CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION 4

 

Hello everyone!

Today I will be answering Compulsory question 4.  For this question I did a podcast episode posted on YouTube. 

Name: Sandra Turciosperez

Candidate number: 0742

Centre number: US154

Compulsory questions 4:

How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online — in this project?

Here is the video:

Here’s an alternative link:

https://youtu.be/8OPK0MaXDjw?si=GvZfKVakVlV5swid

Transcript:

Hello everyone, welcome back to The Sisters Podcast. My name is Sandra Turciosperez. 

And my name is Mia. 

Today I will be answering the last compulsory question.

Compulsory question 4 asks “ How did you integrate technologies - software,hardware and online - in this project?”

In this project I relied on technology every step of the way. I used hardware,software and online technologies to help me with blogging, taking pictures, editing, writing, researching and analyzing. Without technology I couldn’t have possibly done this project correctly.

Can you tell us how you integrated hardware? 

In regards to hardware I used my laptop, Iphone, and ipad. I used my laptop to post my blogs as well as editing images. In my laptop is where most of my research was being done. In my phone I also did my blogs so I can be able to do them anywhere. Laptops are a little big to carry around so whenever I couldn’t use them I used my phone instead. This also applies to my ipad, I did mostly everything on here as well. Hardware was very crucial as it gave me possibilities to do the project.

How about software? How did you integrate it into your project?

For software I mainly used Apple IOS which has the camera app, messages and safari that I used for this project. Safari helped me do my research to investigate the history of magazines, genres, house style and production. If I needed to know anything, safari was my first choice to go. My Camera app is where I took the pictures. One main example of these being used was for the camera shots and angles. As for messages this is what I used to transfer images from device to device. 

Really interesting. What about online websites?

When it comes to Online I used as many websites as I could get my hands on. Canva, Blogspot and Google Docs are some of the main ones. Canva is where all of the editing was done. I edited my cover for my blogs, pictures, and videos. Canva is a great way to do anything you want for the blogs. I also did my preliminary and final magazine on Canva. As for Blogger, this is the app where I did all of my recorded progress. I did my blogs weekly to help keep track of everything I did for my project. In Google Docs I wrote everything to be transferred to my blogs. As well as write drafts for my featured story. 

This is how I integrated technology into my project. 

Good job, sis. 

That’s all for today, see you guys in the next episode. 

In unison: Bye.  

Credits:

Cover graphic created/used in Canva.com

CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION 3

Greetings blog!

Today I will be answering Compulsory question 3. For this question I did an Animaker video posted on YouTube.

Name: Sandra Turciosperez

Candidate number: 0742

Centre number: US154

Compulsory questions 3:

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Here is the video:

Here’s an alternative link:

https://youtu.be/Zo87E_0kPsw?si=pqBAWNyN4RMONdBC

Transcript:

Welcome, welcome! We are back with another episode on The Talking with Tara Show. As always we have a guest with us tonight. She is here to talk about her improvement on her new magazine. Can you please introduce yourself.

Hi guys, I’m excited to be here tonight. My name is Sandra Turciosperez. And I just came out with a new fashion magazine about makeup, skincare and clothing.

Are you ready to answer some questions?

Yes, I’m ready. 

Ok let’s begin! How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

At the beginning I didn’t have a clue on what a magazine needed to have. I didn’t have a lot of experience with taking pictures and editing them. When I started this class, I was hopeful that I would learn new techniques to help me with my magazine.  Looking back, I feel like I’ve learned a lot and now I can put it to use. This project allowed me to be exposed to do research and understand how magazines are made. And I learned to use different websites or apps to help me with my magazine.

Is there anything you did in class that particularly helped you improve?

