Evaluation - Question Seven

"Looking back at your Preliminary Task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression to the full product?"

In the progression from my preliminary task - a front cover and mock up contents of a college magazine - to my full product I feel I have learnt and developed in several areas.
Unlike my preliminary task, I had to carry out research for my full product, with both audience and market research being carried out. During my market research I was required to look at exsisting products and analyse them, in which I didn't have any previous experience. I was able to learn to look at magazine and discover denotations and connotations portrayed within. I was also able to learn the different codes and coventions of music magazines, and look at how messages are portrayed to the audience through a combination of text, images and colour. This helped me to create my final peice, which has developed and improved in comparision with my Preliminary Task.
My audience research has helped me gain knowledge of several websites which I didn't have knowledge of during my Preliminary Task. These websites are:

Prior to my audience research I would have created questionnaires and handed them out to members of the audience, however I learnt how to create an eletronic survery through the help of Survey Monkey and used new tools on Facebook in order to gather my results. I used the embed tool in order to link my survey to my home page on Facebook and also used the private mail button function in order to alert the attention of my "friends" to take the survey. Once I gathered my research I was able to use Microsoft Excel to create pie charts which allowed me to present my information neatly and in an easy to read manner e.g.:



Throughout the process of creating my full products I have learnt how to master several technologies such as
http://www.blogger.com/, and photoshop. Until I started my full product, I had never used a blog before, and I had to learn how to set up a blog, how to create posts and then to organise them in an attractive manner. I also had no previous experience with photoshop; I therfore had to learn how to use photoshop* whilst creating my product. I feel that I managed to manipulate the tools and bring together a product - something I could not during my Preliminary Task, as I used Microsoft Publisher to create this.
*Refer to question six.

The transition from Preliminary Task and my full product saw me learn a great deal about photography - in particular the composition and taking of the shots. My prelimiary task saw me take one medium close up for my main image; I did not take much notice of composition or positioning. However, my full product required me to use at least four images, and to take images of several different models. I learnt how the compositioning of the images is importants, and how images do not always work out as well as planned. I took many images; my main model was drafted in several times to re-take images as I had many images but not ones I felt looked "right" for my main product. I also took images of a friends band, however I took these during a live rehersal, so many of my shots wern't acceptable to use due to the movement taking place by the models used. I also took images of a female model, however when looking back at the images I decided she was not styled correctly, amd the images did not fit. I feel that in comparison with the preliminary task, I learnt about composing and styling of images.

I feel I have progressed mainly in the aesthetic area; I feel I learnt about layouts and images the most throughout the process, and I also feel that my creative skills have grown largely; previously I had a very mundane view of things, and since leaving my preliminary task and going to my full product I feel this has gained largely. I feel that this can be shown in my front cover when compared to my preliminary task front cover:

In addition, I learnt how to create documents I had no experience of during my preliminary task e.g. flat plans, style sheets and a pitch:

Finally, I feel my organisation has progressed and I have learnt much about how to organise myself and how to use my time wisely. My preliminary task was done rather quickly, with no real outlook on how to tackle it. However, my full product took a much longer time, with having difficulities on the way that took time to deal with and move on. Time management and organising my time well was a skill that I feel I took away most from; I would not have learnt how to carefully plan my time and how to adapt it around what I was doing and the tasks I had remaining to do during my preliminary task.



Evaluation - Question Six

"What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing product?"

During the creation of my final product I learnt in a great detail about a numerous amount of technologies, I had some prior knowledge to some of the technologies but learnt new skills within these, however for many of them I had no knowledge of, so therefore learnt all new skills while creating my product.



Software:

Photoshop: I used Photoshop during my planning and production stages; however it was more dominantly used throughout the production stages. I had to plan to set my pages to the correct size, learning how to change the sizes to 29cm x 20cm for a correct A4 size page, and learning to change the resolution to 300 pixels/inch. I also learnt how to enter guides and rulers and set them to a location that I needed, these being used in the planning stages. Being new to using Photoshop, and not knowing about any of the tools, I spent some time learning using the different tools to see what effects they created, and getting comftable with them all. I feel I learnt about all of the tools, and could use them well from now on, however I used certain tools alot more than others; and therefore felt I used these tools more effectively:

- I learnt in great detail about the lasso and polygon lasso tool, and the use of feathering when taking part in this action, to remove areas of images. I made use of this in two of my images; the image on the contents page, and the image on my front cover in order to manipulate just the background.

