In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I think my magazine does look like a music magazine and reflect the codes+conventions of NME, i did a lot of research for this, looking at many front covers for NME. My magazine reflects the codes and conventions by using a big masthead- NME uses a small masthead but they can do this as they are well known. Iv used feature images, Megan Ellis on the front cover+inside the magazine as a 2 page interview. I also have included cover lines which i researched what a typical music magazine cover lines are like on a front cover. I have used a colour scheme by using mainly black backgrounds with white fonts/red fonts- and red fonts on there own, this works very well and stands out. I also have used chatty phrases such as "175 hottest bands"free CD's&posters up for grabs","20 best bands from 2010"to attract a younger audiences eye.
I have included a lot of "upcoming releases", and talked a lot about gigs& have offered a free CD, as on my questionnaire i found out people spend most time reading theses and offering a free CD this would make people more likely to buy my magazine, this is why i spent most of my time on my front cover & contents page.
I have also tried to get "the customer" involved as MUCH as possible! to win free gifts, "hit singles" etc, this makes my magazine seem friendly- all theses "subscribe to my magazine save money" and "get your own opinion", and advertising downloads face book page, my space, twitter, this would help promote my magazine further.
Also because my magazine is an indie magazine, they call news, "news", as other magazines e.g. pop would call it "gossip", this is also how i have kept to my codes and conventions of an indie magazine.
I have followed typical codes and conventions to produce a music magazine that will suit my genre+tarket audience, i feel like i have done this. I have included typical things to make my product a music magazine, i have a barcode which every magazine should have (typical code and convention) and have included a price which is very small (next to the barcode which is also a typical code and convention as the price is always next to the barcode)- a lot of music magazines/ indie magazines did this, in other genres like pop/gossip magazines they advertise their price very large! I have followed these codes and conventions well and think overal i have produced a proffessional indie music magazine.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine represents social groups by my featured images throughout my magazine. I have used a model with a fur coat and her eyes are looking straight into the customers eyes. She has attitude on her and is a new indie/scene girl on the block, i have including next to the model "Megan Ellis, New Girl In A Big World" which stands out across her. This would make people want to buy the magazine to find out all about this "New singer". Also have a small photo at the bottom of my page, the photo is a medium close up shot, with him looking at Megan, i included below this photo "professor green a cheat?"- this is a question that will go through peoples minds when they read that cover line.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I will have to use an institution that is already well known, so they could advertise my magazine for free on their radio stations,TVs, other magazines that they already have up and running. Also they could put my magazine as an extra inside there music magazines- this may create some problems with competitions once its officially published etc. So its best to go with an institution that hasn't made music magazines yet, but have dipped into music business like radio stations- News corporation has done this, they own newspapers, TV, radio, and the Internet so they could publish my magazine as they haven't taken ownership over any magazines yet, this would also mean less chance of competition between 2 brands of magazines within the same company.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout this process i had to learn a number of skills,
how to edit photos on photoshop/ expand my skills on photoshop
how to use fireworks to produce my magazine on,
how to expand my skills on publisher
and blogspot to capture my thoughts and ideas like a diary.
A camera to take photos on for my magazine
Paint to exstablish how i wanted my magazine to end up looking like
using fireworks to save the image with no background
using photoshop to crop the image the way i want it to look, give it a sharper look.
using photoshop to change the levels of lighting in the photo, to make a better quality photo.
a printscreen of all the posts i have posted on my blog.
A printscreen of what i used on photoshop: the rubber tool, cropping tool, zooming tool, select tool, etc
A printscreen of me using paint: for saving print screens, mock ups, copy and pasteing photos to save.
i haven't experienced using theses programmes in the past. I had to make a blog which i had to type out what i did, when, how etc each time i did something with my magazine- like a diary/timeline, i am used to it now and i am happy i learnt how to use it, and present my work in a much neater way. On photoshop i learnt how to lighten my images, crop, get rid of unwanted "spots" "wrinkles" & other unnecessary accessory's, using this software gave my magazine a professional finish.
On fireworks i learnt how to layout my magazine, put photos on there, lay text over my photos, different colour schemes that i tried.
Although fireworks would not let me save my work due to a technical difficulty, i had to use publisher for my final product- i had some experience from publisher before so i remember how to use the software to my advantage, like moving my photos around- getting a blank background on Megan and charlie for my front cover photos.
I also used a camera to take my photos for my magazine, i had already had experienced using cameras at an early stage in photography lessons, so i could use this to my advantage, i didn't learn anything new by using a camera but it just gave me some more practise using one.
I used paint for my mock ups, this was a great way to start my producing my product as it would help me with my ideas and visualize how i wanted my magazine to end up at!
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 prelim task, i feel i have learnt the codes & conventions of a magazine in more detail, how to focus on key details as size's of fonts, colours of fonts, where to place cover lines & a photo. On my prelim i didn't pay any attention to my photo or cover lines as the cover lines are placed in a random position next to the photo of Megan, with colours that don't even go well together- i took the photo on my phone and didn't even crop/edit my photo, this shows how naive i was. I didn't know much about the programmes i used in my main task either so this was a learning curve for me e.g. blog spot, fireworks, photoshop etc. I didn't pay any attention to planning or draft pages for research of what codes&conventions were for a magazine. So by the end of my product i feel that i have progressed my skills in technology software- how to make a decent magazine.
