Production Blog Posts

Production 1- Scheduling Interviews  

12/16: For my interview, I tried to message players on the Tampa Bay Rays to see if I could interview any of them, in person or over a call. I could not get any responses, so I had to start searching around for people that would know the Rays players, such as family members, friends, trainers and coaches, and others. I could not get the attention of any of those options listed above, possibly because of COVID, or maybe because they are famous. That meant I needed to find someone that I know personally that has a relationship with someone who knows Blake Snell, who my feature article is about, or someone who knows someone that knows Blake Snell. For example, someone that knows a coach, or has done a camp with the Rays or anything like that. I ended up deciding to interview my dad, because he played tennis with and went to high school with the Rays Pitching Coach, Kyle Snyder.  

Production 2 - Taking Photos 

12/19: When I went to take my photos, I realized that it could possibly be difficult to take photos. First, it is not baseball season, so I will not be able to take any pictures of a Tampa Bay Rays game. Secondly, with COVID, they did not allow fans to attend any Major League Baseball games this season, so I could not have taken pictures when the baseball season was still happening a few months ago. I may have to use old photos that I had taken in prior seasons since I have already had my feature article planned and had my magazine figured out, I did not want to restart my magazine. For the sunset to go on the cover of the article, I can take the picture at my house, or in most places with good scenery. I should not have any problems taking this picture. I will take the picture that is supposed to go on my Content Page at the beach, which also will not inconvenience me.  

Production 3 - Interview 

1/5: I just conducted my interview with my dad, Luke Larkin. I asked all the questions that I plan on using in my feature article. Some of these questions were asking about how he feels about the Rays trading Snell, who he thinks to be the best pitchers the Tampa Bay Rays have ever had with their organization and asking about the future of the Rays. I not only got the interview I needed for my feature article, but I also got a lot of information about the Rays that I did not know, and a few things that were from when I was very young. Another very helpful aspect to this interview is that I was able to be shown a new perspective and point-of-view of the Rays. I now feel that I can grasp the topic and subject very well now, with this new opinion that has been brought to my attention. 

Post-Production 1 - Feature Article 

1/10: I wrote my feature article about the Rays. I made the final decision to do it on Blake Snell, since there was still a little bit of flexibility with what Tampa Bay Rays player I can choose. I did some research and did not have many problems writing on him. One of the smaller problems that I came across was that Blake Snell had a shorter career with the Rays, meaning that there would be less evidence behind the large statement being made with my feature article title, which I plan on making “The GREATEST Rays Pitcher Ever?” or something along the lines of that. Though Snell’s career with the Rays was not a very long time, there were many ups and downs that gave me content to write about, as well as proving my point. With Blake Snell having to fight adversity, it proves what he is made of and what he can do, making my argument stronger for my feature article. 

Post-Production 2 - Importing Feature Article 

1/13: I just imported my feature article. I decided to put the images of the outside of Tropicana Field and inside of the stadium as the background of the magazine pages, and put the text over it. This was not too much of a problem, but it still took a good amount of time. I had to find fonts that would match with the rest of the magazine and the theme that I am going for in the magazine. I also had to find the right colors that people could still read, without it blending in with the colors of the images. The inside of Tropicana Field was difficult to find a good color, because there is a lot going on inside the stadium, and lots of other colors. This makes me contemplate putting a solid color as the background of the magazine page for the feature article and putting images around the text of the feature article. 

Post-Production 3 - Typography and Arranging Magazine 

1/16: I have made the final major decisions for the magazine. I changed my font to Georgia, which I though looked better with the text and seemed like a possible font for a magazine with a similar genre to mine, targeting foodies and sports fans. This was good because my old font was not very easy to read and did not seem to match what I was going for with the style of my sports magazine. The old font seemed a little bit too excessive for my magazine. This magazine is supposed to be more professional, and less wild. I also decided that I would keep my images as the background, instead of selecting a solid color as the background like I mentioned in the blog post prior to this one. I found a good color that still makes the image pop, the words look good, but is not a crazy color that makes my magazine seem unprofessional or like a fake magazine.