- The blur tool, in particular the motion blur tool was used in order to create an effect of spinning on my front cover, I managed to do this by cropping my model out using the polygon lasso tool and then re-inserting it once I had created a desirable background.

- I used the text tool to manipulate my text, and create different fonts, colours and sizes in order to create a desirable product.
- I learnt how to adjust the colours of my images by....
- Re-sizing images by using the the scale tool to a suitable size was another skill I learnt.

Blogger.com: I used blogger throughout all my stages, however I had not previously used blogger.com so it was difficult to learn and use at the same time. I enabled my comments and edited the design of my blog in order to make it more unique. I learnt how to add images, and to embed a link in to my posts, along with arranging my posts according to the function of them. In addition I was able to learn how to blog on the go via my smartphone, so was able to use blogger.com at times when I was not able to locate a computer.

Surveymonkey.com: I used this website in order to create a survey for my research, I had no prior knowledge of using this website, and I had not made many surveys prior to this. I was able to learn how to write appropriate questions, and adapt them on the website in order to change them to open questions, closed questions, only being able to chose one option or being able to change several. In order to make my results attractive and easy to read, I learnt how to use Microsoft Excel in conjunction with this, so my results could be adapted into pie charts using this software.

Microsoft Publisher: I used Publisher during my planning and production stages: my flat plans we're created using Publisher, and my double page spread was created by using Publisher also. I already had a rather large knowledge of Publisher, however I learnt a few new skills, such as creating columns, and learning how to adjust my photographs. In addition I learnt how to insert images that had been created using photoshop, such as my heading for my double page spread.


Hardware:
Computer: I used my computer throughout all my stages of creating my final product, however I feel I was already quite skilled on a computer, and didn't feel I learnt new skills during this process.

Samsung digital camera: I was already familiar with this digital camera, however only with the basic uses of the camera, I learnt several new skills however:
- I was able to learn how to use multiple delete so I could quickly remove all the images I did not find useful quickly, and allow for myslef to have enough memory left.
- I was able to use timer button on my camera so that it would take two images with only two seconds between, this came in useful when taking images of the live band, they moved around so much that taking the maximum amount of images in the shortest amout of time was essential.
- I was able to use the zoom buttons effectivly, along with changing the settings of the camera so that it would change the effect from normal to black and white etc.

Could you have completed this project without using any technology?
My project could not have been completed without technology; I needed a camera in order to take the images of my models. I would not have been able to create the picture in any other way; no matter what camera I would have used, I would have needed other types of technology aswell; a computer in order to display the image on and to print the image off if I was to make the magazine by hand. However some of the technology I used in the process could easily have been eliminated and still make an efficent magazine.

Which technology could you have done without?
I would possibly have been able to create my product without several of the technologies I used, however the results that I would have got would not have been as effective.
- In replacement of Photoshop, I would have been able to use a basic image software such as Paint or Microsoft Image Manager but the image manipulation I was able to create using Photoshop would not have been made with these image softwares.
- If I was not to use Surveymonkey, I would be able to create my surveys by handwriting them or even doing a face to face questionnaire. This may have saved on the reliability of my answers; my actaul results may have been false and random to the person taking part, however this would take much longer and I may not get as many results. In addition, I could have done without Microsoft Excel by using a simplistic word document software to create my charts, or even create them by hand, however this would have taken a much longer time.
- Much like Photoshop, I could have used simpler image software to create the documents I created on Publisher, however with the same results as I would have gotten if I replaced Photoshop.

Which piece of technology could you not have done without?
I could not have completed this project without my camera; images are vital to the magazine, and the only way to take them was using a camera. I could have completed my magazine by hand, therefore eliminating the computer from my process, however I would need some form of computer and printer to access my images if I was to create my magazine by hand. It was therefore impossible to complete the project without the camera and computer.

What are the positives of using technology?
My task was completed much quicker, it would have taken a much longer time to create by hand, in addition it was a lower cost; I changed my magazine around so many times, if I had made it by hand it would have been a lot more expensive. In addition to this by using technology, I was able to store information on my blog on the internet, meaning it was accesible from anywhere, I could also gather information for media packs, exsisting products, and other addition reasearch easily.

