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.

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. 

Video Games and Me

  When I was younger I often played video games, mainly on my Nintendo DS, Wii or Xbox. I really enjoyed playing games and collected many different ones to switch between.
I would usually play on my DS with my sister as we played games such as 'Kim Possible' and 'Cooking Mama'. I played a variety of games of different genres, from action adventure to puzzle, educational or arcade games etc. I vividly remember playing whilst travelling on holiday, when in the car or at my grandparents house.
Also, we would play on the Wii when friends came round, which enabled us to play multiple player games. For example, often playing Wii fit or bowling which was a favourite from the Wii sport collection. Recently whilst away with friends, I was introduced to FIFA which I quickly got into, becoming competitive whilst playing.
When I was younger and often played video games I enjoyed it because it was a way to pass the time, socialise with my fiends and have fun. Now however,  I rarely play but when I do I find it very
nostalgic. I would love to continue playing video games now however do not find the time.

Minecraft Mission

This was my attempt at building a house when first playing the game Minecraft. Although I ran out of time in the lesson and was not able to finish my house, I managed to start building the foundations. From this experience, I can easily see how people may want to play and quickly become addicted. We played on an iPad which was slightly more difficult to use however its portability means you can play anywhere and at any time which is very convenient.  Overall I would like to get better at playing.

My Breakfast Show Segment

1) Did you fulfill all the content requirements; both in terms of including all the correct features as well as the actual choices made?
We were able to fulfill all the requirements for our Latymer radio breakfast show. For example, extracts from different music tracks, the jingles, the show host and audience member for the main feature- Celebrity gamble. We also managed to include some chat similar to the way in which the presenters of radio 1 breakfast show do, and news headlines to finish off. 

2) Have you nailed the conventions and style of Nick Grimshaw and the Radio 1 Breakfast Show?
Throughout, we kept a friendly and upbeat tone, mimicking that of the radio 1 breakfast show. We had light conversation and used mainstream pop music tracks , helping to engage our audience. Conventions we used were the celebrity gamble game in which we lightheartedly poked fun at our celebrities without causing offence, similar to the actual breakfast show. Other conventions used were the reference to a social media response, the jingles and the news headlines at the very end. 

3) How well did you manage running order/timings?
Overall, I think we were able to keep to the timings quite well. At first we had difficulty with silent gaps in which we were still setting up tracks or going over or under in time. However, after a few more practices we quickly picked up the timings and we were able to smoothly run through the whole show. 

Continuity task evaluation

1) Explain the story of your video
Our short video portrays a sixth form student who is late for class therefore is haphazardly running to get to her lesson. In the meantime, two students are walking down the corridor absentmindedly chatting to each other. The first girl runs down the stairs and as she is in such a rush she crashes into one of the two girls.

2) How did you attempt to create 'narrative flow'?
We attempted to create 'narrative flow' by firstly planning out our 6 shots and creating a storyboard. We then made any necessary changes to the shots which would not work or flow with the rest of the video. When filming we were careful to keep the same positions and not have any jumps between shots so we could keep the continuity as much as possible.

3) Did you achieve full continuity? If not, why not?
I do not think we achieved full continuity as a few shots did not properly fit together, however, I think that it still works well. For example the walking shot that then cut to the pan of the feet did not appear to flow very well.

4) In hindsight, what would you do differently to improve the narrative flow of your video and  tell your story more effectively?
Overall I think that we had a good range of shots to keep the audience interested throughout the video and also helped to bring the audience into the narrative. Also, our cross cutting was very effective and the establishing shots for both sets of characters worked nicely.

Despite this, I think we could make some improvements to our video. For example, a pan would work well during the first shot and a variation in camera shots at the end would be better. Keeping the sound consistent throughout and slightly trimming a few of the shots would also improve our video.