Evaluation

· In what ways does your Media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
With the research I conducted on other music magazines I was able to follow the conventions in my own music magazine. Conventional features I used different from the front page, contents page and double page spread like in most magazines.
My front page follows conventional features such as masthead, bar code, issue date, headlines, an edited image of an artist who is features in the magazine and a main headline.
Conventional features I used on the contents page were page numbers and text referring to articles contained in the magazine, a smaller version of the masthead, additional smaller edited photos and short descriptions of the articles contained in the magazine.
On the double page spread I followed similar conventions such as the main body of text follows the conventions of a introductory article on the artist, page number, a headline and a strap line.
The images I used in the double page spread challenge the usual conventions in other magazines. The main and larger image is a high angle shot that looks as if the camera is towering over the artist. This challenges the conventions of the images as usually they are taken at a low angle to show the artist is dominant or at a straight on angle so the camera is level with the artist.
· How does your Media product represent
particular social groups?
The main representation of social groups shown in my magazine is that of female musicians. The social group was represented through images used in the magazine and text in the article, contents page and front page.
In the original images the representation of the social group is determination, dedication and a sense of seriousness. Some of the images are in grey scale which also represents this.
Representations shown in the text is similar to that of the representation of the images. The article is a representation of the artists struggle and rocky road to fame.
My magazine also can be seen to challenge the rock genre stereotype that only men can be real rockers. The images I used in the magazine are of a woman with representations of the rock genre such as guitars and amps. The musician is also in a dress which further adjusts the stereotype as dresses are seen as feminine rather than the image rock musicians show.
· What kind of Media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
Institutions like 'Future' or 'ICP' may distribute my magazine as they already distribute popular magazines that are similar to mine. 'Future' is the publisher of 'Classic Rock' and 'ICP' publishes 'NME'. Both magazines have a similar genre to my magazine.
The kind of Media institution who might distribute my media product would be one that has a well known music background as the target audience of my media product likes the product to have music connections and would prefer to read articles and magazines that are distributed by people who know what they are talking about. For example, if an institution were generally known for distributing knitting or craft magazines the audience may not trust the information in the magazine.
· Who would be the audience for your Media
product?
The audience of my magazine will be male and female rock enthusiasts much like the audience of 'Classic Rock'. They like old and new music of the rock genre and would be willing to pay up to £4 for a magazine with exclusive information and interviews like Rockahol!c magazine. They also like the classic side of music such as vinyls and original rock gigs such as Glastonbury or Leeds festival.
· How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my audience I used a few conventional features such as plugs. I also used a Editor's Note in my contents page to address my audience. The language used in the article is descriptive so the reader can imagine they are there or feel as if they are reading an exclusive inside view of a musician or a band. The language is informal which is suitable for the target audience who is mainly from B,C1 and 2, and D of the community meaning the semi-skilled and students are in the target audience.
The use of a female musician could also be seen as a way of attracting my audience as it is different from the other magazines of the same genre who generally have male musicians on the cover.
· What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the constructing process I learnt a number of new skills such as through research I learned the conventions used by published magazines. I also developed skills from using Photoshop and other photo editing software to edit my original photos.
With the research conducted on magazines I discovered typical conventions of magazines and applied them to my own magazine. With the research, I formed basic layouts to use as a draft for my magazine to see what was needed for the front page, contents page and double page spread.
With the plans and research I worked out what kind of photos I needed to take and once those images were taken with the use of props such as guitars, costumes and camera shots such as medium close-up shots I edited the chosen ones for my magazine on Photoshop.
Photoshop is a computer program which allows you to edit photos and images and use different effects such as blurring and layers of different digital features such as oil pastel. With my images I adjusted the colour tone and used the blur tool around the musician and props to emphasise the musician rather than the background.
With these technologies I have learnt about photo editing from the use of Photoshop and Publisher which allowed me to crop, re size and adjust the image.
Also, during the tasks I have learnt about conventions and the three main types; Technical, Symbolic, and Text. This has helped me to analyse my work critically and develop the work further to achieve the final product of my magazine. With conventions, I have also discovered that published magazines have similarities in the form of conventions that I have never noticed before and which have helped me develop and work through the preliminary and main tasks.
· Looking back at the preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?
The preliminary task introduced me to some of the conventions magazines use and some of the techniques that I have used in my music magazine. I also developed an understanding of institution, audience, language, representation and ideology which I used to further my knowledge in the full product.
In the preliminary task I also began to use Photoshop which allows me to edit and adjust images to suit what I need them for. A good example of the use of Photoshop would be the preliminary front page where I used Photoshop to create the whole of the front page using the image I had taken as a background. The tools available on Photoshop allowed me to edit the photo as well as add text to the image.
For the contents page I used Microsoft Publisher as I found it easier to use different smaller images and large amounts of texts. I also found on Publisher that I could edit photos slightly with the format picture toolbar.
When I look back at the work I produced in the preliminary task I have discovered that I needed to write more and conduct more research to help develop my media skills.

