Clean layout

As Lauren and I prepare for the last stretch of the A level portfolio project (due in 10 days), we have begun diving deeper into the third component of the assignment: the magazine article. A few blog posts ago, I outlined the research Lauren and I conducted in preparation for our writing and designing of the print sector, an extremely helpful and necessary transitional blog that has led my partner and I to today's decisions.

Considering the requirements of the task, which dictate that conventional magazine themes must be included, Lauren and I have taken a great deal of time considering the layout we hope to utilize. In order to do so, we turned to Canva, our favorite platform. Below is the design Lauren and I concluded would be best for the documentary 'director's cut' article.

Of course, we will have to customize the template. For instance, the background for our article will not be yellow as the shade does not match the overall aesthetic and theme of our brand, which encompasses a more rainbow-like aura. In addition, concerning the third page, Lauren and I theorized that we could also include images along the left column rather than maintaining the empty space from the original layout. Here are (some) of the pictures we believe will compliment the 'director's cut' idea very well: 

Unfortunately, I am the worst at taking photos, and so we have none of Lauren for now. However, this upcoming week we plan on staging a couple pictures of her in her director duties in order to represent us both in the article.

(Sarcastically): I can't wait to go back to school tomorrow!

Foolish planners

As I stated on my spring break schedule blog, the outline Lauren and I created set expectations for us to complete the editing of our 5 minute excerpt by the end of this week. However, understanding the hectic nature of vacation and trip plans, I admitted that the schedule was not be strict and would merely serve as a reminder of what we hoped to accomplish. After spending nearly a week in California, I have realized that Lauren and I were right in stating that the outline would likely not be completely followed.

As I tourist around a variety of cities, I have done my best to actively communicate with Lauren and to work on different components of the portfolio project, such as the social media or the documentary itself. Although I have yet to complete, or seriously advance, the editing journey, I have taken beginning steps. Firstly, I went through the tedious and frustrating process of transporting the clips from my phone onto my laptop and then placing the videos on the Adobe platform. Since doing this, I have spent my free time going through the interview footage and selecting/cutting away the sequences and narratives we wish to include in our piece. Below is a screenshot of one of the videos on the platform as I watch and select the primary points. 

Although I wish we had more time to complete our project during break, I feel that the little we have accomplished is optimal and that Lauren and I are perfectly on track to conclude all the components by the deadline. 

Likes fly

On my last blog post, I outlined a spring break schedule Lauren and I curated in order to ensure we remained on track during vacation. Of course, the schedule included dates dedicated to posting on the Instagram account for the Create documentary, an aspect Lauren and I have focused on greatly this past week. In total, we formulated three posts, all dedicated to intriguing the audience and further promoting the documentary's release. 

For the first publication, Lauren designed a documentary intro which dictates the title of the piece, the production house (one we invented named "Ghost light Productions"), and the release date of the extract (cleverly, the due date of this project), a strategic decision aimed at specifically marketing the distribution of the documentary. Below is the amazing edit my partner created on Canva (is anyone surprised?).

The second and third posts for this week strived to merely entertain the audience, attempting to gain a closer sense of familiarity and thus increase the probability of viewership. While one post included a collection of 5 'behind the scenes' images of both the subjects and us, the directors, the last post illustrated a comedically edited blooper reel of funny moments from the documentary interviews. 

Below are a couple of the images Lauren and I decided would be nice to publicize. 

 

Secondly, here is the video I created with clips I found to be amusing, featuring the iconic The Office theme song as an upbeat background: 

Editing updates coming soon!

Cruel spring break

This upcoming week is our county's spring break, a vacation I have been anticipating since our last time out in December. In order to ensure we maintain on track with our project, especially since Lauren and I will both be traveling this break, we concluded it would be best to create a schedule outlining each day's tasks. Below is what we came up with. 

