The End Of My A2 Media Coursework

I have now finished all of my A2 coursework, and declare this A2 media blog finished!!

Good luck to everyone for their coursework and exams, and remember, keep calm and GANGNAM STYLE!!!

Evaluation Question 4

For my fourth evaluation question, I have created a video with me narrating over it.

If the audio seems quiet for any reason, please make sure to turn up your volume so that you can clearly hear my answer to the evaluation question:

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I have learned a great deal from my audience feedback, and my audience in many cases has been the deciding factor in my choice of fonts, images, etc.

Throughout the creation of my media products, I always considered my audience when making decisions, since all my products are aimed at my audience, and what appeals to them is most likely to grab their attention.

The Music Video

Whilst making my music video, I asked my audience religiously if there were improvements that could be made, once I had completed the Rough Cut.

I asked for feedback in nearly every post, as well as in the forms of questionnaires, polls, and even just asking my media classmates for their opinion on my work.

I did this so that I could achieve products that appealed most to my target audience and thus create the most successful product possible.

What I learnt from feedback was that people liked my animation, but it needed to be extended where it was still and had no movement, since it dragged on. I also learnt that the lighting in certain shots wasn't to its fullest potential.

Comments such as the ones above caused me to make improvements to my music video through further animation and experimentation with effects. Therefore I am glad my work was criticised as it allowed me to learn where my video felt flawed and thus create a more professional and appealing (to my audience) media product.

The Digipak

The audience played a major role in deciding on the content of my Digipak, as they made decisions such as the name of the album, font style and the images that were going to be used.

They audience also let me know, through a questionnaire, whether any changes should be made to my Digipak in order to improve it in any way.

So from my audience feedback, I learnt what the most popular/appealing content would be, as well as if the audience though any content should be added/removed/changed. Learning all this information ultimately allowed me to create a better and more appealing product, since the audience is who I'm trying to appeal the product to, and applying what they most liked meant the most appealing product possible.

The Magazine Advert

I learnt much from the audience about my advert through the use of questionnaire, much like my digipak.

Learning how my audience felt about my advert (whether anything should be added/removed/changed) allowed me to learn whether my product was appealing to my audience (which was of course my aim, along with making it look professional). Knowing it was appealing through my questionnaire allowed me to have ease of mind, as otherwise I may have added/removed/changed the content unnecessarily, thus ruining my advert, but thanks to my audience I learnt that the advert was perfect the way it was, allowing me to create a product with maximum audience appeal.

Evaluation Question 2

To answer evaluation question 2, I have created a Prezi.

Don't forget to click the images and text to zoom in where necessary, and I hope you enjoy my Prezi (also please ignore the fact the Prezi says it's by James Doom, as this is the name I gave to my Prezi account due to the fact the word Doom is in the email address attached to the account, but to make sure you, the examiner, knows its is definitely my Prezi and not stolen, I included my real name at the top left when the Prezi begins).

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1 is answered on the website I have created.

Please use the navigation at the top of each page to explore my answer to the question, and be sure to fully explore each page by scrolling down each time so that you can see my entire answer.

The website address is: http://www.i-m.co/doomwow/EvalQuestion1/

Approaching My Evaluation Questions

In order to show that technology has been integrated into my everyday life/work and how much I know about different technologies, I will be tackling my four evaluation question in a variety of ways:

• The first question will be answered in the form of a website.
• The second question will be answered in the form of a Prezi.
• The third question will be answered in the form of a blog post.
• And the fourth question will be answered int he form of a video with narration.

This way I can demonstrate that I know how to use various technologies well, and that they really are used in my everyday life (shown by my ability to evaluate using the technologies themselves).

I hope you all look forward to my evaluation questions.

Until next time.

Production - Magazine Advert Complete!!!

I now declare my Magazine Advert complete!