Audience Feedback

To the right of my blog I have added some polls that have questions linked to my work. This is to gain audience feedback on the final magazine product.

The results of the polls fitted with the aim of my magazine.
The first poll which asked what genre the voter thought my magazine was representing had a majority vote of a 'Rock' genre which is what I was aiming at.
The second poll had an 100% yes vote on the question of whether my magazine fitted the genre it was represented.
The third poll also had an 100% yes vote on whether the text and images fitted with the genre represented.
The forth poll had a multiple choice vote and the majority of votes were on the fact that the target audiences were teenagers and twenty year olds.
The fifth poll had an 100% yes vote on whether the magazine would appeal to the target audience.

The audience fedback shows that the purpose of the magazine and the ideology of it were rightly represented and effective.

Double Page Spread

Using my research conducted in earlier posts I have created a basic layout for my double page spread.

The article quote featured with the main image will be "I'm unique. I want to put a spin on reality and make it my own."
This will co-incide with the image of her legs, guitar, amp and microphone.



Images

Original Image

Manipulated Image

Using Photoshop, I changed the images colour and adjusted the contrast and brightness so the artist stood out from the other objects and props in the image. I then adjusted the focus and used the blur tool so the background and props were slightly out of focus and kept the artist the focus of the photo. The reason I chose the photo to be in greyscale was because in my research I found that many photos of artists of my chosen music genre are also in black and white which creates a mysterious and rebel like image. This can be seen as a connotation. A denotation is the angle of which my chosen image is. It is taken at a high angle to show that the artist is not dominant which is featured in other photos in my research. The photo is taken at a low angle to represent dominance.

Draft #1




I am happy with this layout as the artist is the main feature. The article fits in the layout I wanted aswell. However I don't think there is enough colour on the double page spread.
However, the article isn't columned which is a convention of a double page spread so this will need to be changed. I'm also not happy with the outcome of the main headline against the main image.

Draft #2




In this draft I have the main conventions; page number, main image, additional image, article text and headline. The article still needs to be put into columns to follow the conventions of a double page spread. The article is written like a biography of th beginning on the artists career. This was based around the article research I conducted. However, I may change the article to a interview similar to the Keith Richards interview in the Classic Rock magazine research.

Draft #3




In this draft I have re-written the article to suit the style of an insider interview. The way I have written it suggests the reporter is sat in a room with other people and listening and watching the musician. The article is now in columns which is a convention of double page spreads. I have also changed the headline so it looks as though it has been stamped onto the page. A small summary paragraph is also under the headline which is another convention I have seen in my double page spread research but in my double page spread I have it over the main image which isn't usual for the conventions. The main image is also in black and white to coincide with the quote in the article that is emboldened and in blue so it stands out from the rest of the text. This is also another convention that I saw in my research.


Final Draft



In my final draft I have changed the name of my musician. The headline is bigger and at an angle to look as if it has been stamped on the page. The blue text is in a style called "Metallord" which is similar to the styles I found in my research.

Article

"Leanne’s music is a creative and original symphony of Rock ‘n’ Roll influences with a bass line that roars through her new album “Black n White”. Her first album. After being available online for a month it managed to break through the download charts and score a top spot. Incredibly successful for a newbie artist who creates their tracks in a small attic bedroom close to the Yorkshire Dales.
“I’ve never not listened to music” she says as she tunes in her guitar across from me. “It’s always been around me from an early age. On the radio or when my Dad strummed on his guitar.”
Her new album is lying on the table between us, along with numerous magazines with her face plastered over them. Our photographer shows her the photos from the shoot earlier that day and she laughs.
“God this is so weird. I feel like an overnight sensation. Next week I’ll be old news” she laughs again.
I assure her she’ll be playing with Metallica on their comeback tour 20 years from now.
“It’s weird. People have a stereotype that rockers are old, sweaty guys with eyeliner but I’m a girl and some Rock fans hate that I’m too young as well. But I’ve been a Rock fan for most of my life.”
Leanne has finished tuning her guitar and starts playing a heavy solo.

