Question 1.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When I started the main task the first thing I did was to look at an existing music magazine which I analysed and looked at how they attracted their target audience. I looked at how the magazine was represented and what conventions they used to have an impact on the audience. In my music magazine I used similar elements that would make my music magazine stand out and attract a wider audience.
In my music magazine I used these conventions which made my music magazine more attractive and appealed to wider range of an audience. The one thing which is important in a music magazine is the masthead. A large masthead will stand out and catch the eye of the audience at once. I included a large masthead where I used the Franklin Gothic Demi font to create a certain affect which will attract a range of people. I also placed my subject slightly on top of my masthead, which makes it look more professional and interesting.
There are particular selling points of a magazine which might draw the audience to your magazine. The other convention which I used in my magazine was a selling line. I think the selling line is important because it is one of the features of a magazine which stands out and when people read it, the magazine will seem more interesting and they would want to find out what’s so good about it. I used a stroke to make it stand out and to attract individuals to my magazine.
I also placed a barcode and website on my
magazine to make it more realistic and professional. I used a different name
for my website because of the genres that I am appealing to. My music magazine
is based on all genres therefore world of music sounds like it covers
everything and gives more of a clue of what my magazine is about.
I followed the normal conventions which
included most conventions that music magazines have. One of the most important
conventions I used was cover lines. Cover lines state the exclusive and
important things which are included in the magazine which attracts an audience
to get involved and to read about a variety of information which is included in
the magazine. I also held a competition in my magazine and it was placed on the
bottom of my front cover and was put in another font to stand out. For my main
cover lines my font was kept the same alongside with the size. In my cover
lines, some bits were spaced out to give a certain impression where the
audience will feel like something different was done on my magazine and
attracted to what the cover lines are saying.
For a main image of music magazine I have
realised that a popular convention used is having the image as a medium close
up shot. For my main image I used medium long shot. I felt that this shot was
suitable for my magazine and felt close enough to the audience. I also wanted
to get the outfit which blends in and gives it more of a mixed flavour to the
magazine. I looked at an existing music magazine that was made for all genres
and used similar conventions. I placed the head slightly over my masthead. I also
used my own imagination and didn’t choose to use similar effects from other
magazines that I looked at.
For my contents page I used common conventions
but I arranged everything differently and I didn’t have a similar contents page
to the other magazines that I looked at. I wrote all around the page and placed
my pictures in the middle which fit nicely and everything fit into place. The
way I placed my pictures are similar to what most magazines have. I chose to
have my pictures smaller and to have more writing so that my contents page
won’t be too plain. I mostly experimented with the sources, colours, and fonts and
decided to do something original and not in a repetitive style which is done in
other magazines.
The most popular convention I used on my
double page spread was that I had the image of my subject on one page and the
interview on the next page which is used on most music magazines. I used
different fonts and effects to make certain bits of my double page spread stand
out. I separated words such as the interview which makes it look more
professional and it also stands out. I carried on with experimenting with
colours, fonts, and different effects to make my double page better and for it
to attract a large target audience. I used a different font and different
affects for the quote. This attracts the audience as the variety of tools and
affects I used stand out and grabs their interest. I felt that the more
original that I make my magazine then the more of a extended audience I will
have.
Question
2&4.
Does
your media product represent particular social groups? & Who would be the
audience for your media product?
My music magazine
is targeted to both male and female. It is a music magazine which is targeted
at individuals who are interested in a mixture of genres. My magazine is
targeted at this audience in many ways. The first way is the way my model is
dressed and how it addresses my target audience.
The way I dressed my model was to have a mixed
style which can be linked to all genres. I didn’t want to use too many colours
which are why I kept it slightly simple where my model wore a creme top with
black accessories which can represent quite a few genres, it would have been
harder to blend a mixture of colours which might have not attracted the wider
audience that I wanted to. Even though my subject is a female used black which
is a masculine colour to appeal to males and female will also appeal to both
genders. My image also looks directly into the camera which draws the audience
in.
When I started my audience research I decided
to focus on a younger audience form about 16 – 21. This was because the younger
generation is inspired by music a lot more and has more interest and opinions.
I decided to target a younger audience because the new artists I included in my
magazine such as drake is globalised and inspired by young people. However, my
magazine would appeal to older people who do socialise with all different type
of music and my magazine will have a mixture of genres will they will be interested
in.
Attracting a audience based on ethnicity will
be a mixed majority. Genres such as RNB, Hip Hop, and base will attract more of
mixed ethnicities. Rock will most probably attract more of white British people
who are into metal and are punkish.
Question
3
What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
For my publishing house case study I started
planning and researching at the stage in which I was going to create my music
magazine. In reference I think that Condé Nast publications would be a good
company to distribute my magazine. Think that because of Condé Nast
publications not publishing music magazines, this can give them a chance to
enhance a new line of investment which can improve their success. They will
also attract a larger audience in which will make the company recognisable and
pull in a range of audiences. I think that my magazine will also bring in
different type of audiences and as Condé Nast publications is about fashion it
can mix and can benefit the company.
Another reason why Condé Nast publications should distribute my
magazine is because it will have an increase the financial side of things. My
music magazine will draw in a wide range of audiences who are interested in
different genres to buying my magazine from this company and it will also
increase the popularity as it will be spread around by mouth to mouth and even
if there are audiences who are interested in one style of genre, they can still
be attracted to buy my magazine as it will include a large range of
information, gossip, news, competitions, and it will not feel like waste of
money to buy the magazine just for the one genre that you may be interested in.
