News Task

1) Explain your role/ responsibility within the team and the task. what were you required to do?
In the task my group was required to produce the website for the Mirror online. We first ranked each news story in order as most important and most likely to be featured on the homepage of the website. Then, in my team of two, we each found 2 news images and made headlines for the 4
 secondary stories. Together we worked on the main story, the headline and the skin of the website.

2) For one media form, describe the codes and conventions you chose to follow and explain their intended impact.
For the Daily Mirror's website we decided to choose news stories which were mainly factual however we did also put in some entertainment news such as Ant and Dec on next years celebrity Big Brother and Trumps ridiculous tweet. We stuck to the layout of the main story taking precedence at the top and the large bold headline beneath it, followed by the four secondary stories. Beneath the stories we put a shortened version of the headline and also the topic/ type of news story which was a key convention on the webpage. This layout is very conventional which helps the audience as they are already familiar with it.


3) Explain how your choices reflect the real newspaper's values and target audience.
Our choices, such as the stories which we selected, are typical of the Daily mirror and so therefore keep the target audience as they already know what they are expecting, inevitably liking the content. Also, the story such as the one on Trump, helps to identify the newspaper's labour views by ridiculing Donald Trump.

4) Explain how your team adapted the news across the three different media forms and the reasons behind your decisions.
We predominantly featured the same stories to keep the synergy throughout the media forms, however, we used an array of different images. As a group we decided on the top stories for example the terrorist attack being our main story. Despite this, we still wanted to have some humour as The Daily Mirror is a tabloid newspaper. To do this, we used puns in a few of the headlines enabling us to keep a balance between information and humour.

5) In hindsight, is there anything about your team's outcomes that you would adapt or improve?
If we had more time I think we would have been able to alter the layout more as we followed very strict sizing across all the media forms. Overall I think we successfully managed to convey The Daily Mirror and it's conventions.

Billboard magazine cover

1. Summarise the music celebrity you have created.  Include name, music genre, personality and how they are being used to comment on contemporary celebrity.
The music celebrity I created is called Sadee Wilson and is a pop music artist. Her personality is bubbly and fun although she is portrayed more seriously in this cover to get across an important message. In this she is being portrayed very seriously to show the way in which the media can influence artists into connoting a different portrayal of themselves rather than the reality.

2. Evaluate how you have constructed the representation of your celebrity through your cover image and cover headline/text (denotation/connotation of text and image
The simplicity shows the artist 'stripped back' rather than the often glamorous world of music celebrities. I tried to juxtapose this with the rest of the cover which is more glamourous in order to show the direct contrast.  I wanted to connote how artists are not always exactly the same as the way they are portrayed.

3. Analyse how far you have used and/or challenged stereotypes of gender/race/age/sexuality in your cover.
In terms of stereotypes I think I have managed to both use and challenge them, through my magazine cover. As the artist is young, female and a pop music artist, this is very common. However by contrasting the artist with the rest of the cover and also previous celebrity covers, I think I have managed to show an ulterior side to music artists.

4. Reflect on the production/editing process.  Are you pleased with the end result? Identify what is successful about your shot?  What would you have done differently in hindsight
Overall, I think both production and editing went well. I would have liked to have taken more shots in order to have a wider selection to choose from. Also, I think the time allocations were slightly difficult to adhere to, making the process slightly rushed.

Minecraft Pocket Edition Gameplay Video for YouTube

How did you make the video (eg. what videos did you look at, what technology did you use?
Before making this video I watched other gaming videos for inspiration, for example, DanTDM and CaptainSparklez. I picked up on the casual and friendly way in which they interact with their audiences then tried to recreate this in my video. I first began by scripting what I was going to say so the commentary matched the video and sounded smooth but also realistic. To film the video I recorded it on an iPad, whilst using another iPad, to watch the pre recorded video (this was not in shot). To finish, I edited the two clips together using the FilmmakerPro app on the iPad. 


How might your video attract the attention of mojang and/or microsoft, and how might it influence them?
As I am playing the game and posting it online this may attract viewers which could help to promote the game. I review the game positively with suitable language helping to establish the game as child friendly. This is perfect for their target audience so may help to attract the attention of mojang and/or microsoft through the positive opinions on the game.