With my contents page this has helped me a lot, because i realised i can just write page 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11- up until page 60! because this is to GCSE level (looking at my old magazine at GCSE) i really have come along way!
When doing my prelim task, i also didn't think in detail about layouts, my audience- as i set it just for 6th formers at queensbury, but this would be unfair as there would be more people in year 9,10,11 compared to just year 12+13! I didn't think about inside my magazine and how it would relate to my audience& media institution.
What would be the audience for your media product?
I feel my magazine targets more males than females, as it has a photo of both genders on the front cover of the magazine- a pretty girl on the front would catch males eyes, also i have included masculine things throughout my magazine, including fonts like reds, blacks, greys which are associated with males, while pinks greens yellows, bright colours are associated with girls which i have not used much of. I have used a yellow background for my double page spread & have used female models like Megan&Elaura so this could insistuate its for both genders. My questionnaire showed that more girls read magazines & read indie/pop magazines- so i had to reflect this throughout my magazine to suit both genders while still suiting the genre of my magazine, which i think i have done while focusing accidentally more onto the male market than both genders. I have shown my magazine in an indie style way and have tried to target both genders throughout my magazine. Pop is more associated with girls and indie more linked to males so this was hard to take into consideration- overall i feel i have targeted the male market more as of my fonts text and colour schemes.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The magazine is a music magazine, i portray this by my masthead "download" which is linked to the music industry, technology is at its all time high- downloading happens everywhere, mainly with music- this is why my magazine is shown to be a music magazine. Also i have mentioned "hottest 175 bands" and other cover lines that insinuates its obviously a music magazine.
To attract my audience i used typical codes and conventions such as big bold masthead at the top of my page, a featured image on th front cover- centre of attention as it comes across the front page. Along side of this i used colours such as Blacks, reds, and interesting cover lines to make it appeal to my customer and to encourage the reader to buy the magazine. These colours are typical used by the indie genre, so this will attract my attentional audience. With the big bold black masthead which is very clear on a white background stands out, its also in capital letters- this will shout out to the customer "DOWNLOAD", which gives it a
in your face/
loud look to the magazine...which is also shown throughout my magazine. I gave my magazine an inhouse style by using the same colours throughout my magazine, reds,oranges,blacks,greys, to keep the magazine tidy- also this will help the reader regnosize and remember my magazine with theses masculin colours(my target audience). My picture shows attitue this relates to the the cover lines "new girl in a big world"- featured
across and
infront of the image, this shows that the girl(megan) is a strong powerful women; also a new hot singer; this will sell my magazine well.
I like my magazine, i think it looks proffesional with its eye catching appeal and colours, masthead, coverlines, featured image that "jumps" across the page. My research helped me produce a good indie magazine as it helped me with the typical codes and conventions.
On my contents page, i havent kept it simple- which i like. I have included information about gigs, gossip, new artists etc. I have made my contents page easy to read, one side is a list of bands+page numbers, also showing features with page numbers- showing whats on the front cover- with page numbers. I have used the same colours on this page, grey background, reds,orange backgrounds to keep each individual section on the contents page uneque so the reader doesnt get confussed. Also included a lot of information to help promote my magazine e.g. advertising facebook, myspace, twitter, my offical website for my music magazine- trying to get the reader involved as much as possible.
For my double page spread i have used Megan as the featured image on the front cover & now a featured image on her- to keep to the codes and conventions of a ANY music magazine. I have used photos of megan that show the sweet/calm side of her, it doesnt portray what i have shown on my front cover, i think i let myself down on the double page spread with this- but i did like the photos so i used them- the photos were edited on photoshop to make the images sharper, and turnt the pages so it had a slanted/interesting look. I used a colour code of yellow background with red textbox, i thought this worked very well & are two good colours to use to make my double page spread stand out, it didnt completly follow my colour code with other pages- but it works & looks presentable. I also included a "quote" in the midde of the double page spread- this also follows codes and conventions of a magazine, as my research shows mostly every magazine does this, it makes the reader want to read the article.
Here i have labeled the most important parts for my magazine and done a small evaluation of each page of my product
Here are my codes & conventions printscreens!
- Page numbers: keep things in order, easily find what your looking for:
- Photos: that relate to the music/genre of the magazine- also to get the audience interested in the magazine, and to find out what the picture is trying to portray/ is about
- A main image: this is the focus of the magazine, a featured image, a featured article about this person as they are the main picture they should have a main story inside, this is the first image the customer will see & want to read about... also relating to the genre by clothing e.g. rock indie look, or glamorous look. Face expression. cover lines near the image for quick info what the "main story" is about; normally a quote or catchy phrases.
- Headlines/captions with images: So the audience can understand the photo and want to read the article/rest of the magazine.
- Magazine title: a rememberal title to remind the customer if they see the magazine again, to stand out, so it stays in there mind.
- Columns: to keep the contents in order, and so the customer knows that the magazine is worth buying with all the story's they are advertising, and were the main story will be
- Subheadings: features. on the cover. regulars so they can find "this advertisement" in every issue and to find what they are looking for easily
- Website: to promote their magazine on facebook etc, to get feedback; updated news every minute as magazines are printed once a week etc; to advertise whats in this weeks edition
- Bar codes: typical used by retail and issue numbers so they can keep track with the latest eddition, also include the price.
