Evaluation

Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?


I used the internet a lot throughout the planning and research stages. I used the internet when researching the format of different types of newspapers, for example broadsheet and tabloid. I also used the internet when researching the technical names for the layout features of newspapers. This helped me to identify these features in a variety of existing newspapers and decide on what to include in my own. The internet was also used to keep track and display my planning, research and evaluation on this blog. I have tried to update this blog regularly to show my progress.

I used Adobe Indesign to create the two pages of my newspaper. As I has never used this software before, I found it quite challenging but eventually got used to how to work it and gained lots of knowledge in the process.












Photoshop was used in many ways when creating my newspaper pages, but mainly to make my poster and masthead. I experimented with many different effects and made a masthead using effects such as warped text, outer glow and drop shadow. I had used photoshop a few times before for various tasks so I was more confident when using this software. I also used Photoshop to create the advertisements for my newspaper, the price design and a decorative border that goes across the top and bottom of the newspaper pages. When I had taken my photographs for my articles, I used Photoshop to crop them and adjust the colour.












To create my website I used Dreamweaver. I found this software very difficult to use as I had never experienced using it before, so it took quite a while to understand and get used to. Due to this, I feel my website is not as good as it could be and could be improved alot. For example, by having more links to make it look more like a website. I feel with a better understanding of the software, my website could be much improved.












Another piece of media technology that I used is my digital camera. I used this to take the photographs for my articles. I took lots of photographs so that I had many to chose from and ddecide which would look most effective and appealing to an audience in my newspaper. Once uploaded to the computer, I selected which photographs I wanted to use and edited them on Photoshop as mentioned above.

Evaluation

Q3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Having feeback from my audience and hearing their opinion on my work enables me to learn from mistakes and fidn ways of improving for a better result. Asking my audience may help me to realise issues, mistakes or ways of improving that I had not thought of myself.

As seen below in my blog, I asked a group of people of various age group a set of questions to find out their opinion on my newspaper, website and poster. The questions I asked were:
- What age group do you think my newspaper would be best suited for?
- What do you think about the layout of my newspaper?
- Would my poster catch your attention and make you want to buy the newspaper?
- What are your initial thoughts on the website?
- Do you think any of my texts could be improved on?

I am very pleased with the feeback I recieved on my newspaper. Generally people seemed to think the photographs were a good size, aspects of my paper were colourful, the headlines were big and bold and attracted attention, and the articles were a good size and not too long. This good feeback has made me see that my newspaper is appealing to the audience.

I also had quite positive feeback on my poster. Most people agreed it was eye catching and as it included on the poster what was inside the paper it would make people consider buying it if the features interested them. I am pleased with this feedback as the purpose of my poster is to advertise the newspaper and therefore encourage people to buy it.

The feedback on my website was quite negative. Everyone I asked agreed that my website could be improved upon. People thought it looked too much like a newspaper and could include something different rather than just being an online version of the paper. It was also said that it looked quite plain and simple. This negative feeback has helped me a lot. I have taken it as constructive criticism and it has helped me to see ways that I could improve my website. If I was to do the website again I would include different stories with photographs and features such as the local weather and jobs. I would also have a different layout rather than using columns as this makes it look just like a newspaper. Whereas, if the website was different it would encourage people to buy the newspaper and visit the website, rather than just visiting the website for free as it does not inclue anything different to the newspaper.

Evaluation

Q2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

For my ancillary texts I created a poster for the newspaper and two hyperlinked pages for the paper's website. I wanted my main task (the newspaper) and the ancillary tasks to all link together. So I made sure that they all had the masthead, as this would help the newspaper to gain an identity and be recognisable. I also included the strapline "packed full of local news & events in and around Southend" on my newspaper, poster and website so that people would start to recognise it.

My newspaper had a blue theme, as the masthead and decorative border at the top and bottom of the pages are blue. I also used a white font which I outlined in blue for the "snow causes choas... page 2" title on the front page. I repeated this typeface on my poster and also on the website so that they would all link together and I feel the newspaper would gain an identity through consistant and repeated features.

I wanted the poster to be quite simple, in mostly black and white so that it would stand out and be noticable. I put the word "NEW" in capitals in a bigger font so that people's eyes are drawn to it. I wanted to include only the key information that would advertise and convince people to buy the newspaper. I gave my poster some of the layout feature of a newspaper so people instantly knew what it was advertising. For example, a bold headline and the masthead at the top.

My website includes more of the same news from my newspaper but has more pictures on it. I feel the website could be improved by including some news stories that are not found in the paper or local weather and jobs for example.

