B Y A M Y K AY.

Evaluation of my media coursework

In what ways does your media product use form and conventions of real media products?

I created a music magazine called ‘RHYTHM’ and in the magazine that I created I used conventions of real media products which I had researched. I used still images which were similar to the ones which I saw in other magazines such as Kerrang! and NME. The still images that I found in the magazines which were similar to mine were mainly mid shots and had been manipulated. As I was taking my images I tried to match what I saw for the image on the front cover, to do this I used a group shot of the band which was the main focus of the magazine. This image that was on the front cover helped my music magazine to stand out from others which were of a similar genre to the magazine I was creating. I made my music magazine so that the colours would contrast each other in order for them to stand out. The images that I used worked well; they were all relevant images which meant that none of them stood out more than anything on the page.

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Another convention that I used was the continuity of the white font and the colour scheme which was black and white with a small amount of red text showing important information. The magazines that I looked at were Kerrang! Smash hits, NME and Q music. All of these magazines that I looked at were all different and they each used different colour schemes which they continued throughout the magazine. The colour scheme NME is red and black which makes it stand out and has now become part of their brand image. Kerrang! uses a white background with a black box around the magazine name which is then in white writing, this shows that the black box is used as a template to the magazine name. I decided to follow the theme which they used of continuity with my colour scheme. At first this did not work as well as I thought it would however once I had added the images to the pages it changed the fell of the page and made it look how I wanted it to in my planning and it matched the research which I conducted.

In what ways does your media product develop forms and conventions of real media products?

In my magazine I developed the images that I used using various image manipulation programmes such as Picnik and Photoshop. The image on the front cover of my magazine was manipulated so that it was made to look darker than it actually was so that it caused a sense of intrigue and blended in with the background of the magazine cover. Also the images which were inside my magazine where made to look bright and colourful to add a feeling of excitement to the article which I was writing about. It caused excitement as it made the band look interesting and made the reader of the magazine want to listen to their music as it was giving mixed ideas about what it would be like through the colour scheme, to make the images how they were finally I had to use image manipulation programmes. When I came to manipulate the image I had to learn how to use the programmes which I wanted to use, this was because I had never used them before. Before I developed my images I practised on my preliminary image.

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The images which I used for my preliminary task were basic which means that they were easy for me to manipulate, this meant that I could practice before I had to manipulate my final images. The original image that I took was dull and the band members did not stand out so I made the background so that it was black and I made the colours of the band members and their clothes stand out by brightening them.

Preliminary image, before and after

In what ways does your media product challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When I was creating my magazine I had to overcome challenges such as how to target the audience that I wanted. This was the main issue for my magazine because there are not many music magazines which are targeting a young audience who were students as many magazines targeted people who were aged around 16-35 years old. Also there are no magazines which are about new and upcoming bands. To make sure that I targeted my target audience in the right way I had to use conventions of other media products but try to make them more attractive to a younger audience.

My average target audience.

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To make my magazine attractive to a younger audience I used a simple text throughout the magazine but I used white text on a white background to make it stand out because the two colours contrasted each other. Also the images that I used were simple as they were basic images which caused intrigue into what the bands where like. It caused intrigue because of the colours of the images. As the text and front cover where simple but intriguing it would attract a younger audience that would be attracted to it, also because of the colour scheme that I used throughout it gave the magazine a clean feeling which would be expected in a magazine for students.

Simple text with contrasting colours and the image I used to cause intrigue.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine was a media product that represented new and upcoming musicians. It represented them as being ambitious and determined to do what they needed to do to get themselves recognised. It also represented the main band Swim Into Scarlet as pursuing their dream as they took a year out of college to try and get themselves recognised. It was important that I represented these social groups in a positive way because of my target audience. This is because my target audience is students and they always get a lot of bad press so it is good that there is a magazine showing how all students are not all trouble makers.

