AS MEDIA EVALUATION

By Aneesah Khalil

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCY USE, DEVOLOP OR CHALLANGE FORMS AND CONVENTONS OF MEDIA PRODUCTS? The genre of music that I’m representing is Urban, which consists of hip-hop, Funkyhouse Grime ext. The colours that i

have used generally like electric blue, pitch black and white are forms of conventions of a hip hop magazine as they would tend to use dark pigmented colours to give the 'hard' look. Looking at the lure of my front cover there is a side view of a artist, this does not follow the conventions of a magazine as it attempts to do something different. I decided to do this as I wanted to go against the typical convention of extreme close ups, and focus on the music its representing and I thought this would be done best through the mise en scene and attitude.

Furthermore, looking dept into the hiphop related magazines such as source and vibe you can see that they all focus on hiphop genre. My music magazine goes against this and decided to go for a genre that does not exist in the market today. I can use this Urban music to my advantage as a Unique selling point, and my customers will be loyal to the fact that I have attempted to do something different.

Despite going against the conventions of a magazine, it does follow some too. One way that it followed this is through the masthead as it remains to be the largest text on the page to ensure that it’s noticeable. To emphasize this further the masthead is written in bold and the colour used is bright electric blue to ensure that its noticed to the target audience. Another convention that it follows is the barcode which is usually located at the bottom or top of the magazine, and mines is located that the bottom out of the way, so that the reader can visually concentrate on the cover image. Also another way I followed the conventions is giving little insights of what’s inside the magazine through quotations. This is done to attract the audience into reading the magazine and was taken out of the text as it would start to raise questions and curiosity to the reader as they begin to question what they are taking about.

I think that the innovations that i have made are likely to prove successful because I have tried to make my magazine appeal to a wider audience by making the magazine Urban related. The images stand out well and text varies so it does not look plain and dull. After reading my feedback about my magazine i found out that my innovations did work effectively as they all identified the genre i was representing through the images and language.

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS? The social group that my media product represents is male music artists. My feature article is based on

an Funkyhouse artist and is also a male. The artist are typical stereotypes of a Urban artist. 'Reskoligy' defines the gangster image which most people stereotype as culture. This is represented by the choice of mise en scene. My artist is dressed in a 'hat' which is seen as a cultural aspect of clothing as it follows the conventions of hip-hop artists. Furthermore, he is also wearing a hoodie which gives a relaxed and comfortable vibe to the audience. Also 'Reskoligy' is wearing a pair of shades which indicated that he is superior to the audience. The clothing worn is what Urban music is usually associated with.

Moreover, the layout colour scheme used in my magazine is usually associated with males, for example i used black, electric blue and white. This builds a social group as my readers would tend to be male. This may be seen as a drawback as females can not really relate to this magazine and i should have attempted both genders and used universal colours to get appeal to a larger audience. Furthermore, the picture used on my front cover is on top of a house near Crawley. This shows a dangerous effect and only a young adult+ would be that high, therefore this excludes younger people from my magazine. Also the body language of the artist is ‘slouched’ and held back attitude towards the audience. The eyes are covered with sunglasses which mean that the audience loose eye contact with the image, however this may be seen as a positive as he reader can concentrate on the clothing and the attitude that is being portrayed, and this is Urban cultural. The facial expression of the artist in my double page spread looks ‘hard’ and gives of a strong vibe to the audience. This is reinforced by the choice of camera shot which is a close up, as the reader can focus on the mood and tone of the artist.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRUBUTE YOURMEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

I think that my magazine would be published and distributed well with Bauer Media. This would be beneficial as the media institution is reputable and has many links across the globe, for example it operates in 15 countries worldwide and has stakes in television and radio. The worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group’s magazine titles amount to 38 million magazines a week. This would be seen as advantage as the company is reliable and can ensure that my magazine gets the full coverage as it targets people of all ages and all interests.

Bauer Media publishes successful magazines such as Mojo, Q and Kerrang!. This means that they have expertise in selling music magazines. Furthermore, Bauer uses cross media convergence to maximize the emphasis of its media products.

The company also owns many TV music channels such as 4music, Q TV and has links with kiss, which promotes Urban based music.

http://www.bauer.co.uk/ - LINK .

However, although the company publishes millions of magazines it would be hard to pitch my magazine as they already have many successful magazines and wouldn’t necessarily want another one.

One the other hand, my magazine differentiates from others as includes the genre of ‘FunyHouse’ which is growing upon the British music industry.

Although the company publishes millions of magazines it would be hard to pitch my magazine as they already have a existing range. Therefore, a alternative distributer would be IPC which distributes magazines such as ‘NME’ which includes similar conventions that ‘Urban’ has. However, ‘Urban’ is different ‘NME’ as it follows a different genre so it could sell alongside NME and compliment it. This would mean that IPC would have a bigger influence on my magazine and the genre its representing. A website can also be added as the internet is becoming more popular and it allows my magazine to target a mass audience.

