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.