My Finished Product

EVALUATION 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Overall, my media products covers the use of various different conventions,eg continuity, which is shown by the colour scheme and use of fonts, all of which would be seen in a real media product.

EVALUATION 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

To help me decide how I was going to address and represent my target audience, I used a demographic grading table which helped me think about different social classes and their lifestyles. I targeted my media product at the C1 (Lower Middle Class) and C2 (Skilled Working Class) demographic levels because these groups are where niche audiences would stereo-typically be. Niche audiences in these demographic levels are stereo-typically seen to be around 14-22 years of age. Due to the niche market being within this age range, the price of the magazine is £3.50 because it is affordable to people who may be unemployed or have minimal paying jobs. I think these demographic levels contain a broad range of people with different music tastes, meaning that there will be many people suited to the pop punk genre.

Within these demographic levels, there are labelled social groups such as 'chavs', 'goths', 'emos', 'punks' and 'hipsters' etc, all differentiating in lifestyles, music tastes, cultures and beliefs. The stereotypical social group my media product represents is 'punks' and/or 'emos'.

In conclusion, my media product represents particular social groups through the use of mise-en-scene. I have used the use of costume to reflect band members within the genre who are then representative of the fans.

EVALUATION 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

When creating my media product, I looked at, and was inspired by existing magazines Rock Sound and Kerrang, as these portrayed my chosen genre the most. Therefore Bauer would distribute my media product because of the genre, since this institution also distributes Kerrang, NME and Q- magazines showing a similar genre which are aimed at a similar target audience. My media product may sell well to the target audience as it is published monthly, giving a much wider magazine content than Kerrang, which is released weekly. Kerrang also doesn't promote new and upcoming bands within the genre. However, they may not publish my magazine because of the similar music genre it advertises.

Another media institution that may distribute my media product is Editions Freeway- publisher of Rock Sound.They might distribute it because they are interested in and encourage alternative music, therefore my magazine would sell well with the target audience. My media product would also appeal to the audience as it also published monthly, like Rock Sound. However, Rock Sound offers more free merchandise as it is well known for it's 'free cd', whereas my magazine only gives free posters.This would mean the target audience may not be as drawn to it as they are to Rock Sound.

EVALUATION 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

To first find out who would be my target audience, I conducted a questionnaire asking simple questions about their music interests and how they purchase their music and magazines. From my questionnaire I could then also find out the average age of my target audience which would help me in how I addressed them in the magazine. In addition, it allowed me to decide on things such as the pricing of my magazine and what type of  articles, sell lines and plugs I would include. However, a problem with my questionnaire is that it didn't allow the people answering the questions to be specific and I could not tell which gender the answers were from, making it more difficult to decide on to how to address the audience.

EVALUATION 5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I began looking at how I could attract and address my audience my producing a mood board of female and male outfits as they stereo-typically seen. This helped
 me as I could then see what sort of outfit my model would have to be wearing to address the audience.I addressed my audience, through the main image on the front cover, by making sure she was wearing similar outfits as those shown on the mood boards. Deanna is wearing a Green Day t-shirt which reflects the Drop Dead tank top on the male outfit mood board as they are both pieces of merchandise that are well known within the genre. This attracts my audience because they would feel more of a connection with the artist because she likes the same bands. It would also create a sense of a community within the genre, where artists are friends with other artists, and the fans bring them together more by listening to them. This is also reflected by the fact she has facial piercings, which is stereo-typically common within the genre, When using the L.I.I.A.R analysis, this image also attracts my audience via Language: The colour scheme I chose was inspired the the model's green hair which links with her green t-shirt. This creates a vibrant look to the magazine, drawing the attention if stocked in supermarket. Her facial expression also attracts the audience as it creates a loud message as she appears to be shouting at them (although this could come across as an angry message, she doesn't appear to be angry). As well as atracting the audience, it would then address them because they may feel like they relate to the artist's frustration (or as later seen on the DPS, craziness). In addition, the language on the front cover addresses the audience as I have advertised Warped Tour (which is a very popular music festival with pop-punk fans) and used sell lines such as 'exclusive', 'answer your questions' and 'gets personal'. These sell lines make the magazine look more friendly and open rather than formal and business like, addressing the audience as the reader will then be able to feel like they are noticed and that they feel have a personal connection with the artists.
My contents page addresses my audience because, again, I have used friendly language to make the reader feel more comfortable reading it. I did this by including a conventional editor's note which acts as an introduction to the magazine and also allows the reader to feel like they not only reflect the artist of the main article, but also the editor and possibly others involved with the creation of the magazine.
My double page spread addresses the audience because I included answers and questions in the interview which the reader could relate to. They are personal, not only to the artist, but to the reader's personal life and lifestyle as well.
The large masthead on the double page spread attracts the audience as it bold and the use of different fonts doesn't bore them when reading it. I have also continued the colour scheme and highlighted certain words which keeps the reader engaged with the magazine and articles.