What are the negatives of using technology?
A major negative of technology is the inconsistency of it; breaking down of computers, cameras running low of charge and the loss of information. I had problems with my camera due to the battery it ran on; unlike many cameras, I had to charge mine, meaning if my camera ran out on shoot (which it did) I had to postpone and rearrange. In addition, the use of USB's to carry my work on was a problem, e.g. if the memory stick had not been ejected properly I had the risk of losing parts of my work. Another major problem was accessing a computer; it interrupted my work, and then in some cases the internet would be faulty when I could access a computer. Finally the last negativity of using technology was my blog; the surver would be down, I could only do certain amounts of work on my smartphone, work would not save correctly etc. meaing I had to repeat some of my work.

 

Evaluation - Question Five

"How did you address/attract your audience?"

In order to attract my specific target audience, I used several features that combined would create a desirable product. I first chose the name of my magazine:

I feel that this name is appropriate to my audience as the word itself hints at the music invading their life, which represents the fact that my audience have a strong connection with music and like to feel they know the latest about music; which the magazine also aims to bring. I also feel the style of writing represents the idea of invanding and stamping a mark on something. It also looks quite rebellious and spontaneous - which could represents the personalities of some readers.

The stories and names of bands I have used also attracts the audience;

I used a mixture of real life bands e.g. The Courteeners who already have a good reputations and are quite well known within the indie/rock genre. This will attract several readers to my magazine. I also used names of several bands that I invented e.g. British Daylight who will appeal to the more dedicated music fans of up and coming bands. This will therefore create a wide range of bands and appeal to the reader, and make it accesible to a larger amout of readers

In order to create a magazine that will diferentiate itself from others out there, I have chosen a different colour scheme than what is typically used:

By using a different colour scheme, I have seperated my magazine from those of a similar style, thus making it distinctable when placed on the shelves next to the others. My readers will enjoy being part of something different, and therefore find it desirable that my magazine does not use the standard red, white and black. Having a unique colour scheme shows that my magazine is unique - a quality my readers will be looking for.

I decided against using studio shots in my magazine, and used a range of images that were taken in natural environments:

Many of my readers will have a desire to be in the position of those they are reading about in my magazine, and in order for them to find them more accesable I have taken images in natural surroundings, with nothing particularly special or different about them. This will then allow the reader to feel that they could easily be in this position, and will then encourage them to buy the magazine, and discover how they became to be in such a position and also keep up to date to the activities of these people they can easily find themselves relating to.

The language in my magazine is quite simplistic and not too complicated:

"So who was this man? None other that the owner of Columbia Records, one of the companies British Daylight sent their demo to."

I have decided to use this as my target range may be dedicated to music, and not feel required to be overwhelmed by images, however, they will not want to be overloaded with complex sentences which may ruin the experience for them. The simple language allows for the audience not to feel inadiquate when reading this magazine, however it does not make them feel they are also too smart for it. My language choice has allowed for all socio-economic groups to be targeted; my magazine has allowed for no person to be left out of the reading experience.

Evaluation - Question Four

"Who would be the audience for your media product?"

From my research I gathered that the ideal audience for my product would be a young male aged 16-19, however I understand that my product would also be suitable for the female demographic and for older readers however they might not find everything to their tastes as it is designed specifically for the above stated audience. I have developed a "media-pack" in order to correctly show who my average reader would be.

Tom is aged 18 and has just started university after acheiving good grades at his A-Levels. He works around his university course in order to fund his lifestyle. He is devoted to music, he has the latest iPod in order to keep his ever growing record collection under control, which includes a mix of mainstream indie/rock, some popular chart music, classic rock and a large range of up and coming bands that are not widely known. He strives off being able to inform his friends on the latest bands and albums out. In addition to his wide music collection he has been attending gigs from a young age and for the last few years has been attending several festivals. He can play a musical instrument, the guitar being his chosen instrument which he taught him self to play. His style is quite basic, although fashionable. He usually shops at topman to keep up with the latest fashion but also like shops such as hot topic and collects tshirts from gigs in order to display his musical taste to the world. He normally styles these with converse. He has a myspace page which is filled with recordings of his guitar skills along with his own songs although this is just a hobbie. Tom likes to drink alcohol at weekends and particullatly at gigs although he makes sure he does so in moderation.