Of course, this is not a finite plan as our availability is unforeseeable for the duration of the break. Instead, this schedule will serve as a reminder to Lauren and I of what we want to accomplish soon, considering we are approaching the end of the portfolio project timeline. Although we hope to conclude editing toward the end of the week, I believe that as long as we finalize a majority of the 5 minute extract we will be on track to meet the April 10th deadline set by our teacher. Nonetheless, blogging is a must, and I will most definitely be posting at least 3 updates during spring break, perhaps even including some fun details about my trip...

Happy last high school spring break to me!

How you get the view

For this week's social media posts, Lauren and I concluded that a good measure would be to post short episode previews, such as the mini-trailers from the Chef's Table Instagram I detailed in one of my previous blog posts. While the footage for Abby and Riley are on Lauren's phone, Constanza's, Josh's, and Sai's interviews, as well as b-roll, are all saved onto my camera roll, a division causing us to create the episode teasers separately. 

Each reel encompasses what would be the beginning of each episode, with the subjects introducing themselves, their job, and how they grew to gain their position, a strategic decision we hope will interest audiences enough to garner viewership for the documentary. Concerning Josh and Sai's preview, as they will be the main extract produced for the portfolio, although the trailer illustrates the beginning of the episode, Lauren and I plan on focusing the 5 minute piece on the middle and end portions of their stories, as the creation process is primarily discusses during those segments. Moreover, Lauren and I concluded that a mere 30 seconds per subject would be optimal to maintain audience attention as well as enough to demonstrate the subjects' initial stories while simultaneously preventing the revelation of too many details. 

Below are the trailers I made for Josh, Sai, and Constanza. 

  

Upon posting the videos to social media, I formulated a simple caption directed at marketing the documentary and drawing viewership. Furthermore, for each teaser, I included the subject's 'signature' emojis, as done on our previous posts, which indicate the medium dealt with in the specific episode. Here are the descriptions for the yearbook and podcast publications: 

Lastly, Lauren and I decided that reposting the reels onto the Instagram's stories and saving the clips onto the page's highlight reels would essential to ensuring maximum follower interaction with the media text. 

Honestly, I never in my life imagined I would put in this much effort into an Instagram account, but it is kind of fun!

Blank editing space

As I stated on my last blog post, Lauren and I have officially concluded our filming process for the documentary portion of the portfolio project. While preparing for the editing journey (our hardest obstacle yet), we agreed that conducting editing research would be essential. Although both Lauren and I have experience editing, our last documentary project was edited on iMovie, a platform which caused us a large amount of stress and concern. Therefore, for our portfolio, we concluded it would be beneficial to use Adobe Premiere as our editing platform instead, thus increasing the need for research as Adobe is a much more sophisticated and complicated application. 

Firstly, I felt I needed to learn the basics. For a documentary, at times, it is necessary to detach audios from specific videos in order to replace the original video with different clips while maintaining its sounds, a function primarily helpful for b-roll placement and one I am only familiar with on iMovie. Below is a short yet extremely helpful YouTube video I discovered while researching the audio-separating function on Adobe Premiere. 

In addition to learning the detachment of audios, I brainstormed other functions I performed on iMovie amidst our previous projects that I did not necessarily understand how to employ on Adobe. During my editing of last year's portfolio project, the two minute film opening, although I edited the complete piece on Adobe, I was required to export the extract onto iMovie in order to add text onto the piece, considering I was greatly struggling to do so on Adobe. Also, last year, my film opening included a plethora of fading transitions between clips that were essential in translating the overall theme of the film, another task I had to export onto iMovie for due to Adobe's complications. Provided text is crucial in documentaries, especially for subject introduction, and transitions may assist the flow of the storytelling process, I concluded these were skills I had to learn, landing upon the two following instructional videos during my research: 

I would like to give a personal shout-out to "Adobe in a Minute," the creator of two of the YouTube videos above. Now, understanding how the primary functions that caused me concern in the past work on Premiere Pro, I feel increasingly confident that Lauren and I will not face as much stress and as many obstacles as done on our last documentary project. Of course, more research may be required as we begin editing and perhaps encounter complications; however, for now, I strongly believe we are set to commence our journey. 