Well, we were required to do a preliminary task as a way to show the skills we have. In class we learned different camera shots and angles. We did a lot of research about house styles, genres and we did writing lead practices . I also analyzed different parts of magazines to understand what goes on to create one. These tasks along with other stuff really helped me improve. I feel like my impression of what magazines had changed, and now understand how it is properly done. If we compare my preliminary task with my magazine, there are some major changes and skills that you can see being improved. I think what I struggled with the most in my preliminary task was the house styles. It was something I wasn't familiar with so I didn’t know what part it played and therefore my preliminary magazine didn’t turn out the way it should’ve. Everything I did really helped me know what to work on and how to implement it in my final magazine.

Do you have them for us to take a look at?

Yes, I’ll show the images right now. Let’s start with the cover.

*shows final cover and preliminary task cover*

Preliminary cover

Final cover

There's a lot of things I struggled with in the preliminary cover. For instance, I didn’t use the right conventions. In my final magazine the image is better, the conventions are there and it has a color scheme. My preliminary cover has the masthead in the middle of the page which is not conventional. The main image has gray tones which makes it look bland and wouldn’t stick out if it was in a store. The subheading and cover line are there but serve no purpose as the heading of the article isn’t titled that. Although, the preliminar cover does have an issue number and date. In my final magazine the picture is more interesting and it includes my featured person, something my preliminary didn’t have. The masthead is more clear and known, in my preliminary the big text gives more of an article name then a masthead. There’s a barcode and the name of my featured person. And the cover line is calling readers to look inside the magazine, but my preliminary didn’t achieve that. There’s also a quote from the interviewed person. Overall, the final cover looks more professionally done and has clear use of extensive research than the preliminary one.

I can definitely see the improvement, can we look at the table of contents?

Of course, here are the images.

*shows preliminary and final table of contents *

Preliminary table of contents

Final table of contents

As for the table of contents the preliminary one does include some house style convention, but it is missing a lot of key things. One major difference that sticks out, to me at least, is the lack of images. The preliminary doesn’t make the reader engage as much as the final magazine. Images give context and provide visual aid. This big aspect is missing in the preliminary. In my final magazine the background is pearl. This is better than in the preliminary because it gives a better view than just a plain background. Although it doesn’t seem like it’s that important it does really impact the page. In the preliminary one the “Table of Contents” text covers around half the page, but in my final one I shortened the text to just “Contents”. I believe the whole text can overwhelm the reader as it can look like there’s a lot going on. And since my audience is young adults they might find it appropriate to see it shortened . In my final magazine I provide the name and the title of the article while in my preliminary one I wrote the title and the subheading. I improved this because although it is conventional to write a subheading a lot of young adults wouldn’t bother reading it. Also, to keep up with branding I put the masthead on the right top corner of my final magazine. All of these things added take advantage of the page and everything is all around the page. While my preliminary is more simple and the information is just there. In conclusion, there’s a lot of improvement in the table of contents.

You really made progress. How about the double page spread? What are the similarities and the differences?

Here are the double page spreads side-by-side.

*shows preliminary and final magazine double page spread*

Preliminary double page spread

Final double page spread

In my final magazine I struggled a lot with the double page spread. I had to do a lot of research and changes. In my preliminary one I followed a template without the proper conventions which shows how much my skills have improved. Since my inspiration was VOGUE I tried to make it as close as possible to theirs but I did add things that I believed were needed in my spread. Something wrong with my preliminary that really sticks out to me is the background. I think it’s very plain, it’s not really engaging to the audience. Adding a background like in my final magazine shows more thought and organization. Another thing wrong is the body text there is no drop cap,indentation or columns. This is a problem because it is not conventional, the text looks boring and too long to even want to read it. Its color also can be a problem and it’s very light. The pictures also can overwhelm the reader as they include more words it confuses the reader and therefore making them not want to read the article. Additionally, the article is not written like a journalism article. In conclusion, showing all the pages and putting them side by side really shows improvement.

Wow there’s so much that goes into a magazine, well done, Sandra. Thank you for being with us tonight. 

Thank you, it was a pleasure answering questions.

See you all in the next episode.

Credits:

Cover graphic created/used in Canva.com

CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION 2

Hey blog

Today I will be answering Compulsory question 2.  For this question I did a Canva video. 