 

Evaluation - Question Three

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

A media institution is a company that deals with media texts. They can be in charge of production, marketing, distrubuting or regulating, or a combination of media texts. Institutions work in a business style structure, with the employees working towards a common goal that the institution has set. There are several media instutuions in the United Kingdom such as:

The institution that I feel would distribute my media product would be Development Hell. I think this institution would because it is a small independent institution, with its portfolio only covering two other magazines which both are monthly music magazines; The Word and Mixmag. I feel this is the institution that would distribute my magazine over others due to the fact that it is a small company; my magazine is based at teenagers/young adults who are serious about music, which makes my magazine quite a niche product. I feel a smaller company would be best to distribute it over companies such as IPC Media who have a large portfolio of magazines, which have a large consumer base. I feel a company like this, who deal with music magazines such as NME which is a very popular magazine, wouldn't be able to market my magazine well, or be satisfied with having a niche product which may not produce a profit as high as NME. I think the internal compition with popular magazines - not only music magazines, but several others - would tamper with the success of my magazine.

Development Hell is a small institution based in London, which has also provided consultancy services for publishers and employs respected names within British magazines. According to http://www.abc.org.uk/ the average circulation per issue in 2010 for Development Hell's magazine The Word was 25,048 and in 2009 the average circulation per issue for Mixmag was 26,116. In comparision with figures for NME (238,850) the numbers seem quite small, which supports my decision to use Development Hell to distribute my magazine.

There are both advantages and disadvantages of using Development Hell as the institution to distribute my product, but I feel the advantages weigh out more than the disadvantages. As Development Hell deals with only music magazines this could be a benefit, as the company understands how to market a music magazine, and understands the codes and coventions needed to be followed, and how to create successful music magazines, it offers the best chance to make my product successful. In addition to this, my music magazine is of a different genre of the magazines it currently distributes so therefore it would be an advantage for Development Hell to distribute my music magazine as it would bring a new consumer base to the company and focus on a different demographic group than the ones already targeted which would stop internal competition. However, Development Hell may not want to distribute another music magazine, and want to move into different areas in order to bring a wider demographic audience into the current ones, and want to widen their portfolio.

I feel that although my magazine is of a similar purpose to the magazines already distributed by Development Hell, this would be the institution that might distribute it due to the different audience it focuses on combined with the fact it would not be a widely consumed magazine, much like the ones currently in distribution and the fact that Development Hell is institution that specialises in music magazines. 

Evaluation - Question Two

"How does your media product represent particular social groups?"

There are many social groups within society such as ethnicity and class, with my product addressing certain social groups and representing them in several ways.

I have not represented any ethnicity other than white-British, which shows that my genre of magazine is dominated by this ethnicity. However, I have only used images of two bands; this therefore could represent that other bands are of another ethinicity but it is not clearly stated. The white-British ethinicity is shown to be powerful as they model on the front is from this ethnic group, along with being successful, as I have shown all the bands to be very successful.

There is a large difference in the gender gap between men and women; all the images I use are of males. This represents the fact that the genre I am writing about is male dominated. I have mentioned women on my front cover and contents page; however, as there are no images of these women, I have shown how they are not as powerful as the men, it could also be interpreted that they are almost "invisible" within the genre. I have used positive language when I am referring to the male bands/artists e.g."sensation" and "legendary", this represents the fact that males are successful and happy in their life. In contrast, when referring to the women I use less positive words, such as "hell" and "wild child", this shows the women to be rebellious, and seem less like role models as the males seem.

I have shown there to be a variety of age within the artists featured in my magazine, however the main age group I focus on is the teenage age range. My double page spread is on a group of teenagers who have just become famous within the music scene; I have shown them in a positive light. I have shown them to be dedicated to studies, "We said we'd finish this year off, something to fall back on...." along with have a  "feet on the ground" attitude, "We know who we are, we're not going to just lose ourselves..." This shows how mature they are for there age. The following are some of the photos that accompony the article:

These show the different attitudes of teenages; we are shown a typical "moody" shot of the model, he represents the stereotype of teenagers, and shows how society deems all teenagers to be, this image represents the whole teenage population, however by having the text accompying it, we are shown how teenagers are not only moody, they can be positive and not always the "bad" people they are usually represented as.

