Preliminary Task: Newspaper Advert and a Double Page spread

Analysis of Advertising in Newpapers

In order for my website to gain interest in a potential audience, I need to advertise it by producing promotional adverts in popular mediums. I have decided to produce a newpaper advert, which will appear in newpapers popular with teenagers. Therefore, after some research, I have decided that tabloids would be better to advertise in than broadsheets, as more teens buy these type of newpaper. Some of these papers, like the News of the World, have more emphasis on entertainment and celebrity news than other papers.

Preliminary Tasks

These last couple of weeks, I have been producing my methods of advertising and promotion for my Teen Music TV Channel. I have developed a newspaper advert, which will appear inside a popular newspaper, and a double page spread, so the TV Channel can reach its target audience.


Here is my finished Newspaper advert below:

Evaluation

Looking at my finished advert, I am very pleased with how professional it looks. I feel that it is eye-catching and very colourful, especially the spiral background. I feel that the layout is well organised, with a top banner with the logo, the bottom banner with the TV Channel providers and a very attractive background. The effectiveness of the artists on the right of the advert adds a teen flavour to the advert, as they are all influencal artists. I asked friends what they thought of my newspaper advert, and one commented on the wide range of fonts. I think that the use of layering (of the artists, background behind, etc..)is effective, giving the product a 3D feel. The information which includes plenty of details about the Channel talks about what the TV Channel and website offer, and the website address is given to the right. I like the colour scheme very much, and it stays consistent with the theme of the website. My logo is again used here, as it uniquely identifies the brand of the TV channel, making it more likely the audience will bookmark it as something to look at. The advert also includes the providers, and what channels TMH is going to be shown on.

And here is my Magazine Double Page spread:

Evaluation

On apperance, the double page spread looks well structured and organised. There is a column to the right which shows images of the shows of the week, which would possibly encourage a teenage audience to want to watch the TV Channel. I have made a theme, and continued it throughout all my mediums, with a quotation. Here on the double page spread, there is more emphasis to this, as it is the main sub-heading above the text, which is 'Enter the New Age of Music'. The quote is 'The New Age of Music', but for the double page spread, I felt adding 'Enter' would make the quotation sound bolder, bringing the audience's attention to it (also the meaning of enter suggests the TV Channel is going to be unique and a lot different to most TV Channels).

The text is split into two categories; the white font applies to the TV Channel, and the yellow font focuses on what the website has to offer. I think this works well, as it gives the impression there is less writing than there actually is. There are lots of images around the double page spread, with a printscreen of what the website looks like. Some of the images and fonts have also been aligned in an angled position (eg shows of the week). I have kept the background consistent with the background on the homepage on my website and newspaper advert, as it increases the likelihood the audience will remember the brand/channel. Again the website address has been included.

Checklist for Media and Sourcing of Images/Videos

Today, I have looked at what aspects I need to cover in order to complete my brief ...

1. Research for Website
2. Development of Website
3. Skills Demonstrated

4. Evaluation

To also complete the Newspaper Advert and Double Page Spread.

Here are my time allocations which I completed at the start, so I meet all deadlines so my coursework will be finished on time:

Website Research - September 7th - 21st

Planning (layout and design) - September 21st - 28th

TV Channel Research and Website Content/Planning eg. Listings, Content - September 28th - 9th October

Preliminary Task - Newspaper Advert and Double Page Spread - October 12th - 26th

Main Task - Development of Website - October 26th - November 23rd

Sourcing Images and Other Media eg. Video - November 23rd - 27th

Evaluation

Evaluation of Skills Demonstrated - November 27th - December 4th

Audience Feedback and Evaluation of its findings - December 4th - December 11th

Final Evaluation of Preliminary Tasks - December 11th - 18th

Final Evaluation of Website - December 11th - 18th

The first week of January back in school is to spend double-checking all work is complete and sent off. Blogging is to be done regularly of the work completed.

Sourcing of Images

Throughout the production stages of this coursework, I have used many images and some videos in my website. Some are original, and others are from the Internet. Here, I am going to source all the images and videos used, saying where they have come from and why they have been used, starting with my original images and video:

Original:



Me and a friend took this at a gig a while ago. It is very music related, and the dress sense, fashion and attitude is very visible from this photo, so I thought it was very appropriate. It is used on my homepage and in the slideshow widget.





This photo was taken at the CIA, where Take that were on tour, with 'The Circus'. The photo is used on the homepage as the main image on the news column and on the news page.






This photo was taken at a local gig of a band, with some members going to my school. The photo is used on the homepage in the news column. There is also another photo of this band, which is used my widely on the website:




Here is the second photo of the band. This photo is used more widely on my website, being used on the competitions page (to win tickets), on the news page and on the reviews page, within the panel buttons as the artist/band of the week.





This photo was taken at a new years eve party, with the musician being from my school. The photo is used on the homepage in the music column.







This photo was taken at a sixth form party. The photo was used on the homepage as the main image for the shows/listings column and in the slideshow widget at the top of the home page, and used on the listings page under 'picks of th week' section.







This photo was used on the News page.









This photo was used one of my forums pages. These next few photos have all been used on my forums pages:

I took this photo of an Apple Mac, which has music technology equipment and studio functions. I have used this photo for my competitions page.

Video:

I filmed this video at the schools talent show. It will be used on my forums page.

