Completed NEA

 Dear Moderator, 

My name is Leo Grant. Welcome to my A Level Media Studies blog. This is the work I have undertaken for the Making Media Non-examination Assessment for OCR H409 GCE A Level course in Media Studies. 

I worked independently for Brief 3: Magazine and Online to produce two front covers and two content pages  for editions of a film magazine called The Direction, as well as the website.

Research and Planning

Further down in my blog you will find evidence of my research and planning for this set Brief: Magazine and Online.

Magazine Covers and Contents Pages

Magazine Website

The link to my website, which was created using Wix, can be found at the link below. 

The magazine consists of a homepage and a single linked page. This page can be accessed by clicking on about.

Home | The Direction (22grantl.wixsite.com)

NEA Task 21 (Planning) : Photography Planning

Photography will be used to create the scene. First of all I will use a model as the director in order to get the magazine attention. This is because they will gain attraction to the public as they may recognise this director from another scene.

They will be in a place that is very similar to a directors office in order to make it seem as if they are a director, as well as to show that they are hard-working director and are always working to make the best movies possible. They will be wearing a suit in order to look professional, because this will make them stand out from any normal person.

The colours around them will be dimmer so they stand out more within the scene. Their body language will be very formal, meaning they won't be slouching and will look very professional.

The Colours I plan to use
-A dull blue
-Navy blue for the suit
-White for the shirt

For the magazine cover, I will have similar images to this one, however I will most likely take them from different angles. I will have a low shot angle to create a sense of power within the director.

For the second picture, the director will be closer to the camera and shot from a different angle other than the front. They will likely be facing away from the camera. This is a delibrate choice to make them see more mysterious.

The colours will be darker as well. The lighting will be much more tamed with only some lights. The lights will probably be colder colours as well rather than brighter colours unlike the first picture.

For my website, I will have a picture of the director in the first image looking at a laptop, implying that he is looking at this website. This is to make sure it seems like the director is endorsing the image.

NEA Task 20: (Website Homepage and Linked Page)

My website and banners will include the title of the magazine with a black and white colour as this is similar to a suit which is what directors wear sometimes to interview. It makes it seem very intelligent and creative, so using this same colour scheme will imply my magazine is the same as them.

On my homepage I will have he magazine front covers to provide the best preview of what my magazine is about. It will have both front covers on the front to best entice them. It will also have a singular content page as this does not spoil what will happen on the page. I will also include many quotes from reviewers about the magazine because they are going to want to know the opinions of other people to make sure it's reliable.

The magazine aim to make a positive impression in the reader feel like that the magazine is the best possible place to learn about film.

Some text include

"Latest Front Covers"

"What can you expect in the magazine"

"Latest stories"

For audio visuals I will include  an interview with the director featured on the front cover of the first edition. 

This is because he is famous and well known and it will improve the magazines reach as people will hear about the magazine just because this famous director featured in th magazine and on the website. It will only showcase part of what will appear in the magazine.

NEA Task 19 (Planning) : Contents Pages

 It will have the words 'Contents' at the top of the page so people know that it is a content page. Then, I will have a main image that is similar to the image on the front page of the editions.

July 2023
-Will have the up and coming director there in a different pose/different angle then it is on the first one.
-Other ones could include 'Interviews of The Decade - Best Interviews this Decade'
-What is the Best Movie Franchise ever to exist?

The Main Image will be:

-The Director in another pose to accumulate more views.
-It will be shot in the same location as the other one

October 2023
-Best movies released in October Of All Time
-Interview with Martin Scorsese (a famous director)
-Most Iconic Scenes in movies
-Why you should make a list of all films you've watched

NEA Task 18 (Planning): Mock up of cover one and two

NEA Task 17 (Planning) : Coverlines, Images and Page Furniture

Main Cover line

I have decided to go with a cover line that is something relating to a director because that is the name of the magazine.

The main cover line will be "The Mastermind Behind Modern Media.".

Other Cover line

Other cover lines that I could do relate to my target audience which is media literate. It would have to be content that relates to them such as streaming services or things they may be interested in. One cover line I will do is "classic movies coming to streaming services soon" as this might encourage them to read the magazine.

For the July 2023 edition:
-Terrifying Final Chapter - The end Of Iconic Horror Franchise with Patrick Wilson
-Mission Possible? Chances of Eighth Mission Impossible instalment as movie labelled "Part One"
-Oppenheimer - The true explosive story directed by Icon Christopher Nolan

For October 2023 edition:
-

Main Images

For the main images I will have a director who has worked on a movie. This is because it relates to my title. Therefore, it will be beneficial to include a director for the front cover. The director would have to be well known and worked on popular but intelligent movie for a media literate audience. I also have to make sure, even if the reader does not know who the director is, they know it’s a director and I will achieve this through the mise-en-scene

The first main image will be of a young, up and coming director wearing a suit who will be directing a new, popular film.

Content Plugs

I will have content plugs relating to upcoming movies in order to increase viewership and appeal to the target audience more.

For the July 2023 edition I will include content plugs on:
-New Movies
-Interview

Price

I will make it £5.99 because this is a cheap price however in the second edition the price could change depending on what month the magazine is set on. If there is less  movies coming out later that month than the edition will be cheaper because there is less important movies so therefore in order to make up for the lack of the purchases due to movies not being as prominent in the community I can lower the price so more people are willing to buy it.

Dates

July 2023, October 2023. The October edition will be more Halloween/Horror movie based because it's October and this will be most popular type of movies during this time. September 2022 will have a variety of movies on it.

Call to Action

Will have a call to action at the top that says "Visit Our Website to Earn a Free Gift Card of Your Choice" as this will make them want to visit the website in order to earn a free gift card and also meet the requirements of the bridge.

Puff

The Price will be in puff to make it stand out, and I will also include a "NEW" arrow in order to sell better because then it will encourage the reader that there is something urgent they need to see, so therefore they will buy it.

There could also be some 

NEA Task 16 (planning): Masthead Design

This font I could use is this one because it is very simple and easy to use. It is capitalized so it is easy to see and would look decent on a big magazine front cover. So, therefore this is the font I will use.

I could also use this font because it is dramatic however still remains quite simple. The positioning of the strapline is different and is on the left side this time. However I won't be use this font as it doesn't fit the theme of my magazine.

I could use this one as it's similar to fonts that are used in movies so it will be easily related towards movies. It returns the strapline to on the left however I will not use it as it's very similar to the first one, but worse because the letters are thinner and taller,.

This one is good as it is complex, however I will not use it because it is too cartoony which is not the focus of the magazine and will give the reader the wrong idea.

This one is a strong competitor for the font due to the unique design, however I will decide against using it because it connotes theatre due to them being similar to stage lights hanging from the ceiling.

This font is too simple with no real additions to it, so therefore I won't use it. Some of the width of the letters are too in consistant as well.

This will be the masthead: