images for my product

For my practical, I have took a selection of images, in which I will later decide which ones to use for my product. I have taken several images for each news article to ensure that the chosen one will look as proffesinal and realistic as possible. By taking a variety as well it gives me more chioce and influence for my articles.

This is a long/ wide shot of Roker beach. I took the image without a flash and because it was a late winter afternoon, the natural lighting makes the image look dark. The colour palette within the image is mainly dark, consisting of grey and dark browns. This makes the image look boring and un-aesthetically pleasing. As the image needed is for the front page, I need a colour palette consisting of bright, vibrant colours which will immediately attract the reader’s attention to the article and the paper. From my target audience research, I know that article images attract readers to the article, therefore if my image looks boring and quite negative, it will represent the article as being boring also. The aim of this image was to position the lighthouse within the middle of the statue to clarify it; however this failed and looks unprofessional. Furthermore, to the right of the image a man is blurred again making the image look un-professional. Asking a target audience member, man, aged 48, he commented, ‘I wouldn’t expect to see this image in a Newspaper as the colours are boring’. I then asked a 17 year old female teenager who commented, ‘It’s hard to tell what the story is behind the image as there isn’t a main focus’.

Finally coming to the conclusion it doesn’t represent my article, I have decided not to use this image. However it has been helpful in comparing images I took after to see whether it was more/ less suitable than this image. What I did like about this image however is the camera shot, (long/wide) as it reveals the location well for the audience. 

Like with the previous image, I took this near nigh time, therefore there wasn’t much natural lighting. For my product however, I wanted to use as much natural lighting as possible to represent real life, creating a link to my product name, (Sunderland Life). Due to the poor lighting, it is hard to make out the location of the image, furthermore making it unprofessional. Because the audience wouldn’t be able to fully recognise the location, it will make the article more confusing and harder for them to understand. As this image is needed for the front page, I aim to have a location that will unite the vast majority of the target audience and furthermore be a familiar place that will affect all. As it’s hard to make out the location of this image, it will not affect the audience and therefore not attract them to read the article or purchase the paper. Asking a member of my target audience, they commented, ‘This mage doesn’t relate to your article as it is about the fair next to the Seaburn Centre. This is confusing for me and would put me off reading the article and buying the newspaper’. This acted as constructive critic as it has given me goals to improve for later images.

This is a long/ wide shot image of Seaburn Beach. This image was a tester to see what the lighting was like and if it was too bright in the background. As the Sun was powerful, it meant the image produced was blurry in some parts and makes the image hard to see. This has helped my photography skills and will hopefully allow me to produce more professional images.

I then took an image with the natural lighting behind me and it produced a much better image. This has given me knowledge and skills to help me take my image for my front cover, which hopefully will enable it to look more professional.

This is a long/ wide shot of the area in which I will be reporting about. As I took the image on the beach, it doesn’t reveal the location very well. I want my image to be an establishing shot so that the audience immediately know the place that the article is referring too. The main focus of the image is the sand and the sky as they take up most of the space.  This represents natural sources and real life, which are the intentions of the product. The colour pallet within the image however is aesthetically pleasing. With the main colours being bright blue, green and golden cream, it makes the image warm and inviting. As the intention of the article is to have a positive theme, the colours represent this well.

However because this image doesn’t reveal the location to the best of abilities, I will not be using this image for my product

This is a medium long shot and has a decreased depth of field of the previous image. Again,this image isn’t an establishing shot and doesn’t tell the audience the correct location of the image. Although the audience will have a brief idea of the location, I want them to witness more so the image will have a bigger influence on their thoughts. The image looks naturalistic as I have used natural lighting.

This is a long/ wide shot of the Seaburn fun park and also acts as an establishing shot as it reveals the location to the audience.

Mise en scene: The colour pallet within the image consists of green, blue and shades of red. As the colours are bright, it makes the image look busy and fun. It also creates a sense of excitement for the audience and gives the article a positive ambience. As the role of the image is to reflect and modify the article, it does this well, foreshadowing the article as being a positive read. The image has the correct depth of field that I would like for my image. The props in front of the Seaburn fun park make the image look realistic and life like.

However I will not be using this image as I feel the main focus of the image is off centre and therefore un professional. As I want my product to look as realistic as possible, I need my images to look professional and perfect.

This is my favourite image out of all the ones I have taken. It is an establishing shot and reveals the location immediately to the audience. The colour pallet used within consists of bright primary colours which catches the reader’s eye effectively and modifies the article as being interesting and up lifting. As the article is going to be based around the closing down on ‘Seaburn Fun park’ and the creation of a new park/ fun area, the colours reflect the positivity of the article well. The main source of focus for this image Is the ‘Seaburn fun park’ sign, which is cantered perfectly in the middle, drawing the readers eye directly to that point. Furthermore because it is centre of the image it helps the audience out by telling them what the article is about, making them have a better understanding of the article. As the image doesn’t give everything away, for example from the image we cannot tell the government’s plans for the area, I will have to construct a caption or anchorage that reflects the image well. The only prospect of the image that holds its potential back of looking professional is the car outside the park. This distracts the audience’s attention from the main focal point, and therefore I intend to use the skills I gained from my preliminary task and edit it in Adobe photoshop. I asked a member of my target audience, male aged 38 what his thoughts were on this image and he commented, 'I really like this image, tis clear and the colours are bright'. I also asked a female member, aged 67, 'I enjoy this image, I recognise it and it makes me want to know what the article is about'.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

For my images, I felt it was extremely important to find out what my audiences thoughts were on the image to see whether it would suit them. This way I could tailor my images to appeal more to my target audience and make my product more successful. I made sure I asked a fair representation of my t. a as it is so large. I asked the equal amount of males and females to make sure I could analyse both genders opinions and asked people from different age groups so I could appeal to my target audience to the best of my abilities. The criticism they gave me helped me construct my images to a more successful level.


