Completed NEA for Moderation

Dear Moderator, 

My name is Finlay Taylor. Welcome to my A-Level Media Studies blog. This is a record of the work I have undertaken for the Making Media Non-examination Assessment (NEA) within the OCR H409 GCE A-Level course in Media Studies. 

I worked independently on Brief 3: Magazine and Online to produce the front covers and contents pages for the first two editions of a music magazine called Cadence together with the magazine's accompanying website. My music magazine is published by the independent publishing company Taylor Publishing and covers all music genres. 

Further down in my blog you will find evidence of my research and planning for this task. 

I have inserted jpegs of my magazine's first edition cover and contents page below. 

I have inserted jpegs of my magazine's second edition and contents page below. 

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

The website consists of a Homepage and an About Us page. 

The Homepage: https://f4616257.wixsite.com/cadence

The linked page can be accessed by clicking on: https://f4616257.wixsite.com/cadence/about-6

Production Task Two : Production Log

Screenshots during production: 

How I intend to make the website look (a rough sketch).

Final products: 

Production Task One : Photography

Need pictures for: 

• Cover 1
• Contents Page 1
• Cover 2
• Contents Page 2 and,
• on your website. 

These are some of the first pictures of the first model I plan on using for one of the magazine covers and contents pages: 

Obviously some photos I'm less inclined to use then others, such as: 

How blurred these two are not going to be used but for one of the contents pages, I have selected to use both: 

As well as: 

These are also the images I intend to use for my other contents page and front cover. 

Planning Task 8: Photography Planning.

For the two main images, for both magazines I intend on using one male model and one female model, with each image being connected to the main coverline of the front covers. The reason for using two different people of different genders is that both magazines will represent distinct social groups. And by using each gender, both can attract people of the same sex from the target audience who can identify with the model. 

To create an aesthetic; have the clothes both people are wearing match the colours of the front cover. (Though the clothing will only be expected to be casual.) What I mean by having the colours all aligning to create an aesthetic is through the same colour matching e.g. with the masthead; coverlines; and other type displayed on the front cover in order to make the covers pleasing to the eye. 

Both models will need to display confidence in their body language. How I envision connecting the pair to any possible readership - getting across confidence - will be through the models making direct eye contact with the camera (a direct gaze), to give a feeling that they are looking at the reader. 

Apart from including the two magazine covers on the website as promotion for them, there will need to be two other, original, images not previously used before. Along with the additional images needed for the two contents pages. 

Planning Task 7: Website Homepage and Linked Page.

These are a handful of basic mock-ups of the layout I plan for the music website magazine. 

This image should loosely look like the homepage of my music magazines website for when users go into the website. I plan on having the masthead remain the same as the font used for the masthead of the two magazines. I am also debating whether or not to include the magazine strapline to further connect into the minds of website visitors between the website and both printed editions of the magazine (something that several music magazines and magazine websites offer). The difference between a website and magazine of course is the interactivity aspect of a website - which is what will be crucial on fulfilling on. 

One other method to connect the two products: website and magazine will be including ways to purchase the magazine on the website. Showing the backlog of magazines released and particularly highlight the ability to purchase the most recent release. Needing to be simple for the ease of use by visitors, but not too basic as to come across as not professional enough. In essence, the theme for the website should be minimalist. 

And will need to harness the main positive that websites have over print media such as: magazines, their interactivity. 

Several other aspects of a website will be used in order for this music magazine to act to its full potential, especially since the goal for any independent music magazine is to set out its own voice; differentiating itself by getting across to its audience its brand. This is why, hyperlinks will be used - which if clicked on will take the website visitor to the magazines accounts on social media sites such as: Instagram and the like, establishing another avenue for an audience to consume the brand product from. Setting up a newsletter where people will be able to subscribe to get weekly updates from the magazine, again to keep up interactions with the business. Coming from the need to go past the aging method of publisher to reader, to keep up engagement. 

Like any website from a business will want to include the businesses mission statement as a music magazine. Similar to The Guardian which sets out on its website that it is a not for profit print media distributor. This detail will help to make the website feel more legitimate and by setting out its doctrine would make it different to its competitors in the highly unsafe world of magazines and especially music magazines. Setting out these missions in the 'about' section of the website. Pledging that all profit will go towards the pledge of informing its audience on the music sector. 

If interactivity is to be the key in defining the website, then will want to include details such as the subscribe feature and hyperlinks to the brands social media elsewhere to keep the audience connected to the brand. Moving beyond just a monthly read that once done with, forget about till the next monthly release. 

Planning Task 6: Contents Page.

Like any magazine a contents page will be helpful for the readers to navigate the contents of the magazine, since most readers do not read a magazine in the traditional sense as a book, since there will be parts they specifically want to read, compared to other parts. 

That is why the contents page is of such importance, for its usefulness it must be easy to use otherwise people may simply choose not to read. 

These are in essence how I envision my contents pages looking in the final product: simple and easy to navigate. 

With the main images supposed to be relevant to what is displayed on the contents pages. The mock-ups are similar as I do not believe there is any need to confuse the audience with two drastically different looking contents pages. Since their main focus will be on being functional above all else for the contents page of the magazine, this is why a basic enough format is required. 

Yet, the images will be a good tool to keep an audience engaged, as it will need to be eye-catching.