The sourcing will be continued in a later post

Building my Music Players (making play buttons)

Recently, I have been researching and watching tutorials at home, learning how to make a music player. There were two ways of doing this from my findings, one which involved literally making the play button. I tried this method first, which needed Adobe Flash Professional. The video on youtube talked me through the process, using two images layered above each other to make the play and stop function. However, once completed, my buttons would not play properly.



I then tried out the second method which I had found, which was a lot easier to do, and didn't involve making the button from scratch. Again I used a youtube video tutorial to act as a walkthrough over the process. This method involved taking the embed code for a youtube video of your choice (if of course the video and owner of the selected allows this), copying it into the html code view in dreamweaver on the page which you require (on my website, it will be going onto my homepage and music player), then deleting the parameter sections of the coding away. Then, in the code, there are width and height options, so I altered it so it was very small, so all that was visible was the play button.

I added a play button to the homepage (top frame), but also added a autoplay function to it in coding, so it would automatically play when the teenager enters the website. The play button will be in the top banner frame, so even when the user goes to a different page, the music will still be playing. I have however left the play button visible, so if the user does not wish to listen to it anymore, then they may click on it so it will stop (pause).


I have also added these plays buttons to my music player, but with some, I have increased the length, so the user can move the scroller on the player back and forth along the track.




The addition of a music player to my website really enhances what the TV Channel stands for, which is young teenage music. The website would allow the teenager to listen to music which they would be able to listen to on TV Channel, even though they might not be anywhere near a television.


Here are some printscreens of the play button on my homepage, and my music player page on my website:

Homepage - The play button is in the top frame, to the right and underneath the searchbar

Music Player Page - There is a small collection of singles on this page, with images above the youtube scrollers/players

Here is an example of one of my play buttons, which will play when clicked...

Iyaz - Replay (does take a couple of seconds to start)

Production and Development of Website

I have set up my website so there are six pages, which are Home, News, Reviews, Listings, Music Player and Competitions. I have also made a template, so when each page loads, the logo on the top stays the same. This was mentioned to a certain degree in earlier entries, when I explained how I was going to use a Frameset. One primary aim of a frameset, is to ensure that each frame is independant, so each with its own content. However, I used this to my advantage. In the html coding, I set it so apart from the Mainframe, the three other frames would not have scrolling capabilities. These frames are set, so this means the top frame, where there is a navigation bar, would not move down with the rest of the page, making it very easy to the audience to navigate around the site.

In this blog entry, I am going to annotate what I have done so far on each page. All images and videos will be sourced, with most of both mediums being original.

Home

Here is a printscreen of my Homepage so far: (all these printscreens shall be taken when websites are in live view on Internet Explorer)

I decided that I would have a homepage, as it is a widely used page on many websites as the starting point, with information on other pages on it, so the audience can see what the website has to offer. It also provides a quick clance at what the TV Channel listings are for the present time, eg. what is on NOW, then what is on next and then later .. The homepage is there primarliy to make it easier for the audience to navigate around the websites, clearly illustrating what content is on what pages of the website.

News

Here is a printscreen of my News page so far:

I decided that a news page would be appropiate for my website, as the TV Channel is Teenage Music related, so any entertainment news would deefinately be an interest to my audience. The page will offer its audience the latest news, breaking news and any celeb goss.

Reviews

Here is a printscreen of my Reviews page so far:

I decided that a Reviews page would greatly enhance an interest in my website, as it would give an insight to its audience as to what we (TMH) think of the well known stars/singles/albums etc. There is then a hotspot (button) which allows the audience to be directed to the itunes website, where they can download the selected single/.. To the far right, there are TMH's top rated single, album and upcoming star. Lower down the page, there are then game reviews. I felt that adding game reviews would be appropiate to the website, as teenagers are the largest consumers of games sold today, so this may be of interest to some teenagers.

....

On this next printscreen, on the right, there is a collapsable panel (on adobe dreamweaver, this type is actually called a spry accordion)

Listings

I have added a listings page to my website, so the audience will know when certain programmes are on, even without being near the television or without going out and getting a listings magazine. The listings table pinpoints any new programmes which are new to the TV Channel, and the Picks of the Week's section at the bottom allows the audience to see what TMH thinks is the highlights of the week.

Music Player

At this present momment, I have not been able to effectively start this page yet. I am concerned as to what way to approach this page. My teacher has suggested to use a widget (eg itunes widget), but I feel that this would not statisfy what I am looking for. I want to be able to have information (and possibily an image) on the left, then on the right side, a play button, where the audience can interact by clicking the play button, then listening to it, as well as an option to stop. I feel a widget would be too small, and would be like a playlist format apperance rather than a comprehensive list of artists, information and then the play function.

Competitions

The Competitions page provides a large array of quizes and compeitions with very rewarding prizes. I felt having this page on my website would give the audience something to do whilst they were bored, giving both interactivity and entertainment to my website.

Creating my Navigation Bar and hyperlinking it.

Today, I decided to add a CSS Style to my links, which is my navigation bar, to the other pages on my website. (The links in at the top, such as News, Reviews etc..). I used w3schools website to help me learn how to do the html coding for it to work. The effect I wanted to acheive is when the user moves the mouse over the link, the background behind it changes colour. For it to work, I made the frame background black, then coded it so when the mouse hovers over 'Home' for example, then the background behind that word changes to light blue. This gives the website a very friendly and interactive addition.

