Preliminary Task -Content Analysis

 

In this section of my blog i am going to analyse two different front covers of a school magazine. By doing this i can get a more in depth understanding of what the codes and conventions of a school magazine are.

Magazine one 

This school magazine has decided to use a photograph as the main feature of the page. The photograph works the colour green is emphasised throughout the whole page. By using the colour green for the text it makes the magazine have a continuos theme. In my opinion the green is quite overpowering and gives the feeling of looking like an environmental magazine. The boy in the photograph looks well groomed which makes the school look good. This is how the school represents themselves. They have not used a scruffy looking student on the front cover and therefore have represented their school well. There is not too much information on the front cover which is good as it does not look too cramped and it is easy to read and understand. The idea of having a bar at the bottom of the page works well as it invites the reader to look inside the magazine. However i do not think it goes with the style of the rest of the magazine. Perhaps more photographs would help the magazine to appeal to more students as the photograph used does not relate to any of the stories on the cover. They could of used a photograph of the "old head girl" and one of the "new head girl" as this relates to one of the stories and would make the reader open the magazine. By including their school logo on the magazine would also improve the look of the cover. Overall i believe the magazine works quite well. I like the photograph they have used but i believe they could of thought more about the font colour and the layout of the text. From this cover i have learnt to consider what colour scheme i use and that the photographs i use need to compliment the articles that are inside.


Magazine two 



Similarly to the other magazine this front cover also has a main photograph. The aspects of this cover that i think really work are that they include a slogan. This is a good selling point as the students would associate the school magazine with this slogan which would rise the awareness of it. The name of the magazine is also catchy. By using alliteration it adds effect and again makes it sound catchy and fun. The layout of this magazine works well. One thing that could be better is the colour of the text. There is no continous theme which would usually link the magazine together and make it a package. The different purples and green could be changed for colour. I also think that the yellow does not go well on the background of the purple. I understand their motives for using yellow-as it is a connotation of a star. However the yellow does not show up extremely well against the purple. This magazine have used a second picture which i believe makes the magazine look more interesting , as there is more to look at.

Preliminary Task - Audience Research

Conducting audience research is crucial as i need to be aware of what my audience want to read about. If i was to create a school magazine based on my own ideas of what school pupils want, then it could all go wrong. The reason for this is my ideas may not be the same as others. After i conduct this piece of research i can be confident that i can create a magazine that students,teachers,staff,governors and the community would enjoy reading.


When speaking to year seven they stressed the idea that the magazine needed to be fun. By this they said that it should contain games and news that they would enjoy reading. They said they would not read if it was boring and contained to much school related information. From speaking to the year seven students i understood that the magazine had to have an informal feel about it but still had to look professional and contain the information in needed. Although speaking to the year sevens taught me that they wanted the magazine to be "fun" i had my own views that the magazine needed to have some serious elements as it is school related. I would have to ask Mr Russell about what extent the magazine could be "fun".


The year eights shared the same idea about it being a magazine that they would read. They explained that it should contain important events, news,games. They liked the idea of some form of agony aunt and thought that it would be a good idea if older students replied to the problems, as they have experienced what they are going through. They thought the magazine would be more appealing if it contained competitions where students can win "good" prizes.


