Friday 30 January 2009
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In many ways I have used and developed forms and conventions of music magazines. I had been looking into and researching many different music magazines of all music genres from Q to Karrange to Smash Hits. Looking at the different ways in which the front page, contents page and inside features such as concert lists, interviews and photos are structured and what is actually said in the language which depends on its target audience. There are many similarities within all the magazines, their front covers had similar layouts but all had there own identity, their house style. All the magazines had a main image which of course was the main focus and really drew the reader in but also the masthead and the position of the masthead is a key selling point to the magazine. With a few cover lines telling the reader what stories are going to be included. So knowing that these magazines are highly successful I felt this should be included into my magazine. When i was looking into magazine of the same genre as mine (pop music) I really took note of the language used within the front cover and inside stories. I felt that was very important due to them understanding and relating to what has been said. The ‘text language’ which many children/teenagers use was included on my front page as that was the reaction I felt they would make when they saw who was on the front cover. However I have challenged the conventions to make my magazine sell and stand out from the rest. Researching the different genres allowed me to use and develop ideas from all of them allowing my magazine to be original. Where my target audience is kind of young (11-15) I felt that my USP should be poster. Anything else may make them feel young and patronised. I wanted them to feel as though they were the age they want to be. As when they attend secondary school they could use the posters within their lockers and on their bedroom walls ect. I challenged the conventions by covering my title slightly with the main image. This shows the success of the magazine and allows people to see that everyone knows how the magazine looks without the title. When I looked up magazine of the same genre and target audience I thought that they were very young looking so I tried to be different and using colours which still has that girly look of including pink and cute images but more sophisticated and lets the readers feel older which is what most young people want to be, older. This too makes my magazine sell and different to the rest.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The people who would buy my magazine, the readers have a high disposable income as they do not have and other responsibilities elsewhere concerning money. They would get this money from either their parents or a part time/weekend job. It may not just be spent on magazines but stuff such as, the cinema, sweets, make up and accessories. The people represented in the magazine are young adults both male and female who are very successful, that aim high and enjoy life. They are outgoing and fun to be around. The males would be shown as real fun and nice boys who your mum would love you to bring round and your dad wouldn’t mind going down to the pub with him to have a quick pint. And the females would be what the girls want to grow up to be like, looks and personality. The reason for these types of people being represented is because it shows the readers that they too can achieve and if they aim high goals can be scored. It also shows the good side of teenagers and shows other people that they aren’t all bad and involved in crime. As I feel young adults and teenagers aren’t getting the great credit and acknowledgements that they should be getting. It allows the readers to have positive role models and look up to people and allow them to inspire them to be successful even if it isn’t to do with music.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The media institution who would distribute my magazine is very important and key to the success of the magazine. I wouldn’t want a small and independent institution as I don’t see them as being as successful. There would be limited money used on the magazine which could prevent the quality of the magazine being any good or restricting who could be featured within it. No one outside of the media industry would know the company very well which makes the product look unreliable. If it was independent they couldn’t use synergy with another popular music channel or programme many things would have a limit as you would always have to ask would the profit be enough for the price to begin with. Also would there be too much competition within the magazine industry. Would someone who is unknown be successful in publishing their magazine when there is bigger and more common/well known magazines out their. I would want a large media institution to distribute my magazine there would be more money involved so the quality would be improved. There is more stability and reliability behind the magazine as they would have previously produced successful music magazines and television programmes and so on. There would be more support for your magazine and more people would be able to get involved and make the magazine work. There would also be a better link with music and television and the radio. More opportunities would be available and more publicity would come with that. For example one of the most popular music magazines ‘Top Of The Pops’ have there magazine of course but there own show too. This created many more readers and viewers the two worked together and made each one more successful. Another example of large media institution would be ‘IPC media’ which is a leading UK consumer magazine publisher. Near enough 2 out of 3 women by at least one of the magazine out of the 80 and 45% of men too. Not only do they produce magazine but websites too, NME.com which is one of the largest commercial music websites in the UK.