However, I would also like to have it so my buttons have backgrounds to them, like a colour gradient to them. This would make each button look more attractive to start with, as well as giving them live. (MTV have buttons which don't change colour).

In order to even comtemplate this, I first needed to create my navigation bar. Whilst learning how to make a website using youtube videos, I found a good way of creating a navigation bar, by inserting a SpryMenuBar. This customizable navigation can be created in Adobe Dreamweaver, by going to Insert, Spry, then SpryMenuBar. I chose horizontal when prompted, and then a basic navigation bar appears. This widget is very handy, and can be coded to have a background changing colour when a mouse hovers over it (this is done by going into the Spry Assests folder where your work is saved, then going to the css. folder marked menubar horizontal. There, there is some coding under 'Menubaritemhover' , where the colour can be changed, so when you hover over a button, the colour will change. ) I have coded the spry so when a mouse does hover over a button, the mouse pointer changes, indicating a hotspot/hyperlinked image.

Here is my navigation bar, with the six pages which I am going to have:

The six pages are Home, News, Reviews, Listings, Reviews, Music Player and Competitions. Each button is hyperlinked to the appropiate page, making it easier for teenagers to get around the website, additionally instantly informing them what the options the website has to offer.

In order to successfully hyperlink these buttons, you need to click on each box (in the text), then go down to the properties tab at the bottom. Then, set the target to 'Mainframe' (this appears in the drop-down when the frameset coding has been modified, so the middle frame is labeled as Mainframe'), so the change of content will appear in the middle frame. Then, go to the drop-down where it says 'link', and select which page you want the button linked to. I have set up five more empty html files, so the home button should link to the Home.html file, etc..

Software Packages, logos and initial setup of Website

It has been a while since I last updated this blog, due to network crashes, teacher training days and power cuts - a little annoying. Up until today, I have planned the layout of my homepage, as well as learning how to use Adobe Dreamweaver - the program by which I will be creating the website. Within the same software package, I started by creating my logo for Teen Music Hits in Adobe Fireworks. I started by creating a spiral shape, giving it a blue fill, which is one of my house-style colours which I have chosen to use (example of keeping to design conventions). I then copyed this logo into photoshop, then started editing it, adding effects like shadows, better colours and a silvery retro (like metal) background to let the logo stand out. Once completed, I then went into page properties in dreamweaver, and made my logo and top banner (where my searchbar will be) the background image.

I feel that its effect is successful, similar to the BBC Switch website, working well as a header.

Here is my logo for Teen Music Hits. The original logo I have taken into Adobe Photoshop, then added different effects, so it enhances its look and feel, making it more retro/teen savy.

Teen Music Hits logo

This logo has been inspired by my research of logos, which was a circle shape, with an attractive surround and retro style text in the center, with the websites' name/title. My logo started its development in Adobe Fireworks, where I created a spiral shape, with a light blue fill. I then used two different types of font layered in front of the spiral, both uniquely teenage friendly, to produce the text. The top line reads 'Teen Music' in a slightly smaller font. Then, in the second line, the word 'Hits' is larger, emphasising its meaning and possibily drawing in an audience.

After this, I then copyed my logo from Fireworks to Photoshop, which I am now more familar with after completing the Foundation Portfolio element of the A Level course. I used my skills with this software package to effectively enhance my logo, by adding lighting effects to create shadows within and to the left of the logo, and additionally to create a silvery, teenage savy border.

Special Shows TMH Logo

Teen Music Hits Logo and Banner (which will be used in the top frameset)

Once I had completed my logo, I then created a series of boxes, which all came together to become the top banner of my website. I then decided that I would possibly keep this top banner for my later tasks on producing a newspaper advert and double page spread, as it was easy to manipulate, and I also found it very eye-catchy. I left the bottom, lighter silver box empty, so later on, I could insert my navigation bar onto, keeping my website organised. I then saved it as a JPEG file, then opened up Adobe Dreamweaver.

Setup of Website

To make my website, I used Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 (and on occasions CS4). When on Adobe Dreamweaver, I needed to begin my website, by firstly creating a new html file. Each html file would be a page on my website, so I started with just one to get the basics of making a website for the first time. I started by structuring my website, by applying a frameset to my blank page. To do this, I went to Modify , Frameset , Split Frame Right. The page then split into two halves. I then pulled the new dividing line to the right side, leaving some room. I then split the frame again (now the larger one) Split Frame Left, then again going to the middle frame, Split Frame Up. After some fine tunings, I had my basic frameset, with two side frames, a top banner frame for my for my logo (illustrated earlier in this blog) and my middle frame, which will be refered to as my Mainframe. (the navigation bar will need to be hyperlinked, with a target of the 'Mainframe' so pages will correctly load in the middle frame.) I set up a frameset structure like this, because lots of popular websites have all the content in the middle, and the two side frames could be used later on to show other options. I find the layout is organised and will be very attractive to the teenage audience when it is all complete.

A lot of making the website was using html coding, which was very time-consuming and difficult for someone who doesn't know the correct terminlogy. I did though use youtube for help, by watching tutorials on how to make a website.

Before I saved, I managed my site, by going to site, then manage site. I did this so all my work would be saved accurately, so all my files went to one folder, images to another, videos to another etc, keeping everything neat, preventing the loss of work.

