Media Main Task Evaluation

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

In the creation of my music magazine front cover, I stuck to the main conventions that you would expect to see. I did not want to break conventions as this would’ve been a risk. The conventions I stuck to where pretty clear. I had one main image on the front with the eye line in the top third of the page. Another convention I have used with the image is the feature image is making eye contact with the reader. I also made sure my masthead stuck to the conventions of magazines by having it in the left top corner of my page. I used large bold letters to make it stand out from everything else on the page. I also placed it on the top left as this is where most other magazines place their mastheads if they are the same shape. I put all the cover lines and strap lines on the left as well. I also used headers and footers as they are common on most popular magazines. However I had the main cover line placed over the image as this seemed to be a common convention on many magazines. It shows there is a link between the 2. Below is a comparison of a well known music magazine and my music magazine. Similariti

es• Same shape masthead both in top left corner

• One main image• Both images use eye contact with the

reader• Cover lines both on the left side• Main cover line over the main image• Barcode used on both• Puff/Pug used on both• Both stick to a colour scheme

Differences• Q magazine uses a medium close up

shot where as I have used a mid shot for the main image

• I have used headers/footers where as Q haven’t

• Q have not used strap lines with their cover lines

• I have not featured a grab quote on my cover but Q have

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

In the creation of my music magazine contents I again attempted to stick to the main conventions of popular magazine contents pages. I had my masthead produced in the top left like on the front cover but removed all the writing and put “contents” on there instead to make it clear what the page is. I broke one convention in the creation of my magazine contents which was that the page is not split into thirds but halves. I also used images of people featuring in the magazine. These are linked with the things featuring in the magazine. I used a background to make the page more interesting and all the colours stick to the colour scheme. I also use a footer and page numbers at the bottom as a kind of border. Below are a list of similarities and differences between my magazine contents and an established magazine contents.

Similarities

Differences• Masthead at the top of the contents

page • List of what is within the issue of the

magazine• Images linked with articles in the

magazine • Both use a small introduction

message

• NME has the date on the contents whereas I don’t

• I have used a footer on the bottom of my page but NME have not

• Both use an introduction message but NME’s isn’t form the editor like mine is.

• My page is split in halves where NME’s is split into thirds.

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

In the creation of my music magazine double page spread I attempted to stick to conventions. I used a main image of the artist in the feature to link the 2 pages. It is also pleasing for the reader to look at. In the text I used columns which is a typical convention of most music magazines. I used drop caps to make it more pleasing to look at for the reader. I also used a grab quote from the text to give the reader more information about what the article is about on first look. I used headings on my page to show what the article is about and I also used footers at the bottom of the pages. I stuck to the colour scheme and house style of the magazine by using the same colours and layout. I used a washed out image beneath the text to make it look more interesting than just a white background. I used bolder text on the questions to make it clear what was a question and what was an answer.

Similarities

Differences• One main image on one page on text

on the other• Both use 3 columns for the text• Drop caps used in both articles• Both have a main heading• Both have used page numbers at the

bottom and footer is used on both • Both stick to their colour schemes

• NME has used the background of the main image over their text whereas I have used a separate image.

• NME have used the bottom half of the left page for their article whereas I have used the whole page.

• I have used a grab quote in my magazine but NME have not

2. HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

In my magazine I selected a social group to aim at but I didn't’t want to make a magazine that represented one social group. I wanted it to be just as interesting for a wide range of social groups. I picked indie music as the genre for my magazine but I also wanted to include small sections about other genres. I have represented the indie social group in the magazine by selecting images that portray the social group. This is in the clothes the person on my front cover is wearing, the artists name and other features. The genre of music I chose also represented the indie social group as they would not be interested in heavy rock so would therefore not buy the magazine. I also think that my magazine deals with the issue of race, gender, age and disability as I have not stereotyped or made my magazine discriminate against anyone. It is available for everyone to enjoy. However I think that the people most likely to read my magazine would be people in the social groups B to D. This is because it is an expensive magazine so the lower groups may not be able to pay for the magazine each month.

Social Group readers of my magazine

3. WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

There are certain magazine publications that would be a good choice to publish my magazine and others that would not. This is because some publishers already produce an established music magazine so would not want to put that at risk by publishing another magazine. Equally there are some publications that would publish my magazine as they don’t have established music magazines so they could broaden their horizons and see how they do selling a different kind of magazine. Below there is a list of suitable and unsuitable publications and reasons why they would be good or bad. Suitable Reasons

Unsuitable

Reasons

• Bauer Media• IPC Media• Imagine

Publishing• Absolute

Publishing

• Haymarket Media• Warners

Publications• Dennis

Publications

• Haymarket media could be an option to choose as a possible publisher as they currently do not produce a music magazine and it could be a way of them expanding their company

• Warners publications again could be an option as they also do not produce a music magazine. They also don’t have 1 main focus like other publications so they may want to publish a music magazine to see how they sell in that area.

• Dennis publications would also be suitable as once again they do not focus on specific magazines or sell a music magazine.

• Bauer media would not be a suitable publisher for my magazine as they already produce Q magazine which focuses on a similar music genre as mine so they would not want to risk the sales of Q by publishing a similar magazine.