The other image shows the model looking coy, this could show how teenagers are awkward and embarrased at a young age, and are dealing with identity and other issues, looking away from the camera shows how they are not also full frontal.

I have spoken about young adults within my magazine, but not in great detail, with statements showing how they are much more rebellious, and "off the rails". This is showing this age range to be quite irresponsible, and not as mature as stereotypically they could be seen. I have also used words such as "legendary" when talking about a band who have had a decade apart (this shows they are of an older age), which shows that being of a slightly older age is not a negative thing.

As the above images show, along with the image on the contents page show that class is not dealt with in my magazine, as the clothes are quite casual, and the surroundings are neutral, showing no particular economic group divisions within the magazine.

Evaluation - Question One

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

My media product, a music magazine, uses and develops forms and conventions of real music magazines in several ways. During my research I analysed in detail exsisting music magazines, and used the knowledge gained when creating my own music magazine, however I put my own interpretation upon them, and decided against following some of the aspects of a music magazine. I feel that I have not challenged many of the forms of a real music magazine, as I feel they work, so I have therefore just used and developed most of them.

Front Cover

Use: 

For my front cover, in order to attract the reader and gain intrest in it, I added a list of names that will be in my music magazine, much like the front cover of Kerrang!:

To give coherence with other music magazine, and to make sure that there is some familiarity for the readers, I have kept the concept of having my masthead at the top of the page, along with having features such as having a price, issue number and a barcode.

I also used the idea of having the main storyline in a larger font, so that this is the story that captures the readers attention:

                            

Develop:

Like the other front covers I used san-serif font for my mast head, however my differed slightly in the fact that it was not block worded:

In addition to this, I also developed the red/white/black colour scheme that has been used by the other music magazine, I have done this in order to differentiate my magazine from the others out there.

Challenge:

The one thing I have challenged on my front cover is the use of images. I have used a solo image (Classic Rock used just one image aswell, however the majority uses several), for the whole of the front cover, and have also edited this image so that it can look like motion in the background. This may seem a risky option, as images normally attract attention, but much like Classic Rock, my magazine is aimed at people dedicated to music and do not rely on images.

Contents Page: 

Use:

I use a similiar column style positioning to list the features on my contents page, I also use a similar way of  using the numbers to label the pages:

I also use the positioning of "Contents" being at the top, along with using a descriptive paragraph to explain what each feature will be about. I use also the idea of having a larger font for the title of the feature, and also using san serif fonts for the titles in order to give them some importance and meaning.

Develop:                

I again develop the use of having the red/white/black colour scheme, and also develop my contents page by adding a editiors column, in a similar was to the Kerrang!  contents page, however I do not add an image of the editior, as I feel that communication between the magazine and the reader is important, however the magazine is a music magazine, and information and images of the editor are not as important.

Challenge:          

I have again challeneged the forms and conventions through my use of imagery. As shown in the real music magazine contents pages, several pictures are used, and are also shown to be labeled to the correct page to turn to. However, I have used just one image again, and not numbered this. I have done this purposely to show how my magazine is aimed at a serious music audience; they would know who this person is, and they do no need the extensive use of imagery. In addition, it is not numbered as they will know who the person is so they can easily cross reference to the listing and find just as easily the page to turn to.

Double Page Spread:

Use:
In the same way to the other magazines, I use columns in order to store my text, giving it a structure and an easy to view form. In addition to this I also use an introductionary paragraph in order to give the reader a little bit of information on what is coming up in the spread.

Develop:
I have used a pull quote in my article in order to attract the reader full on, this gives the reader more information about what the article is about than given in the introductionary paragraph, I have done this in a slightly different way than what NME have done theres; with the quote being a different colour in order to make it stand out further. In addition I have given a "History" column, showing the background of the band. I have done this as my audience are fanatic about music, they like to know details such as when the band formed etc. and this bar allows for this need to be addressed:

Challenge:
Unlike the other magazines, my double page spread does not have a main image, it has four small, individual images. I have done this as it allows me to show different personalities of the model, and also because my reader does not require large images to dominate the page. By doing this, I am targeting my audience and allowing more room for the article; which suits my reader who would prefer information than images.