Research and Explanation of my TV Scheduling

In earlier posts, I had devised my listings for 7 days - Saturday to Friday. On this post, I am going to explain how I came to my finialised listings.




All TV Channels focus their listings of programmes depending on what audiences are most likely to be watching the TV Channel at the time of broadcast. My TV Channel is going to be called Teen Music Hits (TMH), and is geared at a young audience, mainly teenagers. The TV Channel will therefore have to gear its schedule around the typical teenager lifestyle, making sure the best programmes are on when teenagers are going to be watching the TV Channel, maximsing viewing ratings. This means between the times of 9'o'clock (typically) and 4, the large majority will be in school, college or work (later aged teens), so programmes will need to keep this in mind. The Channel can start its day according to the teen lifestyle, so on weekdays, the 'TMH Breakfast' show can start at 7.00, and on weekends later on, as young people tend to stay in bed for a 'lie in' Then, on weekdays, after the Breakfast show, there should be lower rated programmes shown, such as repeats or playlist programmes of the 80's etc..





Then, by about 4-5 o'clock, teenagers should have got in and the vast majority put the television on. This is when the good programmes can start. There should be interviews with famous artists or celebs, as this is conventional teenage savy. There should also be a 'TMH' entertainment/news catchup of the day, as teenagers have been out all day, and will want to stay informed of the latest news related to them, such as celeb breakups, new bands. After this then, by around 7 o'clock, there should be teen dramas. Teen Dramas is a series largely focused on teenage charcters, looking at their lifestyles, similar to soap operas. This genre of programme is very much focused on the teenage audience, as they allow the audience to witness charcters growing up, along the way facing an array of realistic teenage issues. After this, there could possibly be a film, again audience related, like high school musical, or Twilight etc.. or a newer playlist programme, more related to the time.


Between 5/6 and 9 o'clock is when the largest teenage audience will be watching the channel. After this, following their lifestyles, some may still be watching, whilst others might have gone out with friends. (small number doing homework). It is also after 9'o'clock when more explicit and unchild -friendly programmes can start, as children should have gone to bed. At about 10'o'clock, programmes which are rating of 12 -15 (18) can be on. I have decided that these programmes will be comedy related, as comedy is one aspect which attracts an audience, of any kind. This can range from Dirty Sanchez, to South Park and Family Guy. Two programmes like this should take the channel up to 11.00, when most teenagers on a weekday will be going to sleep for the night. On the weekdays, there should be a last 60 second news bulletin before finishing. However, on a weekend, some still might be up, so another 15-18 rated film could be shown, before finally finishing.





Taking a teenagers lifestyle into account is one method of maximsing viewing ratings. There is another way of increasing viewings of less popular programmes by using a hammocking technique (putting an unpopular or weak programme in between two popular shows, hoping that viewers will be too lazy to turn over). When most teenagers will be watching the TV Channel (between 5 and 9), this is the best time this technique can be practised to its full effectiveness. This is done by scheduling a very popular programme first, followed by a less popular programme, which is then followed by another very popular programme. This will mean teenagers will have to watch the least popular programme in order to see the next programme. A good example where this has been done is on ITV, where GMTV is shown first, which is one of the most popular breakfast shows in Britain, which is followed by the Jeremy Kyle Show, which has been rated the least viewed programme on ITV, which is then followed by GMTV's breakfast competition, This Morning, which is also very popular. This results in the Jeremy Kyle Show experiencing a higher audience rating.

There are also other techniques television channels use to boost audiences for programmes. I have used a pairing technique, which is putting two similar programmes or the same show on one after the other. A couple of examples where I have done this is with South Park, where it is on first at 10.00 until 10.30, then another episode straight after from 10.30 until 11.00, and then with The Hills earlier on in the day.

As I have decided that my TV Channel and website are going to be music related, I felt it was appropriate to use Theming, whereby a channel picks a theme (eg.music) and show a night of programming about that theme. As my channel is music related, this would work well. I decided that on Friday this would happen, with either a large-lengthed programme on music, or a collection of say one hour slots on music programmes. On my lisitings page for this week, I decided that from 8.00 until 12.00, it is going to be a special programme, celebrating the bestsellers of 2009.

Planning my Website - Website Plan Design

Today, I will be starting the planning of my website. This will consist of the laying out of each page, deciding how many pages I will decide to have and what options will be avaiable (eg videos, games etc). This will be done by hand, so I will be hand drawing my ideas, so time can be saved later in the production stage of the project. Everything I have been doing up until now, from the research to the planning, is the pre-production stage.


There is a key structure and layout to my website, similar to 4music, BBC Switch and MTV. The top frame along the top consists of the logo, searchbar and navigation bar, which makes the website accessable, interaactive and user-friendly. There are then two side frames, which surrounds the middle frame, which contains the main content of the website.

Below is my plan for my website:

The Home page will be the first page the audience will see when entering the website. From this page, they can redirect to another page, either by clicking on hotspots within the news/music/listings columns on the homepage, or by clicking on the links in the navigation bar at the top of the page. There will be six other sections, with one being an extention of the reviews page, as the audience can write their own reviews in the forums section, therefore coming under the same heading. The plan above briefly states what will be on each page, brainstorming the main ideas I picked up from my research.