WHO WOULD BE YOUR AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

I have carried out market research in order to identify my market. I made a questionnaire asking several questions between several people, however most of the participants were male therefore I decided to do a male based magazine. After this I grouped their age and I found out that the average age was 11-12, so I decided to keep my target audience from 16-25. The nationality of the people that would most likely by my magazine would be British and from the UK, this is because it has elements of Funkyhouse and Urban music which is rising in the British music industry; however still a gap in the market is when it comes to magazines. Also my magazine talks about British artists and this may not be popular globally as they have not heard of them nor are interested in doing so, this may be seen as a drawback of my magazine as if i added international artists it would have The interests and lifestyle that the fans would have is probably going to music concerts and listening to music in general. The magazine will probably be for the working class audience, this would be good as people this age are most likely to buy magazine as they have the sparest income. Also the price of the magazine makes it easier for working class people to purchase the magazine. After looking back at my feedback it was positive and it was all reviewed by the people of who would be the target audience of this magazine items would have sold.

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

One way that I attracted my audience was through the range of camera shots. My magazine consisted of many angles such as mid shots, extreme close ups and high angles, this is also followed by different sizes. This attracts my audience as the different sizes express which picture is more important and which picture to focus on. Whereas the range of camera angles put the reader into a different view of the artists. Also the picture is the largest visual aspect on the page and is the first thing that meets the readers eye.

Another way I attracted my audience would be meeting the needs of the target market. For example from my questionnaire we have targeted males, therefore the pictures used are mainly male dominated so the consumers can look at the stereotypes of an ‘artist’ such as clothing, attitude and facial expressions and can look up to this or even copy as they want to be like the popular artists. However, attracting just males may be a drawback as the audience may want some female characters to also look at, this would be beneficial for my target audience.

Moreover, another factor that would attract my audience would be through the ‘mode of address’. The language that is used would be informal as colloquial language was used throughout the magazine, this meets the target audience as its written in a form that they can understand and relate to. Also my magazine uses direct address which builds conversation with the reader as it’s as if the person is talking to the reader, this makes it more personal and the reader would want to find out more.

  On the other hand, focusing on a advertising prospective I should target the internet as it is growing largely. As

my target audience is males from 16-28 I believe that advertising on social networks such as MySpace (which is music related), Twitter and Facebook. This would be beneficial as it is a free way of advertising and its in trend with my target audience as they spend most of their time on social networks.

Another internet network that I could use would be Youtube as it is a global network and I can have a ‘URBAN CHANNEL’ which promotes the genre of music that I'm focusing on.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARTN ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE

PROCESS OF CONSTRUCING THIS PRODUCTS? I have used technology to research my product. Some of these include using a professional camera to take my cover

image and double page spread. I had to work out how to use the different buttons on the camera and how to add effects in the lighting, another thing that i learnt is the focus button which allowed the picture to have more attention than a usual camera. Furthermore, to emphasize on the images i also used photoshop. This was a big factor for me as in my preliminary task i used word because i didn’t know how to use adobe photoshop. I self taught my self and used youtube to gain information on how to use it. In photoshop I learnt how to make different shades with in one picture, for example in my front cover kept the background black and white but the image in colour. Also I learnt how to even out skin tone, crop, sharpen images, rotate, transformations and use different effects.

Also, in design I have learnt how to place and move around images onto pages and use different colour swatches and a variety of other techniques.

Another form of technology that I used was prezzi. It was my first time using prezzi and I adapted to this rather well as you can see from my research (textual analysis). I learnt how to make pathways and other graphic elements to give a more modern viewing of work.

Moreover, another factor of technologies is the blog. This was also the first time I used eblogger.com. I learnt how to upload and embed my work onto the blog and adding a little statement. Also I have changed the background images to make my blog more funky and effective to my liking.

Another form of technology was powerpoint, I learnt how to make slides and add in animations such as zooming in and swirls to give the reader more of a visual experience. Also I learnt to add a music file which plays throughout the powerpoint, this made my powerpoint more effective.

One a more simple note I learnt to work with Word document as I started my preliminary task on word, this helped me adapt skills and then I print screened and saved it as a JPEG image. Also I did my magazine analysis on Word.

I used technologies such as the Internet to carry out market research; this allowed me to gain information about my market and the history of existing magazines. Also the Internet helped me produce graphics such as the titles, this made my processing more quicker so I can focus on the text. The advantages of using these technologies are that information is easy to find all the equipment and allows may varieties of editing. From my market research you can see that the consumers want a high graphical text and wanted the images to be the most effective on the page. Technology allowed me to create this, and therefore reach customer satisfaction.

However a negative factor of technology could be that the internet can give false information, and therefore lead to false results.

Another drawback would be that you have to be skilled in order to work the programs such as Photoshop. This affected me as I was not able to do my preliminary task on Photoshop at first and I haven’t got the same experience as others.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

After looking back at my preliminary task i have adapted through technologies as I did my preliminary task on Word as i didn’t feel confident using Photoshop. However looking at my final product i have learnt how to layer on Adobe Photoshop and use tools such as the magic tool, cropping tool, gradient tool, magic easier ext. I have built up on my skills and it has shown in my final product. Another way that I have learnt to do use blog and use other sources of ICT such as word, powerpoint and prezzi.