I knew they were trouble

A few blog posts ago, I relayed the news that mine and Lauren's filming schedule with the podcast hosts, Josh and Sai, was postponed as other commitments interrupted our plans. I am happy (and relieved) to report that today, finally, we were able to film both the interviews and b-roll with the two subjects. Although it was a challenge to complete and perfect all the aspects we had hoped to include in the documentary, as Josh is a dedicated jokester, Lauren and I feel confident that the variety of footage we gathered today will mesh very nicely when the time for editing begins. 

When preparing for the interviews, Lauren suggested we have both Josh and Sai in one shot answering the questions regarding collaboration together, considering a majority of their story encompasses their collective hard work and creativity. However, some inquiries, which surrounded more personal processes, we concluded would be best if asked to each separately. Highlighted below are the 2 questions Sai and Josh responded to on their own. 

We felt that those two questions in particular would differ for each subject as they may brainstorm and research topics on their own and thus we felt the need to accentuate both Josh and Sai's processes  considering the documentary's purpose is to capture the creativity present within each individual through their chosen mediums.

Regarding b-roll, Lauren and I primarily focused on acquiring staged footage of Josh and Sai "recording" a podcast episode from a variety of angles and shots. In addition, we made sure to film clips of their equipment, laptop screens "researching," and even the two boys playing football together, as those were all topics mentioned in their interview responses. Below are some images of Lauren and I performing our camera woman duties as well as a funny video of Josh's foot resting on his table.

    

 

Now, onto the hardest job of all: Editing.

P.S: If anyone cares, I am happy to report that I am completely healed from the flu!

Timeless magazines

My long awaited and favorite aspect of the Media Studies documentary project begins now! As I stated on my last blog post, as the deadline for our portfolio project arrives, Lauren and I must begin working on the third component of the assignment: the magazine article. Although a journalism enthusiast, I have no concrete experience with the field and its stylistics. Consequently, as a starting-point, Lauren and I concluded that conducting research on different magazine layouts, writing formats, images, covers, and much more would be crucial to ensure our utmost success on our A level task. 

This week, while in class, Lauren and I began our research by viewing the magazines our teacher owned, ranging from People to Car and Driver. As we flipped through the pages, we noted and scanned any details or layouts we found interesting or engaging that we could possibly mirror on our own design. Below are some of the compositions I personally felt inspired by and why. 

-People and Forbes:

The layouts above (taken from People Magazine  and Forbes, respectively) both include a column in which fun facts regarding the topic of the article are mentioned, a fun and engaging detail that entices the audience in a way plausible for Lauren and I to mimic. I specifically noted the placement of the sections in the middle of the page, a structural component which perfectly adds an eye-catching element to the page. 

In addition, the People text on the left, a piece on the actress Michelle Yeoh, is written in the style of an interview, with questions and dialogue italicized for readers to follow clearly. When learning about the different options of magazine texts we could create, interviews were mentioned; however Lauren and I were unsure of the option. Yet, following my reading of the People extract, I feel confident that such a model would be extremely fitting for the documentary article as an interview could provide detailed insight on the production decisions and overall meaning of the work from the eyes of the "director."

-Car and Driver:

Upon reviewing the Car and Driver magazine, as provided by TStok, Lauren and I agreed that, although not required, our magazine may benefit from a title, introductory page with large and engaging images, such as the one demonstrated from the piece "The Ten Commandments." Including such a layout perfectly benefits audience involvement and thus motivates consumers to read the actual article, a subtle and yet amazing production decision we concluded would elevate the elegance and poise of our creation fantastically.

-People (again):

The layout illustrated, also from the Michelle Yeoh People article, includes a minor and yet crucial design aspect that I greatly believe would benefit our project. As may be seen, in between the paragraphs, three small dots are elicited dividing the content and sections of the interview being described. In addition, the dots are all different colors, an adorable and fun decision which perfectly encapsulates People Magazine's exciting aura. Drawing from this, I feel that Lauren and I should include a similar divisional structure which mirrors the rainbow aesthetic incorporated in our documentary logo. In addition, toward the bottom of the page, a quote by the actress is accentuated, a detail Lauren and I agreed increases the intimacy and amusement of an article and are now dedicated to including in our own piece. 

