Feature For TV Guide - Production Process

I have taken screen shots throughout the production of my TV guide feature to show it's progress. At first I was certain that I was going to use the edited image of Teena from my test adverts. It fitted well with the layout, and was still effective as a striking image.

But as the production went on, I decided on using a full image. Because most of the features I looked at had a main image that was of the star in their surroundings. I chose a more appropriate image with my model working with her surroundings. It made the feature more visual. I still wanted to keep my original main image however, and so I incoperated it into the second page of my feature. I did this by editing the image in InDesign.

My first step was Object - Arrange - Send To Back. Next I clicked Object - Effects - Transparency and made the image faded enough so the text could be read. It also created an eye catching visual effect, that kept in with the theme of my drama. She looks like a ghost, faintly visible behind the text.

I included some basic conventions throughout production such as making the first letter of each paragraph large to catch the reader's eye. Another thing I made sure of was having the text in columns. In terms of the title of the article, I tried to make it work with the image by having the portrait under the word "under" and having the word "spell" stand out by making it a different colour to the rest of the text and spacing the letters out. This is the word that connotes the super natural themes in the drama.

With the colour scheme, I stuck to both the colours I used with my adverts and the colour scheme used in all of the Radio Times features I looked at. Black and white is the easiest to read, with black text over a white background. I stuck to this convention of features. But to make the feature specific to my drama, I included dashes of red to make it stand out. Red connotes certain themes included in my drama; passion, danger and horror/blood. 

The decided on my main image because it's an action shot. The composition places the subject directly in the middle, the background isn't too distracting and the fact that she is laughing makes the feature seem like a fun read.