Planning my website

Here are just some features I have pinpointed, which I had found from other websites which I particulary want to use for my own website:

- Collapsable Panels - Found on E4 and Radio 1/Reggie Yates Sunday page. These panels start out as a button, then when clicked, a box expands from beneath the button (or in e4's case, from the side) to reveal content related to the text on the button. It is an interesting alternative to just reading text from a standard text box, and invloves the user's involvement by clicking, adding some interactivity to my website.






- Search Bar - Found on 4Music. This enables the user to search for specific information which they require to see. This would save time, making it easier for the audience to navigate around my website.

- Logo - On every TV Channel Website. The logo draws attention to a new TV Channel/website, and its apperance could be what gives a good first impressions to an audience. It also uniquely identifies the website.

There are also other features, such as the font sizes, type (which will be veranda), colour etc...

Today, I will be starting the planning of my website. This will consist of the laying out of each page, deciding how many pages I will decide to have and what options will be avaiable (eg videos, games etc). This will be done by hand, so I will be hand drawing my ideas, so time can be saved later in the production stage of the project. Everything I have been doing up until now, from the research to the planning, is the pre-production stage.

There will be a key structure and layout to my website, similar to 4music, BBC Switch and MTV. The top frame along the top will consist of the logo, searchbar and navigation bar, which makes the website accessable, interactive and user-friendly. There will then be two side frames, which surrounds the middle frame, which contains the main content of the website. The middle frame, which will be refered to as my 'mainframe', will change its content when a new page is clicked on in the navigation bar, eg. Home, News, Competitions.. There will be a selection of images, which will have been original photographs taken by myself, and additonally other images from the internet, which will be fully credited and sourced. On some of my pages, I will also add videos (original), which will be used in my forums section, so people can watch music videos and then later write their opinions on them.


Listings Page :

I decided on having a listings page, because teenagers can find out whats on the TV Channel, even if the audience are not near a television or do not have a listings magazine. Below, I have devised a 7 day listings for my TV Channel, which will be shown on my listings page on my website. I will also select the best programmes for the week to feature in my 'shows of the week' section:

Saturday
8.00am - TMH Breakfast
11.00 - 60 Second News
11.05 - Run's House
11.35 - Run's House
12.05pm - Pimp my Ride
12.35 - Pimp my Ride
1.05 - Best of the 90's
3.05 - Best of the 00's
5.00 - TMH News
6.00 - TMH Hotseat
6.30 - Today's TMH Top 5
7.00 - The Hills (New Series)
7.30 - The Hills (New Series)
8.00 - FILM: Grease
10.00 - Dirty Sandchez
10.30 - Dirty Sandchez
11.00 - TMH Top 40
(12.00 - Finish)

Sunday
8.00am - TMH Breakfast
10.00 - Cheryl Cole's lush 10 hits
11.00 - 60 Second News
11.05 - Run's House
12.05pm - The City
12.35 - The City
1.05 - TMH's Naughtys
3.05 - TMH Divas
5.00 - TMH News
5.30 - TMH Hotseat
6.00 - Pimp my Ride UK (New Series)
6.30 - NEW! Central Station
7.00 - TOP 40 TMH
10.00 - South Park
10.30 - South Park
111.00 - TMH Films - Twilight
1.00 - Finish

Monday
7.00 - TMH Breakfast
10.00 - 60 Second News
10.05 - JLS's 10 Jukebox Classics
11.05 - The City
11.35 - The City
12.05 - The Official Top 40...
4.00 - Top 10 Downloads
5.00 - TMH News
6.00 - TMH Hotseat
6.30 - Today's TMH Top 5
7.00 - The Soundz Show
7.30 - Meadow Rise NEW!
8.00 - TMH FILMS: High School Musical
10.00 - South Park
10.30 - South Park
11.00 - 60 Second News

Tuesday
7.00 - TMH Breakfast
10.00 - 60 Second News
10.05 - Liam Blakes' Top 10 Pops
11.05 - The City
11.35 - The City
12.05 - 40 Romantic Hits of the 90's
4.00 - Top 10 Clubbing Beats
5.00 - TMH News
6.00 - TMH Hotseat
6.30 - Today's TMH Top 5
7.00 - The Soundz Show
7.30 - Run's House
8.00 - Central Station
8.30 - Run's House
9.00 - 20 R&B Classics of 09
10.00 - South Park
10.30 - South Park
11.00 - 60 Second News

Wednesday

7.00 TMH Breakfast
10.00 60 Second News
10.05 Gazza's Slick 10 Catchy Tracks
11.05 The Hills
11.35 The Hills
12.05 40 Pop Classics of the 21st Century
4.00 TMH's 10 Hip Tracks
5.00 TMH News
6.00 TMH Hotseat
6.30 Today's TMH Top 5
7.00 The Soundz Show
7.30 Meadow Rise
8.00 TMH's Hot Goss Catchup
8.30 Meadow Rise
9.00 Top 40 Singles of the Decade
10.30 Dirty Sandchez
11.00 60 Second News

Thursday
7.00 TMH Breakfast
10.00 60 Second News
10.05 THE Awesome....
11.05 Run's House
11.35 Run's House
12.05 Divas of the Decade
4.00 Top 10 Downloads
5.00 TMH News
6.00 TMH Hotseat
6.30 Today's TMH Top 5
7.00 The Soundz Show
7.30 Run's House
8.00 Jay-Z's Rundown of 2009
10.00 Dirty Sandchez
10.30 Dirty Sandchez
11.00 60 Second News

Friday
7.00 TMH Breakfast
8.30 TMH Entertainment News
10.00 60 Second News
10.05 THE Awesome....
11.05 Run's House
11.35 Run's House
12.05 Bestsellers of '08'
4.00 How JLS did it..
5.00 TMH News
6.00 TMH's Friday Lowdown
7.00 Chad Kroegers 10 Mind Blowing Rock Anthems
7.30 Meadow Rise
8.00 Bestsellers of '09'
12.00 60 Second News
12.05 TMH FILMS: LA Story

In my next blog post, I will explain where I have used a 'hamocking' technique, which is used on most TV Channels, where a not popular programme is put inbetween two high demanding programmes, increasing viewing ratings of less popular, so teenagers would watch the programme in order to be able to see the programme after it.