I would like to personally thank People Magazine for providing Lauren and I with so much inspiration for this aspect of the portfolio project (People, if you're reading this, please give me a job in the future). Now, with my gained familiarity on the genre, although seemingly impossible, I am even more excited to write the magazine article for Create.  Also, thank you to TStok for all the magazines. 

Dear follower

A couple blog posts ago I revealed that Lauren and I had officially commenced our Instagram journey, starting by curating our profile picture along with the biography for the account. However, over the past week, we have been preparing actual posts for the Instagram's feed, all of which primarily focus on introducing the documentary and its subjects. 

Firstly, we felt it would be beneficial to announce the upcoming release of the documentary in a fun and engaging manner. Consequently, last week, we decided that posting the title in separate grids, divided into 3 posts, would be a fun and mysterious manner to intrigue followers and prompt audience engagement. Below is the composed look of the 3 pictures (omitted is the caption "coming soon..." on the second post which aimed to hint at the release).

Following the exposure to the piece in its entirety, we concluded that this week we may dedicate time to introducing the individual subjects represented in Create in a coherent and creative manner. Once again, utilizing her Canva skills, Lauren and I were able to edit photos of the subjects in front of a background demonstrating their designated medium, along with a title specifically dictating the medium covered by the individuals. In addition, we felt it would be necessary to incorporate the rainbow theme present in our logo into the introduction post, thus leading to the backgrounds of each picture being an ombre mix of two shades. Interestingly, when lined up together, the 3 posts' colors blend into one another, thus further emphasizing the notion of a rainbow and successfully maintaining our brand coherent.

Under each post, we also included short, 2-sentence texts concerning each of the subjects, presenting their names, specific jobs within their medium, name of media text, and 3 fun emojis relating to their specific field. 

If both the social media and documentary components themselves already appear hard to tackle simultaneously, I regret to inform that Lauren and I will be initiating our research for the print component soon...

P.S: By "regret" I actually mean I am thrilled; the magazine aspect of our project is my absolute favorite part!

'tis the flu season

A few blog posts ago, I reported that Lauren and I were to film with Constanza, Josh, and Sai that week, even sharing a small filming schedule Lauren curated on Canva. Unfortunately, our plans to record interviews and b-roll with the podcast hosts, Josh and Sai, fell through as an obligation appeared for one of them. However, the schedule with the yearbook editor in chief Constanza went according to plan, and Lauren and I were able to gather a variety of beautiful footage and intel on the subject's creative process. 

When preparing for Constanza's interview, Lauren and I decided that we would not inquire her on all the interview questions we prepared considering we wished to focus her responses on the extracts suitable for social media. Highlighted below are the questions we utilized in the interaction.

Following the interview, which worked extremely well as Constanza is a natural on camera, Lauren and I filmed b-roll in our school's yearbook room (with permission from the teacher, of course). We primarily focused on capturing Constanza fulfilling her duties, such as editing layouts on her computer or writing out the club's schedule on the white board. In addition, we made sure to film collaborative footage in which Constanza appears working with her fellow editors on their designated assignments. Lastly, Lauren and I decided that capturing stills of the room itself, which is fantastically decorated, would be essential in order to represent the environment of the creative process. Below is my favorite piece of b-roll recorded that day, with the beautiful and glowing yearbook sign from the classroom demonstrated. 

Also, here is a funny behind the scenes clip in which Constanza is heard testing the microphone used for the interview: 

Although we have yet to film with Sai and Josh (schedule to be announced), today, Lauren met with Riley and Abby to film their sequences for our social media. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend as I am currently sick with the flu. However, I completely trust that Lauren was able to capture amazing footage for our project and I cannot wait to share what those look like!

Bejeweled logo

As I stated on my last blog post, during my class's group meetings, I received amazing advice from my peer, Yoav, in which he stated that on our logo Lauren and I should highlight in color the tagline under the black and white title, thus further representing the idea of "breathing life" into art. Below is the new (and improved) logo, as reimagined by Lauren and I and edited through her Canva mastery. 