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Another social group that was represented was teenagers. This social group was represented by the use of new bands and artists who were around the same age of the target audience which I wanted to attract which were students. This was a hard social group to represent as it was hard to find young artists who were really trying to make it big in the music world. However the artist that I found, Ollie Marland and the band, Swim Into Scarlet were ideal people to star in my magazine. This is because they fit the image of being determined to make it in the music world no matter how they have to get there they will do it. Through the band and the artist I did my article on it made the representation of this social group work very well because it shows to the target audience where enthusiasm can get you.

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

I want my music magazine to be produced and distributed by Bauer Media Group. I have chosen to have my magazine produced by this company because they are a mainstream company who already produce a large number of different magazines including music magazines such as Kerrang! and NME. I want my product to be mainstream because it will help to raise awareness of the upcoming bands and artists that I am trying to get across in my magazine. Also if my product is mainstream I will gain a larger customer base meaning that I will generate more profit for my magazine. Also because Bauer has a national presence my magazine will be in other countries.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My media product was mainly aimed at people who are really interested in a certain genre of music and this genre was independent music (indie). For my target audience I decided I would aim to target people who were teenagers and young adults so I came up with the age range of people who were ages around 16-25. This age range seemed suitable to me because older teens have usually matured a little in their taste of music and they may have gone deep in to their dedication. Also this age range may have more disposable income and they will be more likely to be able to afford and want to buy the magazine. Even though I have chosen this target audience I do not think that when people get to 25 they will stop reading it because on you like a certain genre of music you tend to always like it. This age range will also tend to be students so it will captive the audience even more.

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My magazine is not gender biased which means that I am going to aim it at both males and females. This target audience worked well for my magazine because it meant that I was able to include new bands which would be performing in clubs in cities which would be where a lot of students would go on nights out. Even though this worked well for my magazine there was always the factor of who was more likely to read the magazine and buy it, the more that I thought about this the more I thought that the readers would be a more male audience so I needed to make sure that it had a masculine feel to it. I made my music magazine have a more masculine feel too it by having male singers and groups who would attract a male audience with the style of music which they create. However this does not mean that the magazine is going to be biased or sexist towards one gender because I wanted a target audience of women as well so I had to make sure that I included a lot of male artists who women and teenage girls would find attractive.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

When I was trying to attract my target audience I had to make sure that my magazine was completely based on the genre of indie music so that I would capture the attention of people who love that genre of music. To get this attention I put a large image of an indie band on the front cover. The image on the front cover was staged so that the band members were staggered and some were closer to the camera than others. Also the image was staged so that the members of Swim Into Scarlet were wearing dull colours and one of the members was wearing a white t-shirt, this was done so that it matched the colour of the writing which I was using. This worked well because it made the magazine stand out and show that it was an indie magazine. I also decided to use new and upcoming bands which were indie so that they would be able to support the bands into making it in the industry.

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

When constructing my magazine I have learnt how to use Photoshop and other manipulation programmes, this was a new experience for me as I have never done it before because of this I had to practice on other images first as I needed to be able to use it properly to construct my magazine. I have also had to learn how to use fonts from the internet (http://www.dafont.com/). I had to learn how to put these on my magazine cover and contents page so that continuity could be carried on throughout. As my pictures had to be original I had to go to the gig of the main feature band to take pictures, this meant I had to get there early so that I could take a picture of them all together and then again once they were playing. Once I had taken the images I had to upload them onto the computer, this meant that I had to learn how to do this.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you fell you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From the preliminary task I have learnt how to develop my images in a more professional way. The image from my preliminary task is easy to see that it has been edited; however the image from my main task has got more subtle editing so that it looks more natural. I have also learnt how to use Microsoft programmes in a more educated way rather than just using it to produce simple things. I learnt this because the magazine that I created used a number of complex skills. In the school magazine that I produced had a simple green back ground with one large picture and a few thumb nail images in. However my music magazine has a black background, white font which is the same throughout and a lot more manipulated images. The comparison is clear to see that I have learnt new skills and this is down to the skills learnt through Photoshop, other photo manipulation programmes and Microsoft programmes.