Another way that I have improved is in following the conventions of a magazine. Through my textual analysis I have identified the conventions such as house-style and headlines and added it to my magazine. My preliminary task did now follow any conventions of a magazine but now I have produced a magazine that has through the cover image, colour scheme, graphics and barcodes.

Another way that I have learnt is meeting the needs of my target audience. I carried out market research in order to find out what the customers’ expectations are of my magazine. I have added this inside my magazine to meet customer satisfaction. Also my ability to target my audience has improved as I have done so through the language and editorial of my magazine.

Moreover, the advertising and distribution knowledge has expanded as I have done some research into my target market and seen what ways to advertise. Examples of these would be social networks such as Facebook and Mypace. Also whilst doing this I have learnt to evaluate my product and see the benefits and drawbacks from this.

PRODUCTION PROCESS OF FRONT COVER...

PRODUCTION PROCESS OF CONENTS PAGE...

PRODUCTION PROCESS OF DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD...

MY FRONT COVER.. The image represents my completed front cover. My masthead uses white

and blue colour scheme to attract readers. I used these colours such as blue as its stereotyped for males. The masthead also has a outer glow to make it stand out to he reader. Above the masthead i named the famous artists that are included with in my magazine, this attracts the audience as they recognise their favourite artists and would want to read more. This follows the conventions of a music magazine as they usually use this to attract customers.

I used a two tone colour throughout the front cover which is grey and blue. I did this because it fits in with the background and the image. This theme is carried out throughout the page.

I followed the conventions of a magazine as i used quotations to attract the audience and give the reader a sneak preview of what consists inside my magazine. Another convention that is conveyed is the barcode. This follows the conventions as it usually is located at the top or bottom side of the magazine.

Furthermore, the main cover image goes against the conventions of a typical magazine as usually the image is extreme close ups of the face but I used a image that is a mid shot and includes the country side too. However i discoloured the background and made the image stand out in colour to ensure that the full focus is on the image.

Another factor of the magazine would be the banner at the bottom which i made to attract audience as if you purchase the magazine you receive a iTunes voucher. This would appeal to the audience as they are getting free goods and is a good form of advertising.

MY CONTENTS PAGE... From the main image you can see that i have duplicated and edited it

in a orange colour to give it a cartoon effect. I used this side shot image to set a mysterious theme and is the largest picture on the page. I did a graffiti based title because i felt that it represented the culture of my music. From this i followed a colour scheme of yellow/orange/black to give it a ‘fiery’ imagery.

The images that i used carried a range of different camera angles for example the main image is a side view, the ‘page 22’ picture was a low angle and the ‘page 32’ was a close up side shot and finally the ‘page 44’ was a high angle.

The mise en scene used in this picture represented the urban theme as it consisted of chains and hats. This represents the culture of ‘the hood’ – which is where most of the urban related music started from.

I used a white background because i wanted the full focus to be on the main image and the writing of what is included in the picture.

Also I have centred the writing in between the two images to give the effect that the two people are looking at the text, this means that the reader would do the same .

MY DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD...

The image used in my double page spread was originally a full image and looked like this however i used dragged on the wall onto the next page. This gave the effect that the writing has been written on the wall.

The image that i have used is a extreme close up. I chose to take this shot because i felt that it would connect best with the reader. Also having a extreme close up meant that the reader can be involved with the artists facial expressions and feel the emotion that they do.

Furthermore looking back at my research i have identified that most double page spreads have a introduction telling them what the article is about. Therefore i followed this convention and also did this.

Moreover, another convention of the magazine that i identified was that they highlighted effective quotes with in article to attract readers, I followed this as i made the quote stand out using the ‘glow tool’ and making the font larger. This would attract the reader was it is the biggest text that consists in the actual interview so people would spot that and want to read on to find out more.

On the right hand side of the image i added a quotation that i felt related to the magazine. This gave the audience a positive vibe as it represents ambition and motivation.

Finally, the original image was I'm colour, however i turned the image to black and white as i felt it would go well with the theme. I decided to go with a simple theme of black and white because the rest of the magazine held heavy colour, therefore this page would be unique from the rest.

PHOTOGRAPHS

MISE EN SCENE – All my images were still therefore I constructed the mise en scene in the photography stage. I planned what clothing I was going to dress my artists in clothing that will represent urban music. Therefore I dressed them in heavy jewellery, baggy clothing's and hats. This represent

urban culture.

CONCEPTION- I made sure that the photographs that i developed was appropriate for my product. I spent time on my flat plan draft i planned what they were going to wear.

COLOUR AND RESOLUTION- i edited the colurs on my front page as i used black and white in the background to focus on the main image. I left the picture of ‘Reskoligy’ in colour to attract the audience.

CAMERA ANGLES- I used a variety of different camera angles such as extreme close ups to emphasise on facial expressions. Another would be mid shots to show the audience the clothing and a full image of what they are wearing and body shapes. Another would be a high and low angle this expresses inferior and superior. This may be linked towards the audience.