Name: Sandra Turciosperez

Candidate number: 0742

Centre number: US154

Compulsory questions 2:
How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Transcript:

Hello everyone, welcome to the premiere of my new magazine. I'm glad to see you all gathered here.

To the right you can see the awaited magazine. I hope you all enjoy reading it. It was a long process but I am satisfied with how it turned out. 

So does anyone in the crowd have any questions.

Yes, you with the green sweater.

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Great question

 For the audience the target of my magazine is teenage and young adult girls around 15-25. But this doesn’t mean anyone can’t read the magazine. It can be read by any gender, race and ethnicity. It contains a language any age can understand. I wanted my magazine to be relatable. My goal is for everybody to see themselves using these tips and techniques.

 

But I also wanted them to read the article and relate with what my featured person has to say. At such a young age, girls can get lost on what they should look and do. With my magazine I wanted to break those toxic thoughts of trying to fit in. I wanted to create a magazine that talks about makeup in a more positive way and I hope that this goal was achieved. 

As to how it would be distributed; my magazine would be both physical and online. Since my target is mainly young people it will be placed in bookstores like Barnes and Nobles. It would also be in sections by the makeup isles in stores like Target and Walmart since it has to deal with beauty products. 

Online it would be available in the official website Eternamagazines.com. There all other magazines will be available for sale. Along with any announcements of new issues coming out bimonthly. One can also find it on Amazon, and in other online stores. Eterna magazines also has different social media platforms where they would be advertised like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. 

Is that all? 

Well thank you all for coming, hope you enjoy the magazine. And if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask them.

Credits:

Cover graphic used/ created in Canva.com

CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION 1

Hello everyone

Today I will be answering Compulsory question 1. For this question I did a flipbook, when clicking on the link make sure you click on the first page so the audio can begin playing. After that the audios will play automatically after flipping the pages.

Compulsary questions 1:
How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Here is the link to the flipbook:
 https://heyzine.com/flip-book/ffacabad05.html#page/1 

Transcript:

Page 1:

Creative Critical Reflection. Compulsory question 1. Candidate number 0742. Sandra TurciosPerez. Centre number US154. AICE Media Studies.

Page 3:

Compulsory question one says, How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Page 4:

Answer. My magazine follows the rules and conventions of a standard magazine. Which includes a masthead , issue number, date, lead article, quote, models name, images and a barcode. As well as many other things that make up a magazine which will be discussed in more detail. My main inspiration was VOGUE magazines. I tried to follow their house style in order to do my magazine. Although I did use other magazines to compare them and add anything missing.

And these three pictures below are my inspiration.

Page 5:

Cover page conventions.

This image below shows every convention used in the magazine. There’s a masthead, cover line, models name, barcode, main image, tag line, issue number and date.

Page 6:

Now let’s go over everything mentioned in more detail. 

The masthead. This helps the audience recognize the magazine. Which is why it is such an important part of the cover. It is the largest writing o-n the cover and it's in the font London.

Cover line. This invites the reader to open the magazine. This is used to give the reader some insight of what would be inside the magazine.

Barcode. A barcode allows the purchase of the magazine. This is placed in the magazine for it to be easier to scan.

Issue number and date. On the top left corner there’s the issue number and date. The issue number helps the reader understand what version of the magazine they are reading. It also helps the company keep track of how many magazines they have produced. The date is also another way to keep track of the magazines.

Model's name. This helps the audience identify who the person in the image is. It can also help them know who the main article is about. Usually it is a celebrity and therefore the audience would pick up the magazine because they like the celebrity.

Page 7:

Image. This image provides  visuals. This is such a big part of the cover because depending on how the image looks, the reader would pick up the magazines. Its important to get the right angles and make the model stand out.  My group and I decided to do different camera shots. I did close up, while my other members are doing long, aerial and mid shot. The color scheme is also important, The picture can’t be all over the place. For my cover the background is blurred so the model stands out. I also put her face on top of the writing to achieve this goal as well.