Also, other companies may also be interested in selling my magazine which can
benefit Condé Nast publications as they can sell on my magazine and this can
spread the name of my magazine and increase the popularity even more.
The stores that
will most likely distribute my magazine will be HMV as they are a major music
store which will have large range of audiences who have various tastes and this
can attract a much wider audience. This can again make Condé Nast publications
increase financially and can increase their reputation if they sponsor my
magazine.
Question
5
How
did you attract/address your audience?
Using my audience research which I did in the
time of me planning my music magazine was used to decide how I would attract my
audience and what my magazine needed. I took various amount of information into
account which I could use in my magazine and what my audience would like to
see. One of the ways I chose to attract my audience was the model that I used.
I think that the model is what draws the audience to the magazine alongside the
colours and styles that you magazine has. My model was around the same age as
the age group that I was targeting which help to draw people in to the
magazine. If my model was increased in age then the audience that I wanted to
attract wouldn’t pay attention to my magazine as much. My model is also
attractive and the picture draws the audience into the magazine especially the
male gender because it will be easier attracting girls from boys, so the model
has an important part on the front cover of a magazine.
Another way that I used to attract my audience was by using big names
on the front cover of my magazine. This grabs the attention of an audience and
makes them more interested in the magazine. I used cover lines that the wide
range of audiences would like. I also included competitions which were to win
tickets to the MTV awards. The MTV have all different artists perform and also
to attend the show. This will also attract large audiences and appeal to
everyone. I also informed my audience of all different festivals and events
that will be going on.
I used a mixture of fonts in my magazine to make it stand out and not for it to be all the same. I downloaded fonts from dafonts.com and used regular fonts too.
Another way that I
used to target my audience was the colour scheme. I think that the colour
scheme is one of the most important features of a magazine. If the magazine has
a nice and attractive colour scheme, then more people will be drawn to it. I
changed my magazine from various colours until I chose something which fit in
and that I thought the audience will like. I used more black than any other
colours because the colour black appeals to everyone and I also had to think of
what popular colour would be for a magazine including all genres. Even though I
had a female model I used a lot of black to relate to males too and not bright
colours which would only attract females.
On my contents page
I combined the colours I used and tried to make my contents page look neat and
organised. I also made sure that it was easy and clear for the audience to read
it not a struggle to find what they were looking for. I used neat columns and
boxes for my pictures so everything looked in place.
Question
6.
What
have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
I learnt many
things about technology that helped construct my magazine. I firstly learnt how
to take professional photos and how to use the Canon 400D to take my images for
my front cover, contents page, and double page spread. All my pictures were
taken with a clack background which gave a mysterious effect and a combination
of what picture suits what genre. I made sure that the light did not affect my
images and that my images came out good enough to be displayed for my magazine.
The problem that I had with the camera was that I sometimes took pictures where
my model was too far to the left or too far to the right. Overall I took good
quality pictures where I gradually learnt more about the camera and what I
needed to look out for. I also discovered the little things which would get in
the way of the camera or spoil a picture in an instant. I knew how to increase
the brightness of the camera and how to make sure that it didn’t come out
blurry.
One other technology which I learnt a huge amount from was Photoshop. My Photoshop skills were very limited when I started my preliminary tasks but as I started to work on Photoshop constantly I started to pick up everything there was to create pieces of work at a good standard. In Photoshop the most that I learn and enjoyed using was the tools where you could give your work a nice effect such as the stroke took. This helped me a lot with my work and it gave it the effect that it needed every time to make it stand out.
I also learnt how
to use various tools which helped me create my magazine. I also learnt that
Photoshop was useful for saving work as JPEG files. This helped me download my
work onto a USB where it would be easier to open up the file. It was also
useful to put our work onto blogger which we did most of the time, this way it
doesn’t take up that much space and was easier to use.
Since doing my preliminary task I feel that I
have learnt a variety of skills which helped me with my final products. There were
many things that I learnt which helped me progress and develop a music magazine
with a higher standard. The first things that i improved were my skills on
Photoshop. This helped me improve my skills and to develop a higher
understanding in what a music magazine of higher standard consists of. When
look back at my preliminary task I can see that it is really simple and the
cover lines are all over the page and not organised. I also left a lot of blank
spaces which made my cover plain and i did not cover all of the conventions.
One of the main
things that I learnt was how to organise each layer and how to apply effects to
the magazine. I was also not proficient and smooth with photo shop and this is
why it was poor quality. When I started my final pieces I had more experience in
taking professional photos with the cannon 200D. I could also use photo shop to my standard and
use particular things that I didn’t get to use for my preliminary task. I
tackled more challenges as I now had to create a double page spread as well as
a contents page, and a front cover. This helped me tackle my problems I had and
learn new things along the way. I was also able to work on an A3 canvas and use
the space how it should be.
While I have been
working up to my final pieces, I did learn about all the conventions which
should be included and this gave me an idea on what a music magazine should
exactly be like and how I can use the conventions for my magazine. I got more
of an idea of how I should attract my audience and what conventions apply to
what bit of the magazine.
