Print brief research and planning

Research and planning

Front cover

1) Research TV listing magazine front cover key conventions. Find at least five examples of TV listings magazine front covers and post them to your blog. This will give you a good idea of the type of magazine you need to produce

                                   

                                                        

2) Note down the design elements you notice in each front cover example you research and look for aspects you can use in your own work (e.g. camera shots, page design or cover lines). 

Design Elements: 

• Direct mode of address with the subject aligned in the centre of the page making them the vocal point.

• The masthead is clearly evident at the top of the page in bold lettering, mainly a sans serif font.

• Images surrounding the main image contain of 2/3 images; in size they are quite small so the main attention goes to the vocal point.

• In terms of the cover lines they are placed around the main image and not overbearingly constricting the photos.

• The colour scheme matches well, working together to nit cast away attention but give iy much attention so the reader knows where to look more.

3) What key conventions can you find across different types of front cover - e.g. title placement, cover lines, main flash or cover line, date/price/barcode etc.

Key conventions:

• Title placement - placed at the top, evidently seen.

• Cover lines - placed around the subject not overlapping the image itself.

• Main flash -  placed near or on top of the main subject suggesting that is referring to them.

• Date/Price/Barcode - The TV choice magazine has the price largely placed near the main subject whisky others don't even have a a price present. Some of the magazines such as Tv & Satellite have the barcode the bottom right corner of the cover.

Inside page feature

1) Now research inside page features from TV listings magazines. Post at least five images of magazine inside page features (they can be from different magazine genres if you are struggling to find TV listings magazine inside pages).

       

2) Note down the design elements you notice in each inside page feature example you research and look for aspects you can use in your own work (e.g. use of main/secondary images, page design, pull quotes, picture captions etc.) 

Design Elements: 

• Use of main/secondary images -  the images almost seem like they have been cut out and placed with 'annotations' of the image placed around them to show the thought process behind them or why they are place they were they are.

• Page design -  the page is mainly analytical with writing about the show or an interview with the actors that played their characters with the image shown.

• Pull quotes  - are evident as they are much larger and have a different font than the other feature writing.

• Picture caption - are seen either above or next to its referred image with a similar colour scheme.

3) What key conventions can you find across different types of inside page feature - e.g. headline, subheading, main image etc.

Key conventions:

• Headline - This is shown at the top of the page crossing over both pages with a rather large font size.

• Subheading - Less of a large font size but evidently with a different colour scheme and font type.

• Main image - Is either spaced between both twi pages or just bigger in size so the audience know where they need to look at.

Planning and sketching

1) Plan the content and cover lines for your front cover:

• Title (must be NEW original TV listings magazine you have invented): 

The Overview/ Backstage 

• Slogan:

 Here's all the latest scoop...

• Cover image: 

Protagonist of my crime drama

• Main cover story/main flash:

All about the stars

• Additional cover lines:

 Other Tv show descriptions, beauty advice etc, latest celeb gossip

• Additional two smaller images:

 Others characters of other shows, trending celebs

• Font style / colour scheme, additional design aspects: 

Red and black for the image to go with a crime drama genre (eerie) - other aspects will contain different colour scenes deeding on the what its about.

2) Plan the images you will use for the front cover - use CLAMPS. One main image and two smaller images required to meet the minimum content in the brief.

Main image: 

C - dressed up, make-up and everything 

L - mix -up of highkey and lowkey lighting (red background lighting)

A - centre - direct mode of address

M - minimal, focus on the eyes

First image:

C - suit

L -  high key

A - position at the bottom of left corner - direct mode of address 

P - trophy in the hand?

Second image:

C - casual clothing

L - high key

A - paparazzi based image

M - minimal make-up

P - handbag

S - on a street

3) Plan the content for your inside page feature:

• Subject of feature: 

Interview with cast member

• Headline: 

Something along the lines with representation 

• Subheading: 

Behind the Scenes

• Main image: 

The crew on set 

• Smaller images (need minimum of four across the three pages): 

7 images spread out on all three pages 

• Font style / colour scheme, additional design aspects:

 Double spread page, housestyle colours as mentioned previously

4) Write the copy (words) you will use for the inside page feature - headline, subheading, article text. 

A little sneak peak of the questionnaire for the Q&A style interview:

1. What sort of person is going to love this character?
2. How is this character like you? Different?
3. Is it easier to play this character or to be yourself on stage?
4. What do you love about this character?
5. What do you hate about this character?
6. What’s the biggest challenge about taking on this role?
7. Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite line of dialogue?
8. Besides yourself, which actor in this production is going to blow people away?
9. If you could play any other character in this show, who would it be?
10. What makes a good scene partner?

5) Plan the social media content you will include in your print work to create opportunities for digital convergence e.g. hashtags, social media details etc.

• I will have hashtags with the show name for audiences to interact with, an Instagram page for audiences to follow so they can see exclusive footage of BTS, interviews with the cast and crew. Maybe even have a filter on Snapchat to promote the crime drama - 'The Killer Beside Me' duo filters - trying to guess who is the killer among them.

6) Research and select the font or typography you will use for your print work. This is a critical element of your print work - the brief requires a consistent house style running through all of your pages. 

• I will use sans-serif font for the mast head, cover lines and copy to shows the modern element of the magazine. However where the names of celebrities are mentioned, I will use a serif font to show the importance of the stars. The colour scheme however will be the main vocal point as that willl show the viewer where to look and when.

7) Produce an A4 sketch of your front cover design and scan it/upload a picture to your blog.

8) Produce A4 sketches of your inside page feature with clear layout of where headline, subheading, images and text will appear on the pages. 

Photoshoot

1) Who do you need to photograph for your front cover and inside page images? Remember, you need seven original images across the whole print production. 

• I will use myself as the main front cover image, and for the smaller two I will use two random pictures of my friends as a celebrity. For the inside pages I will use images of the interview and still images from the show. 

2) What camera shots do you need? Write a shot list for your photoshoots. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.

• Close up shot for the main cover
• Full body shots of 'celebs'
• Over the shoulder shot of the interview taking place
• Behind the scenes shot preferably a medium long shot

3) Plan the mise-en-scene. What costume, props or make-up will you require for your photoshoots?

• C - costuming from the crime drama, casual clothing used for the interview etc
• L - High key lighting mainly, lighting depending the bts of the drama
• A - Central of the cover, paparazzi styled shoot
• M - minimal
• P - trophy,  props used in the crime drama
• S - locations of the crime drama, random street

4) Finally, note down the time and date for your photoshoots. This may be inside or outside school (or a combination of both). You will have Media lesson time for this after the mock exams.

• Outside of school probably over the weekend or during my frees in school where the location were used.