EVALUATION.

Q1;

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real 

media products?• In my media product (music

magazine), many conventions are used and developed; however, another number of them have either been challenged or omitted. For example, conventionally, the front cover of a magazine would include a main image which would work with juxtaposition with things around it, working in tandem to get information across to the audience. This can be seen in the Kerrang! magazine front cover:

Juxtaposition and subheadings

• as the medium shot of Oli Sykes shows him holding a camera which creates juxtaposition when placed next to the buzz words “Hot Shots” to indicate to the audience that there are exclusive photos inside. Similarly to this - taking inspiration from this rock magazine and other magazines that follow this convention – I decided to do this with my magazine

by showing the lead singer of the band “Long Shot” making a gun gesture; however, I developed my juxtaposition further by adding a subheading saying “firing on all cylinders with their new album” therefore showing how I have information on the band’s latest album.

Juxtaposition and subheadings

Plugs

Another often used convention is a plug; usually used in bulk with many on one page- the plug is a sticker like picture which is used to depict to the reader what lies within the magazine. This convention can be found in every genre of music magazine as it appeals to the audience and makes them feel like they are getting something nobody else is getting; something exclusive.

Albeit, a plug doesn't have to be an image but it is most commonly an image as it adds more information to that section of the page. just writing is less likely to entice the potential reader and so an image is used to get the reader's attention and get them interested. But simple writing is also used as can be seen on the Q front cover:

Plugs

The plugs I have chosen to used are following the status quo of plugs but others are building on the idea of the image and a bit of subtext. The original ones are used to show to the audience that there are 5 free posters inside that you can cut out and stick on your wall; however, the other two- near the top- each have a paragraph alongside them to add context that just a few words couldn't do, the image would draw the reader's attention and the writing would entice them to buy the magazine as they would find it interesting:

The date and price are often bundled with the barcode wherever the barcode is placed. This is because although they are necessities, the barcode, price and date and not what attracts the reader to a certain magazine, therefore they are kept small, bunched together and are placed out of the way but in view. This usually means that they are all squashed into a corner on the front cover so that people can see it and tell how much it is going to cost but it doesn't distract away from the main attractions or the main image on the front cover.

Barcodes

Kerrang! and NME have elected to place their barcodes on the front cover in the bottom right corners, following the convention of keeping them small and out of the way but having them still in view. But, unconventionally, Q have decided to place their barcode elsewhere, likely on the back of the magazine as it still has to be in view for it to be scanned and paid for.

My barcode is on the front cover at the bottom left. Still following the convention of placement; however, I have decided to replace the date in the barcode bundle with the issue number as both do the same job of letting the readers know whether it is the latest one out or not and whether they need it or not, but the issue number look more aesthetically pleasing to me.

Barcodes

When it comes to the masthead in a magazine, you are likely to find it at the top of the front cover as convention dictates that is where it should be. This is because when you start reading, you start from the top left of the page and so when you are looking for the title of the magazine, you look straight to the top and to the left to find the name of the magazine. This is the same for all magazines:

Following this convention due to its appeal through it being aesthetically pleasing, my magazine starts at the top left and goes across the page in big blocky letters. So the audience know right away what it is called.

Masthead

Also, quite often in a music magazine, the centrefold of the double page spread in connected by a heading/subheading to help make the audience feel more comfortable knowing that the two pages are connected as it is often an image on one side and text on the other. This heading/subheading is conventionally, potentially a pull quote from the text. This can be seen in the magazine by NME:

The main image of the double page spread is usually a very large image that takes up the whole page and makes any writing look tiny. However, challenging this convention, I decided to have a still quite large image- but with a fair amount of writing to go along side it, this would then free me up some more space to have a larger article for the audience, thus enticing them more.

Also, layout includes colour and through research into other magazines of the rock genre and the survey I had sent out- I found that red, yellow, black and white were the most characteristic of a rock magazine and so I incorporated such colours throughout my magazine.

Also, the convention of page numbers is almost obligatory as they indicate to the audience the numbers of the pages which allow them to turn straight to what they want to read which link in to the purpose of the contents page.

