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.