I believe this version of our logo perfectly maximized both our hopes to achieve an aesthetically pleasing theme and to incorporate color theory in order to symbolize creativity. The rainbow-style text, mirroring Abstract's design, excellently encompasses the principle that media creation and engagement spawns livelihood and beauty, an overarching purpose of our documentary series. 

Moreover, as we prepare to initiate our social media component, Lauren and I have discussed making our final logo as the profile picture for our Instagram account, a platform we deemed optimal given our target audience ranges the ages 18 to 25 and includes both female and male viewers. In addition, in honor of our title, we also concluded that merely naming our account "createdocu" would be an easy and simple manner to indicate to audiences what the account entails as it represents both the label and form of media text of the piece. Here is a sneak peek at the introduction of our profile:

P.S: Filming process is nearly concluded (updates coming soon👀😄✌).

It's nice to have friends

Today in my AICE Media Studies class my teacher divided the classroom into 4 small groups of around 7 students each. Once secluded in these teams, we were tasked with discussing our portfolio projects and providing one another with advice, critiques, and new ideas. Below is a picture of me with my group, including Miguel, Morgan, Ale, Abby, Tai, and Yoav. 

When it was my turn to share, following my description of what my project entails, I inquired my group members on two things: interview questions and logos. 

Regarding the interview questions, I merely asked my classmates to review the sets and decide whether or not we covered the full scope necessary in order to properly represent the production processes in their entirety. Although the whole group agreed that the content covered by the questions were optimal, one peer, Tai, made an extremely insightful comment concerning the wording of the questions, stating that some may be tweaked to ensure subject comfort and response quality. For example, one of the questions Lauren and I wrote for Josh and Sai asked "What does your brainstorming process does look like," a phrasing Tai theorized could be more efficient if modified to "Can you walk us through and describe your full brainstorming process, from beginning to end?" Utilizing Tai's ideas, Lauren and I plan on revising our questions prior to the continuation of our filming process. 

Concerning the logo, I asked my group to select one of the two options detailed on my last blog post, despite Lauren and I having already solidified which we would use for our project. Although some of my peers preferred the blue design over the black design, a majority of them agreed that the one we chose (the black one) was fitting as well. However, Yoav, one of my team members, suggested that, while maintaining the title black, for the tag line, Lauren and I could add a pop of color, therefore further symbolizing the idea that our production is "breathing life into every medium." After I revealed to Lauren his idea, we agreed that it would be a perfect way to combine both the color theory purpose of the blue option with the aesthetically coherent function of the black option, and have discussed employing Yoav's words into the logo later on. 

I feel very strongly that the group meetings concept this year will benefit all of our portfolios magnificently and I am lucky to have received such thoughtful and helpful advice. 

For fun, here is the other picture we took, on Miguel's phone, that I look absolutely appalling in <3

Styling the brand

As I stated on my last blog post, Lauren and I have begun our social media journey earlier than expected and therefore are currently required to tackle a plethora of obstacles regarding the task, one being the "look" of our brand. Specifically, the documentary's logo. In an attempt to gain inspiration, Lauren and I turned to our favorite model: Abstract. 

Below is the brand logo for the Netflix documentary.

As may be seen, the Abstract logo includes a multitude of colors, mirroring the composition of a rainbow likely in representation of the many diverse forms of art encompassed in the series, a color theory detail Lauren and I deeply admired and noted as an option for our own design. In addition, below the main title, the tag line "the art of design" is listed, a structural component we also decided would work perfectly for the logo of our documentary. Utilizing these two concepts, Lauren and I formulated the idea below.

In awe of the main idea surrounding our documentary being the creation of media through the three main mediums, we brainstormed the title "Create: Breathing Life into Every Medium," a name largely representative of the content within our piece. Mine and Lauren's decision to include images of within 3 of the letters marks a further attempt to elicit the three mediums covered in the extract, with the first being a podcast set, the second a yearbook template, and the third a movie theater. Modelling Abstract's logo, however, the blue demonstrated in ours purposes to symbolize the artistry encompasses in the documentary, considering blue is one of the main shades associated with creativity. Moreover, the inclusion of the tag line under the larger title solidifies another organizational feature inspired by our main muse for this project, Abstract. 