Below is my finished magazine advert:

As you can see from my magazine advert, my focus was on the maximum amount of synergy possible, as well as a great amount of promotion. Synergy was achieved through the use of colour scheme, font and the drawings, as they are all used on the other media texts (music video/digipak) thus achieving synergy and giving these products related to Newton Faulkner (the artist) a style that can be easily recognised. I also aimed to maximise promotion, through making sure that the audience knew what the album look like, allowing it to be easily identified online/in-store. Through giving the audience the websites associated with the artist, allowing them to learn more about him and his other music. Through giving the audience the name of the record label that is associated with the artists, allowing the record label to be promoted as well as other artists that are part of the label. And finally through using reviews to promote the album as a high quality product, and through making sure the audience knew the album was available both in-store and online, and that all editions include the music video for "Dream Catch Me", thus increasing the chance of sales since the audience knows they will be getting not only a quality product but one with an added extra too.

This post was mainly just to declare my advert finished, which I have now done, as well as give some insight into my aims whilst producing this magazine advert, which were to create a professional looking advert that maximises synergy and promotion of the artist, which I can gladly say I believe I have achieved.

I am proud of the finished product and am very proud to declare it finished.

That raps it up for this post everyone but be sure to follow my blog for my evaluation questions coming soon.

Until next time everyone.

Draft Magazine Advert Questionnaire Results

I gave the questionnaire to 9 people, along with showing them my music video and digipak, and below are the general results (since each response was unique as the answers wern't set answers, but spaces for people to give their own answers, hence why 'm giving the generals results instead of each result, which would make this post drag on for much too long):

In response to "Do you think there is anything that could be added to the Magazine Advert in order to make it look better?, and if so, what is it and why?", the response, in more or less words, was NO.

I was surprised that there was nothing that the 9 people questioned wanted to add, perhaps because I tried to fill the space without making it seem cluttered and thus people thought the space was covered well (this was in fact involved in 2 of the answers received; that the space was used well). I am glad I received this response as I believe the space was filled with all the necessary information, plus extras that added synergy and added quality to the look of the advert.

In response to "Do you think anything should be removed from the Magazine Advert that looks out of place/unsuitable?, and if so, what is it and why?", the response was, in more or less words, NO.

I was very surprised by this, as even though I tried to fill the space available without making it seem cluttered, I was worried some people still would find it cluttered, but surprisingly people didn't. In terms of why people thought nothing needed to be removed, they all mentioned they thought the layout was nice just the way it was, and some mentioned removing anything would leave space where the advert would seem empty/boring. I'm very glad this was the response I received as my biggest fear was that people would think the advert was cluttered, but to hear that they think the layout is good the way that it is really pleases me.

Finally, in response to "Would you do anything different to how I have presented the Magazine Advert?, and if you would, what is it and why?", the response was varied. Here I received 5 responses that said they wouldn't change how the advert was presented because they were happy with the layout, and 4 responses that said they would change the layout but the only reason was due to personal preference. Because of this, I am going to keep my layout the way it is, since the response to the first two questions was incredibly good, and changing the layout now may cause people to want to change things in the advert, as a change of layout can have that effect, since what is included currently may not work when laid out differently.

So, because of this response to my magazine advert questionnaire, I will not be changing anything else. This of course means I can declare my magazine advert complete, which I am incredibly happy about. So, in my next post this is what I will declare, that no more changes will be made and that my magazine advert is finished, and then after that the only posts that will appear on my blog are my evaluation questions and a final post saying that my coursework is complete.

So guys and girls, that raps it up for this post, but be sure to watch for my declaration that I have finished my magazine advert, and then after that, my evaluation questions and farewell post.

Until next time everyone!

Draft Magazine Advert Questionnaire

Now that I have completed all of my designs for my Magazine Advert, the only thing left to do is ask people whether they think anything should be added/removed/etc. , just as I did with my Digipak. If there is nothing to change then I will declare the magazine advert complete.

I have created a questionnaire in Microsoft Word that I will give to people, along with showing them my music video via computer/phone with 3G, and showing them my printed out Digipak, so that they understand the synergy between the different media texts.

