Evaluation
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Every magazine has codes and conventions that they should follow to make the magazine look professional. A music magazine should have main images, masthead, cover lines, drop capitals. I used these conventions to present on my magazine as these are expectations for a magazine. Also, I've stuck to a colour scheme so then it attracts people's attention. I made sure my music magazine met the codes and conventions, such as on my front cover I made sure to add a masthead and put at the top so if magazines are placed vertically, the readers will be able to see what the magazine is. I also used one main image as a mid shot of someone, then adding a banner above the page advertising a competition which doesn't give all the details away so the reader will want to read the magazine and find out more. I used cover lines on my front cover to advertise other features that will be inside the issue. On my contents page, I included blocks for each of the articles I was showing. So texts and images were fitted together on squares for the background, giving each image an individual border and making it look bold with a background instead of being on its own.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents adolescents, as they're carefree. Some will rebel and not be afraid to show it, that's what my media product targets at. For instance, my double page spread shows they wear similar dark clothing, which goes against the normal type of clothing being colourful. And that they have an aspiration working together to be a successful band, hence the main quote on the page "Our aim is to be the greatest rock band." Also, the front cover can relate to this because they're all passionate about the same thing; music. So it suggests that majority of teenagers have a goal they'd like to achieve whether it being realistic or not. Also, in my double page spread I wanted to show a difference that females can also be in a band instead of the stereotype that all band members are males. I suspect that people appealed by my magazine would be 'I-Am-Me' people, such as in the 'Blumer and Katz Theory' as they're different and are seen as rebellious. This is who I think will like my magazine because it shows young people/adolescents as musicians and it may encourage influence and aspiration to achieve something themselves. My magazine also contains female and male artists so it should appeal to both genders and therefore increase the popularity and number of people that like the magazine.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I'd chose to use the media institution, Bauer Media Group, because it's compromised many music magazines and also, how they have released and produced magazines worldwide. Also, how they have 50% stake in UK's Television companies, also the association with music channels, therefore, this will be an extra way of advertising my music magazine through television during adverts. Creating buzz and excitement for new readers finding the music magazine, as well as reminding current readers for the magazine to get the latest issue. I wouldn't consider selling the magazine online due to many people would prefer not to buy the magazine online and instead read it for free. I would also put my magazine in supermarkets and newsagents. So then people will be able to purchase my magazine locally.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
My audience would be for Teenagers, ones that like metal/rock music such as 'Punks,' 'Emos', 'Goths'. They are seen as rebellious and outcasts because they don't conform to society's expectations. And also are judged on their clothing. They will like my music magazine because it contains bands that they may like, along with the colour schemes and fonts, as I've tried emphasising the loudness that the music magazine is metal etc, in the font by making it all capitals. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Blumer and Katz theory, it shows that people want to conform and meet the social norms. However, this criticises its accuracy due to how some people rebel against and want to become their individual selves instead of being main-stream.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
I made my content be appropriate by adding large images that are eye-catching and are suitable for the genre of music I was aiming to advertise my music magazine for. The language I used was informal so it seems a chatty tone towards the audience. So then, the audience will prefer it as it's more aiming at them, like a general conversation. Also, the images of the 'acts' I chose to include in my magazine, are in the same age range as the audience I'm hoping to aim at, so then they will be able to relate to the bands/artists I have featured. The content I've featured by using ideas from magazines 'Rocksound' and 'Kerrang!' such as listing pages with subheadings that say what will be on each page. This I have made appropriate such as Album reviews and Gig guides etc.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
For my music magazine's front cover, contents page and double page spread I used Serif PagePlus X4 to create my music magazine. I found this an easy program to use as I was able to layout my fonts and images easily on the page, also using Master Pages so it saves time putting everything I want on each page, e.g. the masthead. I also used Adobe Photoshop CS4, to edit my images such as cropping the background out, using editing tools on the program.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?Looking at my Preliminary task, I've realised that I've made a big step improving my skills using programs on the computer. Especially in a short space of time, I've been able to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop and be able to use tools such as cropping the background out and using filters to fill the background etc. Also, how to convert images from a word document, to a PDF file and then finally to a JPEG image so I can upload it to this blog. Furthermore, being able to use a website to create my survey on called 'Survey Monkey' and able to create different questions that will interest the readers to answer more truthfully. And add charts to match the results each time using Microsoft Word. This shows clearly what the highest result was on each question and compare it to the lowest vote made. Finally, generally knowing how to use this blog. Learning how to add extra pages and posts, being able to lay them out in a particular way to a high standard so the work will be found easily etc. I had to learn how I was able to learn how
