Monday 9 May 2011
Friday 6 May 2011
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For this product I chose to make a Rock music magazine, over the year’s magazines like Kerrang! And Metal Hammer have been going strong and reaching out to different fans of this certain music genre. When researching these magazines I found that there were many similarities which run through each of them. When it came to creating my own product I wanted to have some of these similarities to show, however I would like to break the normal conventions which come with the term “rock music” I wanted to give my magazine a twist.If my magazine where to be sold in local newsagents or at a large retail scale I think it would compete against magazines such as; Kerrang! Rock Sound and Metal hammer. They have a readership which spans across the world. My magazine would have to stand out against these three major magazines. Magazines like Kerrang! have been going strong for over 30 years and has a total circulation of 42,967 and has many other things which are part of the "Kerrang! company" for example, Kerrang! Radio, TV, awards, tour. It also helps sponsor festivals like Download.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When looking at which companies would distribute my media product I thought that Bauer Media Group would be a great company that would distribute my magazine. Bauer Media Group was founded in 1875. The German company helps to distribute some of my main competitors, Kerrang and Q magazine. I felt that Bauer Media Group would be the best company to distribute my magazine.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When I stared to make the school magazine I thought that it was a simple task. The school magazine was aimed at a younger audience compared to the audience which I chose for my music magazine. I used simple images which I thought where good enough to be posted on a magazine cover. This magazine did not really have a specific audience. I chose to make it for 11-18 years olds; it was also for a mixed gender group, hence why I chose a pale yellow and black colour scheme. I felt that this would appeal to both genders. A way in which I made some progress was using Photoshop. I felt that starting with the school magazine meant that I had a chance to practice my skills in Photoshop, for example, cutting out pictures, Using drop shadow and editing layers.
Link back to the cover for my magazine:
Link back to the contents page:
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When it came to creating the magazine I used the colour scheme of red black and white. Colours like red and black had connotations of blood, death, danger, darkness and anger. Theses connotations also link to the genre which I chose to base my magazine on. When you look at magazines like Kerrang, you can see that they base their magazine around the same sort of colour scheme. I wanted my product to appeal to my audience. So I created a big bold title. This would be used to try and attract members of my audience to buy this magazine instead of its leading competitors. To try and attract member of the public to buy my magazine I focused on naming leading rock bands and artists who might appeal to a person from my target audience. I added free posters and competitions. This would also be used to attract potential customers because people like free things and the chance to win something.
I gained many more skills in using Photoshop. I used Photoshop in my spare time to edit my photography; however I learned more detailed things which helped make the magazine more professional. I found out how to use the burn tool which darkened parts of the image which looked slightly too light. I also gained better skills in researching. I felt that after analysing many different magazine covers and their features e.g. titles, editors notes, dates...etc... That I knew exactly what my magazine needed to be of a high standard.
Another way which I used technology was creating this blog. This gave people around the world the chance to see the development of my magazine; this also created a chance for me to see what other people for different countries thought about the magazine. I used a website called “slide share” this meant that I could upload PowerPoint presentations to the blog; this separated my blog out so I wasn’t all text. For the photos I used a Canon EOS Rebel XS. I use this camera when I am taking photos for my photography portfolio. I have been doing photography for many years; I found this part of the project easiest. The camera gave me complete control for taking my images. The 12.2 Mega pixel CMOS sensors meant that I could stretch the image and I would not appear blurred.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience was mixed gender groups aged 15 -25. I chose this age group so I could then relate the magazine to a wider audience. People aged between my target years are more likely to buy my magazine. This meant that I would have more people who would be willing to buy this magazine If it was to be produced for retail. I chose the genres Rock, Metal and Screamo because they all link together in similar ways. I felt that using these three genres would also help me to reach out to more of the target audience which I wanted. I also chose these genres because I have been a fan of them for many years, this would be easier for me to talk about in great detail. Many people buy magazines to gain some sort of personal identity, using a model around the age of my audience and with the same sort of background means that they have something to relate to. This links back to the theory of Blumler and Katz, 1974. My audience will relate to the image which my magazine promotes. Using adds for free things, like clothing or festival tickets means that I am making my target audience feel like they have some slight ownership towards the magazine.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I aimed my magazine at a working class audience. I chose a working class audience because they tend to buy more magazines compared to a upper class member of the public. I felt that my product represented the working class very well, looking back, I used a male model who appeared to be working class. This meant that younger audience members who are from the working class families could relate more towards the person which the feature article was based around.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I felt that the magazine came together really well. I found new skills which meant that I could create a magazine which was of high standard. I kept e record of what needed to be done which meant that the building of my magazine was structured well. Overall I thought that my magazine was very successful.