Layout

Using these conventions in my magazine is useful because it allows the reader to look at one side of the double page spread and smoothly move to the other side of it, making the transition smooth makes the two pages look less blocky and more merged together which is what you would expect from a double page spread.

Moreover, conventions are very hard to oppose when it comes to appealing to a large market as they have grown to expect certain things. Such things would include a website URL placed on one of the pages; either the front cover, double page spread or the contents page where the readers can visit to get more information on certain subjects such as those shown below in Kerrang!, NME and Q:

Each of these use the URL puffs to express to the reader how each magazine doesn't just end at the end of the issue, it allows the reader to dig further into a story and depicts how much bigger the magazine is. Expanding on this for my own magazine- and developing it unconventionally- I decided to introduce social networking icons where the reader will be able to follow the magazine and get day to day updates, as the stereotypical young readers are now expecting to be able to use all kind of media to read about the latest things. Facebook and Twitter were the two icons and social medias I chose to place on my magazine- shown below- but are among many potentially usable ones:

Using icons instead of URLs is unconventional because- unlike other magazines- it doesn't give the reader a particular site to visit with a certain story, it gives them a page which is much easier and more accessible than typing a full URL out in the search bar. This then appeals to my target audience because it is aimed at teens that are stereo-typically lazy as it is much easier to like a Facebook page than continuously typing out the website URL.

Puffs

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

Colour scheme:The  use  of  the  colours  black and  red  across  my  double-page  spread  imply  that  the social  group  I  aim  to  target like  to wear dark clothes  that express  the  genre  of  music they  listen  to  –  in  this  case rock. The use of  red  is bright, and  so  implies  that  my audience  like  to  stand  out from  the  crowd,  and  also connotes danger – suggesting my audience like to live life on the  edge.  These  traits  are common  in  teenagers as  they like  to  try  new  and  exciting things,  whilst  also  expressing their  interests boldly  (such as through dress).

Photography:The colour scheme links in with the image used on this page, as the actor in this image is dressed in black. This was planned for my image, as again it expresses how teenagers like to stress their music taste through their clothing. Also, the posture of the subject is slumped forward – suggesting that teenagers tend to slouch and appear laid back, as if they are void of stress and are instead careless.

Writing style:The use of the questions: ‘What is your greatest ambition? What do you most hope to achieve in your life time?’ I imply that my audience are young, as many adolescents tend to be questioning what to do with their lives. Therefore, it represents this particular social group as searching for some inspiration from their favourite celebrities in what to do with their own lives.

Social group:From the fact the subject is wearing black and the colour scheme is red and black, the whole double-page spread gives off a rather gothic feel. However, with the effect of the guitar and the lit up background – I have also represented a social group of ‘Indie’ as it isn’t quite as dark and msyterious as the stereotypical ‘goth’ would be represented.

Class:I decided to give my magazine a price of £2.50 – which presents my target audience to be working/middle class. This suggests that they are earning less than the average adult and so would not be willing to spend a lot of money on a magazine as they cannot afford to waste it; therefore implying my audience are young adults or adolescents.

Content:The fact that I have included social icons on the front cover represents my audience as media savvy. It suggests that they are always on some form of media/technology, and always want to keep up to date on the internet (something in which the typical adult doesn’t feel they depend on). This applies to all social classes and genders when it comes to the younger audience.

Having the masthead in a Roman/Greek font challenges the stereotypical representation of youth because in this day and age, young people want to be seen as wild and out of control; however, with my choice of font, I have presented the audience as still taking an interest and pride in how academic and intellectual they are, not just how fun they are. Therefore, I have represented them as mature but still socially concerned. 

In this front cover, there is the gesture of a gun taking form in the subjects hand; this represents the readers as finding allure in guns and violence- and by extension- danger. 

The representation of young people being attracted to danger can also be seen to be represented through the continuous use of the colour red which can be seen over and over in the music magazine as it can be throughout all rock music magazines.

Writing Style:

Social Groups:

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Due to my chosen genre, audience and layout, I believe Bauer Media would be the type of institution to distribute my media product.