This, like my Digipak questionnaire, will be short and sweet. The questions are as follows:
-----

Do you think there is anything that could be added to the Magazine Advert in order to make it look better?, and if so, what is it and why?
_________________________________________________

Do you think anything should be removed from the Magazine Advert that looks out of place/unsuitable?, and if so, what is it and why?
_________________________________________________

Would you do anything different to how I have presented the Magazine Advert?, and if you would, what is it and why?
________________________________________________

-----

I will conduct the questionnaire and then post the results soon.

So be sure to watch my blog very closely for the results of my questionnaire, and possibly any changes to my magazine advert as a result.

Until next time everyone :)

Production - Magazine Advert Second Draft Complete!!!

I have now completed the second draft of my magazine advert as you can see below, followed by an explanation of the changes made and how I made them:

As you can see, the changes I have made are the smaller hearts surrounding the larger heart, like the drawing in my music video (thus achieving further synergy).

I added these smaller hearts by first selecting the large heart using the Rectangular Marquee tool. I then used the Edit menu to copy and paste the heart. Next I made the heart smaller using the Cursor tool and then used the Edit menu again to copy and paste five more smaller hearts. Finally I rotated/positioned all six smaller hearts around the larger heart by using the Cursor tool.

Like the larger heart and characters, I believe these are good because they achieve synergy, are visually appealing, fill the space and finally, don't feel like they're cluttering the open space. I am going to keep these and I now can declare my magazine advert second draft complete.

I will soon conduct a questionnaire about my second draft and make changes accordingly.

That raps it up for this post everyone, but be sure to follow my blog for more posts coming soon, scuh as my evaluation questions.

See you all next time.

Production - Magazine Advert Second Draft Progress 4

Below is the fourth stage of my magazine advert second draft, followed by an explanation of the changes and how I added them:

I have now added the heart from the Inner Middle Pane of my digipak/music video.

I did this by selecting it from the Inner Middle Pane using the Rectangular Marquee tool and then using the edit menu to copy and past it onto my magazine advert. Finally I scaled/positioned it using the Cursor tool.

I like the heart because it not only adds synergy but is is a pleasant/cute space filler, much like the characters below the album title.

I have one more thing to add, which will be shown in the next progress post and then my second draft will be complete. I will then ask my audience questions to do with my magazine advert and if there is anything that the majority think should be changed, I will change it. If not, then I will be able to declare my magazine advert complete.

That raps it up for this post, but be sure to pay attention for the next post coming really soon!

Until next time.

Production - Magazine Advert Second Draft Progress 3

Below you will see the third stage of the magazine advert second draft, followed by an explanation of the changes I've made and how:

As you can see I have now added the artist's name above the name of the album.

This was done by using the Rectangular Marquee tool to select the name from the front cover of the digipak, and then pasted into position using paste from the Edit menu.

The name is vital as otherwise it's not completely obvious who's album this is, when it needs to be. So now that I have added this detail that I previously didn't add, I am definitely keeping this addition to my magazin advert.

That raps it up for this post everyone but be sure to follow my blog for more updates coming soon.

Until next time.

Production - Magazine Advert Second Draft Progress 2

Below is the second stage of my magazine advert second draft, followed by an explanation of the changes made and how I made them:

The changes made are that I have now drawn the two characters from my music video/digipak onto the advert.

I did this by using my graphics tablet and the Brush tool on the sidebar. Once this was selected I first drew my characters much bigger than they currently are, and then used the Cursor tool to scale and place the characters appropriately.

I like the change as it adds more synergy to my products and the characters are a cute space-filler without cluttering the space. So my verdict is that I am definitely keeping the characters where they are as I really like the addition.

That raps it up for this post everyone but be sure to follow my blog for more updates coming soon.

Until next time :)

Production - Magazine Advert Second Draft Progress 1

Below is the first stage of my second draft, along with an explanation of the changes I have made/how I made them:

1. I added the record label name through the use of the Horizontal Type tool, by drawing a text box and then simply typing the name of the artist's record label.

2. I added the record label's logo by first copying it off of google images. I then pasted it using the Edit menu and removing the background using the Magic Wand tool and the delete key on my keyboard. Finally I scaled and positioned the logo using the Cursor tool to where I thought it looked appropriate.

I will definitely keep these changes on the advert as I feel these, along with what is already present, is necessary information.

