our use of a poster to accompany our newspaper works well as we can show a little more about whats inside the newspaper and add more volume to it. The poster follows a similar theme with the masthead being the same and the style and colours of blues and whites to match a sea location.
Our radio advert also matches our newspaper as it connects more with our target audience which is middle aged/ older generations by including older characters with real life problems which will encourage we hoped this would encourage our target audience to buy it. We also have a "modern" jingle giving out the information of the newspaper which also might encourage younger generations to read our newspaper.
We studied a variety of radio adverts though as it was difficult to find specific adverts for newspapers we looked at adverts in general to get the correct tone for our advert and make sure it will suit the newspapers themes by adding a sense of local community through the people talking in a local place and using jingles to make it seem more interesting.
Overall the two products work well with the main product and give a full rounded view of our newspaper. In the poster we included the masthead from the actual newspaper and the slogan and colour scheme which easily shows it’s linked to the newspaper. Similarly with the radio advert we included the slogan and the name of the newspaper.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
I asked people for feedback on my newspaper as I was creating it and was told to make the newspaper appear more busy and to improve the picture placement and some of the photographs.
For my poster I had to completely change the photographs and replaced them with better entertainment buildings which looked more exciting and colourful I also had to include the correct masthead as I had a different font for the poster and it didn’t look very compatible.
After I had finished the task I got feedback once more and my newspaper was well received by my target audience and was praised for its conventional style.
I asked members of my target audience questions about my newspaper and they gave me feedback on my production. They were mostly impressed by the stories about the local people and regarded them as being very similar to real stories they would read in local newspapers.
The entertainment guide poster ancillary task was noted as very useful and looked quite interesting and the radio advert was described as quite conventional for an advert you would hear on the radio which was quite catchy and memorable which is important for an advert in general.
Some improvements that were suggested were including some kind of hint to a puzzle or competition page to emphasise the interaction within the community.
Feedback questionaire:
For my poster I had to completely change the photographs and replaced them with better entertainment buildings which looked more exciting and colourful I also had to include the correct masthead as I had a different font for the poster and it didn’t look very compatible.
After I had finished the task I got feedback once more and my newspaper was well received by my target audience and was praised for its conventional style.
I asked members of my target audience questions about my newspaper and they gave me feedback on my production. They were mostly impressed by the stories about the local people and regarded them as being very similar to real stories they would read in local newspapers.
The entertainment guide poster ancillary task was noted as very useful and looked quite interesting and the radio advert was described as quite conventional for an advert you would hear on the radio which was quite catchy and memorable which is important for an advert in general.
Some improvements that were suggested were including some kind of hint to a puzzle or competition page to emphasise the interaction within the community.
Feedback questionaire:
- Do you think this newspaper could be sold in shops?
- Do you think the style suits a local newspaper?
- Do the articles sound like real articles you might read in your newspaper?
- How could the newspaper be improved to look like a proper newspaper?
- How do the ancillary tasks suit the main product and are they conventional?
How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
We used the internet to do a lot of the research into newspapers including looking at logos and various newspaper websites which included http://www.northsomersettimes.co.uk, http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk and http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/ when deciding our ancillary tasks. We used google images to find local newspaper front pages in areas in different places in the country/world. We also used the internet to post our blogs which are electronic diaries of our entire production which we could post information about the stages of production we were at and various pictures and things as we went along.We used Adobe Photoshop to edit photographs used for adverts and main articles; we also used photoshop for our posters to get the pictures looking professional. Examples of effects and functions of photoshop were to remove or crop certain objects from photographs and add various lighting effects to photographs. For example in my advert for a hairdressing salon I melded the background into a smooth stylish white look and cut out a pattern on the wall behind. Similarly in my photo of a woman with a cat I used lighting effects to brighten the picture so its easier to see the image.We used a program called Microsoft Publisher to actually piece the newspaper together and to create the posters. Publisher was very useful as it allowed us to easily move around various articles and pictures we had created and arrange them into a suitable newspaper format. We wrote our articles on Microsoft Word and then transferred them to Publisher. Publisher enabled us to create the columns that newspapers have and helped give it its official appearance.For our radio advert we used garageband. With its recording function and many audio samples it was perfect for creating a suitable radio advert for our newspaper with enough customisation to make it sound unique.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Newspaper poster final draft
I have now completed my final draft of my newspaper poster and am quite satisifed with it.
I have kept the same style from the original draft but changed my pictures to more bright and visually appealing images which would actually attract people to buying my newspaper.
I have included the original masthead from my newspaper which makes it seem more professional and links them together well.
Instead of the small paragraph of text about the entertainment section, I have changed it to a short sentence in bold text exclaiming its the "Ultimate guide to entertainment in the south west" which is more eye catching and will attract people more than the paragraph of text which was difficult to read and unconventional.
I have also added the logo so people will immediately associate this poster with our newspaper, the slogan and website is also at the bottom.
I did limited editing to the photos but the one with the sky I edited so it looked like a bright sunny day
I have kept the same style from the original draft but changed my pictures to more bright and visually appealing images which would actually attract people to buying my newspaper.
I have included the original masthead from my newspaper which makes it seem more professional and links them together well.
Instead of the small paragraph of text about the entertainment section, I have changed it to a short sentence in bold text exclaiming its the "Ultimate guide to entertainment in the south west" which is more eye catching and will attract people more than the paragraph of text which was difficult to read and unconventional.
I have also added the logo so people will immediately associate this poster with our newspaper, the slogan and website is also at the bottom.
I did limited editing to the photos but the one with the sky I edited so it looked like a bright sunny day
Radio Advert - Script
Setting: A busy cafe with lots of commotion in the background, two eldery ladies are discussing properties.
Barbara: Alright there our Deardry? How are you?
Deardry: Not too good, me and pat have been looking for a new house. I've been trying to use that new interwebby thingy, but its all so confusing.
Barbara: What you need to do is get yourself a copy of the north somerset news.
A fast pased musical tune comes into play and the male voice talks quickly over it.
Male Voiceover: Grab a copy of the north somerset news today to find the best deals on propertys in your area. Houses in clevedon, Portishead and Weston-Super-Mare at the lowest prices with professional help to help you move today.
Sports, news, weather, celebrities and more at n somersetnews.co.uk
Female Voiceover: (Singing) North somerset news.
Male Voiceover: The anchor of local life.
We return to the busycafe at the beginning of the advert and the commotion backing sounds come back into play.
Deardry: Oh Barbara, help me find the texts on my new mobile phone.
Barbara: Thats not your mobile phone Deardry thats your TV remote, you silly goose!
Commotion backing sounds fade out.
Barbara: Alright there our Deardry? How are you?
Deardry: Not too good, me and pat have been looking for a new house. I've been trying to use that new interwebby thingy, but its all so confusing.
Barbara: What you need to do is get yourself a copy of the north somerset news.
A fast pased musical tune comes into play and the male voice talks quickly over it.
Male Voiceover: Grab a copy of the north somerset news today to find the best deals on propertys in your area. Houses in clevedon, Portishead and Weston-Super-Mare at the lowest prices with professional help to help you move today.
Sports, news, weather, celebrities and more at n somersetnews.co.uk
Female Voiceover: (Singing) North somerset news.
Male Voiceover: The anchor of local life.
We return to the busycafe at the beginning of the advert and the commotion backing sounds come back into play.
Deardry: Oh Barbara, help me find the texts on my new mobile phone.
Barbara: Thats not your mobile phone Deardry thats your TV remote, you silly goose!
Commotion backing sounds fade out.
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