Research into Content for my Website

I have decided from my research and planning that I will have six hyperlinked pages. My website is going to have a homepage, a news page, listings page which will also include the shows of the week, a reviews page for the latest new singles/albums and new games (this idea was taken from MTV.), a competition page, which will feature quizes and competitions, with appropiate prizes suitable to its audience, and a music player page, where the user can listen to a selection of singles of this week (newest). On this blog entry, I am going to brainstorm my ideas for each page:


Home Page:

My homepage is going to be the first page the user will see when entering my website, so it needs to give a very good first impression. Within design conventions of any website, the homepage will offer its audience places to go, by which I mean links to the other pages, with images and descriptions next to them to encourage the user to go to that page. Most of the websites I have researched mainly have a form of widget at the top, with the most top rated sections clearly on show.

News Page: My News page is going to consist of the latest entertainment news, additionally any celebrity gossip (goss) or possibly breaking news which the audience will find interesting.

Reviews Page: (Latest Singles/Albums released this week) Next to each single, there should be an itunes button, which redirects the user to the itunes download page. There will also be a reviews button, which will redirect to a page with comprehensive reviews down the page. The Reviews page will have content of music and games, as teenagers find games appealing.
There will also be a link which will allow the audience to go to a forums section, where anyone who visits the site can write their own reviews on music videos, discussions and other topics related to music, entertainment or the TV Channel.

Music Player: On this page, there will be a collection of the weeks 'must hear' singles, which will have the option of play and stop functioning. Most of these singles will be addressed on the reviews page, where it might be easier to navigate the page if there where direct links on each page.

Competitions Page:
Possible Quiz's

Identify who they are: Quizs (eg a picture of snow patrol)

CD Covers - which band are featured on the cover?
Artists - who is shown in the photo?
Bands - which band is featured here?

MTV have a good competitions page, where there is a large variety of competitions, ranging from wining a break to New York, to getting a free Wii, as well as free cinema tickets if you enter etc..

Listings Page:

My listings page will contain a weekly runup of programmes, followed by 'shows of the week' section, which picks out the must see programmes. (high star ratings). When I start my planning, it would be wise to have my listings ready for typing, so time is saved later.

Research for a name and logo for my TV Channel/ Website

Today, I am going to be brainstorming possible names for my music based website.


DJ Telly
Musika TV
T-Music Television
Teen Music Hits (TMH)
Mix-UP TV

TMH Mix

I have decided that I will use Teen Music Hits, as it can be interpretated as TMH, which is done by many well known TV Channels, such as MTV (Music TV), ITV (Indepandant Televsision) and the BBC (Britsh Broadcasting Coporation).
For my theme, I have decided to go with a retro feel, similar to the BBC Switch website. As well as using black, I will use red. The font will need to stand out to the foreground, so it should be white. This would be because the majority of the website will be black, so white would be best.

To make my website successful, it needs to be unique. Every website has a brand, which is portrayed mainly by using a logo. The logo needs to be relatively similar to the style of the webpage, with eye-catching colours and font to attract a teenage audience. TMH (Teen Music Hits) could be arranged differently by lettering rather than by full length title, similar to MTV.


Here is a logo which I found from searching for research, which I like very much:





I like the circle, with the ink effects surrounding it, giving the impression that the logo has been stamped down on the page. I like the font for teen, and I find the colour of the background very appealing, because purple isn't a commonly used colour.

Research into Other Related Websites - Part 4/ 4Music

Today, I have contiuned my research into teenage ( but now tha addition of music related websites), hopefully aspiring me in my own creative ideas for my own website. I found a new one today which I wasn't familar with before, it was brought to my attention whilst watching TV. The TV Channel is called 4Music, and is very much teenager orientated.


The first element I noticed upon entering 4Music was the navigation options at the top. I like how when the mouse rolls over the button, the background changes colour to pink, one of the websites colour scheme colours. Although I very much also like the shape of the navigation buttons, so they are funky and unique, I feel this may be in-pratical to do. I will however attempt coding my html so the background changes colour. Therefore, I will need to research the html coding my using w3schools, otherwise searching google for possible results.

On closer inspection of the homepage, there is also another element which I think makes the website more interactive to the user. Just beneath the navigation buttons, there is a slideshow type of widget/flash, which enables the user to change the picture so it is larger in the middle, by clicking on the right, where there are smaller photos. This would give my homepage a bit of life, additionally giving my website a professional and approachable feel, keeping the audience interesting in my website.