Evaluation

Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When carrying out research into newspapers by looking at existing local and national newspapers and studied their front page and their second pages. I concentrated more on local newspapers as my paper would be a local newspaper. I found there were many conventions that were repeated in their layouts. These include:

- Masthead at the top of the front page
- Big, bold headline
- Strapline
- Photographs
- Pugs on the top left and right of the page (date, website etc)
- Byline above article (name of the writer)
- Section of advertising (lots on local newspapers)

I tried to use these conventions of real newspapers to make my newspaper look authentic, but I feel I have also developed some. I wanted to make my newspaper more colourful to attract a youth market into wanting to read and buy it, so my masthead does not use typical colours that would normally be found on a masthead, for example red. Instead, I used a light blue colour and warped the text, which I feel gave it a younger, youthful feel. I feel this will give my newspaper its own identity as it stands out from the rest because it is different to what is normally found on a newspaper.

I used the typeface Impact for the headlines as it is a bold font and would therefore stand out. It is conventional of newspapers to have a big bold headline and I wanted to make sure I included this. I have a menu at the bottom of the second page telling the reader the different pages for different sections of the newspaper. There is a menu feature in many newspapers, for example the Southend Evening Echo has one at the top of the second page. I tried to make mine more colourful and I also slanted the photographs to give it more of a magazine feel to appeal to a younger audience.

On both pages I have used a strapline in the same font (Impact) as the headline but in white and with a black background. This was used in a few of the newspapers I looked at and I liked how it made the text stand out and bordered it, so I decided to use it in my newspaper.

The "snow causes chaos ... page 2" title is in a typeface that would be continued throughout the newspaper on various pages for different titles for sections. I also used it on my poster and website to so it will become a recognisable feature of my newspaper. I noticed when looking at The Sun, that some of their pages were titled with a red typeface that was continued throughout the paper. So I developed this idea and created my own.

On the front page I have included the price and website as pugs on the left and the date on the right. On the second page I have the name of the newspaper on the right and then the page number in the centre. The page on the right hand side of the spread would have the newspaper name on the right, instead of left. I feel these pugs make my newspaper look more genuine and are typical of a newspaper.

After researching local newspapers I noticied they had lots of advertisements. So on my front page I have included a few advertisements that I created on photoshop.

Audience feedback

I asked 4 people of different age groups about each of my texts.

Emily (age 14)

What age group do you think my newspaper would be best suited for?
"I would say teenagers up to people in their early 30s"

What do you think about the layout of my newspaper?
"I really like it, I like the way there is a big picture on the front page and the advertisements are also very colourful. I like the colours used at the bottom of the second page."

Would my poster catch your attention and make you want to buy the newspaper?
"It would definatly catch my attention if I was walking past it, the big words stand out and make you read it. Also, the fact that it says what the issue of the newspaper includes would make me want to buy it as some of the stories would interest me."

What are your initial thoughts on the website?
"It looks quite plain and simple, with just one story on the home page"

Do you think any of my texts could be improved on?
"I think the website could be a bit busier, with different important news stories together on the home page"

Greg (age 23)

What age group do you think my newspaper would be best suited for?
"Judging by the main article I would say mainly girls in their teens and twenties."

What do you think about the layout of my newspaper?
"The front page is quite busy with the advertisements down the side and bottom, but it looks nice and colourful."

Would my poster catch your attention and make you want to buy the newspaper?
"It would catch my attention, but as to whether it would make me want to buy the paper I'm not sure. I don't really read newspapers so I don't think a poster would convince me to buy one."

What are your initial thoughts on the website?
"It looks just like the newspaper but with different photographs"

Do you think any of my texts could be improved on?
"I think the website could look more like a website, as it juist looks like the newspaper"

Debbie (age 35)

What age group do you think my newspaper would be best suited for?
"Teenagers up to people in their thirties"

What do you think about the layout of my newspaper?
"I like it, I like the way the photographs are a nice size compared to the amount of text and the headlines are big and bold so they grab your attention."

Would my poster catch your attention and make you want to buy the newspaper?
"It is quite eye catching with the black background and white font, I like the way it looks a bit like a newspaper. It would make me consider buying the newspaper as it would make me stop and read it."

What are your initial thoughts on the website?
"The website looks quite colourful with the masthead and photographs, it looks like an online newspaper for people who can't buy the newspaper"

Do you think any of my texts could be improved on?
"I think the website could include different things to the newspaper so that people still buy the newspaper and visit the website rather than just visiting the website for free."

Ian (age 47)

What age group do you think my newspaper would be best suited for?
"People who are teenagers and in their twenties and thirties. But I liked reading about the snow so also people who are slightly older."

What do you think about the layout of my newspaper?
"It looks good. Quite a lot of the front page is taken up by adverts, but i suppose thats the same with many other papers. I like how there isn't too much text, the articles are just the right size so that people aren't put off reading them."

Would my poster catch your attention and make you want to buy the newspaper?
"Yes it would catch my attention and make me read it to find out what its about, it probably would convince to buy the newspaper as something to read on the train."

What are your initial thoughts on the website?
"The website doesn't look as if it includes anything different to the newspaper"

Do you think any of my texts could be improved on?
"The website could be layed out better, with more stories on it."