So that I could further my research I asked the year nines about what magazines they currently read. I felt that this would help me to understand their interests and how they like the magazines they read to look. Many of the boys said they read ‘match’ and ‘football focus’. This was not a huge shock to me as I assumed that many boys would read sport-orientated magazines. From this I can conclude that the magazine would need a sport section. I asked one student who plays for a football team out of school , how he would feel about being interviewed and an article being published about his team and achievements, he really liked this idea and said that it would make him feel valued as a student as the school are interested at what he does in his free time. I think this idea would appeal to everyone as it ‘shows off’ our students talents. Many of the girls in year nine said that they read ‘heat’ or magazines such as ‘okay’. Again this was not a surprise as I also enjoy this magazines and I can understand why girls read them. These kinds of magazines are full of celebrity gossip and interviews therefore the school magazine will be different as it would not just focus on celebrity scandal. However I believe it is possible to use some of their ideas that would appeal to our school students. For example in heat magazine they run a column called ‘spotted out this week’ which is a list of famous faces who have been spotted doing normal daily things. We could use this idea and change it to spotting teachers outside of school. I believe it would work as it will be humorous and also students will understand that teachers have normal lives and don’t live in school. The year nine students really liked this idea but they did comment about whether teachers would agree to it. The main thing I learnt from speaking to the year nine students was that they wanted student achievements to be praised and that it can have a funny side as well as being something that the school can show off.

The year ten students agreed with many of the ideas the year nine students had. They believed that the school magazine should not be formal and should be written by the students. They had the idea that the school magazine could publish articles about current affairs outside of school which could help students with their daily lives. The year tens agree that sport should have an impact on the school magazine along with the art , drama and music department. They said that if somebody said to them ‘there is going to be a school newspaper’ that there first thoughts would be ‘boring’ and ‘just another newsletter - but an even longer one’. To prevent the school magazine from being boring they believe that the students should write it and that it should give anyone the opportunity to publish an article of their choice. I can understand this point of view as it would keep the magazine exciting as there could be something different every time. However to contrast this point of view they said that the design on the school magazine should have a continuous theme. They said the name should be catchy and the front cover should always have a set layout so that it looks professional.

The upper school had very similar ideas. Year eleven students also repeated the idea of introducing current affairs into the school magazine. They also really liked the idea of using an agony aunt and a few of the girls said they would enjoy writing that column to help answer younger students problems. A popular idea of a column for all years was the sixty second interview with a teacher many said that the questions should be funny instead of serious. They also liked the idea of having a games page and their being competitions with ‘worth-winning prizes’.

As the students are the majority target audience the interviews helped me understand about how to please them. It also helped me to develop and understanding of what they mean by ‘boring’ and ‘fun’. Before conducting this research I had many ideas about what I think they would like and would not. However I now have the knowledge of what will make them happier.

 The next conquest was finding out what would be allowed in the school magazine. I was certain that there were too be comedy boundaries and the one way to find out what they are is by going straight to the top. Mr. Russell. The main feedback from his was that the magazine should in no way ridicule people or discriminate against peoples beliefs or views. He liked the idea of the column choices. However he said that if an article or photograph was being published about a person , you must have their consent and they must be aware of what the purpose for it being printed is. He believed that to make a good magazine it should be published every half term so that there is enough content to make a brilliant magazine. He also believed that it would be an excellent way to show off the schools talent and achievement. He said that it should not be too informal and must contain important news of the school and current events. He shared the student’s view of it looking professional and having a catchy name. From the interview I have learnt that the boundaries are to respect peoples ideas and make sure that the magazine would not upset or cause controversy about the school. As Mr. Russell said ‘be really careful’ but make a great informative magazine that would show people what the school is about.

All five of the senior leadership team agreed that our school would benefit from a magazine. I was beginning to notice a pattern in what people would like to see in a magazine. All of the feedback we had received wanted to highlight what our school is about. The canteen staff said that a school magazine could be use to promote the canteen by printing menus. They also said that the previous school newspaper was not a success as there was a lack of interest. I understand that it is important to keep my audience interested so it would be a good idea to often conduct research. For example by getting students involved as much as possible. Those interested in art could design the magazine logo or perhaps a mascot for the magazine and school..

Preliminary Task- The Brief

The main task at hand is to create a school magazine which students, teaching staff, governors and the head teacher will want to read. This is a difficult task as there is a wide audience and it needs to be suitable as well as enjoyable. The school magazine must contain a eye attracting front page and an  informative contents page.  This is where my research will benefit me as the knowledge i have received from my audience will inform me on what they want to read and the boundaries that there are. For this task we are required to produce a front page of a new school magazine using a photograph of students in a medium close-up. Additionally their must be some appropriately laid out text which is suitable to the format of the magazine.