Tagline. This provides a little  information or context about what will be talked about in the main article. This quote was said during the interview with my featured person. In order to help the audience be excited to read the article the quote helps with this.

Page 8:

Table of contents conventions.

 My table of contents has a masthead, featured people’s names, article title, images , page number, Story page numbers, and “contents” instead of table of contents. 

Page 9:

Title. This lets the readers know what page they are on. This is the biggest text on the page so that it's visible. Mine says “Contents” which challenges convention as other magazines would typically say “Table Of Contents”.

Masthead. The mastheads being in the top right corner established branding. My other group members also did this in their magazines to make sure we follow the same house style.

Story page number. This tells the audience where they can find the articles mentioned on the page. The number isn't so close to the article title, this challenges convention as other page numbers would be next to it.

Featured people’s names. This includes the name of the person the article is about. My magazine challenges convention as table of contents dont usually include the name of people unless they are the cover. My group and I put the names to make the table of contents more interesting.

Article title. This is the name of the article. This gives the readers the idea of what will be talked about. This is the same font as the “Contents”. As the page numbers and the featured names have the same font, this two also use the same font so that things connect and are not used without a purpose.

Page 10:

Images. In the table of contents the images help provide some visual about what is in the articles. For example, the first image seen has a picture of what the double page spread is about. Although it is not used on the article, it helps understand that it would be about makeup since she is applying mascara. Images help the reader visually the articles and therefore want to continue flipping through the magazine.

Page number. This helps organize the magazine so that the order makes sense. This also helps the audience know what page they are on. As well as help them find pages that were put in the table of contents. This follows convention as all magazines need to have page numbers or else the readers will be lost.

Page 11:

Double page spread conventions. 

The double page spread has a background image, a masthead, caption, supporting images, body text, drop cap, a gutter, kicker, folio, main images with model and headline. 

Page 12:  

Background image. Using an image in the background allows to layer different elements onto the magazine. The color allows the text to be seen better as well as the images.

Headline. This is the biggest text on the left page as it calls attention to the story. All magazines should have a headline and my magazine uses that convention.

Kicker. This is additional information to the headline . A magazine kicker should be short and summarize the article.

Folio. A folio includes issue date, magazine name and page number. This gives information about the magazine mostly to help identify what page the reader is on.

Caption. This provides information about the images. It helps the readers understand why the those images are used. In my magazine I used only one caption which challenges convention as most magazines put a caption for each image. But I did this to not fill the page with a lot of writing.

Page 13:

Main image. This is where the reader can see more of the featured person. Vogue which is my inspiration, usually put the model on either side of the magazine. So I decided to put it on the left so the right page can have the article.

Supporting images: This provides more visual to the double page spread. The supporting images also provide imagery to what is being talked about in the magazine article.

Masthead. Just like in the table of contents the masthead is branding for the magazine.

Drop cap. This is bigger than the rest of the article as it makes the readers understand where the article is starting. This are used in all magazines and I put it in mine to follow convention.

Body text. This is where the article is. Besides the first paragraph all the paragraphs should be indented. The story is divided into three columns to be easier to follow along. My story follows convention for the most part except there is no pull quote as they are in the article rather then outside of it.

Page 14:

Representation. 

My magazine represents young adults but mostly women to help them learn things about themselves. I want them to feel inspired by my magazine. In the article it talks about my featured person's experience with makeup and how it can be a positive thing. It also talked about hobbies and how to relieve stress which I know a lot of young adults can relate. When reading the article the target audience can also see the different advice my featured person has to say. She has experience with makeup and this can help those who struggle with their appearance. My issue in particular is about makeup and skincare. While my other group members are talking about clothing, fashion trends and fashion overtime. Since my magazine is for young adults, it is directed to all social classes as anyone can struggle with makeup and skincare. They can also use any advice they want to take away from the article.

Page 15:

That’s all for question one, thank you for listening.

Credits:

Cover graphic created/used in Canva.com