My website

I used Dreamweaver to create my website




This is the link to my website:
http://mcastudents.seecoll.ac.uk/A2media/melissaFord/melFord/index.html

These are my two website pages:

Web pages

These are print screens of websites for local newspapers in my area:

Echo
www.echo-news.co.uk/

The website is very busy with lots of headlines and links to stories. Most of the right hand side is advertisements.

Yellow Advertiser
http://www.yellowad.co.uk/

This website is also quite busy. It has a menu down the left hand side with links to different sections or local areas for local news. There are many different news and sports stories to click on.

These are websites for national newspapers:


The Sun
http://www.thesun.co.uk/

This website is also very busy with a menu down the left hand side and many different stories to click on.

News of the World

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/

Poster

One of the ancillary tasks is to create a poster for the newspaper.

I thought that my poster would look quite effective if I used some of the conventions of a newspaper on it. For example, using the masthead and having a big, bold headline. I also put some of the texts in white font with a black background to make it stand out, which some newspapers also do.

I used photoshop to create this poster:











I wanted to have minimal text on it to make it eye catching to people, but I wanted to include all the important information such as its name, price and what the newspaper is about.

Writing my articles

These are the two articles I am going to include in my newspaper:

Front Page:

Headline: Olly Murs welcomed home by Essex fans

X Factor’s runner up, Witham boy Olly Murs, 25 has been back in Essex performing a string of gigs, much to the delight of his local fans.

The first of these performances was at Mayhem Nightclub in Southend on Christmas Eve where Olly was welcomed by over four hundred screaming fans.

These local gigs have included Chicago Rock Cafe in Basildon and Chelmsford where he sang songs from his favourite perforamances on The X Factor. These included Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ from his memorable first audition, The Beatles’ ‘Twist and Shout’, Tina Turner’s ‘Fool In Love’ and The Jackson 5 ‘Can You Feel It?’. Olly also sang The Jungle Book’s ‘I Wanna Be Like You’, revealing to the audience that he wanted to sing this on ‘film night’ but Simon Cowell did not want him to!

Your Southend Local caught up with Olly after his Basildon show. Olly said he was “overwhelmed with the support” he has been receiving. He also said “it feels like a dream to be able to play to such big crowds in my home town. I’ve always wanted to be an international superstar, but Essex definately has the best fans around.” Find more pictures from these performances on page 15.

Second Page:

Headline: Coldest winter for 31 years

Hundreds of schools were forced to close, public transport stopped running, power supplies were cut and people were urged not to drive unless it was unavoidable or an emergency.

Essex was one of the areas worst hit, along with Norfolk, Kent and Yorkshire as winds blew snow clouds in across the North Sea from Scandinavia. These cold winds chilled the air ensuring that all snowfall settled immediately. In Essex, usually the heaviest snow falls in January and February, so although Essex sees some bad snow fall each year, this was the earliest heavy snow seen in many years in this part of the country.

By 11pm on Thursday 17 December much of Essex had already been covered in snow, with up to 20cm (8in) of snow falling overnight and temperatures in some areas dropped to -7.5C. By 5am on Friday 18 December police had already been called out to 180 weather related incidents. These included 20 road collisions, 25 fallen power cables and 16 downed trees. At one stage, Essex police were dealing with almost one weather-related call a minute. None of the incidents were said to be serious, but there had been reports of drivers sleeping in their cars and many cases of abandoned vehicles. More snow fell on the Friday evening but it was not as severe as the previous night.

Essex County Council sent out sixty-five winter gritters to cover the 1,870 miles of main roads throughout the county in an attempt to cause as little disruption to drivers’ journeys as possible. However, many Southend and Canvey Island residents felt the gritting of the roads did not happen quickly enough, meaning the roads were extremely hazardous for a few days. While most main routes had been gritted, many side roads appeared not to of been gritted and still remained treacherous and dangerous for pedestrians.

Roads were congested with slow-moving traffic as motorists kept speed to a minimum. This caused long delays on numerous main roads including the A127 and A13. The North of Essex was said to be worst affected by the heavy snow with it causing problems on the A12 commuter route to London.

Various bus services were cancelled causing inconveniences throughout the county. Rail services, on the other hand were subject to delays and cancellations but were mostly unaffected by the weather.

There were at least 320 schools closed across the county due to the snow which caused many members of staff being unable to make it into work. For many children, Christmas had come early as school closures meant they would not be returning to school until January in the new year.

Photoshop

As well as making my advertisements, I used photoshop to create a decorative border for my newspaper pages and also to create a design for the price:

Adverts

I have noticed that local newspapers have a lot of advertisements in them so I have made some using Photoshop for my newspaper.

I have chosen to advertise local places that I feel will appeal to the younger audience of whom my newspaper is aimed at.

Photographs for articles

When we first started our newspapers Essex was having a lot of snow so I decided that I would base one of my articles on this. So I went out and took some photos of the snow to use in my article..

In January I was going to see Olly Murs play in Basildon Chicago Rock Cafe. As he comes from Essex I decided to base another one of my articles on him. These are some photos that I took and I will chose one or two to use in my article.