Project Monitoring week beginning 27th Jan

This week I have done well as I have completed pretty much everything I planned to do in my schedule. The last thing I need to complete in my spare time is putting my York article into the layout I have made and make any final tweaks.
The beginning of the week started well as I managed to quickly get my young farming article written. I really enjoyed writing this piece and I then inputted it into a simple layout as show below. I have planned my photoshoot with the girl mentioned in my article and this well be happening next week. 

This week I have also almost finished my York city guide article and this will not take much more work to complete. I then need to create my layout but I have not done this yet as my ideas are continuously changing.
I have spent some time looking at Cellardoor magazine and I really like the style of the publication. I am now thinking I will copy some of their layouts and my city guide is somewhere this is likely to apply.
Below I have included some information about Cellardoor magazine. It is no longer being published but is easily available online.

Cellardoor Magazine was created by close friends: Amy Power & Jade Cooper-Collins. We first created Cellardoor at University and are now branching out and developing our ideas further. 

Cellardoor is a quarterly online magazine for stylish and confident young women, who are interested in whats going on in the world. We offer a mix of fashion, music, film, art and cultural events - everything a young woman would need to know about. We take pride in the style and appearance of the magazine, creating a magazine that is beautiful as well as interesting, and a little different to the norm.

We're looking for contributors in all creative areas such as writers, photographers and designers. If you have any ideas of your own then pitches are welcome.

Thanks again & we look forward to hearing from you,
Cellardoor xo

I really like this layout and I am debating using a similar one for my York city guide. I think it is more appealing than the one I originally planned to use and I feel that this style will fit in well with the brand of my magazine. However I will include more images but they will be smaller as imagery as this is something that is important to my magazine and I don't see the point in  having such large images.

Next week I will be carrying out all of my photoshoots so will be able to input my images into my layouts. I will then be working on making adjustments to my layouts and articles.

Project Monitoring week beginning 13th Jan

This week I was able to complete all of the tasks I set myself. I kept this week fairly empty as I knew i would be mainly concentrating on my photography work as the deadline was at the end of the week. I also had mock exams this week so knew that media would not be a priority. However I managed to complete all of my planning documents and book my photo shoots as well as arrange my models and instruct them of what I need them to wear and how to do their make up. This should hopefully save time when carrying out my photo shoots as my models will turn up ready to be photographed. I did have some issues with my imagery ideas and decided to re-think my front cover image completely and so this took some extra time. However the image I now plan to use is much easier to create and I think it will be worth the extra time I spent researching cover images and deciding on my final idea. I am pleased with what I have achieved this week and think that I have completed enough planning to enable me to make a really strong start with the production of my magazine next week.

Front Cover Imagery Review

Front Cover Idea Review

After creating my schedule I have decided that my imagery idea for my front cover is unlikely to work out. Taking a shot in York of a quiet street with the right levels of lighting would be very difficult and I am limited with how much time I have to take the shot. If the shot was not to work out the first time I travelled to York to take it then I would be very pushed for time to re-take the shot. After further thought I don’t think that the image would promote womens independence as much as I want it to and I could create a much stronger shot in the studio. Below is an image I will be basing my front cover photoshoot around. The girl in the image looks independent and rebellious, something which is important to my magazine brand. Although I am unlikely to make the layout of my magazine quite as alternative as that of Cooler, researching front covers has made me think more about the layout of my sell lines and fonts. The layout of my magazine is not likely to slightly change and I will use effects such as stroking on text, as is used on the pink writing below.

To create the effect I want for my front cover it will be about experimenting with poses and the make up of my model. I want her to still look feminine but in an edgy way-something about her will be a bit different, as if she isn’t afraid to stand out from the crowd. In the image below it makes it seem like the woman makes herself look nice but not for anyone else to admire but for herself. My cover will promote the idea of women not just being objects of beauty but independent women with a voice.

The model I have in mind for this shoot will be able to create this look very easily as she has crazy blonde hair and is able to look sassy but feminine. I will then do her make up so that it looks slightly different and alternative. I will then experiment with poses until I think I have captured a shot which shows that she’s a girl with attitude and isn’t afraid to look different.