Yet, upon concluding this design, Lauren and I reflected, both agreeing that the contrast between the blue and the black and white photos created a stark and unsettling look. Consequently, we began working on another option. 

Here is what we came up with:

Although the switch from blue to black defeats the color theory purpose of the logo, Lauren and I both believe that establishing a coherent and pleasing aesthetic for our brand is more important than an intricate, minor detail audiences likely will not perceive. With the black, our documentary's socials will appear increasingly attractive and artistic, thus likely drawing in more followers than a messy and non-matching layout would. 

Once again, I must applaud Lauren for her Canva mastery; if it were up to me to design a logo alone, our Instagram would gain only one follower (my personal account). 

Glitch on social plans

Although mine and Lauren's schedule did not plan on initiating the social media component until the later weeks of our portfolio project time frame, we recently discovered that the rubric for this sector requires 5-week's worth of constant posting, thus demanding that we begin planning our media factor earlier than anticipated. As a first step, prompted by our teacher's guidance, we will be researching different documentary Instagram accounts as we plan on Instagram being the primary platform for our own piece's marketing. 

Below is the format required for our research assignment, which I will be filling out on this blog (3 times)!

1) 

-Media text: 

Our Planet

-Social media tool: 

Instagram

-Description of types of posts:

Our Planet primarily focuses on posting clips from their documentary on Instagram, in both photo and video format. While many of their reels include voiceovers and captions over b-roll, a great measure to facilitate the communication of information to followers, their photo posts are usually multi-grid, also with captions, and attempt to expose viewers to a plethora of stimuli, regarding content specific to episodes as well as general facts concerning the overall environment. Furthermore, in a means to connect with audiences, the Our Planet Instagram account posts a variety of memes with comedic captions prompting viewer response and engagement. For instance, under one of their multi-grid pictures in which multiple animals are displayed, the caption states "Tag yourself, I'm the Sarcastic Fringehead," a satire and enticing post that may strengthen audience interest in the media text.

Below is an example of one of Our Planet's image publications: 

-Description of how branding is developed (or not):

The Our Planet account does a wonderful job of developing the documentary's brand through the content publicized on the social media. Virtually all of the Instagram's posts entail an animal or a facet of the Earth's natural environment, thus clearly detailing to audiences the themes common within the documentary itself. In addition, the account's profile picture, one of a globe, is a perfectly coherent decision which previews the piece's coverings prior to audiences even clicking on the account to learn more. Also, on the Instagram's biography, two dinosaur emojis may be found, a minor yet fulfilling detail which further enhances the documentary's essence and overall themes.

Here is a screenshot of the Instagram's introduction, including the profile picture and biography emojis:

-Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence:

Taking inspiration from Our Planet, I believe Lauren and I must also incorporate a mix of both photos and videos in our Instagram account. Furthermore, I thoroughly enjoy the idea of posting sneak-peak videos from the actual episodes themselves, modelling Our Planet's voiceover-driven reels. I also greatly admire the account's use of humor in their posts and captions; I believe that is a wonderful manner of enticing audiences and increasing a media text's appealing factors and thus I will ensure Lauren and I attempt to do the same in our documentary's account. Lastly, I believe the Instagram's direct prompting of viewer behavior, such as requesting that they tag themselves in a post, is a perfect manner of engaging the audience with the media text. Similarly, I brainstormed that Lauren and I could publicize a media-text-making contest on our documentary's socials in which followers may send their own creations and therefore further engage with the piece.

2)

-Media text:

Chef's Table

-Social media tool:

Instagram

-Description of types of posts:

The Chef's Table Instagram largely focuses on posting, through both images and videos, representations of their different episodes and the subjects which they cover. For instance, in their most recent post, an image of a beautifully crafted pizza with the caption "Let's talk about pizza. Chef's Table is now streaming" may be seen, a concise yet impactful publication which clearly demonstrates what food type the media text will cover while also marketing the distribution methods for the documentary. In addition to their direct image postings, the Chef's Table account creates small trailers for each of their episodes, thus mustering audience interest in what the full coverage must be like. Also, the documentary's socials include highlight reels in which the streaming website (in this case, Netflix) is linked for audiences to easily access.

