Models and Mise en Scene

Today I am going to be considering who to use as my model, for example, will I use a group of them or just one person? And also how my overall magazine cover is going to look.

Photographs

From the results of my questionnaire, I have figured out that the Sixth Form students would like a magazine that is somewhere in-between formal and informal, the evidence of this being that a majority of the students chose ‘Beaverwood Times’ as the magazine name and that a majority of the students would like gossip articles as well as academic ones too.

Due to this, I have decided that a small group of three models will suit the needs of my target audience. The reason why is because I will be trying to appeal to their social side by having the models interact with one another, and also the Sixth Formers academic side as the student will be working from texts books that are set up in front of them. I believe that this will show how the school has a friendly atmosphere as well as an academically achieving one.

Before I consider the ways in which the models will be positioned, I need to think about my target audience itself. My target audience is filled with both males and females, meaning that it needs to appeal to both genders. This means that I will need to have at least one student of both genders within the photo that will be on the front cover.

So, for my front cover, the way in which the models will be positioned is vital as there are three of them and I am trying to send out the right message. One model could be talking to the other about some work, pointing to it with a smile on their face as the other listens with a smile and a look of understanding on their face. The third model will be glancing over at the other two, smiling at them while their pen hovers over a piece of paper, ready to write. The angle in which I will be taking the photograph will be one that faces the three students head on so that I catch their facial expression and the work that is set up on the table in front of them.

Since the magazine will be based on Halloween, as requested by my target audience, I was thinking of having some fake spiders scattered across the table that my three models will be sitting at and maybe a Halloween mask too.  I decided against getting a pumpkin as it may not fit on the table with the models’ textbooks.

In the other photographs I am going to use some of the other locations around school, then I will have groups and single people sitting around with fake spiders and Halloween masks to carry on the Halloween theme. I will hopefully also have them trying to scare each other in a friendly manner.

I hope to take my photographs at some point this week, this means that on Monday I need to speak to my models and arrange when to take the photographs and also who can bring in a the props if I cannot get some of them.

Layout of the magazine

This is how I would like my cover to be laid out; below, I will explain in more detail about the design of the front cover.

In this diagram, I have shown that my background colour for the magazine will be black and that my title will also be black as it will be based on an orange text box. With this colour scheme, it shows that I am keeping with what my audience want as the theme, which is Halloween, as these colours are often associated with this holiday.

I would like to have the photograph of my three models taking up most of the space on the cover as I feel that this would draw more attention to my magazine, and I also feel that it will show the theme that I picked better as well, as my models will be surrounded by fake spiders and a Halloween mask. I also think that in the top right-hand corner of the magazine I will put an image of the Beaverwood badge there; this is so that it is clear that it is a Beaverwood magazine and not for just any magazine.

Questionnaire results

I gave out my Questionnaire to 15 Sixth Formers and these are the results that I have gotten back from them.

Question 1: What do you feel the school magazine should be called?

 The Sxith Formers were given a choice of four answers to chose from.

From these results, I can see that a majority of the Sixth Formers would like the magazine to be named  ‘Beaverwood Times’. As a result of this, 'Beaverwood Times' is now the name for the magazine. I feel that this will show that I'm creating the magazine with my audience`s wants and expectations in mind.



Question 2: What do you think the theme of the school magazine should be?
The Sixth Formers were given a choice of six answers to chose from.

From this pie chart, I am able to see that a majority of the Sixth Formers would like 'Halloweed' to be the theme of the school magazine. As a resuklt of this, the theme for the magazine is now 'Halloween'. I feel that this shows how I'm creating the magazine based off of what my target audience wants and expects from me.



Question 3: What articles do you feel should be included within the school magazine?
The Sixth Formers were given a choice of seven answers to chose from, making sure to add onto the question that they have to give more than one for this question.

From these results, I am able to determine which articles my target audience would be interested in when I made my school magazine. For example, the four main articles that the Sixth Formers were particulary interested in were 'Changes Within The School', 'Student Gossip', 'Teahcer Gossip' and finally 'Exam Tips'. By taking this into account, I am making sure that this magazine is suitable for the Sixth Formers needs and wants.  



Question 4: How often do you feel the school magazine should be released?
The Sixth Formers were given a choice of three answers to chose from for this question.

From this pie chart, I am able to see that the Sixth Formers would largely prefer a magazine that is published monthly as oppsed to having it published weekly or yearly. As a result, the magazine will be published monthly as this will show that I am listening to my target audience's wishes.



Question 5: How much would you be willing to pay for a school magazine?
The Sixth Formers were given a choice of five answers.

From these results, I can see that a majority of the Sixth Formers would prefer it if the magazine was free. However, taking into consideration how many magazines will need to be printed as there are printing costs (such as paper and ink for the printers) I have decided that charging 50p for the weekly school magazine will help to cover those costs and help the magazine to continue being printed.