There is also a searchbar at the top, where the user can serch the web for something particular to them. I feel this will provide more options to the audience if I also included a searchbar. However, I feel that my website will not be as developed as a standard music website, so I will have a specific based google searchbar, where users will be primarliy directed to my website first, followed by youtube, as youtube can provide music videos which go beyond what my website will have.

However, I don't like the background on 4Music's website. Although it is being bold by having such a bizzare background, I feel the tiled effect makes the pages appear bare, and having a picture as a background takes attention away from the content. This has led me to think that on my website, there should be a solid colour background, so content will stand out to the audience.
This may be because compared to other websites of this genre, the amount of content which 4Music has is fairly low. I will try to have more content than 4Music, but not too much. I will have more images, followed by writing associated with it.

Every page on 4Music is consistent in terms of layout. Although this may sound a good concept, I feel there should be a little variety in appearance, like BBC Switch, where they have different colours for each page, such as yellow for music, red for news etc...

Possible Theme for my Website

Based on my personal interests in Music, I have decided to produce a Teen Music TV Channel Website. There are a number of music TV channels around, with online websites which could influence any ideas I may have on a possible theme. I will need to think of a schedule, and what niche of audience I will be targeting, for example, MTV has a schedule of American songs and bands, etc..

Here are a number of possible TV channel websites established on Music:

http://www.mtv.com/
http://www.vh1.com/

http://www.4music.com/

VH1 and MTV

















I have decided that I want to have a black and blue theme, inspired by BBC Switch. I will then use a white font to stand out, prefably something like veranda, then I will have two side frames, which will be surrounding the middle frame, where the main content will be. It will target a British, teenage audience, and will connect with its young audience using an informal language, using expressions and sentence structures (and words) typical of todays ('slang') language.

Research into Other Related Websites - Part 3/BBC Switch

BBC Switch is a relatively new brand of televsion, aimed at teenagers within the UK. It includes a number of television programmes shown on BBC 2. BBC is one of the oldest broadcasters around, with a number of services ranging from a number of television programmes, radio, and now online. The BBC aims to reach a large range of audiences by producing many niche services, spanning from Politics on BBC Parliament, CBBC for children, BBC for factual and now BBC Switch for teenagers.


Here is an example of the teenage TV channel website homepage which I find appealing and unique. It is the BBC Switch TV channel website.

<-- As with nearly every website which I have been researching, there is again an option of typing in a searchbar. I now fully understand the importance of searchbars, as they really do help to navigate quicker around the website, pinpointing information the audience wants to see (as found on e4). The scroller at the top of the page is very attractive, as well as being user - friendly, and demonstrates a creative approach to showing a number of upcoming TV shows (possible use of widget). The arrows on the left and right of the screen stand out, as they are large, white to stand out through the black in the background and have some form of special effect added to them (in this case, a 3D effect makes the arrow feel more interactive within the page). As well as that, each time you scroll through the TV shows, other TV shows are visible on each side of it. The special effect added with shadows gives the impression that it is a sphere going around you, making this feature unique among similar rival websites. Lower down the homepage, there are subcategories, which are unrelated to what is on the TV channel. It's layout on the page is compact within a small space, but is colour co-ordinated, such as yellow for Music, Orange for shows, then there are other options to select from such as online features/exclusives etc.. In some ways, this homepage may have too much going on, becuase there are so many options to chose from, ranging from news, advice, games, online.., making it harder for an auidence to chose from and much of it could be irelevant. The colour font is effective, as well as font style, as they stand out from the black background, and makes it easier to navigate the website, as everything is colour co-ordinated. I like this idea, and I feel this will be a good feature which I could incoperate into my website.


When you click on another option, such as 'Shows', the layout of the page changes quite significantly, but the colour assoiciated with the option is kept consistent. This feature, as well as making it easier to navigate it, gives the website a structure, making each page flow into another.

I like the background colour of black (black boxes, suspended onto a bluey template), as it goes well with any other colour, and it gives the page a 'retro' feel, making it attractive to a younger audience, specifically Teenagers.

Research into Other Related Websites - Part 2

Today, I have started research into TV channel websites, as well as shows and other media options such as music. On E4's website, they advertise shows which are popular on E4, such as Skins and Hollyoaks.
I have found a number of different TV channel websites of different genres, but with unique styles and structures which I find appealing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart
http://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/
http://www.e4.com/
http://www.mtv.co.uk/
http://www.vh1.com/
http://www.4music.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree

I will analyse the next few websites later on, as they are all different from each other, each with different features and aspects which I could incoperate into my website. (more teen based)

http://www.teen.com/
http://www.teentelevision.com/
http://www.the-n.com/


This research will help me find out what teenagers find appealing and interesting (attracting a niche audience), additionally helping me structure the layout, colour and logo for my website, as well as aiding me when I start my TV listings.

E4’s website

Here is e4’s homepage, which is well sized and visible to its audience.E4 is a digital television channel, which is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15 - 35 age group. Font size and colour is very important , as it is crucial for attracting an audience, and additionally ensures the file size of each html page is kept to a minimum, so users of an average or slow connection are not disadvantaged. The logo is prominent, as well as cleverly designed so little space is taken. It has some nice bordering effects surrounding it, making it eye-catchy and interesting. On visiting this website, I was impressed by its interactivity when hovering over a button (illustrated below). This followed on when by clicking on a button, the content in the left of the column changed to match the buttons title, making it easier for the user to move around the site.
Content (Image and Text) which changes when button is clicked
Button, which its background changes to a lighter colour when hovered over.