EVALUATION 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

EVALUATION 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since producing my college magazine, I have developed a number of skills in a number of different areas. These areas include my photoshop skills, research, planning and overall layout of each magazine. I feel that with the production of my music magazine, I did a lot more research into existing magazines which helped me look in more detail at the conventions and construction of a front cover. On my music magazine front cover I have made sure to include more conventions, these are: left third, main header, pull quote, skyline, plug, barcode and pricing and advertisement of a free gift within the magazine. Unlike my music magazine, the outcome of my preliminary task was very basic and doesn't have conventions such as a plug, skyline and main header placed in the center which attract the audience. I feel that I have learnt that the research and planning process is very important when producing a music magazine in order to create a product that is interesting and appeals to the audience. Researching my target audience was something I didn't do for my preliminary task, therefore I didn't have as much insight into what would be attractive. I have also learnt to experiment with different tools on photoshop to manipulate and alter images and text (by adding effects such as outer glow). This has made the front cover of my music magazine a lot more interesting and bolder, also aided by the fact I experimented with different fonts I could use for the masthead, main header and sell lines. Another I have learnt is the importance of mise-en-scene and how it addresses the audience, once again, research being the main key to learning this. As I have given more detail and attention to the model's costume, in the my music magazine, I was able to choose a key colour for my colour scheme, showing another key convention. While I did have a colour scheme for my college magazine, I did not exaggerate it enough and make the colours bold. This shows that my preliminary task was a good starting point for producing a magazine because trying to create a professional looking music magazine would have been more difficult without the development of my new skills, mentioned at the beginning.

Overall Feedback

Double Page Spread Peer Feedback

Shaheena Tarafdar ( http://shaheenatarafdarasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/ )
Strengths:

• Continuous colour scheme
• Layout, columns etc follow conventions

Weaknesses:

• Main image overlaps onto second page

Final Double Page Spread

On my double page spread, the conventions I used included: columned text, the main image dominating one full page, extra images, a large masthead (also a quote taken from the text), page numbers and a small paragraph giving details of the article. I continued the green house style by highlighting 'Queen of pop punk' and Deanna Hughes. This made the article personal to Deanna and shows continuity from the front cover. 'Drugs', 'Crazy' and 'kick-ass' are all highlighted red to show the link between each word. While it gives a more dangerous impression, it shows the ideology behind the 'drugs are bad' view. It also shows the reader that you don't necessarily have to be on drugs to be crazy and wild. Throughout the text I have also repeated the word 'crazy' to reflect Deanna's lifestyle, the main point of the article. The main image also reflects this as it seems like she is grabbing her hair with frustration (or excitement). This frustration portrayed, and use of words such 'drugs' and 'crazy' also reflects the genre because this type of behavior is usually stereo typically associated with fans within the genre. To improve I could add and extra information column on the left side of the page to fill space. This would also give more of a variety of photos used on my DPS.

Double Page Spread Ideas

I created a prezi to show features I want to use on my double page spread. I have included conventions such as colour schemes, quotes taken from text, main image, and header.

Double Page Spread Planning

The first step I took in producing my double page spread was placing my main image. I placed on one side, to take up a full page as this is a common convention used in magazines. I then added a black box in the top left corner and the text 'NEWS' to highlight the type of article it is. This also filled space on the page.

I then added and experimented with changing the colour of the text. I initially chose green to show continuity with the house style. I then changed this to red as would give a more vibrant, crazy, image, matching the header and image the main photo is giving off. Red is also more associated with the two words highlighted as it gives a dangerous image. It also shows continuity as I also used red on the front cover.

I added another black box to show where I would like a sub heading paragraph to be placed. I also added a page number and the magazine name, another convention in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

The next step I took was beginning to add text. I changed the colour of certain words by highlighting them and selecting the colour tool, next to the text layout options.

I placed extra photos onto the page, placing them in the middle as this would separate the main image from the main text and stop text been placed over the main image.

I added a drop shadow to the photos by double clicking the layers, selecting drop shadow and adjusting the settings as show in the photo above.

I adjusted the position of the photos by selecting 'edit', 'transform' then 'rotate'.

I experimented with the positioning of the photos on the page by also placing them in a column down the centre. However I felt this took up too much space and made the page looked cramped in the centre.

I then began adding the text of the article and placed the question, in white text, against a black box to highlight and differentiate between the question and answer.

This is my final outcome after adding all the text, I made sure to column the text as this followed conventions of a double page spread.

Double Page Spread Planning

These screen shots show my initial planning of my double page spread. I have used semi-transparent boxes to show where I would like text, and other conventions such as extra columns, to be placed and began placing the quote around on the page. I have also placed my main image on this plan to allow me to see the final outcome if I were to stick to this guideline.

Double Page Spread First Draft

In this first draft I followed conventions by placing the main image on one full side of the DPS and including extra images. I have centralized these images with the header and information paragraph which emphasizes who the article is about. This is also shown by the highlighted text in green, in the paragraph, and shows the continuous colour scheme.

I then made the header larger and added boxes to highlight the questions, showing that the article is clearly and interview. I also added a box around the page number to show continuity from the contents page.

I also placed a box around the information paragraph to give the page a more complete look and make the text easier to read.

I finally added borders around the extra images to separate them from the text which gives the page a final, complete look.

To improve I could look at different colours and fonts I could use for the header and look at various positions of the main/extra images on the page