Preliminary Task: Front Cover & Contents

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Edited photos for school newsletter

Below are some photos that I believe are the better shots from my photo shoot and so may be used within my school newsletter. Even though some shots turned out better than others, there were a few that still required slight editing, which I did through Adobe Photoshop. The originals have been included as a source of comparison to the edited versions.

The editing to this shot was very minimal, with just a slight adjustment made to the contrast levels to make to the colours in the photo a little more prominent.

This is a photo of the D-Building, which has only recently been constructed. I found the raw image to be somewhat off level, and their where shadows on the ground as it was a bright day. Ergo, I straightened the image and made the shadows less prominent.

With this shot, the edit is quite clear. As the lighting was really quite bad in the room that we used, I increased the brightness, substantially improving the photo, and making the board contents more visible. Any other photos that may be used within my school newsletter, either did not require any editing or simply needed to be cropped to the appropriate size for their position within the newsletter.

Release and risk assessment forms for Preliminary Task

Photo shoot for Preliminary Task

As photos are a prominent part of any school newsletter, I conducted gathered a range of photos, taken by myself, to use within my newsletter. Below is a screen-capture of all of the raw images that took, although there are some imperfections and problems with some photos, and so I will narrow the amount of photos that could be used in the final newsletter. The students and teachers used were willing participants and all signed release forms, giving me their permission to use images in which they were included. I used Sixth Form Students to create a more mature and college-like feel to my newsletter, which relates to my ideology that has been previously explained. As well as taking photos of the front of the school and the newly built D(eyes) building, I created a number of scenarios, such as a student studying, working on a board, conducting a science experiment and a technology technician working. Overall I took 44 photos.

The only problems that were encountered during the photo shoot were problems with lighting. Some of the locations of the pictures contained quite dim lighting. However, in most cases, this can be combated and solved through editing using software such as Photoshop. There was a minor problem of students wandering in to long shots of the D-building, but again, this may be altered and removed using editing.

A second, smaller photo shoot may be required to achieve some of the desired shots that were not achieved previously due insufficient amounts of light or due to previously inaccessible locations for example.

Below is a screen-capture of some of the more useful images that are currently suitable or have the potential to be through editing using Photoshop. Once the photos have been edited, I shall consider whether they are still suitable for the positions within the newsletter that I had previously created in my mock-ups, or whether they would fit better in a different position etc.

A couple of examples...

As you can see, the image on the bottom is more suitable than that on the top as the camera is more level, filling the frame more, and allowing a greater impression that a science experiment is being conducted, with more flame being visible and the male student in the foreground appearing to be concentrating more.

This is another example of how I had to make decisions about my raw photos and decide whether they could or had the potential to fit in to my newsletter. As you can see, in the top image the student is laughing, whereas he is not in the one below, thus meaning I would use the lower one as it creates a more mature and studious feel, which is what I want for my newsletter.

Shot Lists For Prelim

This is the shot list that I drafted to give me an idea of what sort of images i wanted to use within my newsletter. Having a shot list would also help cut down the time of my photo shoot as i would not need to wander round trying to instantaneously create ideas in my head, as I had them pre-planned. The shot list made sure that for each shot I myself knew what type of shot it would be, whether I would take a few variations (mid-shot then close-up etc) and what clothing and equipment etc would be in the frame. I also made a small note/reminder of what ideology it links into, as to remind of where it would be going within my newsletter.
   

Analysis of St.James' High School newsletter

As a part of the research for the preliminary task, I shall look another school newsletter, that of St.James' Catholic High School. The initial impression of this newsletter is that it is quite formal in both design and content. Due to this, i can assume that the target audience for this newsletter is the parents rather than the students of St.James', which is also supported by the opening words being 'Dear parents/carers' which makes it quite clear who the newsletter is for. 

The first page is very formal and mature in it's style of presentation due to the large amounts of text and quite bland colour scheme. It opens with a message from the Head teacher, which is then followed by a prayer and  key information. There are some downsides however, especially in relation to the production of the newsletter, which has been created using software such as Microsoft Publisher or similar, making the text boxes, lines and inconsistent use of font come across as quite unprofessional, which is not what you want when trying to impress and inform the parents of your pupils.

Throughout the newsletter, the colour scheme is very inconsistent and bares little resemblance the school's colours. This can be seen in particular on the third page where several different colours are used, giving the impression that there is no formality to the structure, which instead just consists of random colours to try and attract the reader's eye, which is only partly successful. The main website for the school is predominantly dark blue, purple and gold, so to include colours such as red (as well as leaving a lot of white space), it can give the impression of unprofessionalism.

Furthermore, the images that have been included on page one and four, although useful in supporting the surrounding information, are not very professional. To combat this, a more professional camera could be used, which would help to create a more mature impression and feel to this newsletter. Overall, I believe that this newsletter was mostly successful in reaching it's target audience, the parents, but still has potential to enhance the overall structure and feel to the newsletter. I will take into account my criticisms, such as those about the lack of consistency of the colour scheme and unprofessional photographs, and make sure that I avoid these when making my school newsletter.

Preliminary Task - Newsletter Mock ups

This is a Mock up of the school newsletter I shall create for my preliminary task (which has been produced using Microsoft Publisher). I have tried to produce a newsletter that is more resemblent of a magazine to create the formality that I want, to successfully target parents.