The reporters and photographers stand in awe as this petite girl strums her guitar like a demon of Rock.
Once she has finished she puts her custom guitar down and sits down with her legs over the arm of the chair.
“I want to put a new but original spin on peoples ideas of Rock.”
Instead of finding a record label to prop her music on, Leigh-Anna went straight to producing her music herself and using Myspace and Youtube to show off her tracks.
“I didn’t want to go to a record label because I don’t like them. They seem to push out ready-made artists onto the fans and force the music on them until they buy it. I rather fans like my music because they like the sounds coming out of their speakers. I’m a ‘rough-around-the-edges kinda girl.”"

Contents Page

This is a brief and basic draft of my music magazines contents page. The circle at the top left hand corner will be a plug for a gig.
The photo will be one that I've already taken with a brief subheading and text in the bottom left hand corner.
Once I have written the article for the double page spread I will start putting in the contents subheadings and the subheadings and headlines on the front cover.
Like in the Kerrang! magazine contents page there will be a minimalist colour scheme and the background will be in white. The subheadings will be in red with descriptions in black. The text in the description of the photo will be a light colour depending on the colours of the photo used.







Draft #1

I've begun to plan with the text and images that may be used in the final draft. The editors note is a convention I found in some of the research on contents pages which I thought would be a way to appeal and attract my audience as it is directed at the reader. None of the articles are listed in the contents page headings yet. This was done on Publisher because I found it easier to work with at the time than Photshop. The image was edited on Photoshop however.

The black box in the bottom left hand corner is to appeal to the audience as it is an advertisement for the subscription of the magazine. On the NME contents page for example, I found an advert for the reader to subscribe to the magazine.

Draft #2

The background colour of the contents page is the same as the colour of the background of my front page. This is to show continuity in my magazine. The headings and subheadings are conventions that I found in my research. The page numbers are also conventions and tell the reader where specific articles are. There is too much space at the moment but there will be some images featured on the contents page.

The font style of the editor's note is to look like handwriting so it would look more personal and the pin is to add to this effect so it looks as if its been pinned onto the contents page.

Final Draft

I changed the background colour because I thought the colours stood out better with a white background. The images are edited on Photoshop then resized and adjusted on Publisher. The photos are tilted to look disjointed and messy instead of straight like other contents pages. This is to defy the normal convention of images on contents pages to seem original.

Front Page

Original Image












Image in Greyscale














Image in Black and White








The image in this front cover draft is in black and white adding a dramatic effect to my front cover. The string on the guitar are defined and standout.






However there are a few problems with these versions of my front cover. The right hand on my
artist is crooked and looks strange when there isn't the background of the original photo. The main headline is also bigger than the masthead and doesn't balance the page. The masthead is also too low. There will be more headlines and sub headlines in the final drafts.







Second Draft











This is the draft that I am going to continue to work on. The image is centred on the front page which will allow me to add subheadings and headings around the image. The background colour is lighter which makes the image standout. The guitar is a clear representation of the magazines genre.





The image is in grey scale which makes it stand out from the masthead.

Draft #3

The main conventions of a front cover are shown in this draft. The bar code, masthead, main image and headings and subheadings.




The colour scheme used is black, grey, white and red.



Draft #4








Final Draft



In the final draft I have gotten rid of some of the headings and subheadings as I believed they took too much focus off the main image.
I have moved the bar code and adjusted the text included with the "Exclusives" headline.
Technical conventions that are discovered in my research have been included in my front page. As said in the the Origina Photos post I have used a series of different shots and angles to experiment with. The final product above contains one of the photos which has been manipulated and adjusted with the use of Photoshop.
The textual conventions of magazines that have been included in my final front cover are; font style, colour and size, amount of text and where it is placed and overall layout of other conventions such as masthead, headlines, subheadlines, bar codes, date of issue and tag line.
Symbolic conventions such as colours and images are used in my front cover. The colour red was chosen because it's bold and stands out from the background colour. The white was also chosen because of the same reason. I wanted my text to stand out but not be too colourful and jolly.