Evaluation - Question 7

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

The preliminary task was set very early on during the A-Level course and at this point I did not have a particularly good knowledge on Photoshop which meant that the overall design of the Sixth Form magazine was much more basic then the design of my Music magazine.
In the editing process of the preliminary task I began to find my feet with the tools that are included within Photoshop. The editing of the preliminary task was very basic for the Sixth Form magazine and I knew that in order to improve I would have to push myself even further for the actual project. The models for my Sixth Form magazine were wearing simple suits, which is the uniform policy for Sixth Form, however for my actual Music magazine I was allowed creative freedom with the mise-en-scene and this allowed me to get the photos with the models exactly how I wanted them in the final product.
Once I got used to the camera I felt as though my photos had improved from the preliminary task. The preliminary photos was a simple portrait photo of two students standing in front of a wall and the editing process was very minimal at most, however when it came to the actual project I made sure that I used different angles for the photos and tried to do more editing to the photos which I feel as though I accomplished.
In the final product I made sure that I added barcodes, Issue numbers and dates in order to give it a realistic feel, and make it feel as though someone could go out and purchase the magazine. This was helped with the amount of music magazines we had studied in previous sections of the actual task, as well as feedback that I received after the preliminary task. I also looked into the pricing of rival magazines in order to make my magazine seem more real and this helped with the little details that I felt were important for the magazine.
The preliminary task helped me to begin to understand the software that I would be using for the project and I feel as though I made progress on my Music magazine based on the mistakes that I made on the preliminary task.

Evaluation - Question 6

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

During the construction of my music magazine I have used a variety of products in order to construct my magazine.

The photo editing software that I used was Adobe Photoshop 14:

In previous projects like this one I have never ventured that fair into Photoshop and this was mainly to do with the amount of tools and menus that it had, I never felt fully comfortable in diving head first into it. However when it came to the actual task I decided to use as many tools and menus as possible and this slightly backfired when what I had created was not what I intended to create, however once I made the first draft I realised where I had gone wrong and went about trying to fix it. Throughout the time of using Photoshop during the project I became more comfortable and even began having more fun with it as I became used to the controls.

Draft:

Final product:

The camera I used to take the photos was a Nikon D3400:

Before the project I had not used a camera that was anything like it which meant that this was a learning curve for me personally as I had to learn how to take the best pictures for the magazine. I had some lighting problems early on as I was learning but once I figured out the settings the lighting gno longer became a problem for me. The camera being HD meant that the photos would be good quality and with the help of a tripod I began to take more professional looking photos. When I decided to use different angles in my photos I began to feel more comfortable using the camera and without the aid of a tripod I managed to continue to take more professional photos.

 

Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience

I used the audience in pre - production in the forms of questionnaires to ensure that what I was trying to create would be engaging and appealing to my target audience. The questionnaires were helpful as it gave me guidance in what direction to take my magazine. I asked 20 people in my target audience to fill out my questionnaire with every question used to help create and aspect of my magazine or see whether my original plans were what my target audience expected to see.

Many of the most popular answers in the survey became key parts of the design process of the magazine therefore ensuring that my target audience was happy with my final product and the magazine as a whole.

In the actual magazine as a whole I use competitions and bold statements and words in order to attract interest from other readers into reading into the magazine that they would not necessarily gone to read immediately. 

The questionnaires and surveys were great ways to help me ensure that my target audience were going to be happy and make sure that they keep on coming back for later issues. This would help create a loyal fan base that will help ensure the popularity of my magazine, therefore making it all to do with the interaction between myself and my audience.

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

The target audience for my magazine has mainly stayed the same during the process of making my music magazine and this means that the ideas that I came up with during the pre – production are mainly the same.

One of the main reasons my target audience was teenagers, and slightly older, was because that was the age of the people who took my questionnaire about their preferences in the magazine. If I had taken the results that I had collected and then used them for a different target audience it would mean that I am not giving that target audience what they wanted, which would affect the quality of the magazine.

When I was constructing my magazine I made sure to keep in mind what my target audience said would appeal to them, while also slightly adapting it in order to make the magazine as fresh and original as it would need to be in order for my audience to read the magazine.

As the production of the magazine went on I found that the magazines target audience perhaps got younger due to the artists featured as well as partly the way it was simple and easy to read that I thought older people reading the magazine would prefer.