Front Cover Photoshoot Plan

Photo shoot planning document

Date and time of photo shoot: 3rd Feb 13:10

Material to be shot: Imagery for Front Cover

What personnel do you need?

Lighting assistant: Mark Dixon     

Makeup assistant: Emma Nesham

Models: Kinga Nowak

What props will you need?

 No props as it will be a simple image of a girl looking at the camera.

Describe in detail your make-up & costume needs
For my front cover I will be aiming to re-create the image below. My model has curly blonde hair and I will be able to do her make up in a similar way. I will also use the pastel colours that are used in the shot below as it fits well with the brand of my magazine. I already have a top that my model can wear which is a light green. I am then likely to follow this colour scheme throughout my front cover. Overall I want to create a shot where my model looks independent and rebellious. I love the pose used in the shot below as while the girl looks feminine, the cheeky look on her face shows that she isn't afraid to stand out from the crowd and follow her own style. This is something my magazine will promote which is why I have decided to re-create this shot.

Studio shoots: what kind of lighting?
I will be using really strong butterfly lighting to make my models face really bright and the image look almost over-exposed. I will also be lighting up the backdrop so that that area is also very bright. This is the same kind of technique that will have been used to create the shot above and I really like the effect.

York City Guide Photoshoot Plan

Photo shoot planning document

External Photoshoot to be carried out in York

Material to be shot: Imagery for Down on the Farm article.

What personnel do you need?

No personnel are needed other than me as the photographer as I will be photographing imagery featuring buildings. I will just have to consider what the lighting levels will be like at different times of day and at the time of year I visit as this will affect the mood of my imagery.

What props will you need?

I wont need any props as I will be photographing buildings and areas within the city of York.

Describe in detail your make-up & costume needs/Aim of Photoshoot

I do not have any make up and costume needs as I will not be photographing any models. However I will set myself clear aims of what I need to achieve from my photoshoot.
The aim of this photshoot will be take 4 strong images for my York city guide piece. I will be fitting the images into 4 circles so this is something I will have to consider when taking the shots. I will have to ensure that the main subject is not cut off when placed in the shape so I will ensure that I take multiple shots of the same subject at different angles to ensure that I capture a suitable image. Imagery is important to my magazine so I will ensure the 4 images I include on this page are really strong and capture the viewers attention.

House Fire Photoshoot Plan

Photo shoot planning document

Date and time of photo shoot: 3rd Feb 13:10

Material to be shot: Imagery for House Fire article.

What personnel do you need?

Lighting assistant: Mark Dixon     

Makeup assistant: Emma Nesham

Models: Kinga Nowak

What props will you need?

• Several outfits provided by me for my model to wear. Bright colours that will stand out well.
• Some items of college work to show how she is a student.

Describe in detail your make-up & costume needs

• Bright colours. I want the shoot to have a positive feel as it is about how she bounced back and didnt let losing everything get her down. 
• I will ask her to do her make up in an alternative style as I will also be using this model for my front cover so need her to look rebellious and alternative as this is the brand of my magazine

Studio shoots: what kind of lighting?

• Butterfly lighting to give the shoot a bright, positive feel. Instead of focusing on the devastating experience of losing everything I want to show how the girl didnt let herself get too upset and still managed to pass her 3rd year of university.
• I will use a selection of poses such as ripping up notes to show how she didnt need all the work she lost in the fire to do well at Uni.

Down on the Farm Photoshoot Plan

Photo shoot planning document

External Photoshoot to be carried out at Brookleigh Riding Centre

Material to be shot: Imagery for Down on the Farm article.

What personnel do you need?

Lighting assistant:  

Makeup assistant:

Models: Heather Gore

What props will you need?

I wont need any props as I will just be taking an image of my model and her horse.

Describe in detail your make-up & costume needs

I want this shoot to look really natural. I want to capture a girl with her horse looking as if the shot isn’t particularly posed and she is just smiling for a quick photo. I will ask her to wear a dark green colour so that the green links to my colour scheme. I will ask her to keep her make up to a minimum as I want her to look like a country girl who is likely to be involved with young farming. Overall the shot is likely to contain a lot of green and brown which will give it a very natural look. I also want the lighting to be warm so will take the shot at the end of a bright day as the sun is going down. If this is not possible I will take the shot early in the morning which should hopefully create the same effect.

