A Level Media Studies –Evaluating your coursework

Ryan Blackford

Task Two– In what ways does my media product challenge forms of

media products.• Masthead

• When looking at the Vibe masthead when I was researching this showed me that it was very bold and helped it to stand out to the audience and I wanted to do something like this when I created mine and ensured that it was bold and stood out at the top of the page.

Task Two– In what ways does my media product challenge forms of

media products.Cover-line at the bottom

• This cover-line that I researched was the Rolling Stones issue which looked well and vibrant at the bottom and attracted the attention due to it being colourful and in big writing. When creating my cover line I wanted it to also be in capitals and use this to help include it in my magazine to make it look better and stand out in the magazine to help make people want to buy the magazine.

Task Two– In what ways does my media product challenge forms of

media products.Main title of ‘An interview with Stereotype’

• When I researched this main front cover I thought that the word ‘Amy’ made it stand out even more with it being in Red and capital and very large text which grabs the reader with it looking very good for a front cover. I wanted to do this when creating my magazine and I had Stereotype in capitals and large letters which helps to make it stand out and gives the reader an instant in-sight into what will be in this magazine.

Task Two– In what ways does my media product challenge forms of

media products.Contents Page ColumnsIn this NME contents page the writing and the contents of the magazine was on the right hand side with it being very clear into what is in the magazine and the images were on the left hand side to make it stand out. However, when I created my contents page I thought that it looked better when I had all the contents on the left hand side with the mages on the right which helped to make it look better and by me researching how NME did their contents page this helped me to create a better contents page overall.

Task Two - How does my media represent particular social groups?

• Due to me aiming my magazine at an audience of 16-20 this therefore was shown in the photographs that I took with the people that I used in the main front cover models were in the my target market age bracket to help my target market be able to relate to this with this representing youth and the pop image in the clothes that were being worn were the typical clothes that would be worn by the teenager. As well as this when looking at the pose this is symbolising the pop image and how the typical pop star would look and I have done this through the way that they look in terms of the costume and the bright red lip stick to help make her stand out and look like the typical pop star. Also, when looking at the articles that are in my magazine this is highlighting the age that my magazine is being aimed at due to the articles being based on festivals and concerts which are what the typical target market will be doing ensuring that it is being related to the representation of age.

Task Two What kind of media institution might distribute my media product and

why?• IPC are the most suitable company to distribute

my product due to them being a large company and dealing with similar media products to the one I have created. I think that this is a lot more useful than Bauer as they deal with magazines like ‘Take a Break’ which isn’t what my magazine is like so I will therefore ensure that I deal with IPC who are one of the biggest distributing companies and could help with connections to do with other distributing companies which would be useful for my product.

Task Two Who would be the audience for my media product?

• These are two members who would typically be in my target market range due to their age and with my market being aimed at both male and females I wanted to get information form both genders. Also the singers and interests are linked in well with my magazine with we having a section on festivals, gigs & concerts with exploring some of the big artists that Danny and Jess have said they like to listen to showing they fit my target market.

• Danny Stewart: – Age 18– Interested in Law and Festivals– Example, Rihanna & LMFAO

• Jess Foster: – Age 17– Interested in Cheerleading & Concerts/Gigs– Beyoncé, Mumford & Sons, Once Direction

Task Two How did I attract my audience?

• When looking at the market research that I undertook I tried to listen to what my target market had said and take this on board. I ensured that the price was at the price the majority of people said they would pay which was £2.50. I also ensured that the popular answers for what content they wanted including reviews, fact files and interviews which is what they wanted to see and as shown in my contents page all these features are shown all the way through the magazine. I also ensured that the magazine name was what they wanted it to be so the name ‘Simply Pop came from my research as this is what was chosen due to it being suitable for my magazine.

Task Two How did I attract my audience? (Front Cover)

The bold masthead helps to instantly show the target market what type of magazine this is due to the two words that have been used with it being a ‘simple’ magazine showing that it is a casual magazine and that it’s also a pop magazine to help meet the needs of my target market instantly.

By me putting the price in black this clearly shows the price and indicating that due to this being the most popular price when doing my market research so my audience is aware of the price of the magazine.

The use of the ‘teaser’ with the words ‘star interview helps to entice the audience to want to buy the magazine to want to read the article especially due to it being in capitals and is meeting the target market as this was chosen to be what the main article would be in my magazine highlighting that this is likely to make them want to buy the magazine.

When looking at these two cover-lines that I have created, it stands out and with the numbers being included this helps to break the text up and due to it being a large number it is a good persuasive technique.

