Final Evaluation

Final Evaluation 

Before I started attending this course, and especially before beginning this Unit (Digital Graphics for Interactive Media) I used to see myself as incompatible with technology. Although I still don’t consider myself as technology-friendly , I have acquired more confidence when dealing with technological machines and their programs.

The first task that we were given for this unit was creating an Info-Graphic. That was the first time that I had ever heard that term, so this was something completely new for me. After researching and looking at some info-graphics, I really liked the idea of giving information in a creative way, the only problem I encountered was the actual making of the info-graphic. We were given the choice between Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create our Info-graphic. I had some experience with Photoshop , so I chose that programme. Immediately I came up with the idea to create an image of a room, and transforming the objects inside the room , into the things that had to be mentioned in the Info-graphic. The idea was very clear in my mind, but again it was a struggle for me to actually create it. But with the help of some tutorials and help from the lecturers I was able to create something very similar to my initial idea.

Part 2 of the first task , was creating our own blog, that we would be using throughout the semester. After experimenting with Blogger ( the blogging website that we had to use) I started building my blog, and I was very happy with the design that I came up with. I also had to banners for my blog, and I did this using Photoshop, that by then I had a good understanding of. 

The second task, was very different from the first two. In groups we had to create a blog for MediaCast. MediaCast represents all the students, lecturers, staff and any other person that is a part of the Media community of Mcast. In order for us to create a suitable blog for MediaCast, we had to look for the people that are in it, and understand what they would like, and what they are expecting from us. We spoke to many students and also some lecturers and got a clear understanding of what we should be putting on the blog. After some more research and meetings, we started coming up with ideas for the design of the blog. At this point, although we were placed in groups, we had to individually create banners and colour schemes for the blog. I made a lot of banners, all being quite different form each other, but I found it difficult to create something that would be liked by such a diverse group of people, so I was worried that I was creating things that I liked, and not what MediaCast would like.

Later on , all the members showed his/her designs and we chose the best ones. One of my banners was chosen and I’m very happy because I spent a lot of time working on them . In the past week we have been building the actual blog and it’s very satisfying seeing it taking shape. 

I am surprised to say that I enjoyed this unit, even though at the beginning I thought I would be useless at such tasks. I think that the skills that I’ve acquired will help me in my career, even though I don’t plan to continue on this line. Skills like using programmes such as Photoshop and Illustrator, will help me to showcase my work to potential employers. 

Internet marketing

Nowadays, marketing is mostly done by using the internet, like social networking sites. The reason for this is the amount of people that frequent these sites.
Marketing is not only done via social networking, e-mails are also becoming popular when it comes to advertising.
There are various types of marketing:

One to one approach - marketers target their audience one by one , and they make sure that they reach their audience on a personal level

Appeal to specific interests - this marketing system specifies on specific interests and behaviors, rather than reaching a wide range of people at the same time.

Niche Market - This is even more specific. For example rather than marketing a whole kitchen, it would be marketing a cooking utensil.

Geo-Targeting - The content is taking into consideration the location

MediaCast Blog Final

These past few weeks my group and I have been working on creating the MediaCast blog. Since we had already planned the design and the content, we didn't find it that hard to create.
This is a print screen of the home page

http://www.mediacastblog.blogspot.com/  ( this is the link where you can find this blog) 

To promote and market the blog we used posters

This was created by Francesca, another member of the group. 

'Photoshop CS4 for Digital Photographers' book advert Production Folder

Fictional Book Promo 

Meeting 1 

Today was the first meeting that we had as a group. The group is made up of Marco Attard, David Rapinett, Shaunphillip Debrincat and myself. 

Today we had to pick one advert, from the four that we had come up with. After showing the story boards to each other, and explaining why we thought the particular advert was the best, we voted and David’s advert came out on top. The advert is about a Photoshop book, and the story line of the advert is a romantic encounter between two male photographers and a pretty woman. After discussing the advert some changes were made to it. 

Mind Maps 

The whole team agreed that the majority of this advert will look better if it is shot outside. Being outside will make it feel more summery, fresh and young. So after eliminating the idea of a studio we started thinking about places that could be potential locations for this production. The first place that came to mind was the public garden in Santa Venera. We were all familiar with this garden and thought that the ambient of it was ideal for the shoot. 

We later decided against this, since it was far away from where we will be picking up the equipment. We then considered shooting the advert Fil-Gnien ta L-Gharusa which is located very near to the school. Since we are going to travel by bus ( if we chose a location which is far away from the school ) this place is perfect since we do not have to get the bus to get there.

For another part of the advert, we need a room ( this room will be used for the ‘editing’ scene). Since we are going to use personal laptops, the room doesn't have to be equipped  with computers. We decided to use Studio 4 (at Mcast Art and Design). We chose this room because it is currently not being used and it is empty apart from a few desks that we will move and probably use some of them as well. 

Pre-production Meeting 

Budgeting 

All of us are students, so budgeting is a big issue. Needless to say  the limited/no budget situation will affect the advert. We found a way in which to use things that we already have, like personal laptops and SLR cameras. Apart from these, all the apparatus is going to be given to us by the school, so technically we do not have to buy anything. 