Below is a link to one of the Chef's Table mini trailers, found on their Instagram page.

Chef's Table: Pizza

-Description of how branding is developed (or not):

The Chef's Table Instagram does a fantastic job of developing the documentary's brand and reinforcing its theme. The account's mass-coverage of different food specialties and the masters which create them clearly demonstrates to audiences what the documentary entails and provides them with an interest-piquing and thought-provoking insight into the piece's episodes. In addition, the Instagram's profile picture, which details the documentary's name and their latest coverage's specialty (pizza, in this case), is a wonderful detail of the account which further markets the stories told within the documentary, thus interesting followers and increasing likelihood of viewership. Lastly, the Instagram's biography, which states a one-sentence summary of the content covered in the extracts, is an excellent manner of conveying the overall idea of the documentary in a minimal-effort way. 

Attached is the biography in question.

-Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence:

I deeply admire the account's dedication to publicizing mini-trailers for each of the topics covered within the documentary. Drawing inspiration from this principle, I believe mine and Lauren's account would benefit greatly from the posting of previews for each of our episodes, including trailers for the podcast, yearbook, and film-promotion extracts. In addition, I thoroughly enjoy Chef's Table strategic employment of the Instagram biography; I believe that including a short and easily comprehensible "summary" of the documentary's subject is extremely beneficial for audience engagement, and therefore hope to mirror this idea in my own social. Lastly, I find that creating highlight reels, which are easily accessible at the top of an Instagram page, is a wonderful way of reinforcing the chances of audiences engaging with the account, a facilitated accessibility point I plan on incorporating into mine and Lauren's social media as well.

3)

-Media text:

Unsolved Mysteries

-Social media tool:

Instagram

-Description of types of posts:

The Unsolved Mysteries account primarily focuses on audience engagement and providing updates on the unresolved cases covered within the documentary. For instance, recently, the account publicized an image of two individuals with the caption "ARRESTED!" and a respective episode (episode 75: "The Scott Family Massacre") listed, thus explaining to audiences the conclusion of the once unsolved case. In addition, often, the Unsolved Mysteries Instagram posts satire images aimed at prompting audience interaction and amusement. For example, on Valentine's day, the account posted a faux Valentine's card with a comedic image of the show's narrator, captioned "send this to the special detective in your life," therefore enticing audiences to interact with the documentary's page and diffuse it to other followers. 

Here are the two mysterious posts I just described (pun absolutely intended):

-Description of how branding is developed (or not):

Although I believe the Unsolved Mysteries account does a wonderful job of maintaining audience interest and prompting viewer engagement, I do not believe the brand was well-developed through their Instagram. The profile largely lacked real, concrete information regarding the documentary's true content; although case updates are frequently provided, the account is scarce in previews of episodes and on publicity of the covered mysteries. In addition, the Unsolved Mysteries Instagram does not illustrate a coherent and representative aesthetic. Despite blue appearing to be the documentary's primary color, as indicated by the profile picture, the shade is only sporadically included throughout their feed, thus creating a messy and confusing appearance.

-Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence:

Despite believing that the Unsolved Mysteries account did not excel in their brand development, I deeply admire the profile's dedication to audience interaction and enjoyment. I believe that the Instagram's employment of memes and Q&A sessions, as done on their stories, is a perfect manner of prompting follower engagement and satisfaction, which in turn secures a long-term fan base. Mirroring this excellent marketing strategy, Lauren and I will certainly brainstorm other manners in which our social media may directly interact with audiences and reach a wide scope of viewers.

Following this extensive research assignment, I believe I need a 2-month Instagram cleanse. However, I now feel more confident in mine and Lauren's ability to formulate an effective and interesting social media account for our documentary (name to be revealed soon).