Second Year

Today I started planning ideas for a video as we have to create 10 minutes of content. I wanted to start planning ideas so I could start organising the types of shots I want to try during this task. I was finding it difficult to come up with an idea as we discussed having interviews with people about issues, we are facing such as covid, the money crisis and any other big issues facing the working-class people of Britain. I found this a difficult task as our magazine concept is to relax our readers so talking about these topics could be defeating that. I made a mind map to try get some ideas from the important aspects that need to be included in the video. To keep the calming aspect, I decided making the video as comforting as possible would be the best direction. I came up with the idea of creating a series in which we would interview different people with a video over the top with clips of different views. I am planning on editing the video in a Wes Anderson aesthetic, I felt this would give a comforting feel as well as giving me more opportunity to experiment with different aspects such as typography and camera shots.

 

I am so excited to do this project and be able to work closely with other members of my group. I feel that me and Steph would be able to make some really cool fonts and typography for the video and I think me and Jason could be able to experiment with different kind of video shots in the style of Wes Anderson. I also feel this will give Angharad so freedom with styling as I know she’s been struggling to get her ideas across.

 

 

This week I have been trying my best to get the website done. I have found it really hard understanding how to use the cargo website, I have watched so many videos to attempt to get a better idea but I am still struggling. I am finding it a bit harder as I don’t have the articles yet either so I’m a bit worried I am going to have to rush to finish the website close to the dead line.

As I will be using Cargo to create the website, I wanted to make sure I was using the app correctly. I have never made a website before, so I have been watching lots of YouTube videos to make sure I am doing everything correctly. Below are a few screenshots of the videos I found most helpful.

 

his video is the creators of Cargo showing the different options and abilities their app has to offer. I found this really useful as they went through each part of making the website in depth so I know I am using the app to its full potential.

Today me and Steph went to the library to start to create a plan for the website. I think the website has been one of the things I have been most anxious to start as I’ve not had many ideas of how I want it to look. Me and Steph wanted to do it together as Steph can help me with the designing and I will be able to research the best ways to try and make it happen. I have previously done research on different websites so have an idea of the content we need to have on the website

 

 

I wanted to use today to make sure all the content for the social media was detailed and ready for me to start posting. I started by creating a social media calendar on excel, I spoke to my group to make sure everyone is happy with the type of content I’m planning on posting. I’m hoping to add more to the calendar in the next few days such as plans for the YouTube channel as I’ve been mainly focusing on the Instagram. The first post is going to be the video we made of me modelling. I thought this would be a good thing to start the page with as I feel this post is a good introduction into our brand. By creating the social media calendar, I am able to organise the next post and how it will flow from the last post. I am able to make sure I include all the necessary content such as BTS, videos, edits, inspirations, as well as post I need to be thinking about adding stories and highlights. I also wanted to create a chart with all the captions I am planning to include with the posts. I wanted to do so when I’m posting so I won’t be as overwhelmed and will have everything prepared beforehand.

 

 

Here I have done some research and planning for the Lakebed Instagram. As we continue with the project, I think now is a good time to start putting together a social media calendar.

I wanted to first have a look at other magazines and see how they present their content through each of their social medias. By doing this I can get a better idea of what factors I might need to consider for our own platform. I looked at different magazines such as Another Escape, Dazed and Vogue.

I wanted to look at these different magazines with different aesthetics and selling points to research different ways I can promote our photography. When looking at each of the magazines I was focusing on different aspects that each showcased. Some of the magazines I saw as competitors, similar unique selling points, or I just liked their social media.

After this research I found a few things, I wanted to use as inspiration for Lakebeds social media. From our manifesto and the audience we are targeting I feel that having high quality reels on our Instagram would be very fitting. I think creating different kinds of reels would showcase our selling point as well as our aesthetic. Although trends are important, I think having high quality videos will more likely attract our audience. I also feel that Instagram will be a great platform to advertise our video which will be on our YouTube and website.

Today we did our first photoshoot for the magazine. We decided that the beach near the marina would be perfect for this photoshoot, we thought it would be a great location as it was a similar look as most of our mood boards and Pinterest. I wanted to collect some BTS footage from this photoshoot for the social media platforms, I am aiming to get footage at each shoot we do. As the photoshoots theme was escapism, I wanted my filming to be very simple so I could create a calming video from it. I wanted to make sure I got everyone doing their roles to show a working photoshoot production.

After the photoshoot and looking at my footage I want to start looking at different videos I could start planning for the next shoots. I am happy with my results, but I don’t want to be filming in the same style each time. I want to try looking at trends or trending songs and work around there. Overall, I think our first shoot went very well and we are all excited for the next one. We have been working really well together in lesson and are all present when meeting outside of uni. I am happy with the work I have started working on and I can now start organising what I want to post and when

 

 

Today we were learning about affective PR stunts and if it possible for them to have a negative effect on the audience. we looked at different examples of good and bad PR stunts and the way it can damage a brand if the audience’s response is bad.

We looked at a few different examples of bad and good PR stunts. I thought the WestJet Christmas miracle advert was one of the more rememberable for me. The advert starts by customers at the airport telling Santa what they want for Christmas. While they are on the flight the staff members collect all the presents, they told Santa. When the customers are collecting their luggage instead of their bags all the presents, they wished for appear. I thought this was a great PR stunt it was effective and emotional for the viewers.

A bad PR stunt I thought was when an airline flew planes over the New York city not long after the 9/11 attack. This left people panicking, and some buildings were even evacuated. This is an example of a very bad PR stunt that left the company with a lot of complaints and upset people.

Our first task was to create a PR stunt for group 3. We noticed that their magazine had a big theme of human connection, so we wanted to showcase this throughout this task. Our idea was to create a short video of small things that people do for each other that you maybe don’t notice much but can make someone’s day a bit better. As we were presenting, we wanted to make a short PowerPoint to give everyone a better idea of the types of videos we would do. Me and Steph picked multiple pictures of different ages and groups to showcase this is for anyone. We had the photos doing different acts we imagined would fit well in this video. These acts were giving a hug, helping someone cross the road, walking your dog, spending time with a loved one and so on. We wanted to use small acts as a way to remind the viewer of the little things we do for people and what they do for us. We wanted to create a wholesome and warm feel as we felt group 3’s magazine represented this.

Today we presented our practice media pack. I found today hard as I don’t like speaking Infront of crowds, but I knew our group has a good plan of what we’re doing so I would be fine. For the PowerPoint I created the mock ups of the Instagram and website, I was happy with the outcome and thought it looked fitting on the final PowerPoint. I used my favourite images from our Pinterest to give the audience a good idea of the atheistic we are trying to create for our magazine. To get a better affect I used mockupworld, this is a website that connects to photoshop, and the mock ups look like it’s in a phone or laptop. I think this made the mock ups look much more professional and gives us an idea of how the platforms would look.

After the presentation we had feedback to try practice more before presenting as we didn’t have a script with us. After watching the other groups, I completely agree I found the groups that had notes had a presentation that ran more smoothly.

Although, I think our presentation went very well, I think Jason and Abbie created an amazing PowerPoint that carried our aesthetic all the way throughout. I think from the feedback we now know how we can make our real presentation better and more affective for the real presentation.