When I made the banner ‘Stereotype’ I wanted this to be the main part in the image with me wanting this where the readers eye goes to as this is likely to convince the audience to buy the magazine which is why I made it big and stretched it across the whole of the page.

Task Two How did I attract my audience? (Contents Page)

This is a good a way to show what page this is for the reader with it being in capitals and large text which helps to make it stand out and is where the readers eye will go to straight away which helps the audience to know this page.

With this being in white and coinciding with the blue and in capitals it helps to make it a good introduction into the content into the magazine and due to the use of ellipsis this makes the reader want to see what’s in this issue with this method enticing the audience.

I decided that these two parts to the magazine showing that these had relevance importance and with it being in bigger text and the use of images and models to help make these articles stand out more and helps to engage the reader and attract their attention better.

Task Two How did I attract my audience? (Double Page Spread)

The text of ‘an interview with’ in pink makes it look good and helps to make the reader anticipated into what this article is about with it being in block capitals and coinciding with the blue Stereotype.

The blue title with Stereotype stands out well and is very eye catching for the reader as due to this being the main article, this stands out as the main article due to how bright and vibrant the band’s name is showing the audience that this is the main article.

With me using columns for the main article, this helps to add order and organisation to the article helping the reader to not be overloaded with text and breaking it up into columns and paragraphs.

I have used a stand first to the benefit of my audience as this gives an introduction into the band and the interview which is important for the audience to have this to split up the interview and the images.

The use of these model images help to give context of what the band look like with these being causal photos to suit the photo with it also helping to break the text up and to make sure that the audience are still engaged with the article.

Task Two What have I learnt about technology from constructing my

product?Photoshop – When I took my photos on the camera, I then wanted to edit these to make them look more suitable to go into my magazine with me having to get used to the software to make different adjustments in my photos. These include hue/saturation, levels, brightness/contrast and curves which are very important to help make the photo look more authentic. As well as this, I used the cutting out button on Photoshop with me specifically using the lasso tool which helped me to cut out some of my photos. Therefore I have learnt how to Photoshop my images to a good standard and what needs to be done to make the images look how I want them to by using the different filters to help make this happen.

Task Two What have I learnt about technology from constructing my

product?Quark X Press – By me using the Quark X Press software, this helped me to create my magazine by doing all four pages on this software. I used a variety of the settings on the program by me using some of the windows including the tools, measurements, page layout, style sheet and colours as these were very useful in the creation of my magazine as well as the layers section. I also found that the item tool, the text content tool and the picture content tool as this helped me to create text and images. This therefore helped my knowledge using this software as I now am reasonably competent at using Quark. Wordpress, Prezi & Slideshare – These three websites helped me to make my magazine creation experience more technological using different types of technology to show the progress that I had made in my research and planning, creation of the magazine and my evaluation to show all the content that I had done throughout my coursework. This has therefore helped me to learn different interactive ways of showing my work.Camera – I have learnt a lot about technology and helped to improve my photography skills with me trying to get suitable photos and taking all of the mise en scene into consideration when taking my photos and what is suitable enough to go in my magazine.

Task Two How have I progressed with my preliminary task?

Preliminary Magazine

Final Magazine

• From my preliminary magazine, I didn’t have any colour scheme which was a major disadvantage due to any random colour being used which didn’t made it look professional with no house style or order at all to the magazine which should have been done better making sure that a consistent house style with the fonts etc being similar to show a theme throughout the magazine like I have done in my final magazine by having the colours of blue, pink and white throughout the magazine.

• I also have learnt how important the cover model and the masthead is to a magazine with the masthead in my preliminary magazine not being big enough and clear enough to the reader instantly with it not being eye catching enough. In addition to this, the cover model should be fairly close up to help to see the facial expressions which didn’t occur in the preliminary. I ensured that in my final magazine that I got a close-up to help see the facial expressions and to help the masthead stand out.

• I also needed to make the cover lines smaller and in some sort of order to make it look for a magazine with the cover model taking up the whole front cover with all the coverline around this to indicate what is in the magazine and this was therefore developed in my final magazine with me ensuring that the cover model in the middle was foregrounded in the centre with cover lines and the strapline is then around the cover model.

• When looking at the contents page there was no sense of organisation with the images and logos being in a bad place with the writing being in different places and not taking into consideration vectors by where the readers eye will go which should have been thought about as well as the colour scheme. However, I learnt from this for my magazine with me having the contents on the left hand side and the images on the right to show that there is come cohesion between the images and the text.

Task Two How have I progressed with my preliminary task?