Pre-Production Meeting 

Risk Assessment 

Hazard	Persons who may be harmed	Property which may be damaged	Risk control	Risk Ass. Low/moderate/high
Uneven terrain	Camera person Actors	Camera Tripod	Assistant camera person	High
Weather conditions		Camera  SLR cameras	Checking the weather before. Using umbrellas in the case of rain	High

Pre-Production meeting

Resource Lists 

Equipment- Camera (Battery included)             

                    Tripod 

                    Reflector 

                    Sd card 

Props- 2 laptops 

           2 SLR camera 

           Photoshop Book

           2 photos of actress taken at the location( Gnien L-Gharusa Mosta) 

           I-pod

           Blanket 

Talent - David Rapinett 

             ShaunPhillip Debrincat 

             Gloria Pace 

(All these actors have agreed and accepted our conditions, they are also available at the shooting dates) 

Locations :

The first location is going to be Studio 4 at Mcast Art and Design 

The second location is going to be Gnien L-Gharusa il-Mosta 

Synopsis 

The story revolves two young amateur photographers. These photographers are outside taking some photos so they can edit them later on. As they are shooting, an attractive woman comes along and sits down close to where they were. After a friendly ‘fight’ the two men go over and introduce themselves and ask the woman if they could photograph her. The next day the two men edit the photographs they took, the only difference being that one of them has the book ‘Photoshop CS4 For Digital Photographers. It is clear that the one with the book is much more confident in what he is doing, while the other one is struggling to keep up. 

The trio meet up again, and the men present their work to the woman. She immediately turns to the one that used the book to edit and they leave together.Before leaving the man hands him the book.

Shooting Schedule 

Date	Scene	D/N	iNT/EXT	Location name	CAST
6-5-2011 8:00- 15-30	2	Day	Exterior	Gnien L- Gharusa  Mosta	David Rapinett Shaunphillip Debrincat  Gloria Pace
23-5-2011 9:30- 11.00	1	Day	Interior	Studio 4  Mcast Art and Design	David Rapinett Shaunphillip Debrincat

Call sheet

Date : 6th May 2011

Call time : 8.00 - 15.30

Production : ‘Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Digital Photographers’ advert  

Producers : Jorje Bosios, Marco Attard, Shaunphillip Debrincat, David Rapinett 

Director : David Rapinett 

Location : Gnien Ta L- Gharusa Mosta 

Actor/s	Wardrobe	Props
David Rapinett	Casual	SLR Camera
ShaunPhillip Debrincat	Casual	SLR Camera
Gloria Pace	Casual	Blanket, Book, I-Pod

Call sheet

Date : 23rd April 2011 

Call time : 8.00 - 10.00

Production : ‘Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Digital Photographers’ advert  

Producers : Jorje Bosios, Marco Attard, Shaunphillip Debrincat, David Rapinett 

Director : David Rapinett 

Location : Studio 4 Mcast Art and Design 

Actor/s	Wardrobe	Props
David Rapinett	Casual	Laptop, Photoshop Book
ShaunPhillip Debrincat	Casual	Laptop

Final Banners and Posters

Posters and Banners

For the MediaCast blog we have to create posters and banners. The posters have to include high quality photos taken by us. 

I took some photos of an old Sankyo-Movimat video camera that I had bought at a market, and a clapper.

 I plan on creating minimalistic posters, that are simple but eye catching.

Audience Profile Analysis

Audience Profile Analysis  

The first essential step of creating a media product is  a good understanding of the product/service being advertised. A producer  cannot create an advert for  a product  without knowing what it is. 

Another necessary step is establishing the target audience. The audience is the only reason why this media product is being made, obviously  this creates a mutual and reversible relationship between the media producer, the media product and the audience of this media product.

To establish the target audience the producer must conduct research. Without research the producer wouldn’t be able identify the people that need or are interested in the advertised product. Different producers use different methods of research, the most popular are questionnaires and surveys. Both these methods can reach a large amount of different people, they can be easily deciphered and turned into statistics. Questions such as : ‘ Do you find cook books useful ? ‘ help the media producers understand what part of society is interested in his/her product . The questionnaire can include more detailed questions that will provide the producer with the background of his/her audience. 

To begin my target audience research, I conducted a short questionnaire to start establishing my target audience. 

The questions asked were:

1. Do you enjoy reading Biographies?
2. Do you only read Biographies about people you know ?
3. Do you prefer detailed Biographies ?
4. Do you prefer Autobiographies as opposed to Biographies?
5. Would an entertaining Ad encourage you to read a Biography about someone you have never heard about ?

I asked these questions because the product is a biography about an artist that is not very well known to the mainstream audiences. The questionnaire was given to 15 people, ages varying from 17 to 56. From the results I acquired, I found out that middle aged people do not mind reading detailed biographies about people that they have never heard about, but younger people prefer not reading detailed biographies. For the question about the Advert, the younger people seem to be more easily influenced by media products than the older ones. When it came to biographies vs. autobiographies, most of the people said it wouldn’t make a difference. From this research I also understood that my target audience falls under the category of Niche, although no particular background knowledge of the artist is important because the biography is in itself very detailed. 

I think that the advert should be focused on creating curiosity rather than being informative. It should also be revolved around the ‘blues lifestyle’ that will be easily recognized by the target audience and it will encourage them to read the book.