7 Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

When looking back to my preliminary task, and comparing the front cover of my school magazine (right) to the front cover of my music magazine (left), I realise I have learnt during the process of making the second magazine. When faced with the challenge of creating the front cover of a school magazine, I didn’t take the necessary actions of which I took when creating my music magazine. For example, planning of the layout and content of the magazines which resulted in me planning as I went along with the School magazine. Also, I did not manage my time wisely with the School magazine which resulted in the contents page being extremely rushed.

Photography: I liked the image I used in the preliminary task, however it was the only image I considered to feature on the front of the magazine. Whereas with my music magazine, I planned the shoot, and organised the appearance of the model in order to achieve a suitable image for the front cover. Because of being more experienced at this point in Photoshop, I was able to edit the picture more what I wanted/needed. Also, I had several photo shoots in order to create more of a selection of images. I also went out to gigs and took pictures there in order to get images to feature in my magazine that suited the live music element of my magazine.

Layout: With the preliminary task I didn’t explore many layouts of the magazine, due to lack of planning and poor time management. However, with my music magazine I created at least 2/3 possible layouts per section of the magazine. During the process of creating the magazine, I tried out various layouts until I found a suitable layout which I was happy with. In the end, I don’t think I stuck with any of my original layout plans, however it gave me an idea of how to lay out the pages.

Fonts: With my original preliminary task, although I explored font colours, I only used one type of font throughout the front page and contents page. However, with the music magazine, I explored several different colour schemes. I also discovered a website where you can download free fonts which I used to select several fonts to use throughout my magazine.

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

The Apple Macs

I have never used an Apple Mac before being faced with the task of making a music magazine. However, I managed to get used to them very quickly. I found the file explorer very useful when handling the files needed for my coursework. Also, the click and drag tool was extremely useful when using the internet and various applications on the Macs.

Photoshop: Again, before this project I have never used Photoshop. I learnt the basics whilst editing the photo for my preliminary task however I learnt most of my knowledge whilst editing the images for my magazine. I learnt how to use the burn tool in order to create a vignette effect on some of my images. I learnt how to use the colour replace tool by transforming the mode of the image to greyscale, and returning it back to colour mode. I also used the same tool to replace colour on certain parts of the image. I used the spot healing tool on my models face, as well as the burn tool on the shadows to darken her eyes and make them stand out. I also used brightness and contrast layers over the images. As well as this, I discovered how to use brushes and how to download them of the internet off a website called www.brusheezy.com . I used these brushes to give my magazine a grungier feel.

In Design: Again, like Photoshop, I have never used In Design before the preliminary task. It took more getting used to than Photoshop, however once I realised that you could work in layers similarly to Photoshop I was okay as I had understood this part of the programmes pretty quickly. This programme was really helpful as it enabled me to compose the layout how I wanted. Also, I was able to explore fonts through this programme using a website called www.dafont.com which was very useful as it gave me a variety of fonts to use in my magazine to give it a professional look.

I know feel very confident using these two programmes on the Apple Macs, whereas in September I wouldn’t have known where to start.

As well as these main programmes, I have used many sites to help me develop my blog. I have used www.flickr.com (which I have already used) to upload images that I had edited and use the annotating tool which I have never used before and found very helpfully. I also produced several slideshows using PowerPoint which I used www.slideshare.net to upload and host them on, then posting them on my blog. As well, I used www.photobucket.com which I used to upload my pictures and create slideshows with them which were then featured on my blog.

5 How did you attract/address your audience?

Here are some annotated diagrams to awnser the question. In order to see them bigger, just clikc on the images.

4 Who would be the audience for your media product?

IMAGE IMAGE IMAGE IMAGE
"They enjoy music particularly from the rock genre and are loyal fans of well-known bands such as Foo Fighters, The Killers and Muse. However, they are also interested in up and coming bands and enjoy reading reviews on albums and gig reviews of not-so-popular bands such as Gallows, The Blackout and Young Guns."
"They tend to revolve their live's around going to gigs. They will go whenever they can scrape enough money together to get a ticket and transport to the venue, and will either live off pot noodles for a week (in true student style) or beg their parents in order to get that money. In their spare time they like to use MySpace to search for a new band to listen to and to stay in-touch with their friends."
"As well as having a massive interest in all things music related, the FEEDBACK reader enjoys other forms of entertainment such as films and comedy series. Due to not having a lot of money from blowing it on attending gigs, buying the merchandise there and purchasing FEEDBACK on a weekly basis, they will ask for the latest blockbusters and a box-set of family guy for christmas or their birthday from their parents."