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Audience Feedback
One I had created my magazine to the highest standard i could, I asked a group of people which the magazine was aimed at. I felt that getting different types of feedback would give me some idea into what they thought about the magazine itself. This would also help highlight any problems the potential customers had, for example, if they didn’t understand certain slogans, or if they thought that the colour scheme clashed and was not clear enough to read.To start off with I asked a mixed gender group aged 16-25 what their opinions of the front cover,Feature article and contents was. I asked them to write down what they thought. Here are some of the comments which I was given:
“You can tell by the colour scheme and the style of the photo that this magazine is based around the rock music genre. If I had seen this magazine cover with covers from well-known magazines I would say that it was at the same high standard. on the other hand i think a better model could had been used for the front cover photo.“ - Ashley Maplethorpe
“You can tell by the colour scheme and the style of the photo that this magazine is based around the rock music genre. If I had seen this magazine cover with covers from well-known magazines I would say that it was at the same high standard. on the other hand i think a better model could had been used for the front cover photo.“ - Ashley Maplethorpe
“I thought that the red, white and black colour scheme followed a tradition which many famous rock/metal magazines have today. I felt the dark colours give it its dark appearance. I felt that the magazine has been related towards the metal genre in the smallest ways, for example, the outfits which the models in the photographs took, that type of fasion is linked towards that music genre. I loved the layout of the contents page, i thought that using half the page for image and half for text was different to what you would normally see in magazines. “ - Matthew Fouracre
"When i was first shown the cover for Broadcast i thought that is looked very professional. The layout reminded me of other rock music magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound. The photos which were used looked like there was some time and effort spent on them. If this magazine was on sale, i would pay for it"- Stephiie Hart
Here are some of the results to the questions which i asked my audience:
Do you like the colour scheme?
Did you find the fonts easy to read?
Here are some of the results to the questions which i asked my audience:
Do you like the colour scheme?
Did you find the fonts easy to read?
Do you think that the magazine appeals to males or females more?
When asking members of my target audience what they thought of the magazine i felt that the magazine was received well. The feedback i was giving will help me to improve the cover, feature article and contents.
Front Cover
Front cover
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This is a rough example of what I would like my front cover of "Broadcast" to look like. I wanted my title to take up the full length of the page.For example, the way Kerrang! Makes the title stretch across the full page, many other Metal music magazines did this.
other magazines that focused on many music genres like, NME had a small title which was tucked away in the corner of the page, I felt that this did not catch a readers eye because it was too small to read, I want my title to stand out. this is why I chose a bigger title.
The colour scheme which i am using for the front cover is; black, red and white. This colour scheme will run throughout the magazine with the addition of other dark colours. When looking at other rock magazines I found that these three colours where the most common ones which are used. I felt that they matched the genre very well.
Here are some examples of my choice of title in different colours, I asked members of my target audience which one they preferred. I found out that many preferred the white text in the black box.
Contents
When it came to the contents page, i wanted to do something completely different to what other magazines are doing; I looked at examples which were taken from Kerrang! And Metal Hammer. I got my idea for the contents page from the magazine Rock Sound. I wanted to use one main image of the model that was in the feature article. Using a black square which would cut out some of the picture, I could then add text onto that square. Smaller images could be used around the other image. These would link into other stories that are part of the layout.
Contents
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I found creating the contents to be the most time consuming part of the project. I wanted to make sure I got it perfect. I used the same colour scheme throughout (black, red and white) The image took up most of the page, this would create a different style of contents compared to that of Metal Hammer or Kerrang!
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