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My magazine’s target audience is mainly for girls around the age of 11-15, so the start of secondary school, where they are just starting to get more responsibilities. This had a huge effect on what was to be included and how the language should be written. Instead of having lots and lots of the same types of articles I varied them a lot more so we have interviews, music reviews, events to attend, competitions and quizzes. I included competitions and quizzes to really involve girls of the age of 12 as that was what they wanted in more magazines which is what I had found out through my questionnaires. As I have already touched upon the language was very much the way in which they see as ‘cool’. The mode of address is the way in which the magazine attracts the audience through language and here it talks to them in what they would talk to their friends, because the magazine wants to be shown as though it was their friend too. Although the majority of the magazine would be bought by girls it doesn’t mean that boys can’t because they can. But most of the articles wouldn’t be read by them as many would not care about what the new girl band dresses like.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The way I have addressed my audience to make them buy my magazine is because it has personality. It’s got that punky and cool look that the girls like. The mix of pink and black looks hot and not childish which many other magazines do. It looks current and not old fashion its well ahead of Top of the Pops and Smash Hits. It looks full of exciting stories and features as though there would be so many things to read and find out about. The language isn’t boring you read it and your full of enthusiasm and it doesn’t give too much away on the first look which allows you and makes you want to read on. Using language which they use again makes them feel as though they know the magazine and can relate to what’s being said. Having interviews really allows the reader to find out more about a certain artist or band and really puts the artist in a good light bring more music fans to like them. Having a ‘fit, good looking’ boy on the front immediately draws the girls in. They want to get to know him and talk to him by finding out about what he does apart from music and an interview allows this to happen. Even the title attracts them; it’s short, punchy and easy to remember and the connotation behind the masthead which is ‘Shine’ is that celebrities are also called stars and stars shine. Especially with the strap line being a motto which is “Live your life and shine like a star” keeps the readers hopes high and reminds them that you can be successful.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the product there have been many programmes which I have used to process and construct my magazine. I have used the internet and search engines to help me with my researching and gathering information. I researched different magazines and studied their front covers. The contents page and double page spread have outside influences from the internet and looking at features like interviews and music reviews. Also I looked at the different types of media institutions to see the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of institutions. Not only did I look at them I also looked at photos taken of models and other famous people (not just from the music world) to find different posses and ways in which I could make my image look a top quality image. I used the programme fireworks to construct my magazine. Where I put the magazine together the front page, contents and double page spread (interview). I was going to use publisher to create my interview however I felt I could get more out of fireworks as I had used this programme already within my work. I designed the layout first and changed the colours of the background and text until I was happy of course my contents and front page needed to be similar to make sure it looked as though it belonged to the one magazine which would mean having the same house style. The photos I had taken were all done on my own camera. Overall I think I took over 100 photos for the whole four pages. I felt the image was very important to the magazine. A lot of times the photo wasn’t quite right from it being out of focus to not portrait and so forth. Another programme which I used was Microsoft word. As symbols of stars and hearts were available to use and I though would match the type of magazine which I was producing and that the target audience would like.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From when I first created my preliminary task I feel I have learnt so much. I hadn’t really used fireworks before and wasn’t too sure of what it could do and how to do certain things like rotate an image and writing. My magazine was very basic and not very interesting. It was very simple and straight forward but nothing seemed too exciting and made me want to read it. But at the time I did think it was good but now looking at what I can produce to me that looks poor. I’m glad we were able to do a preliminary task because it did prepare me and allowed me to get used to different programmes. I learnt very quickly that in Fireworks you need to be patient as it sometimes can take a whole hour just to cut out the background of your photo. This enabled me to plan better for my main piece of coursework and I allowed myself extra time for certain things and it can not always be done in ten minutes. Also by doing the first task I saw that different computers had different text which made it harder to change your fonts as when you used it on another computer your work would have changed. But by the time it was my main task I had learnt how to maintain the look of my work and I didn’t have to worry about that any more. Having done the preliminary task showed to me just how important every little detail is on both the front cover and contents page is. From the cover lines to different features to having enough features and quality photos, everything matters. Comparing the two magazines you can see that more thought and effort had gone into my final piece. I realised quickly that it wasn’t as easy as I had originally thought. I do think I have improved a lot from the beginning and I do think that it shows. I really enjoyed creating both the preliminary and main task and hope that that shows within my work too.