There appears to be a house style to this website, as portrayed by its colour scheme of white and purple, with a constant background on each page. The language (the form) is teenage friendly, with the text being very informal.

The Layout of this page, along with the other pages (as they are very similar) is very attractive, leaving lots of room for images, widgets and collpasable panels etc.. As a teenager myself, I find what this website has to offer would entertain me, as there are many options to choose from, such as games to play, videos to watch and a competitions page. However, although it is a design convention of a typical website that colour should be kept constant in order to flow from one page to another, I find e4 carries this aspect on too well, as I find it a little lubourius going from one page to another, with exactly the same colours and background. I would though like to keep the font the same from one page to the next.

From this research, I have found that the layout of the website will have an effect on how easy the user will have moving around my website, additionally how attractive the page will appear to the audience. I have also decided that I may colour co-ordinate each page, so the audience does not get bored by the same colours used over and over again.

Research into Other Related Websites - Part 1

To start this coursework, it is best to carry out research into similarly based websites. This will positively have an influence on my own website's design and structure.

I have looked at a large range of TV Channel websites which are targeted at a teenage audience to begin my research. I like the layout and design of a few well known websites, such as e4, BBC Switch and MTV. In order to fully gain ideas from this research, I will need to identify what it is attracts the teenage audience. All mediums have certain forms and conventions by which make them. The web is harder to grasp in terms of design conventions.

Research for my Website

I will look at different 'Teen Channels' already established, looking for USP's (Unique Selling Points) that make them attractive to its audience. Collecting ideas on themes, pictures and text content and style (both writing style and font style) will help me distiguish what it is teenagers find interesting in them, which I could possibly adopt into my website. As well as identifying positive aspects in exisiting teen channel websites, I will also evaluate if all the information on each page of each website is revelant. By finding aspects which are less successful, I can make my website stylish, without unnecessary and unconsistent material.


Here is a Checklist I have made as to what needs to be carried out in my Pre-production phase of this coursework:

Research into different websites
Audience Research eg. Questionaires/Surveys
Site Organisation
Images which are going to be used
Brainstorm for a genre and name for my TV Channel
TV Listings

And below is my draft time allocations for each section of this coursework, in order that all the work is completed:

Website Research - September 7th - 21st
Planning (layout and design) - September 21st - 28th
TV Channel Research and Website Content/Planning eg. Listings, Content - September 28th - 9th October
Preliminary Task - Newspaper Advert and Double Page Spread - October 12th - 26th
Main Task - Development of Website - October 26th - November 23rd
Sourcing Images and Other Media eg. Video - November 23rd - 27th
Evaluation
Evaluation of Skills Demonstrated - November 27th - December 4th
Audience Feedback and Evaluation of its findings - December 4th - December 11th
Final Evaluation of Preliminary Tasks - December 11th - 18th
Final Evaluation of Website - December 11th - 18th

The Brief Specifications for Media Studies Advanced Portfolio

Today, I received the brief for OCR's Media Studies Advanced Portfolio (A2) coursework. The main task outlined in the brief, is to design a website for a new 'Teen' TV Channel. The website must include a minimum of 3 hyplinked pages with original images, audio and video extract. Additionally, a newspaper advert for the channel and a double page spread for a listings magazine, focused on the channel's launch, must also be completed.

What I plan to do now from my brief..

For this piece of coursework, I will be producing a website, in order to work in synergy with a new teenage related TV Channel, as well as a preliminary task of two promotional products, which are going to be a newspaper advert and a double page spread. I will be creating a number of hyperlinked pages to go into this website, such as a homepage, news page, competitions and other revelant pages. In order to plan the design and layout of my website, I will need to carry out some extensive research into the web-designing industry, such as looking at different forms and conventions (eg. language, colours etc), and the genre of my TV Channel, which will attract a large teenage interest. This will mean I will have to look at a large range of TV based websites. I have researched a number of methods, ideas and strategies in order to help me plan the production of the new TV Channel Website. I have looked at a large range of TV websites, which target many niche audiences. These teenage based websites all have a different approach, determined by their genre, such as having an emphasis on Teen dramas, others on celebrity news etc (specific genders). The website therefore needs to meet these audiences with interesting news, reviews and interviews of their favourite idols.


Planning my Research - What shall I do in my pre-production?

Before being formally given this brief, we were given some time to brainstorm any ideas on what type of TV Channel we were going to base our ideas on. I decided that I would focus on teenage music, as I have a passion for music, therefore making this task more interesting to do. My website will target both genders, so there will be no specific references made in the language, content or images.
Before I begin thinking of producing my magazine, I need to do some research, so I know exactly what my target audience would be looking for in a music related website, such as what encourages teenagers to visit them, what their interests are. Research can be carried out by analizing teenage releted websites, so I can see what interesting features other websites have which I could possibily adopt, as well as seeing how I can make my website more interesting and successful than theirs. I must not forget however that I need to address both what the TV Channel would be offering, and what the website will promote.


I need to research the TV industry and web-designing industry in some detail, looking at how a website is produced using particular programs, such as looking at typical case study TV websites around today.
From this research, I can amend earlier ideas, possibly changing my genre depending on gaps in the industry. This can lead to a potential gain of revenue by producing a TV Channel, by which its genre is lacking, meaning less competition, maximising audience ratings.