Evaluation Question 1

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

In my media product I have used many forms and conventions of real media products in order to attract audiences by the typical magazine style. I have followed the common conventions of music magazines but have also developed and challenged some other conventions.

An example would be that I have developed the convention of the masthead on my front cover. Looking back at my textual analysis of a music magazine front cover which is Q magazine, the masthead uses the convention of the left third. This makes the title easily recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. Whereas, the masthead on my front cover stretches across at the top of the page like Vibe magazine, giving it that distinctive look.

I have also used the convention of my selling line by displaying it at the top of the page but slightly developed it because it is in a small font. Q magazine’s selling line is also found at the top of the page but it is very large and bold going across the page.

My selling line

Q magazine's selling line

It could be argued that I have developed the convention of the main coverline on my front cover. The main coverline is usually very large taking up almost a quarter of the magazine cover, but mine only takes up less than half of the page. I did this because I do not want it to interfere a lot with the main image. But, note that my main coverline comes in three layers, starting with a kicker, then an explanatory line which is a quote, followed by the main coverline promoting the artist’s name. I have applied the same style of Q magazine where the kicker and main coverline are in the same colour font, while the quote is in a different colour.

Another convention that I have developed is the main image. It is common to feature a medium close up in music magazines however I have featured a mid-shot image. I did this because Blender magazine usually does this too and often use females as their main image which is who I’ve used in my magazine. Also, using a model that is the same age as my target audience will interest potential buyers even more.

In addition, I have challenged the common convention of the dateline, price and website link being placed altogether on the barcode. I have done this by placing the dateline and website link away from the barcode but underneath the masthead.

Furthermore, I have used a banner at the top of page which reads “EXCLUSIVE! UPCOMING UK ARTISTS [P.99]”. This is a popular convention used in music magazines to persuade the audience further more into buying the magazine. An example of a real media product doing this is Blender magazine featuring Katy Perry on the front cover.

My banner

Blender magazine's banner

I have also used coverlines which are used in all magazine front covers regardless whether it is about music or not. This is to attract the audience’s attention by displaying the magazine’s content in brief, eye-catching, colourful texts. My coverlines are distributed around the main image in different colours, sizes and fonts to create a sense of variety.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product has been made to represent a female audience of an age range of 15 to 17. This teenage age range has a very dedicated interest in the pop and R&B genre as seen in my audience research. Caucasians could be members of my audience as a result of using a Caucasian model on my front cover.

To represent this particular social group I have featured someone dressed as a pop and R&B singer on my front cover. To reflect upon my mood board she has painted nails which is a girly feature to attract female audiences. I followed the conventions of Blender magazine that presented a mid-shot image of singer Fergie who also has painted nails. My model’s hairstyle is also well represented in the R&B genre. It is short and carries the trend of singers such as Rihanna who has shown off so many types of short hairstyles. I chose to use a model that has a very eccentric hairstyle as this is an emblem and representation of their character. Looking at her non-verbal communication I had her looking directly at the camera to express confidence. I’ve also had my model wear fashionable clothing items that are popular among teenagers, such as a denim waistcoat and chino trousers in order to appeal female audiences as seen from my mood board.

My moodboard

I used a mid-shot image to show off more of their body to perhaps appeal to more than one subculture who can be urban male teenagers. In doing so, I have deliberately included a long gold chain where the model is stretching out the jewellery while biting on it. This is also similar to Q magazine where Cheryl Cole creates sex appeal by using a ring as a prop and sticking out her tongue to touch the tip of it.

Evaluation Question 3

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

Referring to back to my case study of a publishing company, I have decided that a publisher such as EMAP Metro would be likely to publish my music magazine.

Firstly, I think this would be beneficial to EMAP Metro because they have nothing similar to the genre of my music magazine in their music magazine portfolio. This would mean that my magazine would be the first to appeal to the pop and R&B audience in the company.

Thirdly, pop is a very popular genre that goes well with R&B. As a result, my magazine would bring in twice as much attention from the audience and publishers. This would financially benefit EMAP Metro because not only may it attract females but males too due to its R&B genre. So my magazine does not stick to one social group.

I would like to distribute my magazine in newsagents because my music magazine is priced at £2.50, therefore the price range will suit my audience who usually visit the newsagent. I would also like to distribute my magazine in shopping stores such as Topshop which is a well known retailer and Bershka. This is because my magazine partly involves fashion, this way it attract females who may also be passionate about fashion.

Secondly, seeing as my magazine mainly target female teenagers, this makes it different to magazines like FHM that target adult males. Therefore, they can publish a magazine that is new to the market with no competition in their company. Also, the fact that my magazine contains two genres, the female audience may find it more appealing due to its popularity of genres and variety.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My media product will mainly be targeting teenagers from 15 to 17 years of age because my magazine interviews, reviews, gigs and concerts. This is why I have featured a model that is the same age as my target audience on my front cover to attract teenagers. Also, the fact that my model is presented as a female singer and somewhat creates sex appeal by its use of prop and positioning, this may attract a male audience as well.