So far I feel that my research is going well and I'm going to try to carry on my research by looking at different layouts for my magazine in detail. I also feel that I am going to be able to meet my audience expectations with my finished magazine. This has left me feeling quite confident with the next task which is the Music magazine.

The Questionnaire

My name is Charmaine Jackson and I am currently studying Media AS. For the coursework, I have to complete two pieces; one of which is a school magazine. For this piece, I need you to finish this questionnaire as I need to consider my target audiences views.

 

What do you feel the school magazine should be called? (tick the appropriate box):

• Beaverwood Times
• Gossip Beavers
• Beaverwood News
• Beavers Hot Topic

 

What do you think the theme of the school magazine should be? (tick the appropriate box):

• Bonfire night
• Halloween
• Christmas
• New year’s
• Easter
• Summer

 

What articles do you feel should be included within the school magazine? (tick more than one box):

• Changes in the school (e.g. the barriers)
• Clubs
• Exam tips
• Teacher gossip
• Subjects
• Exam results
• Student gossip

 

How often do you feel the school magazine should be released? (tick the appropriate box):

• Weekly
• Monthly
• Yearly

 

How much would you be willing to pay for a school magazine? (tick the appropriate box:

• £2
• £1.50
• £1
• 50p
• Free

 

Audience feedback: Questionnaires

When creating a school magazine, I need to know what it is that my target audience would be interested in as some students have very different views to others. This meant that I would need to get audience feedback before even considering what to base the school magazine on. The first thought that came to mind was Questionnaires as they are fast and easy to fill in, whereas interviewing students would cause me to waste time that I simply do not have.

For the Questionnaire, I figured that I'd need to use closed questions as opposed to open questions. This is because I will collect many different answers from students if I used open questions and this would also cause me to waste time that I do not have. Therefore, closed questions are the better option as they are quick and easy to tally up.

The questions I would consider using are:

• Name of the magazine
• Colour theme (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc)
• Articles (changes in the school like the barriers, clubs, exam tips, teacher / student gossip, subjects, exam results, etc)
• When it should be released (weekly, monthly or yearly)
• Cost (£1 - free)

My thoughts so far on the preliminary task...

When considering themes for the school magazine, such as bonfire night, Halloween, Christmas, New years, Easter and Summer, I began looking forward to starting the preliminary task. The theme I choose not only needs to have symbols from that particular holiday, but also colours need to link in with that holiday. For example, if I chose Halloween, I would need to have props in the picture with the student(s), such as pumpkins or spider webs, and the colours for that particular Halloween special magazine would need to be black as well as different shades orange and brown. If I were to choose Christmas, the props I would use could be a Christmas tree within the background of the picture, tinsel draped over the students neck or maybe the student could wear a Santa Claus hat. The colours for the theme would be green, red and silver or gold. If I chose Easter, then the props I could have would be a small basket filled with eggs or a stuffed toy rabit and the colours for the theme would consist of pastel colours. If I were to choose Summer, then the props would consist of maybe sunglasses (if the student(s) were sitting outside) or suntan lotion. The main colour for this theme would be yellow, but a pale orange and a pale blue colour could be used as well.

When considering areas for the location of the picture that needs to go on the front cover, the first place that sprung to mind was the front of the main building. However, upon walking around the school, I discovered other places could be just as good as the front of the school. The ones we looked at were: the front of the school, in front of the sixth form block, the quad and one of the corridors inside the main building. All of them were just as good as each other, so it is going to be hard for me to pick. The first thing I need to think about when deciding on a location is whether or not it is a magazine for the whole school, or just for the sixth formers. If it was a magazine for the whole school, then many of the locations would be ideal but if it was a magazine for the sixth formers, then only a few of the locations would be ideal, such as in front of the sixth form block and in front of the school.

Also, the lighting of the area needs to be taken into consideration as well as what is in that area. For example, if it is dark or shaded in the place where the photo will be taken, then I need to find a prime time that the sun will be shining on that place. As for the things in the surrounding area, I need to make sure that no bins or litter are there as they could ruin the photo and make it look, no pun intended, rubbish. Or, if for example the place was the front of the school, I would need to find a time when no cars would be in front of the main building as they can also ruin the photo's effect because it is a school magazine, not one based on cars.

Overall, for now I am thinking of creating this magazine just for the sixth formers and with Halloween coming up soon, I figured that it would be the theme for the magazine as well. I also figured that one of the best times to take the photo's was during lesson time when I have a study period. This way, no student will be wandering around the school, meaning that the chances of them ruining the photo are very slim. Other times would be early in the morning or late of an evening after everyone has gone home. However, one thing I must consider is the lighting of the area as the time of day can affect this, in which case, during the day seems to be the prime time for taking a photo.