Dare to Blog Photoshoot Plan

Photo shoot planning document

Date and time of photo shoot: 4th Feb 9:00am

Material to be shot: Imagery for Dare to Blog article.

What personnel do you need?

Lighting assistant: Mark Dixon     

Makeup assistant: Sophie Mason

Models: Sophie Mason

What props will you need?

Make up and fashion products but these will be photographed separately.

Hessian money bag to be placed in models hand.

Describe in detail your make-up & costume needs

 Few specific needs-the article is about beauty blogging and my model is very interested in make up so I will just ask her to do her make up as she usually would as nothing more is needed for my shoot. The only request I will make is that she wears a blue/turquoise top as I want her outfit to link to my colour scheme of the DPS. It does not have to be a specific costume, it must just fit with my colour scheme as this is something my focus group liked.

Studio shoots: what kind of lighting?

After researching lighting techniques online I have decided that I want my model to be captured evenly using soft light. Below is an image of how the studio will look to achieve this. On the website I used for some of my research it is classed as ‘Clamshell’ lighting and produces images which are evenly lit.

Backdrop: Plain white backdrop as I want a clean, fresh feel to my images

Lighting equipment needs:

Two flash heads

Two softboxes

One reflector

Two light stands

York City Guide Article Plan

Article Planning Sheet

Plan the language use of the primary code of your article in the box below.

York City Guide

	Planning Comments
article genre (purpose, type)	This article will aim to inform readers, likely to be strapped for cash university students of the best bars, cafes and places to visit in the city of York. It will aim to encourage readers to go on a day out in York and to not just visit the well known attractions.
Narrative voice (1st, 2nd or 3rd person)	I will be using a 2nd person narrative to target readers directly. I will encourage them throughout my article to visit the city and will write in a style that makes them feel as if the article has uncovered Yorks hidden gems especially for them.
Register (informal/formal, colloquial, dialect, taboo words?)	I will keep my article informal-I want it to feel like I have visited the city and hunted out the best places for my readers. I will keep it feeling personal and friendly, this is something my client will like.
Stylistics (repetition, strong verbs, adjectives, alliteration, similes, metaphors, sentencing, rhythm)	The pace of this article will be quite fast as I want it to take on the style of a reporter out on the streets of York reporting where the readers should visit. I will therefore use fairly short sentences and include a lot of information. Readers should not be put off as overall this article is quite short. I will also include rhetorical questions to target the reader. Why shouldn’t they visit York this weekend?
Tone of address (hectoring, sarcastic, ‘matey’, ironic, etc)	This piece is likely to have quite a matey feel-as if I am talking to the reader and even trying to sell the idea of visiting the city to them. I don’t want to lecture them, more bring the idea of visiting York to their attention and advise them of how to have the best day possible.
Structure and pace (discourse structure, logical paragraphing, connectives, conclusion)	I will structure my piece so that I have a brief paragraph about each place mentioned and some details about it. I am likely to include 4-5 places in my article so will have 7-8 mid-length paragraphs making up the entire article, this will also include an introduction and conclusion.

University Flat Fire Article Plan

Article Planning Sheet

Plan the language use of the primary code of your article in the box below. 