That raps it up for now everyone, but be sure to follow my blog for more updates coming soon.

Until next time.

Production - Magazine Advert First Draft Complete!!!

Below you will see the completed first draft of my magazine advert, followed by an annotated version where I will explain the changes I have made and how I made them:

The changes made since the last post are the reviews on the left and right side of the digipak. The reviews for the album were added by drawing a text box on the left and right side of the digipak and then typing in flattering reviews via my keyboard.

This is the first complete draft of my magazine advert. I am now going to add the other things that were on my draft drawing (which can be seen below) and see whether they look good or not, as I feel that my magazine advert now contains everything necessary and adding more may may it look worse (but then again it may also make it look better).

Until next time everyone.

Production - Magazine Advert Draft Progress 4

Below is the fourth stage of my magazine advert production, along with an explanation of how I created it:

The changes made since the last post is that I have now added information about the album.

I did this through creating a text box through the Horizontal Type tool and then typing the information that I felt was appropriate for the advert (i.e. that the album is out both digitally and in stores, and also that in either edition, it will come with a music video for "Dream Catch Me").

That raps it up for this post everyone, but be sure to follow my blog as always for more updates coming soon.

Until next time.

Production - Magazine Advert Draft Progress 3

Below is the third stage of the creation of my magazine advert, along with the details of how I created it:

As you can see I have now added the digipak title as well as the two website addresses for the artist.

The title was added by using the Rectangular Marquee tool to select the title from the Front Pane of my digipak. I then used the Edit menu to copy it and paste it onto this advert. One this was done I used the Cursor tool to scale and position the tile appropriately. The website addresses were added by using the Horizontal Type tool and then scaled/positioned appropriately using the Cursor tool. The font used for the website addresses was Century. I did play around with multiple fonts, including Times New Roman, Bell MT and Calibri, but I decided that Century was the perfect mix of formal (and legible) and informal (as in more relaxed).

That raps it up for this post everyone, but don't worry as there will be plenty more really soon.

Until next time :)

Production - Magazine Advert Draft Progress 2

Below is the second stage of my magazine advert along with how I created it:

As you can see, this clearly works much better than my previous background, and it also uses colours from the inside of my digipak, so it retains synergy.

To create this background I used the Rectangular Marquee tool to select a section of the background I thought would work well from the Inner Right Pane. I then used the Edit menu to copy it and past it onto this magazine advert. Finally I scaled and positioned it on the dimension through the use of the Cursor tool.

That raps it up for now guys and girls, but be sure to pay attention for more posts coming soon :)

Until next time.

Production - Magazine Advert Draft Progress 1

Below you will see the first step of my magazine draft, along with how I created it:

As you can see I have used the edit menu to paste on the lined A4 paper background onto these dimensions, and then used the Cursor tool to position it correctly. Afterward I did the exact same with the front cover of my digipak.

From looking at this I have to say that I don't think the digipak stands out well due to the use of same background for the magazine advert. I will definitely try something else and will put up a post very soon showing the difference.

That raps it up for now, be sure to follow my blog for more updates and I'll see you all next time :)

Magazine Advert Draft

Something I noticed with my digipak was that my draft, wasn't so much a draft as a finished product, and the flat plan was more like the beginning stages of the draft. My point being that here, as you will see below, the draft for my magazine advert I am staring out as a simple drawing.

I plan to make the dimensions the same as an A4 piece of paper as many magazines print in this size, also the magazine advert can be easily resized to fit any magazine but A4 is just the dimension I want to work to.

Below you will the very first draft of my magazine advert:

From this you can see some of my solid ideas, as well as some ideas that I will play around with while I am producing the magazine advert.

From this you can see that the element I am most striving to achieve is synergy across all 3 media texts (music video, digipak and magazine advert) through the use of the same elements such as colour scheme, animated characters, etc. I am also striving to achieve a great deal of promotion for the artist through the reviews as well as the record label he is associated with.

Anyway guys and gals, that raps it up for this post.

Be sure to pay close attention to my blog for all the production for my advert coming really soon :)

Until next time everyone.