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

In order to establish what company would distribute my magazine, I must look at the different distribution companies or look at which companies distribute my main competitors and magazines of similar genre. From studying this, I have come to the conclusion that Bauer Media Group would be a suitable company to use to distribute my music magazine. I came to this conclusion through finding that the same company distributes Kerrang, MOJO and A magazines as well which are 3 of my main competitors and are of a similar genre of my magazine. From having a further look in the Bauer Media Group I discovered that it has grown into a worldwide publishing company, publishing 282 magazines in over 15 countries. As well as this, it also owns several TV and radio stations as well as its own radio station. It also has links to ticketing websites such as www.aloud.com which links well with the strong element of live music throughout my magazine. This again backs up the fact that Bauer would be a good company to choose to distribute as I would be able to advertise their ticket website through my magazine.

The process of distributing my magazine would be similar to all other magazine. First the magazine would need to be put together by piecing together different articles and features, then the magazine would need to be proof read in order to get rid of any mistakes/errors in the magazine. The editor would need to go through the magazine also and finalise everything. Then it will be sent to be printed and distributed by Bauer Media Group. At this stage I will be able to decide where I would want the magazine distributed to. It would be sold in supermarket stores (such as Tesco & Sainsburys) nationally and small independent newsagents. We may also distribute digitally in order to appeal to the international reader. This would be useful as it is furthering use of new technology and would reduce costs of distributing to distant locations.

2 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Above is an image I have taken (on the right) as part of the initial photo shoot for my magazine. On the left is a picture of a previous issue of Kerrang (who is a main competitor of my magazine FEEDBACK). The main image on the cover is the singer of Paramore, which is also determined by the anchorage text. The image I have taken of my model is not featured in my magazine, however I think it is an ideal image to use in order to show how my magazine represents particular social groups.

Facial expression and hand gestures are extremely similar in the two shots. My model Aimi has her tongue out and a scrunched up face, and is doing the V sign with her hands. Similarly, Hayley Williams on the front of Kerrang has her faced scrunched up and is making a V sign with her hand. The overall facial expression and hand gesture gives off attitude which fits in with the genre of the magazine and general vibe I want to portray on my magazine.

In both of these images, the costume used is not very visible. However, of what we can see they are similarly dressed. Both are wearing t-shirts of which match the colour of their hair. Both have brightly coloured hair, and heavy make-up which fits in with the grungy theme of the magazine.

Lighting and composition of the shot/models are similar also. The models are staring straight at the camera which gives the images direct mode of address which attract potential readers attention as they are staring right at the reader.

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

The title of the magazine: The title of my magazine is “FEEDBACK”. This has several meanings which links with the genre of music magazine that my magazine is. The first meaning is the feedback achieved from electric guitars sometimes, which regularly occurs in rock music which is the primary genre of music featured in my magazine. The second meaning is as in audience FEEDBACK, linked with reviews of albums and live concerts which are strong elements in my magazine.

Mise-en-scene of images: All images throughout the magazine portray the genre of rock, which is the chosen genre for my music magazine. Some images include music instruments such as guitars, which supports the genre. A few of the images included in the magazine were taken at live concerts. This kind of photography is common in music magazines similar to mine, such as Kerrang and MOJO as live music is an important element. Also, composition and lighting of the images used are important in order to keep the reader interested and make them visually interesting for them.

Costumes and props: When taking pictures are live events, I was unable to dress the bands as I would like. However, because they are bands that play the type of music featured in my magazine. Therefore, their appearance was suitable for the images I wanted to take. In my other photo shoot of my main article model, I told her what to wear in order to fit in with the article I had written and to suit the ideas that I had. Therefore, the imaged I took fitted in with the rest of my magazine.

People: The people featured in my magazine all represent the attitudes associated with the genre of music magazine I have chosen. With the use of specific clothing and make-up, they suit the rock genre. In the images of the live concerts, the bands are wearing what they would typically wear for any other live convert which means they are as real as the images featured in real magazines such as Kerrang.

Title font and style: For my masthead, I have used the text called “28 days later”. This text is distorted and grungy which fits in with the genre of my magazine. Also, it fits in with the guitar “FEEDBACK” effect. I have also used the text called “Frakturika” for the title of my article. Using a different kind of font than the masthead font makes it stand out from the rest of the magazine. For my article contents I used a simple sans serif font called “Myriad Pro”. I used this font so the article is easy to read.

Written content: To create the questions included in the article, I looked at questions asked in articles of other magazines. I then wrote the article with answers that I thought were suitable to the images I had taken. The questions are all related to music, live music, albums etc. which fits in with my genre.

Music genre and how your magazine suggests it: On the front page there are two images of live event photography. This instantly suggests to possible readers that live music is a strong element within the magazine. Also, looking at the appearance of the musicians featured on the front cover, we can see they sport a grungy, heavy, alternative look.

Layout

Contents pages