My target audience during the research showed me that rock was the most popular in the age range alongside pop, so while my magazine mainly focused on the rock genre I also tried to make my magazine seem open to people who like other genres to come and read it as well. This is another reason why I chose Time Inc. as my publishing company.

My original audience research analysis - http://jszklareka2media.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/audience-research-analysis.html

My original readership profile - http://jszklareka2media.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/readership-profile.html

Evaluation - Question 3

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

Bauer Media:

Pros -

Based in Europe, the same as my magazine and its target audience based on my research.

Has 300 magazines which means that they know what they are doing when it comes to distributing my magazine.

Cons -

Kerrang magazine is a part of Bauer Media and this would cause problems due to my and Kerrang's target audience is very similar.

Mojo is another rock magazine that is a part of Bauer Media, however its target audience is a lot older so that would not be a problem.

The content in my magazine is similar to others that Bauer Media distributes therefore making it not unique and original.

Time Inc.:

Pros -

Is very popular with Americas with half of Americans reading a magazine from Time Inc each month.

Has not got as many rock magazines in its company which means that my magazine would feel unique in the company.

Cons -

Based in America which isn't ideal as my magazine is based in Britain and Europe.

For my magazine, Paradox, I would want to have Time Inc. as the publishing company for my music magazine.

Both of the companies have good things about them however I have chosen Time Inc. as my magazine is a rock magazine and the main issue with Bauer Media is that they have other magazines that are similar to mine, which would cause too many unnecessary rivalry and readership loss within the same company that would not be healthy for any of the magazines involved within Bauer.

Although Time Inc. is not based in Europe it would still have an influence over UK magazines and publishers which would mean that my magazine could be a success. Time Inc. do only publish magazines which means that my magazine could not become as successful as Kerrang for example as they both use TV and radio stations that are linked to the magazine making them very accessible for the reader.

My magazine would benefit from Time Inc. being American as it would open up a different market to distribute to and this attention from the American market would help improve my magazine and create a fan base that would rival Kerrang.

Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?     

I chose to make my magazine represent young male artists who are usually in the rock genre and the stereotypes that occur in the genre as a whole.

For example some people believe that in rock music there are no meaningful lyrics and this is mainly due to them not being able to understand the artist however the genre as a whole has created some of the most meaningful lyrics in all of music. One of the most famous bands of all time, Queen, was a part of the rock genre and their huge success during the 70s was partly due to their lyrics. "My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die. I can fly my friends" has an impactful and meaningful tone to it and this goes against the stereotypes of the genre. In my article my feature artist talks about his biggest song 'new world' that has lyrics that people can connect to therefore making him not a part of the stereotype.

People also believe that all young male artists do not care about their fans and that they only care about the money that they make. I wanted to show people that this wasn't true by having my artist seem kind and considerate and not doing it for the money. Due to the time that we live in it is very difficult to make people seem normal when everything is online but in order to do this I wrote about his childhood and the problems he had there in order for him to seem like just an ordinary person who happens to make music. People also believe that people who listen to rock are also anti - social and this goes with the artist included and this was another stereotype I wanted to stop.

Evaluation - Question 1

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

My music magazine was intended to use and incorporate current as well as previous conventions in order for the magazine to be recognisable as the genre that I chose.

Conventions from real media products:

Kerrang's use of an interesting masthead design was an inspiration for me as I attempted to create a similar design that was still unique for the magazine.

Billboard may not be in the rock genre but I liked the simplicity of the magazine and so did my target audience during the pre - production stage of the development of my music magazine therefore I created the magazine with that in mind.

Kerrang's artists are usually wearing casual clothes in order to get the audience to better attach themselves with the featured artists, and as my feature artist was an up and coming star he would need that attachment with his audience, therefore meaning that he would also be wearing a more casual outfit.

Conventions that I challenged:

The main convention that I challenged is that rock magazines have to have a lot of content packed closely together like this:

However as I preferred the Billboard approach to the style and simplicity I therefore tried to create a rock magazine that was simplistic and easy to read.

Another convention that I challenged was the artist and the age that the artist was. In most magazines the featured artist is an adult between usually over the age of 25 and this portrays a sense of maturity in their actions and what they say however my artists are between the ages of 18 and 25 so this is a convention that I am challenging.