Preliminary Task: School Magazine

Laura Mackie

Conventions Of A School Magazine

Date line/Issue number –It is important to include the date or the issue number on a magazine so that the readers know that they have the latest issue and tat the information is up to date.

Strap/sell line – This is important to include as it is generally the unique selling point of the magazine, and so the line that people read and is aids their decision on whether to buy/take the magazine or not.

Main Image – This is used to portray what the magazine is about through the use of an image

School emblem – This is used to show what the magazine is for and therefore is useful to include as it symbolises the purpose of the magazine and what it is generally going to be about

Masthead (main title) – used to inform the target audience what the magazine is for and also what it is about, so in this case it is about a school, so the Masthead is the name of the school

Masthead (main title) – This is used to inform the audience what this article is about and to give them an insight into the article

This is a brief description of what the article is about so that the audience know whether they want to continue reading the article and if it is of interest or importance to them

Main Image – The main image gives the audience an insight to what the article is about within the magazine, and is also an aid to the article as it helps to put across the general objective of the article

Advertisement –Used to show the readers things that are relevant to them based on what they’re reading as a way of getting more customers.

Strap/sell line – This is important to include as it allows the audience to gain a brief understanding of the article in order to try and get the audience to read the article

This school magazine article has very limited text, this is because an article with less text is more intriguing than a magazine article with broad text.

Audience Research

THINGS INCLUDED IN A SCHOOL MAGAZINE TALLY

Student achievements ||||

Key events coming up |||||

Pictures of the school ||

Information about the school |||

School contact details |||

Key events from the past |

Pictures of students ||

I asked twenty people what they believed to be common and essential elements included in a school magazine. My results are shown below in the form of a tally chart. Audience research is important as it is a way of understanding what people believe to be the essential part of a magazine, but also gives the producer a further understanding of what needs to be included in the product to be able to please the target audience.

AS Media Studies Preliminary Task – School Magazine Front Page Proposal Form

Target audience: (age range, interests)Although it is a school newsletter you still have to think about your audience and how to appeal to them.

The audience will range from 11-18 years old, being the students of the school as well as potential students. However, the magazine would also be suitable for the parents to read in order for them to have more information about the school and what’s going on at the school. However, the students of the school are a priority. In order to appeal to this range of audience, the magazine should include colourful images and not be mainly text based as it can easily becoming boring to the eye and thus my target audience wouldn’t be interested in reading the magazine.

Possible title ideas: (masthead / title block)What is your magazine going to be called?

PriorytyPriory Dialogue

Main image:What will be the focal point of your front page, remember, your work “must include a photograph of a student in a medium close-up”

Close up of a student working

Main cover line:What will be the main story? Previous exam results, GCSE and A 'Level

Additional key images:What other images will be on your front cover?Remember, it is a school magazine.

Students celebrating their results

Additional cover lines:Other features, stories or selling points which will be inside the magazine, these need to be audience appropriate.

Priory is the priority

Typography: (style, size, colour of copy)Think about the writing and the style of the writing on your front page.

size 14 for general text30 for mastheadSize 18 for main stories and secondary stories

Background colour/image:What will be in the background, remember you don’t want to take the focus away from the main image.

Background will be white or the background of a classroom that the student is working in to show the school environment

Technical considerations:(equipment, setting, props, costume, lighting)Be realistic and creative, think about what you have access to and how you could use it.

Props I may include are a text book, table, pen and an exercise book for the main cover, to show that the student is working, and pieces of paper for the photo of students with their results.Lighting will be natural, people included will be in sixth form attire. The setting will vary from being in a classroom to being outside to show a variety of the school.

Preliminary exercise: produce a front page and contents page of a school magazine. Front covers must include a

photograph of a student in a medium close-up with appropriately laid out text and use of an image manipulation

programme (Photoshop).

Below start to sketch what the front cover of your newsletter will look like.

Preliminary exercise: produce a front page and contents page of a school magazine. Front covers must include a

photograph of a student in a medium close-up with appropriately laid out text and use of an image manipulation

programme (Photoshop).

Below start to sketch what the contents page of your newsletter will look like.

Notes on the Process

• Below are three images, of which all are a medium close-up that I photographed for the use of my front cover for the school magazine. I chose to use the one on the bottom left-hand corner because Olivia is happy, making for a better front cover as she makes the school seem as if it is an enjoyable place to be and therefore was the best selection for the front cover. I also used the image of Harmony, bottom right-hand corner, faded into the background of my front cover because she also looks happy and it shows that the school is a joyful place to be from more than one person’s perspective.

How did I change the pictures?

• To change the picture of Harmony, I first cropped the background so that the image only consisted of Harmony.

• Then I changed the exposure of the picture in order to make it brighter and so it stands out more than it did before.

• I then also changed the opacity and fill percentage of the picture of Harmony so that she fades into the background of the magazine front cover.

• To change the picture of Olivia, I first cropped the background so that the image only consisted of Olivia.

• Then I changed the exposure of the picture in order to make it brighter and so it stands out more than it did before.

A Brief

• For this task I had to create a front cover and a contents page for a school magazine. The front cover had to include a medium shot of a student of which I, myself had to take. I had to make this school magazine as a practice for the music magazine, as well as allowing me to understand what works well and what doesn’t on a magazine. This also ensures that I now have a better understanding of what I need to include in a magazine in order to be effective for my target audience.

What have I learnt?

• From making this magazine, I have learnt how to use Adobe Photoshop in order to change an image. I have also learnt how to make a magazine using only the features of Adobe Photoshop. Also, from making the school magazine front cover and contents page I have learnt how to effectively layout a magazine and how to make the magazine suitable for a target audience. I have also learnt what works well on a magazine and what doesn’t, for example for a front cover a medium shot looks good, however a long shot would not look as good on the front cover.