Firstly, as Bauer Media are the publishers of Kerrang!, Q and Mojo, this means they have a larger circulation than ICP Inspire - who only publish one magazine (NME- that has a circulation of just 33,875) and so therefore would not appeal to as many people and would not make my magazine as successful. This is because Kerrang!, Q and Mojo have completely different target audiences in terms of age and genre - and so not only are they more diverse, but my magazine would introduce a new age group in which they do not yet target. This would then be beneficial to them as it furthers their reach into society.

Moreover, in terms of genre and target audience, my magazine is very similar to that of Kerrang!, as Kerrang! aim to target an audience with an average age of 22, and I aim to target an audience within the ages of 16 plus, as well as them both having a rock music genre. A common target audience and genre would also be tempting to them as they already have one successful rock magazine aimed at adults, so then having one aimed at teens could be seen as a swift music magazine rite for them to ease them into Kerrang!.

Additionally, the fact that Bauer Media have a diverse set of magazines that target completely different audiences – which could be seen as a downfall – is actually a benefit as, especially when it comes to Q magazine, they are very open minded and are always introducing fresh new artists into the music scene. This would benefit my magazine as it means there is and could be some crossover between the audiences, which would therefore increase the circulation of my own magazine itself.

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product? 

My audience would be music fanatics around 18 years old- listening to music 24/7. Their favourite genre of music would be rock and this music would play a large part in their lives, impacting their social circles and fashion. They would read magazines to obtain information on celebrities, freebies and to read articles, and also get information on upcoming venues that they can attend. They would enjoy music by the likes of You Me At Six etc. but would still be willing to openly try out new, diverse bands. Being 18, they would probably still be in education and so would potentially study a lot and therefore listen to music more often than the average person. The favourite colours of the ideal audience would based around black and red colours as they are the main ones characteristic of rock. With the audience being young and still in education, they are unlikely to have a lot of money compared to the average adult and therefore would look to be buying cheapish magazines – such as Bottleneck! – as it is applicable to those who are only able to spend a few pounds on a magazine but still want all the content and exclusives as those who can throw their money away.

Q5: How did you attract/address your audience? The use of the buzz word “Outstanding” and the capitalisation of this word helps to attract the reader because it makes this section of the page look significant and exciting.

Following the buzzword, in the text section, I then addressed the audience directly by the use of personal pronouns such as “you” which makes the audience feel special and part of a conversation with magazine creators.

The bold, dark red colour- which is applicable the enticement of the audience is used here. This is because important notices are- more often than not- in red; stop sign, traffic lights, etc. and so the audience is instinctively drawn to this section.

The medium shot- with the subject looking directly into the camera allows the audience to feel roped into the magazine which both attracts and addresses the audience. It does this by connecting with them as he points his finger down the lens.

A studio/spotlight is used in the corner of the pages to make the audience feel as though they are in the spotlight; this is because the spotlight- instead of being positioned facing the main image- is facing outwards, lighting up the audience. Also, with the subject of the main image looking down the camera lens, it looks as though the audience is engaging in a conversation with the artist backstage- which would help with the idea of the Q&A article.

Using custom shapes on Photoshop, I was able to find and make an explosive shape to make it look like something big is happening and then attract the reader. After the shape was placed, I had to fiddle around with it and transform it so that it looked perfect and in place.

Using the “editors notice” convention of a magazine addresses the audience because it is telling them that there is a direct bit of text that the editor wants them to read; it lets them feel as though they have been picked out to read this magazine and therefore makes them feel very special and unique.

Using a red, jagged star- by drawing in in Photoshop with straight lines and merging the layer and then colouring it with the fill tool and making it brighter than its background so that it stands out- alerts the audience to it’s presence and attracts them- in turn allowing me to address them.

By using the pull quote and making it look like I have cut it out and stuck it onto the page- by copy and pasting a black rectangle over and over and merging the layers- makes it look appealing to the audience and then entices them to read the text.As pronouns are commonly used in conversation between two or more people, 

the reader is therefore addressed by making them join in the conversation- as the artist’s response was directed right at them.