Ethnically, my magazine tries to target a mixed set of audiences. My magazine promotes pop and R&B music, so together they target Caucasian, Black and Asian ethnicities as seen on my audience research results. Most of them tend to have more of an interest in R&B but because I have used a Caucasian model on my front cover it may be that my magazine might target more of a Caucasian female audience. I say this because artists in the R&B genre are often black.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract a very similar age group of readers to my magazine I made sure my model was roughly the same age as my target audience. Nevertheless, you will find that in question 2 I have already discussed how I would attract my audience to my product through the use of costume, jewellery, styling, hair style, non-verbal communication and shot type. In addition, there is a section on my contents page that is dedicated to music fashion and by doing this I want to attract females who are into fashion.

To address my audience I have used a variety of linguistic features in my coverlines on the front cover. The coverline, “THE 10 BEST GIGS OF THE MONTH” is further exaggerated with the use of ‘best’ expressed as a hyperbole. I have also used repetition in a triadic structure where the same text is repeated three times. This coverline is lyrics of a song displayed in a large pink font to catch the audience’s recognition and make them remember the words.

I used Standard English to get across my audience because people would take it seriously if it’s sounds more professional. Another linguistic feature I’ve used is alliteration, “more must” to emphasise the point that there is “176 more must-have songs”. Also, I have added an exclamation mark for exaggeration to communicate the tone of most 15 year old girls.

Evaluation Question 6

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

I have used many different technologies in the process of constructing this product. To take my pictures I used a Canon EOS 1000D camera. This was my second time using the camera, the first time being in the preliminary task therefore, I have had the chance to learn how to use this technology. The camera was put on a normal program with an auto flash on top of the camera to remove shadows from the model’s face.

I made sure that the camera was in the correct orientation when taking pictures. So I took my pictures in a portrait orientation to fit as much of the subject as possible excluding the unnecessary background. This is the reason why I chose to have a plain white background. At this point, I did find it difficult in getting my camera to focus well in few of my pictures. Below are two images, one is a focused image and the other is an unfocused image. I knew not to use an unfocused image in my magazine because this does not look professional at all. A focused image shows all of the aspects in the image very clearly, while an unfocused image is blurry and does not show all of the aspects in the image clear enough.

Focused image                               Unfocused image

Another piece of technology that I used was Blogger via the Internet. I created an online account on Blogger.com – a blog publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. I did not find it easy at first to understand the service’s concept, for example, I cannot copy and paste images into a post unless it is converted into JPG, GIF or PNG files where I then have to upload this. Another example includes the fact that I have to copy and paste text from Microsoft Word to my post on Blogger. This is time consuming and can be quite frustrating when texts appear in the wrong positions. However, I was able to overcome these weaknesses as I invested a lot more time in using Blogger. As a result, a decent record of my work was put together.

Furthermore, I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to help me create and edit images with impact. My main use was to add text and edit images; I had already experienced using Photoshop in my preliminary task so I found it a lot easier to use it this time round. In my contents page, I added a thumbnail of my front cover and edited this by using Blending Options to add a drop shadow effect. To create text boxes as well I used the Rectangle Tool.

Evaluation Question 7

Looking at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

To make my college magazine front cover and contents page I had to take pictures that were going to feature in my magazine. To do this I learned to use a Canon EOS 1000D camera, this was my first time handling this camera so it took me some time and practise to take a decent picture for my front cover. After gathering all of my pictures I had to use the Adobe Photoshop CS3 software to edit my pictures and produce my product. This had also been the first time using this however; I learned how to use a number of tools in order to make my magazine with the help of my fellow peers who have used it before.

Since this was my first time using the camera and Photoshop, I found that my academic skills were not on point such as, meeting deadlines and organising work load in order to make my magazine to the best of my ability. I conducted my audience research on time and used my classmate as the model on my front cover. This was quick and easy to do because I did not have to search anywhere else for a model.

I chose the best image for my front cover which is a medium close-up shot of a female student with her earphones in. This image represents the typical appearance of teenagers and the fact that it’s a medium close-up of one person, means less attention on the surroundings and more focus on the subject. I like that she’s wearing dark clothes so text can easily stand out in contrast with the darkness. Also, I managed to take this picture in my College so it didn’t take up much time to find a specific location. Therefore, I learnt how to frame camera shots with the help of my teacher.

However, there are several ways in which my college magazine could have been improved. For example, I didn’t label the different images with page numbers on my contents page so that readers can go to the specific page without trying to find it. I’ve also learnt the different magazine conventions of real media products such as page numbers which I applied to my own magazine.

I was pleased that I completely my work on time and to the best of my ability. If I had the chance to do it again I would have made sure that the model was standing more away from the wall so it does not create a shadow effect. However, my teacher seemed to like the image regardless of the shadow but recommended this as an improvement. Also, looking at the image on my double page spread I would have made sure the camera was properly focused to create a more defined image.

I feel that I have improved since doing my preliminary task, I have developed my skills further using Photoshop and the camera. I actually found it more enjoyable creating a music magazine than a college magazine because I am big fan of music myself and adding my own creativity into the design was a lot more fun.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK:

It was important to find out what other people thought about my main media product of a music magazine, so I asked for feedback from my friends on Facebook by messaging them privately. I done this and only messaged certain people because they are roughly the same as my target audience who are 15 to 17 years old. The responses I received were mostly positive; they liked the colours and fonts I used and coverlines on my contents page looked good. But, a boy suggested that if the model was to wear fewer clothes then the magazine would have been better. I reckon that if I had done this, it would have attracted more male audiences because sex appeal highly draws their attention.