University Flat Fire

	Planning Comments
article genre (purpose, type)	This will be the most emotive article out of those included in my product. It will be a real life story of a university graduate who lost her entire university flat to a fire in her last year of study.
Narrative voice (1st, 2nd or 3rd person)	I will be using a mix of 1st person and 3rd for this piece as I will be including direct quotes from the interview with the girl alongside sections of description. This will make the article seem very personal to the girl and shows that she’s telling the story from her own first hand experience while the description will focus more on telling readers details based around What? Where? When? How?
Register (informal/formal, colloquial, dialect, taboo words?)	The article will have an informal feel as it is a real life story. I also don’t want to make the article too formal as it will not appeal to my readers who wont like this style. Keeping it informal will also give it more of a personal feel and shows that the story is coming straight from the individual involved. I will not include taboo words as this does not fit the style of my magazine or morals of my client.
Stylistics (repetition, strong verbs, adjectives, alliteration, similes, metaphors, sentencing, rhythm)	I will be using very strong adjectives to describe the devastation caused by the fire and all of the emotions that the girl felt. I want this to be a very hard hitting piece and for sympathy to be created for the victim. I also want the readers to question what they were do if they were to lose everything. I will use strong language to create a very strong picture in the readers head of what happened.
Tone of address (hectoring, sarcastic, ‘matey’, ironic, etc)	I do not want to use a particular tone. However, I do want to create sympathy for the girl and for readers to be shocked by what they see and read on this page. At times I want the article to feel panicked, around the time when I describe how the girl found out about the fire and how it felt to hear the news.
Structure and pace (discourse structure, logical paragraphing, connectives, conclusion)	As I have already mentioned, I will be following the Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Idea for this article to provide readers with a lot of information on the fire. Overall it will be quite a simple real life story and I will be relying on the dramatic subject to attract readers.

Article Planning Sheet

Plan the language use of the primary code of your article in the box below. 

Down on the Farm Article Plan

Article Planning Sheet

Article target audience:

Down on the Farm

	Planning Comments
article genre (purpose, type)	This article will aim to encourage young women to get involved with young farming. Therefore, it will have a very positive, encouraging feel-possibly using persuasive language to try and get readers involved.
Narrative voice (1st, 2nd or 3rd person)	I will be using 2nd person narrative for this article as I want to target the reader personally. I will almost be commanding them to get involved with my selected topic. This fits with the aims of my magazine-trying to get young people in the North East involved with something new.
Register (informal/formal, colloquial, dialect, taboo words?)	This article will have an informal, chatty feel so that the audience do not feel as if they are being lectured on the subject I have chosen.
Stylistics (repetition, strong verbs, adjectives, alliteration, similes, metaphors, sentencing, rhythm)	This article will be quite straight to the point so will not really use any techniques such as repetition or ailliteration. I will use descriptive and persuasive language to make my readers feel that they might give young farming a go. The article will mainly be based around describing what young farming is about and enticing readers to get involved with local groups.
Tone of address (hectoring, sarcastic, ‘matey’, ironic, etc)	The tone of my article will be friendly but formal. This is so that I do not put readers off by lecturing them with information about young farming so I will keep the article friendly and chatty. However, I want it to be formal enough so that the information is still put across to readers as the whole aim of the article is to provide readers with information and encourage them to get involved with a new hobby.
Structure and pace (discourse structure, logical paragraphing, connectives, conclusion)	This article will have a fairly simple structure. Firstly, I will introduce what young farming is about and give some details of the organisation. I will then go on to describe some of the activities that young do such as team building challenges and helping the community. I will then go on to describe some of the more tempting reasons to join a young farming group. This will include things such as holidays, seasonal balls and the group nights out planned. This will make the topic really appealing to my readers who will be eager to be involved with things such as this.