In many ways I have used and developed forms and conventions of music magazines. I had been looking into and researching many different music magazines of all music genres from Q to Karrange to Smash Hits. Looking at the different ways in which the front page, contents page and inside features such as concert lists, interviews and photos are structured and what is actually said in the language which depends on its target audience. There are many similarities within all the magazines, their front covers had similar layouts but all had there own identity, their house style. All the magazines had a main image which of course was the main focus and really drew the reader in but also the masthead and the position of the masthead is a key selling point to the magazine. With a few cover lines telling the reader what stories are going to be included. So knowing that these magazines are highly successful I felt this should be included into my magazine. When i was looking into magazine of the same genre as mine (pop music) I really took note of the language used within the front cover and inside stories. I felt that was very important due to them understanding and relating to what has been said. The ‘text language’ which many children/teenagers use was included on my front page as that was the reaction I felt they would make when they saw who was on the front cover. However I have challenged the conventions to make my magazine sell and stand out from the rest. Researching the different genres allowed me to use and develop ideas from all of them allowing my magazine to be original. Where my target audience is kind of young (11-15) I felt that my USP should be poster. Anything else may make them feel young and patronised. I wanted them to feel as though they were the age they want to be. As when they attend secondary school they could use the posters within their lockers and on their bedroom walls ect. I challenged the conventions by covering my title slightly with the main image. This shows the success of the magazine and allows people to see that everyone knows how the magazine looks without the title. When I looked up magazine of the same genre and target audience I thought that they were very young looking so I tried to be different and using colours which still has that girly look of including pink and cute images but more sophisticated and lets the readers feel older which is what most young people want to be, older. This too makes my magazine sell and different to the rest.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The people who would buy my magazine, the readers have a high disposable income as they do not have and other responsibilities elsewhere concerning money. They would get this money from either their parents or a part time/weekend job. It may not just be spent on magazines but stuff such as, the cinema, sweets, make up and accessories. The people represented in the magazine are young adults both male and female who are very successful, that aim high and enjoy life. They are outgoing and fun to be around. The males would be shown as real fun and nice boys who your mum would love you to bring round and your dad wouldn’t mind going down to the pub with him to have a quick pint. And the females would be what the girls want to grow up to be like, looks and personality. The reason for these types of people being represented is because it shows the readers that they too can achieve and if they aim high goals can be scored. It also shows the good side of teenagers and shows other people that they aren’t all bad and involved in crime. As I feel young adults and teenagers aren’t getting the great credit and acknowledgements that they should be getting. It allows the readers to have positive role models and look up to people and allow them to inspire them to be successful even if it isn’t to do with music.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The media institution who would distribute my magazine is very important and key to the success of the magazine. I wouldn’t want a small and independent institution as I don’t see them as being as successful. There would be limited money used on the magazine which could prevent the quality of the magazine being any good or restricting who could be featured within it. No one outside of the media industry would know the company very well which makes the product look unreliable. If it was independent they couldn’t use synergy with another popular music channel or programme many things would have a limit as you would always have to ask would the profit be enough for the price to begin with. Also would there be too much competition within the magazine industry. Would someone who is unknown be successful in publishing their magazine when there is bigger and more common/well known magazines out their. I would want a large media institution to distribute my magazine there would be more money involved so the quality would be improved. There is more stability and reliability behind the magazine as they would have previously produced successful music magazines and television programmes and so on. There would be more support for your magazine and more people would be able to get involved and make the magazine work. There would also be a better link with music and television and the radio. More opportunities would be available and more publicity would come with that. For example one of the most popular music magazines ‘Top Of The Pops’ have there magazine of course but there own show too. This created many more readers and viewers the two worked together and made each one more successful. Another example of large media institution would be ‘IPC media’ which is a leading UK consumer magazine publisher. Near enough 2 out of 3 women by at least one of the magazine out of the 80 and 45% of men too. Not only do they produce magazine but websites too, NME.com which is one of the largest commercial music websites in the UK.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My magazine’s target audience is mainly for girls around the age of 11-15, so the start of secondary school, where they are just starting to get more responsibilities. This had a huge effect on what was to be included and how the language should be written. Instead of having lots and lots of the same types of articles I varied them a lot more so we have interviews, music reviews, events to attend, competitions and quizzes. I included competitions and quizzes to really involve girls of the age of 12 as that was what they wanted in more magazines which is what I had found out through my questionnaires. As I have already touched upon the language was very much the way in which they see as ‘cool’. The mode of address is the way in which the magazine attracts the audience through language and here it talks to them in what they would talk to their friends, because the magazine wants to be shown as though it was their friend too. Although the majority of the magazine would be bought by girls it doesn’t mean that boys can’t because they can. But most of the articles wouldn’t be read by them as many would not care about what the new girl band dresses like.