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

From constructing this product, I have found that almost every piece of technology necessary for creating such a product can work in tandem with one another and be interlinked to create even more things. Some of the technologies include hardware such as cameras, voice recorders, USB sticks and computers; and others  include software such as Photoshop, Word, Adobe Bridge, Power-point, Blogger.com, Internet, etc.

Another example, when I started my preliminary task, I had no idea that I could have any font I wanted, I thought I was completely limited to what there was on Photoshop. However, by the time I had finished my final product, I knew that I could find a font online – on dafont.com- and save it to my computer and put it into Photoshop and use it from there. This meant that if I wanted a specific type of font, I could have it. It also shows how well the internet links with computers, which links to computing programmes like Photoshop.

For example, at the start of the coursework, I had to make a mock up of what I wanted my final product to look like. This meant that I had to go onto word and put in titles, subheadings, plugs, etc. And after that, I had to save it as a picture so I could easily look at it from time to time; this then meant print-screening the finished mock up and pasting it into Powerpoint where I could then save it as an image. This image would later be uploaded to the internet via blogger as part of my coursework.

To keep things organised, I saved everything I had done to a USB stick and to the Thaw space  so  that  I  couldn’t/wouldn’t  lose anything.  This meant  saving pictures  that  I had taken for my magazine by inserting the SD card into an SD card reader and placing it into the computer, this would then make the picture files available to be moved onto Thaw  space  and  my  USB  which  in  turn could  be  placed  into  Photoshop  to  be edited and played with so that they looked the way they were supposed to.

As my preliminary task was my first ever use of Photoshop, I had very little knowledge of what I could do with it,  I didn’t know what could be placed in there (e.g. Pictures, fonts,  shapes, writing, etc.) and therefore my ability was very closed off and  limited. But, by the end, I could take a picture and either place it onto a page as it is without any further modifications to the image and just transform it if needs be, or put it on a separate page to be edited further so it looks more fitting. 

Also,  keeping  things  safe  applied  to  the voice  recording  that  I  had  to  do  as  an interview.  This  was  transferred  into  the Thaw  space  and  my  USB  so  that  it  could then be placed  into  [insert]. Placing  it  into [insert]  is  useful  because  it  can  then  be turned into a video format- which is exactly what  happened.  Then  pictures,  text  and animation can be added to help the viewer to  engage  and  not  become uninterested.  I just  added  some writing  because  then  the viewer  still  has  something  to  look  at  but they  aren’t  too  distracted  that  they  aren’t listening  to  what  the  video  is  about.  The video  would  then  be  uploaded  to Blogger.com where it can be viewed by the public.

When  researching  what  my  audience  would  like  to  find  is  a magazine,  specifically  rock,  I  had  to  devise  a way  of  finding  out this information. The best way of doing this was to create a survey on  Survey  Monkey-  with  questions  that  would  help  with  the design of my magazine- which I then put on Facebook for people to fill out.

After  this,  I  downloaded  the  Survey Monkey app on my smartphone to keep notified  on when  someone  had  filled  it in; this meant that I could reflect on the new  response  and  add  it  to  the  rest  as soon as possible.

Then  I had to put my findings  into a PowerPoint for analysis. By putting it into  this  software,  I  was  able  to insert  and  crop  the  images  so  that  I had  only  the  relevant  information, thus  allowing me  to  analyse  quickly and  efficiently  giving  me  more  to work with on my magazine.

After  this  stage  of  my  magazine  creation,  I  had  to  start incorporating  my  finding  into  the  magazine  as  I  went  along  in Photoshop.  This meant  taking  the  favoured  colours  and  adding them to the magazine. This was done by the fill tool and also by clicking  on  the  colour  of  an  object  or  text  and  moving  it along/across the colour grid.

Other ways of adding elements of my research to the magazine was by  the  content,  the  audience  was  expecting  a  lot  of  article  like writing  and  so  that’s  what  I  did.  I  placed  guides  down  the  page, cutting  the  right  hand  side  of  the  double  page  spread  into  three sections which is where I would place the text for it to look like an article.

