Wednesday 5 January 2011

Ideas for brief

For my A2 coursework I have chosen to produce the first two pages of a local newspaper. I’m not overly sure that I want to make a newspaper like the Bromley times, I’m thinking of doing something more along the lines of an older teenage audience. Reason for this is that I am interested in what’s happening in and around our area, but no the way The Bromley Times format it, so I would make it more sinical for a more elder teenage audience, so they can get to grips with what’s happening around the community but so they understand it more.

Yesterday I sat down and had a look at a few local newspapers; I concentrated more on the Bromley Times. I concentrated on this paper, as it's more on around the borough more than just others or mine local areas. From looking at this paper I realized what I need to use to make a paper, by using certain conventions such as a masthead area where I can contain the title the price as well as the date, and possibly nearer the future maybe a puff. Another convention I believe that I could use would be a plug, as it would draw attention for the younger audience into winning something. Once I had covered these elements I realized I obviously have to have a lead story, this will need to be very large and bold. As well as that I will need a small section on the front page that will be dedicated to the lead story as well as having a jump line. I also realized with most local papers for there second story they have a photo on their front page to introduce the story, it will also have a little box with writing about the second story. And last I would need advertisements that would be targeted towards my audience.

On the Second page of the Bromley Times I realized it had a publication details section which I will definitely need if I’m going to use a plug as I want a lot of feedback towards my paper as well as people collecting their prizes etc. On this page its mainly dedicated to the Main story as well as an introduction to the 3rd little story. Bromley Times also had a distribution information section, this I’m not to sure whether I would use yet but I could always try it and see whether it works or not. The bottom half of the page was family announcements, mentioning birthdays, funerals and other important information. I will be probably be using the same five page layout as the Bromley Times as it works and looks smart.

I made this choice as I originally made a short film for practice and found it a lot more difficult than I first thought it would be. Another reason as to why I chose to do a newspaper was that I had already used software for desktop publishing such as in design and Photoshop, I thought I’d rather try and further my development in these aspects rather than try something new.