Crayola costume Article:

Reflecting on my images has helped me progress my work and know where Iv been going wrong. Analysing my faults has helped me learn better ways to attract an audience in my images and also increase the professional level of them.

Audience feedback:

to make sure I was appealing to my target audience I showed a fair representation the above image.

Girl ages 18 said: I like this image as it looks interesting. The girls costume is alarming read and attracts my attention immediately. I really like it

Man, 38 said: 'I like the image as its something different. The girls costume and stance is unique and makes me want to read the article.

Women 68 said: Its nice to see a teenager been shown in Newspapers for something good!

After listening to audience feedback, I feel confident enough to include this image in my final product!

For my main article, I handed out questionnaires to see which image my target audience preferred. Here I knew i would be appealing directly to them. 

My product in relation to Post Modernism

My product will use a large quantity of intertextuality. The aim of my product is to attract the local community and therefore my adverts will be of local recognisable establishments such as vouchers for Starbucks or Frankie and Bennies. This here is an example of intertextuality, as my text will be referring to other texts. Also because the images I will use for my product will be of local places, there may be logos and shops that are recognisable to the audience such as Morrisons or Mcdonalds.

Does it playfully mix other genres?

As my product is a local newspaper and needs to represent the life of the locals, I will not be mixing genres. Locals buy local newspapers with the intentions of receiving the 7 news values and therefore I will not be injecting conventions of different products in my local newspapers.

Does it mix element of low and high culture?
To some extent, my product may mix elements of lw and high culture. For one of my article images for example, I may chose to have histroical building in the background or it be based around a local museum. This would be an element of high culture. I will also include low culture such as iPhone apps, images of local restraunts and vouchers also.

Does it draw attention to the way it is constructed?

For my particular product, it will be easy for the audience to get lost in what the article is saying as they wont neccassirly have any reason to dsbeleive it. Therefore I will make sure within my articles there will be two personal opinions or point of view. Furthermore as there will be an abundance of articles, I will break them up with local adverts and vouchers, to draw the attention of the product to the audience.

Does it exhibit fragmentation of location era viewpoint?

My separate news articles will be set in different locations throughout Sunderland to appeal and represent the whole population to the best of its abilities to attract larger audience. Each article will also be centered and focused on different people or establishments so that audiences can be gaining a cross overview of life in Sunderland and what is occurring.

Does it want the audience to notice and enjoy the above?

Ironic about serious elements?

A newspaper is serious focused as the news can frequently be negative. Therefore journalists and editors have to be conscious of not offending the readers and be sensitive towards sensitive issues. Irony may set in an article if it feels the readers will appreciate this or understand it.

Is its style more important than its substance?

Although the layout I will construct will supplement the reading of the product and make the reading a more clear and digestible, the substance will appeal more to the audience than the style. The newspaper acts as a point of news source where the locals can find out about what is happening in their local element, therefore the substance dominates the importance of the style. 

masthead of my product

Out of the list of possible names I brainstormed for my newspaper product, I have decided on ‘Sunderland Life’, as I believe it represents my newspaper more powerfully and reflects the issues that will be shown in the paper.

·        All my articles will be real life reports of the most important and news worthy stories that will evoke and appeal to my audience and will have effects on their lives.

·         All my features included within the product refer and affect the lives of the readers, for example for my advert, I am going to have a Frankie and Bennie’s Christmas voucher which the reader will receive with purchase of the paper.

·        I will have index columns with emergency number for my audience.

My product will be relating to and affecting the life of the view in one way or another, therefore naming my product Sunderland Life reflects my product better than the other two names I have chosen. Furthermore life has uplifting connotations and sounds enthusiastic. Moreover it is associating Sunderland with this word, and therefore representing both my product and the audiences home city as this and persuade my audience to purchase the product.

Sunderland Life font choice:

Using Adobe Photoshop, I experimented with fonts I found most appealing and suitable for my product. I looked at existing newspaper masthead fonts for inspiration and noticed they are all bold bright coolers, having the effect on the reader that it immediately stands out in a news rack and attract the audience’s attention.

To make my product successful, I feel conducting audience feedback on my product frequently is important in insuring I am appealing to my target audience to my full potential. Therefore after selecting numerous fonts, I printed them of and asked a range of ages and genders from my target audience, from 17-83.By doing this, I would be collecting research from a fair representation of my target audience and not being biased. I asked them to tick a font they preferred most, which would help influence my choice of font for my masthead.

Here is an example of my audience feedback:

The graphs above represent my finds and make them more presentable and therefore easier to read. The most popular font from all areas of audience, both male and female, is the first font ‘Abadi Mt condensed’. For example, all teenage males and females selected out of the 6 fonts, they like that one bet. The 50- 80 range selected mostly the same font; however 1 out of 5 of them, in both genders selected different fonts. However, I am going to generalise my findings and sect ‘Abadi Mt condenses’ as my masthead font as it appeals most to my target audience. If my font is attractive it will maximise potential sales.