• IPC media also wouldn’t be a good choice as they already produce the world famous NME. NME focus on a similar genre to my magazine so IPC would not want to risk the sales of NME by producing my magazine

• Imagine publishing could produce my magazine as they don’t currently produce a magazine but their main focus is technology.

• Absolute publishing is the same. They do not produce a music magazine but it wouldn’t be a good choice as they mainly focus on travel magazines

4. WHO WOULD THE AUDIENCE BE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The main audience of my magazine are going to be people who are interested in new and under the radar bands with a different sound to mainstream music. This is because this is basically what the indie music genre is. However I feel other people may be interested in my magazine as I have included other genres as well.

Age Social Class

Gender Ethnicity

• I think that the age of my audience will be between 14-22. This is because people this age are interested in the genre I have selected and are more likely to buy it and read it than a 30 year old. Also young people will enjoy it but as they get older they may grow out of reading my magazine or listening to the genre my magazine focuses on.

• The gender who are most likely to be my audience would be males but only just over females as my magazine is not aimed at a specific genre and anyone can like any music that they want. More males could buy it as this is a popular genre with males but the same could be said about the females so the gender of my audience would be both male and female.

• The ethnicity of people who are most likely to buy my magazine would be white however in the creation I have not discriminated against anyone and have made my magazine available for everyone. I say this because the results from my questionnaire show that this genre was most popular with this ethnicity.

• The social class of the people who are likely to read my magazine will be B down to D. I think this because these are the people who are going to be most interested in the genre of music I have selected. Higher than that will be more interested in more sophisticated music.

5. HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

In my magazine I have used many ideas to help attract and appeal my audience. My audience is people who are intrested in indie music and are looking to find out about the best new upcoming artists so one of the ways I have attracted my audience was to choose indie as my main genre focus in my magazine. The text and images I used all linked to the indie genre making it clear to the reader that indie is the main genre therefor interesting the audience when they see the magazine. On my main image I have used a guitar which is always found in indie music. This is one of the signs to the audience that they will like this magaziine. Another sign is the text on the front cover. I have used text that says “new music” and “bands to watch in 2013” indicating that this magazine is about new music and once again drawing my specific audience in to have a read.

6. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

In the process of making my magazine I learnt a lot about the technology I had to use. I mainly used Photoshop and InDesign as these were the best 2 available programs I had for creating my magazine. Both of these programs had a variety of functions that helped me create a magazine of top quality. Below are some screenshots of what functions I used and what they do and how they helped me.

One of the most important things that I used was the toolbar. It contained all the important functions that I needed

The text tool was vital as it helped import all my cover lines, strap lines, prices etc on my front cover

The crop tool helped me remove unwanted areas of an image so that it would fit onto my cover

I found the stroke tool extremely useful as it added an outline to my text to make stand out on the front cover and improved the visual experience of the mag.

The levels tool was useful for me as it helped improve the quality of the lighting in my picture on the front cover.

The brightness/contrast tool also helped improve the quality of my image making it better for the reader to look at

6. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

In the process of making my magazine I learnt a lot about the technology I had to use. I mainly used Photoshop and InDesign as these were the best 2 available programs I had for creating my magazine. Both of these programs had a variety of functions that helped me create a magazine of top quality. Below are some screenshots of what functions I used and what they do and how they helped me.

In InDesign again one of the most important features was the toolbar because it had all the tools I needed to make my contents.

The text tool was important as the majority of the contents and double page spread was text so it was essential.

One important tool I used on the text was the stroke tool. I learnt how to use this and it made certain text stand out from backgrounds. It helped make text clearer and the pages look smarter. It also put borders around images.

This tool allowed me import images from a file into my contents/DPS. By making the square the size you want the image would then appear in that square. This helped me use different size images and also use different shaped outlines. Other shapes could be selected using the drop down menu.

The fit content proportionally tool allowed me to make my images fit the shape I had selected. This was useful as I learnt how to use it making the images fit properly rather than being to small/big. I also learnt how to use the link

tool which cam in very handy with photos. This allowed me to link the photo to photoshop, edit the images contrast, brightness etc and then by clicking the link button the original image would be replaced by the improved, edited image. This made photos look better on my pages.

7. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

Looking back at my preliminary task and comparing it to how my main task went and looks I would say I have learnt much more and improved the quality of my images on my main task. I found it a lot easier to find my way around the programs photoshop and Indesign as we had already used them before in the preliminary task. This allowed me to explore more and find different ways to improve my magazine such as the colour levels and brightness/contrast tools. I also feel I have learnt a lot more about indesign as well and my skills have improved dramatically for the same reasons as photoshop. Having used the program before it allowed me to look for more impressive tool to use on my contents and double page spread. If I was to do anything differently on the main task it would be to find better font on my contents and probably stick to conventions and split the page into thirds. I could have also used more of a variety of images. In my main task I have used a variety of different shot types which improve the quality of the magazine as in my prelim task looking at the same shot types is a little boring. All in all I feel I have improved my knowledge of magazines and the computer software we used in both the tasks and am pleased with my completed work.