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The way I have addressed my audience to make them buy my magazine is because it has personality. It’s got that punky and cool look that the girls like. The mix of pink and black looks hot and not childish which many other magazines do. It looks current and not old fashion its well ahead of Top of the Pops and Smash Hits. It looks full of exciting stories and features as though there would be so many things to read and find out about. The language isn’t boring you read it and your full of enthusiasm and it doesn’t give too much away on the first look which allows you and makes you want to read on. Using language which they use again makes them feel as though they know the magazine and can relate to what’s being said. Having interviews really allows the reader to find out more about a certain artist or band and really puts the artist in a good light bring more music fans to like them. Having a ‘fit, good looking’ boy on the front immediately draws the girls in. They want to get to know him and talk to him by finding out about what he does apart from music and an interview allows this to happen. Even the title attracts them; it’s short, punchy and easy to remember and the connotation behind the masthead which is ‘Shine’ is that celebrities are also called stars and stars shine. Especially with the strap line being a motto which is “Live your life and shine like a star” keeps the readers hopes high and reminds them that you can be successful.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the product there have been many programmes which I have used to process and construct my magazine. I have used the internet and search engines to help me with my researching and gathering information. I researched different magazines and studied their front covers. The contents page and double page spread have outside influences from the internet and looking at features like interviews and music reviews. Also I looked at the different types of media institutions to see the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of institutions. Not only did I look at them I also looked at photos taken of models and other famous people (not just from the music world) to find different posses and ways in which I could make my image look a top quality image. I used the programme fireworks to construct my magazine. Where I put the magazine together the front page, contents and double page spread (interview). I was going to use publisher to create my interview however I felt I could get more out of fireworks as I had used this programme already within my work. I designed the layout first and changed the colours of the background and text until I was happy of course my contents and front page needed to be similar to make sure it looked as though it belonged to the one magazine which would mean having the same house style. The photos I had taken were all done on my own camera. Overall I think I took over 100 photos for the whole four pages. I felt the image was very important to the magazine. A lot of times the photo wasn’t quite right from it being out of focus to not portrait and so forth. Another programme which I used was Microsoft word. As symbols of stars and hearts were available to use and I though would match the type of magazine which I was producing and that the target audience would like.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From when I first created my preliminary task I feel I have learnt so much. I hadn’t really used fireworks before and wasn’t too sure of what it could do and how to do certain things like rotate an image and writing. My magazine was very basic and not very interesting. It was very simple and straight forward but nothing seemed too exciting and made me want to read it. But at the time I did think it was good but now looking at what I can produce to me that looks poor. I’m glad we were able to do a preliminary task because it did prepare me and allowed me to get used to different programmes. I learnt very quickly that in Fireworks you need to be patient as it sometimes can take a whole hour just to cut out the background of your photo. This enabled me to plan better for my main piece of coursework and I allowed myself extra time for certain things and it can not always be done in ten minutes. Also by doing the first task I saw that different computers had different text which made it harder to change your fonts as when you used it on another computer your work would have changed. But by the time it was my main task I had learnt how to maintain the look of my work and I didn’t have to worry about that any more. Having done the preliminary task showed to me just how important every little detail is on both the front cover and contents page is. From the cover lines to different features to having enough features and quality photos, everything matters. Comparing the two magazines you can see that more thought and effort had gone into my final piece. I realised quickly that it wasn’t as easy as I had originally thought. I do think I have improved a lot from the beginning and I do think that it shows. I really enjoyed creating both the preliminary and main task and hope that that shows within my work too.
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Name Ideas
Miss Bond
“Shine” which I thought would be very good because of the connotations and denotations. For example “Shine” being something bright which could lights and camera flashes which are commonly seen in the music business. Also celebrities can also be called stars and what do stars do? They shine!
Popin' - its quite a cool name. its including the idea of pop music plus adding the 'hip' side to it and making them feel good. it also can be looked at as dancing which you would hear this music at a school disco and little parties. its alos the title of a song which the artist could feature in the magazine.
“Shine” which I thought would be very good because of the connotations and denotations. For example “Shine” being something bright which could lights and camera flashes which are commonly seen in the music business. Also celebrities can also be called stars and what do stars do? They shine!
Popin' - its quite a cool name. its including the idea of pop music plus adding the 'hip' side to it and making them feel good. it also can be looked at as dancing which you would hear this music at a school disco and little parties. its alos the title of a song which the artist could feature in the magazine.
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