Schedule

Production Schedule and monitoring document

Week	Date	Activity
1	13th Jan	1 Schedule Creation: This week I will be creating my schedule to ensure that I have a plan of when I will be completing each task needed to create my product. This schedule will ensure that my product is complete and ready for hand in on the 28th February, following the objectives outlined in my treatment. I will ensure that my schedule is realistic but detailed so I know exactly what I should be doing at any point in my product creation. I will also set myself homework each week to ensure that I do not fall behind and these activities should take up 4 hours of my time out of college. 2 Schedule Creation: I will now look at my other commitments including my other college subjects and anything else I am involved with and factor them into my schedule. This will keep my schedule realistic and hopefully ensure that I never feel as if I am falling behind with work. For this I will ask my other subject teachers about things such as coursework deadlines and exam dates. 3 Planning completion: At the end of this week I am off college for two days. I will use this time to finish any planning documents not completed and upload them to my blog. The planning documents that I need to complete are my photoshoot plans and call sheets. 4 Project Monitoring & Article writing: At the end of this week I will complete my first project monitoring entry to evaluate how well I have got on this week and hopefully keep my product production on track. I will then begin writing my house fire article by typing up the recorded interview which was completed over Christmas. Homework 1: Ensure that my schedule is complete Homework 2: Finish any planning documents not done in lesson and upload them to my blog. By the end of the week I want to be able to start my product creation armed with plenty of planning documents as this will make the whole process a whole lot easier as I will know exactly how everything should turn out and be done. Exams/other subject deadlines: Photography Unit 3 deadline-likely to take priority over Media for this week although portfolio is almost finished. Sociology Mock exam-revision time needed.
2	20th Jan	Photoshoots and Imagery 1. This week I am going to focus on refreshing my knowledge of photoshoots so that I know exactly what needs to come out of each photoshoot and how it will be done. This will involve looking at lighting techniques and planning colour schemes for each shoot to ensure that they fit with the colour scheme of my product. I have decided to spend a week refreshing my imagery knowledge and making detailed plans so that my photoshoots run smoothly later on in my product creation. Later on in the week I will ease myself into the production of my pages by setting up some layouts ready to be used later. 2. I will then gather the props I need for my photoshoots. I will be carrying out two in the studio, my Dare to Blog article will require the most. I will be able to source these props myself as all that I needed is make up products to photograph and insert into the thought bubbles above the models head and this will be done in Photoshop. The only other prop I will need for this shoot will be some form of sack while I will make into a money bag for my model to hold. The other shoot to be carried out in the studio is for my house fire article. For this I am mainly focusing on images given to me by the girl who was involved as they really show how devastating the fire was. 3. This lesson I will spend time editing the imagery given to me by the victim of the house fire and making them as dramatic as possible. This should be a fairly easy task but I want to make these images really strong as I am really lucky to have been given these images so that readers can see how much damage was done. This lesson I will also make a list of all the colour codes to be used in my product so that I can easily create my pages. I will also create a folder housing all of my fonts and where they are to be used. This may need some extra research to ensure that I am happy with how all of the fonts will fit together and the look they will give my pages. 4 Project Monitoring & Layout creation: Using my flat plans I am likely to begin setting up my pages. I will start with those that are simplest-My Down on the Farm piece and my York City Guide as I have a clear idea of how I want them to look and my flat plans show this. It will then just be a case of inputting the images and my finished article. Homework 1: Make any adjustments to my Dare to Blog article which is already written. Look at comments made on it from my focus group and make these changes. Homework 2: Create the sell lines for my front cover. Think about what will appeal to my readers and what will capture their attention. Homework 3: Start on a first draft of my young farming article. Depending on how well it goes I hope to finish this piece quite quickly as it is one of my smaller articles. Exams/other subject deadlines:
3	27stJan	Articles 1. This week I will focus on my article writing. By now I will have created first drafts for my Down on the Farm article and my house fire piece. I will have also have made any changes which were needed on my Dare to Blog Piece. This lesson I will input my Down on the Farm article into the layout I have already created and then it will just be a case of inputting my imagery which will be created the following week. I think dedicating a week to writing my articles will help me get into the mindset of writing and it will be better than writing my articles in small chunks. Spending a week on my articles will be much more efficient. 2. This lesson I will begin work on writing my York City Guide. This should not take me long as I have carried out research into what I should include within the piece, it is just a case of writing it up. 3. I will then finalize the article and input it into my pre-created layout. I will then just need to input my imagery. By the end of the week I will have two pages complete other than the imagery which I have planned to fit into things such as boxes so this will not take much work to put in. 4 Project Monitoring & House Fire article writing. After having previously typed up my recorded interview I will then create my article. It needs to be hard hitting so I am likely to spend a lot of time on this article and ask for tips on how I can make it as dramatic as possible using language techniques. Homework 1: Continue working on my house fire article. Decide on the final headline for it-likely to be a quote from the article. Create kicker for this article. Homework 2: Create kickers for my York City Guide and Young farming article if not done already. Homework 3: Work on the layout of my front cover and get it to the point where I will just need to input the cover image. Decide on layout of cell lines and ensure that nothing is missed off. Exams/other subject deadlines:
4	3rd   Feb	Completing my Photoshoots and Image editing 1. This week will be focused around all of my imagery. I will complete my two studio-based photoshoots this week which are for my Dare to Blog piece and the house fire article. I will complete these in the same time slot and should take just over an hour as I know what needs to be done thanks to the planning I have completed. As I have said about my articles, I am dedicating a week to imagery as it will be good to focus purely on this area to ensure that I am not thinking about other things which will distract me and not allow me to put as much effort into my imagery. 2 I will then spend time photographing the make up products I need to fill the thought bubbles in the Dare to Blog Article. This will not take long and can be done at home if the studio is not available, there is no need for me to book studio time just for this. 3. I will then spend time reviewing my images and editing them. I will have to spend time cutting out the images of the make up products and create for thought bubbles needed, both for my Dare to Blog piece. 4. Project Monitoring & Image editing. I will continue editing my images as the imagery for my Dare to Blog piece is quite complex and requires a lot of work in Photoshop to put together. Homework 1: Complete York photoshoot by visiting the city. Can only be done out of college time so will be done at the weekend. I will shoot images of the places included in my article as well as my front cover image. Homework 2: Carry out my Young Farming photoshoot, this will not take long as I am planning to only take one image for this piece myself. The others will come from a young farmer I know and these will show the different activities that she gets involved with with the organization. I will then choose my best image at home ready to input into my read-made layout the following week. Homework 3: Using the layout made in Photoshop for my contents page flat plan I will input images into the circles intended to be images and basically create my contents page. This will be a very small job as I have already created the layout. I will complete this task in my frees and extension studies lessons. Exams/other subject deadlines:
5	10th  Feb	Finalizing articles and Inputting images 1. My main task this week is to input my images as all of the other elements of my pages will be done by now. I have used layouts which enable me to insert my images into specific spaces by using shapes such as circles on my contents page and York City Guide and boxes on my Young Farming piece. I also have a clear plan of where my imagery will go on my Dare To Blog piece as this is the piece I have already created for my mock up. On the Monday of this week I will edit the images taken in York at the weekend but this should not take long so I will be able to focus on inputting my images for the rest of the week. 2. Inputting my images will take me 2-3 lessons as I want to make sure all of my imagery in my product is really strong as imagery is something which is something that I have outlined is important to my in my treatment. 3. This lesson will be used as overspill for inputting my images into my product. I will then move on to finalizing my articles to ensure they are as interesting as possible and follow the aims outlined in my treatment. 4. Project Monitoring & Layout adjustments. At the end of this week I will make any changes to my layouts that are needed. Changes may need to be made due to my imagery not looking as it should or there being issues with how my article looks on the page alongside the imagery. I will gain advice from peers around me to ensure that I am not just working off my own opinion as my peers are members of my target audience. Homework 1: I will create any secondary elements needed for any of my pages during my extension studies lessons. I may decide I need more elements than first thought after inputting my images so I will allow time for this. Homework 2: I will make any changes needed on my contents page and input the final images into the circles as these will be images taken from my photoshoots so this step cannot be done until now. Homework 3: I will also allow myself some overspill time to make any adjustments to any aspect of my magazine whether it be anything from imagery colours. Exams/other subject deadlines: Photography Unit 4 deadline approaching.
Half term	17th Feb	Homework: Complete Monitoring and make sure that blog elements are complete
6	24th	1. This week will be spent going through my product really thoroughly. It will also be used as a contingency week incase anything has gone wrong in previous weeks. I will aim to have my product finished for a week before the deadline so that if anything goes wrong I will have a week to correct the issue and still have my product ready for hand in on the deadline. There is no way I can clearly plan this week as I will not know how my product creation has gone until it has been created which is the only way to highlight any issues. I will make any necessary changes and ask for feedback from my peers and make any changes that they suggest to improve my product as they are members of my target audience. Exams/other subject deadlines: Photography Unit 4 deadline
	3rd  Mar	Audience/Assessor Review Week 1 Create Audience review questionnaire 2 Teacher assessment of project 3 & 4 Complete prep work for evaluation E exam Unit 5 Blog Deadline 7th March