The top of the page shall include a tagline/ motto of 'Care, Courtesy and Common Sense' as this is a well known and respected motto of Deyes High School, but also aligns with the ideology of my newsletter. The main feature of the front page shall be a large, central image that depicts a 6th Form student conducting a science experiment as this portrays a maturity and professionalism, which I require to successfuly target the parents of the students that attend Deyes High. The masthead of my newsletter will be 'Deyes News' as this is simple and straight to the point, but is also quite mature. I considered manipulating 'Deyes' to create a pun, such as 'ToDeyes News' or 'Information for Deyes' but i do not think this gives the correct impression to target parents. Cover lines shall also be included to give the reader some idea of what topics shall be discussed inside. At the bottom of the cover, details such as the issue number, date and contact details will be included as this is a recurring and very important feature of a newsletter/magazine. Finally, the colour scheme of the front cover shall consist of variations of white, blue and red as this is the colour scheme of Deyes High, however I shall ensure not to use the primary versions of these colours as they are garish and unprofessional.    

Ideology - Preliminary Task

Ideology is a philosophy and set of beliefs about an idea or behind a media text. When creating my school newsletter I will have to consider the ideology that it to display through the images, text, fonts and colours etc that are included to ensure that I successfully reach my target audience and display the correct messages.

One of the first ideologies for my newsletter is that 'Deyes high cares for it's students and their right to feel safe within their learning environment'. To display this in my newsletter, i have decided that i shall use images such as a student happily talking to a member of staff, or a student is content in studying within school. I could also display this ideology through a quote from either a student or the head teacher of Deyes in relation to the importance the students, their studies and their safety. 

Another ideology that i shall include in my newsletter is that 'Deyes High takes pride in the subjects that are taught and the quality of teaching that is recieved'. For this ideology, I could include an image of a science experiment (as Deyes High is a specialist science college) or one of a teacher giving a thorough presentation to their class. In relation to the text, i may include a quote of results from some of the sciences, or a quote from a student portraying how they have benefited from the high standard of teaching. 

In addition, I shall portray that 'Acedemic Acheivement  is important to both students and staff at Deyes'. To include this in my newsletter, I may use a picture of students with their successful exam results and/ or a peice of text that talks about the success of both past and current students of Deyes. This could include results from past years.

Another ideology is that 'Deyes High promotes a healthy and active lifestyle'. The images i may include to portray this shall be of the extra-curriculum activities available at Deyes, or even of the canteen shown to be clean and hygenic to tie in with 'health eating'. Text could be included about the acheivemnets of the clubs that students attend.

Finally, my last ideology is 'Deyes High is a modern school, which utilises the latest technology to enhance learning'. I will show this through a picture of the recently built 'Deyes' building, the newly obtained iPads or an image of the iMacs that are used by students for subjects such as media.

    

Preliminary Task: First Thoughts

For my preliminary task i am required to create a school newsletter. I have previously analysed the Deyes High school newletter in terms of colours, images, layout and font etc and deducted that it's main target audience is the parents of the sudents. However, i believe it was ineffective in efficiently targeting them, and so when i create my newsletter, this must be addressed to ensure a good newsletter is produced.

With my school newsletter I shall target the student's parents as due to past experience i have learn't that although some students may briefly read the newsletter, it is prodominently the parents that take any major interest, as the students already know what is occuring in the school. With the parents as my target audience, i will have to make sure that my newsletter gives a mature impression, and so will cater the colours, pictures and overall layout to the more mature audience.

In relation to the colour scheme, I will have to select colours that are suitable for a Deyes High newsletter but ones that still give a mature impression. The colours in the pre-existing newsletter were the colours of the school badge, which was appropriate but i found the colours used to be too bright. Therefore the colour scheme for my newsletter shall use darker versions of those in the school newsletter to give a more mature impression, helping me to effectively target parents.

The fonts that are used within my newsletter will have to be chosen carefully. I will not choose fonts such as Comic Sans as fonts such as this very informal which is unsuitable for my newsletter. Instead, i'll will use formal paragraphing with a font such as Times New Roman to appeal to my target audience, however i will not make my paragraphs too large as this will discourage a lot of people from reading the contents.

In addition, the pictures that i use in my newsletter will be more professional than those in the existing Deyes High newsletter. The existing newsletter used a mixture of professional photographs and clip art images, these images gave a 'childish' impression when reading the newsletter, therefore i aim to include generally professional photographs, such as the ones in the 'drama' section of the Deyes High newsletter, as these worked well in creating a more formal presentation.

Analysis of Deyes High School Newsletter

Deyes High Newsletter Analysis

As a preliminary task I shall be creating a school/college newsletter. To do this, research and analysis of the existing newsletter is required. On a whole, the first impressions of the 'Deyes High Newsletter' are quite poor.

It seems to be quite basic, and opts to use colour schemes that can be unappealing to the eye.  The banners at the top and bottom of the first page consist of colours that are bold, bright and simply do not suite each other. For example, the footer of the page has a bright red background and contains white writing. This comes across quite garish. Furthermore, the spacing of the pictures and text used in some areas of the newsletter often comes across quite unproffessional and amateurish as they often overlap one another, or consist of uneven gaps. The amount of text, in some intances, is overbearing and will put students off from reading it. Although the main target audience is the parents, the students still need to be considered when producing the newsletter as they are the ones who read it first. Also, the images themselves give quite a childish impression, such as the Mickey Mouse picture shown below.

On a positive note, the parents of the students are targeted as equally as well as the students themselves. Part way through the magazine, there are professional photographs, clear cut and 'mature' paragraphing representing drama at Deyes High. I believe that this is a particularly effective section, and targets both students and parents well, as intended. Also, the sections that are labelled 'numeracy top tips' and 'puzzle time' are evidently targeted at the students, and i believe that these are effective in doing so (excluding the clip rt picture previously mentioned).