A  separate  piece  of  text  for  the  left  hand  side  of  the  page, introducing the whole notion of the Q&A article on the other side of  the  page  was  rasterized,  ready  for  drawing  a  box  around  and layer  via  cutting,  so  that  I  could  mould  it’s  shape  to  that  of  the main  image  making  it  look  more  aesthetically  pleasing  than  just some text  in block form making it’s way over the main image and distorting the audiences view of it.

This process was also done on the contents page where I wanted the text to mould the main image again so that it did not overlap with  it,  I  then  decided  to make  the  text  a different  colour  by  double  clicking  on  it’s layer  in  Photoshop  and  going  to  cover overlay where I chose a colour and selected okay  to  apply  it.  Although  I  never  stuck with  the  colour  I  chose,  it  is  useful  in explaining  how  you  can  still  change  the colour of text after it have been rasterized.

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it 

to the full product? In my preliminary task, I knew very little- if anything- about Photoshop. But, by the time it came to the end and finishing my media product, I was quite capable of doing a lot of things that I never knew were even possible of the Photoshop software. Things such as the cloning tool, importing text of your own from the internet and so on.

The first example of this would be the main image of the front cover, this is the first thing I started with- in both the preliminary and the final product. In the preliminary, I used a single image on the front cover with little writing surrounding it, which meant I had to transform and stretch the image out of it’s original shape to get it to fit on the page. With the final product, I knew that the front cover wasn’t just comprised of a single picture and some writing, so I knew that if the picture was too long or too wide, I could simply crop it down and fit the gaps in with plugs or subimages- which are quite often the same thing.

PRELIMINARY: FINAL PRODUCT:

Importing  text  from the  internet  to my magazine was  very  important  aspect  of  making  my magazine;  without  the  right  text,  it  wouldn’t  be exactly  how  I wanted  it  to  be.  In my preliminary task, I felt that any bold font would be perfect for my magazine;  however, when  it  came  to making my media product, I knew that a simple bold font would  not  suffice,  I  knew  it  would  have  to  look better  and  more  intriguing  if  it  was  going  to attract the audience. I learnt through this process how to download a font from the internet, save it into a folder and add that folder to the Photoshop so that I could use it from there.

PRELIMINARY:

FINAL PRODUCT:

Also, as my preliminary front cover was quite primitive in comparison to my final product and even more primitive in comparison to a real magazine, it did not contain some of the vital elements such as plugs. I learnt from looking at my preliminary and other magazines that I had to have more content on my front cover, otherwise it looks dull and bland; so by adding plugs, I was able to let the readers know more about what was going on in the magazine and also make it look more aesthetically pleasing.

Beside techniques and how to do things within Photoshop,  I  have  learnt  that  when  designing and  creating  a  magazine,  you  have  to  follow, challenge and develop conventions- but mainly follow  them-  in  order  to  make  a  successful magazine because they are what makes a good magazine good. One of these conventions is the layout  of  the  contents  page;  layout  is  key  to keeping an audience interested as it is all about how  it  looks.  In my  preliminary  task, my mock up  of  the  contents  page  followed  the expectations  of  an  article  more  than  a  list  of contents  as  you would expect.  Building on  this and  fixing  it  for my  final  product,  I  condensed the writing into a much shorter list and placed it down the right hand side of the page, freeing up space  for  another  convention  of  the  contents page, the large main image surrounded by small sub-images.

From  looking  at  other  magazines,  my  preliminary  and  the responses  I  got  back  from Survey Monkey,  I  found  that  a  colour scheme  is  quite  vital  in making  a magazine  look  appealing,  you need  constant  colours  running  through  with  the  odd  different one.  In  my  preliminary,  I  had  a  clash  of  loads  of  colours  which made it kind of hard to look at for too long, making the audience feel  like they don’t want to read it and therefore they would not buy it. However, with my final product, there were consistent red, black  and  white,  with  a  little  yellow  every  now  and  again;  this makes the audience interested because they can easily look at the page  without  wanting  to  look  away,  they  have  to  colours  they would expect and want on the page.