Evaluation

As part of my AS Media Studies course i had to undergo two tasks which i would plan, research, and evaluate using my own blog as the electronic format i would showcase my portfolio of work. The brief of the task I had to undergo was to use the skills I had learnt in both photo shop and in the class. I would then use these skills for the preliminary task to create a front cover and a mock up of a contents page for a new college magazine. The main task i had to undergo and really test my skills on however was to create a front cover, contents pagedouble page spread of a new music magazine. I had to research the codes and conventions of already available music magazines and see how I could use them in my own magazine to make it look professional and then meet a deadline for when the work was in, in order to make my music magazine my own and not a replication of already on sale magazines I decided to develop and challenge the conventions of real media products. and

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

I feel that i designed my music magazine in a way in which it would use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products. When i was first given this task, i did some research into already available music magazines and the codes and conventions they used. The research I did on music magazines all showed that they had a current running theme of red font; I decided to keep this colour in my own work as it is a vibrant colour which has many connotations such as danger, blood, violence as well as the more positive connotations of love and lust. I thought it would be a good idea to keep this theme as the target audience i aimed my magazine at was people aged between 16 and 24, the list of connotations of the colour red are all emotions or experiences the target audience of my magazine will experience throughout that period of time in their lives. Another convention i chose to follow on the front cover of my magazine was a short and snappy Masthead; following in the steps of music magazines such as “Q”. I chose to do this as a three letter masthead is much easier to remember rather than a longer name for my magazine also the magazines i researched into either had a one letter masthead or a longer word whereas “RBL” is three letters, it has no meaning to a generation other than my target audience and would stand out against already on market magazines.

The majority of the magazines i researched into contained a plain background that remained out of focus sometimes just having a white background on the front page of their magazines. I decided that unlike most of these magazines I would like to include a background behind the main image of my front cover. This would enable my magazine to stand out against other magazines as well as adding affect to the representation i was trying to achieve. The background of my front cover entailed bricks and a grey fence which adds effect as it shows the photograph was taken in a rural area as well as the idea that the grey fence signifies entrapment and loss of freedom i.e a prison cell. I thought the prison cell connotation was good and matched the masthead (“RBL” which is an abbreviation for Rebel) of my magazine as well as appealing to the target age group.

The conventions I researched on music magazines all showed that they re-used the masthead from the front page in a smaller version throughout their magazine. I thought this was a really effective thing to do and an important connotation that i should reuse in my own magazine. The placement of the masthead on the front page of the magazine however i chose to break all of the conventions of a usual music magazine, I decided to place it straight in the centre of the page; by doing this the conventions that have been broken can be related to my target audience of 16-25 which is the period of time that people stereotypically go through a rebellious stage which is also where I got the “RBL” title from. I also feel that by placing it somewhere other than the top left hand corner it proves how unique my magazine is and that it isn’t just another clone of all the other magazines; i hope that this would tell the audience of my magazine that it would not just contain the same contents as the other magazines. Although the placement of the masthead could not be in the centre of the contents page and double page spread like how it was on the front cover as it would interrupt the main features that would be placed within the contents of those pages, I decided to follow the conventions of on sale music magazines and placed it in the left hand corner. I chose to keep all of the usual conventional features of a real media product in order to keep it looking like a real piece of media production for example the date, issue number and price however i just replaced them and moved them around to add more individuality, a word which every person within my target audience will be fighting for.

How does your Media product represent particular social groups?

I decided to make my media product represent different social groups which is why i decided to include advertisements of different genres of musicians on my front cover. The main colour running throughout my magazine also helps represents different social groups as red and black have connotations towards violence and danger; this side of the magazine represents the rebellious social groups who are trying to find themselves and sometimes going down the wrong paths which could also be related to some of the musicians that I have said feature on the inside such as Will.i.am who is from the hip-hop genre which has connotations to violence. The other side to the social groups my magazine represents is the more down to earth, laid back people. During the interview with my cover artists I made sure they came across very humble and polite. The clothes the male musicians i have pictures are wearing very laid back day to day casual wear which most youths would be wearing however the female musician is wearing a huge flower in her hair and a sparkly cardigan which also represents the idea of showing your emotions and who you are by how you dress. By the magazine representing a range of social groups it also attracts people from every cliché widening my market.

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

Media institutions such as Rolling Stone and Q would distribute my media product, as I feel it is attracting more of a younger audience, whereas media institutions such as Rolling Stone magazine seem to attract more of an older audience. I also feel institutions such as NME would benefit from distributing my magazines as NME magazine only seem to feature one genre which is indie-rock and therefore do not benefit from a varied type of audience which i feel my magazines “RBL” does.

Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

Through researching different music magazines I have decided to aim my target audience at males and females aged between 16 and 24. I chose this age as some of the language which may be used in the magazine may be inappropriate for a younger age and people over the age of 24 who are maybe more settled and out of the whole student lifestyle by then may be uninterested as well as having a less disposable income. It was a lot easier to aim this as my target audience as music is a dominated thing in the lives of people between these ages.

I feel achieved an aim of attracting my audience I feel this as on the front page I managed to include both female and male artists which was important as I did not want to favour either sex so that my target audience was on the borderline. I feel that by widening my target audience it allows the magazine to be of a more interesting read for the readers. The main focus point of the front cover my magazine is the image which has been photographed at a direct mode of address, which is inviting and eye catching to the audience which allows the audience to connect with the artists emotionally as well as intellectually (by making the audience think of how they know the musicians and why they know them) before purchasing the magazine. The idea that the contents page image has the girl laughing shows that the musicians, don’t take themselves too seriously and are down to earth which also enforces the idea that the audience will have a connection with them.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The first new piece of technology that i learnt to use during this course was blogger. At first i found it extremely confusing however the more i used it and looked around the site i came to grips with it and now i find it fairly straightforward. My knowledge of photoshop editor has gone from having no clue what it was to a basic knowledge of how to work it. I believe i got the best out of the programme using the tools i knew how to use such as the Lasso tool. I am happy i chose to challenge myself by using Photoshop rather than Publisher as i believe although i had less knowledge of the tools i took complete advantage of the tools i was able to use and therefore my work benefitted from these. I also thought the use of having many layers is a great idea as it enable lots of ideas to be put into effect.

Looking back over the time i have spent on this portfolio of work i now realise that it takes alot of time and a lot of work to make a magazine and i honestly have no idea how people who do this as a profession have the time to get their magazine out in less than a week deadline. At the beginning of the task when i was undergoing the preliminary task i thought i was out of my depth doing this course as i had no skills whatsoever to make a magazine, however after learning to the different programmes such as blogger and Photoshop i believe i have done a good job. The research and planning part of the task i thought took a long time however i believe that without that part, my work would have suffered dramatically. Overall i now feel comfortable using the different programmes i would need to use to make a music magazine.

If i was to do this task again the only thing i would do differently would be to manage my time more realistically. Although i maintained during this task there are gaps within the dates that posts are posted onto my blog when i was designing the front cover, contents page and double page spread therefore my time management looks poorer than it should however i could have update my blog with the progress i was making.