Preliminary Task - Media Key concepts

The media holds so much power over our daily lives and the way we think and act. Media is communication information to the masses and there are many different types of media. In my case I am creating print media which will be a school magazine for pupils to read and enjoy. To create this school magazine I needed to conduct research so that I know what to include in my magazine which would lead to it being a success. Before I can begin the research for the task It is crucial that I am aware of what media is about and the key concepts so that my piece of media ticks all the boxes to ensure that it is effective and does the job intended.

When constructing a piece of media there are a few key concepts that I need to ensure I use that will make the piece be most effective and achieve what it is intended to do. For my school magazine it is important that I follow these concepts as I want it to appeal and be a success. The first key concept is code and conventions. I need to ensure that I understand what my audience expect to find in a school magazine. For example on a school magazine cover you would expect to find a headline and photograph amongst other things. There is a way in which I could take a risk and break convention. For example when conducting my research with school pupils many boys said that they would enjoy a page three model in the magazine. Of course there are boundaries that would be broken and im certain that many people would not share their enthusiasm for this idea. By placing a page three model in a school magazine it would  be breaking convention - as you would not expect to find it. On one hand it could attract many boys to read the magazine. However it would involve huge risk as parents, feminists and im certain the head teacher would not agree. Although this is a good example of breaking convention.

The next key concept is understanding Institutions. For example I am now part of an institution as I have produced the school magazine which is a piece of media. An institution is anyone who is involved in the distribution or production. Each piece of media has a genre. For example I could have made the decision of making a school magazine which had the genre of music. However this would not appeal to audiences and could restrict the success of the magazine. Audience is a huge concept that a creator of a media text needs to consider as you need to understand who your audience are and what they want. Every piece of media is produced to fit a market. For example I had to make the decision of whether to make my school magazine for the students , teachers , governors etc. I believe that they are all part of the school however my main target market will be the students. I want to create a magazine that can spread the success of the school yet be something that students enjoy reading and is not a ‘constant reminder of work and homework’. After speaking to some year 9 students they have told me that the magazine should be ‘fun , easy to read and informative’. Therefore to attract my target audience I would not include a four page of ofstead report as they would find it ‘boring’. However if my target audience was the governors I am sure that they would find it important to know aspects such as of stead reports.

Representation is the way in which media portray people, events or in general life styles. For example I could use the school newspaper to portray Epsom and Ewell high school as an outstandingly sporty school but centreing the magazine or sport. Or perhaps I could portray Mr Russell as a bad head teacher by publishing photographs of him shouting at pupils. In contrast  I could portray him as a kind caring head teacher by publishing a picture of him talking to a pupil with a smile and the sense of concern in his actions. The media holds huge power when representing people. The reason for this is media is used to communicate to the masses which means that many people will see and speak about it so if a school magazine with a photograph or mr Russell shouting at a pupil was distributed to all pupils and staff then he would be seen as a head teacher who shouts a lot which may give him a bad reputation. The school magazine could also deal with wider issues and connect. For example the magazine could debate on whether adultery is wrong which at this moment in time could be linked to the wider issue of Wayne Rooney being adulterous.

There are also differing ideologies. This means that the school magazine would have to be aware of diversity and how everyone thinks differently. For example if I was to publish an article on The war against terrorism being wrong I would have to be aware that different people have different views. For example somebody member of family may have died whilst fighting for their country whilst another person may believe that it’s a  war not worth fighting. It is important that in media I am away of the differences in individuals ideology and approach issues with awareness. Each piece of media has a narrative in my case it’s the articles within the school newspaper. I also need to be aware of other perspectives when creating my school magazines as I do not want to upset or discriminate against an idea or belief.