MEST4 Linked production: Research and planning

1) Confirm your production brief. You write this yourself but it's absolutely crucial this is clear, appropriate and achievable. You should have done this already - the original blogpost was here - but it may have changed as a result of your preliminary exercise.

My production brief is for Print. Ill be creating a magazine front cover and a double page spread to go along with it. The magazine will be based on an actor which features in a TV crime drama that I've mentioned in my critical investigation and the double page spread will be answers to interview questions that relate to the actors personal life and the issues raised in my critical investigation and whether or not it would apply to the show hes in. The main contender for a show that i would pick out is Power, which features different representations of black people and the effect crime has on its audience. 

2) Research: detailed notes on at least THREE texts similar to what you are creating. What are the key conventions? What can you learn/borrow from the examples you have looked at?

From looking at various magazine front covers it is apparent to me that they all use 3 different color fonts and 3 different sized texts, no more and no less. The image usually covers 2/3's of the page and tends to cover the magazines logo. Shorts words ranging from 2-5 letters seem to be the titles for the magazines. Apart from the title there is one another box of texts that is made to stand out and this usually the piece about the person on the front cover.

The magazine on the left, the one sporting Drake on the front cover is not so typical and possesses some features that is unique to that magazine in particular. This is an idea i can take as not all magazines are the same as there is certain things which stand out on them but generally they all follow the same codes and conventions, so having a central image, bold title and several sub stories.  The unique thing about the Drake magazine is that it has a large title at the bottom of the page which is unusual, however it is about the main person on the magazine, unlike other magazines which may put their lead story on bold this one over exaggerates that and makes it the size of the title but not to overpowering because of the colours chosen. It wont work for all colour schemes but it is something to use going forward.

In other magazines and in one of these ones there are extra visual affects added for aesthetics. For example little touches with shapes and even icons can make it seem like more of a magazine, a lot of modern magazine labels have these and typically gossip magazines as they usually have multiple images on the front cover. However something simple can be done to add to this convention of magazines and it is something similar to what GQ put in there magazines and that is a little plus icon to add another story at the end of the front cover. I believe i could also do something a little similar to this so as to make a little more modern and visually pleasing. I don't want to incorporate to many codes and conventions in my work as using to many of the features of traditional magazines wont make mine anymore original but also it is unnecessary to use everything for one page.

Bar code's are common on front covers but they are not necessary so i will not be putting one on unless there is to much white/dead space on the page.

 This is an image from inside a magazine cover and what i can gather from this is that there is an abundance of text and it is in quite small font, again there is a large image which covers half the page of the double page spread. Quotes from an interview are used a lot and is put in a much bigger font. The body text is usually a Serif font whilst titles are Sans-Serif.

3) Project schedule: when will you shoot and edit this production? Make this a week-by-week schedule leading up to Easter. Key dates: we break up for Easter on Friday 31 March and the final deadline is Wednesday 19 April.

Photo-shoots to be done before/early March but not before the upcoming holidays.

4) Script - see the BBC Writers' Room for advice/script formatting. If you're making a music video, you'll want to write a treatment instead. This is an example treatment that I provide for GCSE Media students studying this topic. For print productions, this means writing all the text for the cover, contents and feature articles. Write this in Microsoft Word so you can proofread and spellcheck the work before moving it into Photoshop.

I will need to write a transcript to an interview for a chosen character from a TV crime drama i'll be choosing to a magazine on. Here are some possible questions that could be included in the magazine, they will link closely to issues surrounding things which were raised in my critical investigation. (Questions not in any order of importance)

1. How do you think violence affects the audience?
2. Do you think violence in your show has any impact on the audience?
3. Do you think shows like yours actually influence audiences to commit crimes?
4. What is your opinion on your co-star (name)? 
5. Could you possibly give us any hints about what’s coming in the next season?
6. Do you think your character actually has the power to influence people in real life?
7. How has stardom changed you?
8. Stardom has changed me for sure but not in the conventional way most people believe. I am the same person that I was 5 years ago when the world didn’t know me. However, I do crave privacy and alone time now. So basically, stardom hasn’t changed me – it has changed my circumstances.
9. What is your dream project?
10. I would love to act in a high-budgeted science fiction movie. I have always been a fan of good, believable science fiction but have not yet had the opportunity to work in one.

5) Sketching and drafting - for video-based productions this means a storyboard - sheets available in DF07 or you can print out your own AQA storyboard sheet. For print productions, this means detailed sketches of all your pages.

The two images here are sketches of the front cover and the double page spread of the magazine.
The first image is the front cover and for this i tried to incorporate some of the stuff i learned in my preliminary, for example how they used the stories around the side and focused on the image in the centre. A lot of the popular magazines also have a central image and stories around the side and this is a feature i wish to incorporate in my production piece. 

My double page spread also took a lot of inspiration from other texts. I have chosen to go with a sort of half and half approach so one side of the page will be another central image and the other half will feature the interview with the questions and answers. Also on that side of the page i will include some other popular codes and conventions with the newspapers and also follow some general rules. As the annotations on the picture says, the questions will be in a bolder font to the answers and i will pick out and exaggerate some direct quotes from the interview so people can turn their attention to the readings to make it more engaging. The answer paragraphs will be in a normal font and the writing will be particularly in a low size to maximise size and this is also an attempt to reduce white space on the page.

I will also need to take into consideration the little extras that make it a proper page, so the page numbers and possible the title of the page and the rights disclaimers for the images taken.

6) Shot list - use Microsoft Word or a template like this to help you. Remember, you need a shot list whether you are filming or carrying out a print photoshoot - professional quality original images are essential if you want to reach the top level.

Shot List

Producer: Joseph Louis

Production: Print production, Name pending

Shot No.	Shot Type	Details of Shot	Timing
1	Medium close up	MCU of actor standing in front of white background different poses in different positions, for the fromt covrer	still
2		(same as above)	still
3		(same as above)	still
4	Medium shot	MS for front cover	still
5	Medium shot	MS for the double page spread	still
6	low angle shot	shot looking up at the actor with lights to the left and right and beneath of actor	still
7	long shot	shot getting in a camera light and actor looking and posing at camera	still
8

7) Mise-en-scene: casting/model details, costume and make-up, props, lighting, location scouting for video productions etc. Use photographs to document and plan your mise-en-scene - using your phone is acceptable for this.

I will need the use of one of the media rooms to do a photoshoot for my front cover with all the lighting and one of the cameras. No props will be needed for the photoshoot except a suit and a camera, a white background will be fine along with the three lights to create a bright and well lit setting to go on the magazine front cover and double page spread.