My media product is a music magazine covering a wide varitey of music genres, such as Q magazine. This concept helped guide me in the layout andcolour scheme of the magazine. For example, I have put an acoustic guitar on the front cover behind a modern upbeat background. I instructed my arist to sit on a seat with a guitar. I ensured that there was the right mise en scene around the artist so that I could acheive the shot that I wanted. I asked my aartist to wear a hoody and a pair of jeans to represent the youth of today.
I can see many comparisions of similar style magazines. For example, I have put many teasers down the left hand side and one down the right hand side. This is very similar to the layout Q have:
I have challenged the forms and conventions on my genre on my contents page. My music magazine contents page has a layout where you have two pictures in either corner of the page with text in other areas. My music magazine isunlike 'Mojo' having a large picture in the background and having the articles snippets and information on the left hand side. This is also very different to the 'Q' magazine (right). The Q magazine has snippets of articles down the right hand side and the photos over the page have the numbers beside or in the corners of them to show the audience where to go.
The reason I have addressed this differently was becuase I thought that doing it this way looks a lot more effective on the page than doing what Q have done. I personally think that the Q magazine contents page is far too busy and works for them but not what I wanted to get from the contents page.
My double page spread is laid out very differently to the Q magazine double page spread. This magazine is laid out with a lot of text underneath the and around the picture. My magazine, on the other hand, is laid out having the picture in the centre of the page and the text positioned around the centre of the page and the text positioned in the bottom right corner of the page.
My magazine, on the other hand, is laid out having the picture in the centre of the page and another picture in the bottom left corner. I have done it this way as my focus group said they wanted an easy viewing layout for the magazine. Unlike Q my text is positioned around the picture. For example my pictures are in the centre and the text was then positioned around it.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media magazine represents a variety of music genres. This is similar to the music magazine “Q”. I think this is a good idea as it hits a wider target audience. I have done this by not fully specifying the music genre by the front page. My main picture on the front page is a large photo of someone playing the acoustic guitar. This will help grab the audience as the picture is of an acoustic guitarist and with the swirls around him this give the image more of a modern touch making it stand out from the page and will help grasp the audience’s attention.
This represents the folk music genre by showing an acoustic guitar. This is because the guitar represents folk music but it could also represent pop music. It represents pop music with the modern clothing, also the modern colours in the background reinforce this.
I have also represented the different genres with the text I use. On the front cover I have used the teasers but not written about one genre. The teasers are not all one genre to entice a wider variety of people.
My magazine is aimed at the middle class. This is because the magazine hits the genre that mainly appeals to that social class. My magazine isn’t really expensive so will be affordable for this social class bracket.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that my music magazine would be best distributed by Bauer Media Group. The Bauer Media Group distribute music magazine like Q and Kerrang. I think my music magazine would be distributed well by
The strength of using this distributing company is that they are well established and already have a huge distributing network. Also my music magazine is a magazine of similar genre to the other magazines sold and distributed by Bauer Media Group.
IPC media is another group and this maybe another option. This magazine company publishes music magazine like NME which is a weekly magazine like my own and they have also had experience in selling and publishing magazines.
I still feel that the Bauer media group is still the best choice to sell my media product. I feel this because they distribute the biggest and most well known music magazines, “Q”. This will be a huge help as it can help sell my music magazine by having the right connections to get me going.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
I have aimed my music magazine at 16-25 year olds. I have done this as I think that this is a good age to aim magazines at. This is because it is an age which listens to a lot of music and tends to buy music magazines. Also I have tried to aim it more at males but not hugely so that it will still draw in a few female readers.
I have aimed it at this age range because I can use my age to the advantage as I fit the age range. This helps a lot as I know what the age range look for in a media magazine and can help throughout the creation of my media product.
I feel that this has attracted the right audience for the music magazine. I feel I have hit the right the audience with my magazine. I feel this because I have asked friends for there feedback on it and was told this hit the right age range. I feel I have appealed to the male genre more as well with the darker colours and this was reinforced in the feedback from my focus group.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I managed to attract my audience by having a large sign on my contents page advertising a free music CD. I did this because I noticed that the magazine company Mojo had the large sign in the top corner of the page advertising this. This is a good way of attracting your audience as they see this large sign and this draws the audience in.
I thought that this was a very good feature to the magazine as it is very eye catching as in today’s society people likes things that are free. The reason that this grasps the audience’s attention is because it makes them feel unique and all special offers ECT. Get peoples attentions.
I tried to attract the audience by sticking to a set colour scheme .The colour scheme ran throughout the magazine. The colours were a black, white and a dark grey/ silver colour. I thought that keeping to the same colour scheme would keep the number of different colours used down and would help to make the reader feel familiar with the magazine and continue to buy it.
The structure and design of my magazine was orderly and kept to a similar layout throughout my magazine having the boxes
I tried to appeal with lures such as freebies with the free CD and exclusivity on the ticket prices on the contents page and I feel this would sell well as these two offerings were both in clear positions on the page.
I also tried to use another audience theory which was the theory of the hypodermic syringe. This is my large ”Free CD” sign which I put there solely to grab the readers attention and get the audience to pick it up and purchase.
I learnt many theories along the way as well. I used one theory clearly and this theory was the Uses and Gratifications theory. This theory places more focus on the consumer instead of the actual message. My music magazine includes this as I was thinking about the audience I aimed my music magazine at rather than orientating the users around the magazine.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used many different types of new technology and software when creating my music magazine. I used Adobe Photoshop 7.0. I used this software to edit my photos to fit in with my music magazine. I took a photo of Henry my music star and the main tool I used on this software was the quick select tool . This tool was really good and helped when selecting the background around the person or desired object easy to do then colouring in was made simpler. I used this button on Adobe Photoshop 7.0 to edit my front cover picture to the magazine. It added the swirls and made the picture look much effective on the page. The effect is called “Chrome.” I added this effect to the background and added the effect called fine grain. The fine grain effect added more detail to the guitar and the artist sat on the chair. I had the artist sat on the chair because I wanted to have a high angle shot to make the audience to look down on him and be intrigued and want to find out more. I showed my focus group the picture from beforehand and then the copy afterwards and was told this looked a lot better than the previous copy.
I have also got a lot better on Microsoft Publisher using the different features on the software. I have found that since doing the media course it has made me much more familiar with the program.
When constructing this magazine I had to think about the different ways that shot angles can represent different things. For example a high angle shot represents that the person has no or little power where as a low angle show when you’re looking up to the person shows that that person has power.
A point of view shot on the other and helps represent the way the person feels and shows it from their point of view. This is similar to an over the shoulder shot except in this one you see part of the person in it as well.
On the front cover I have a shot looking down on my artist. Then this varies on my double page spread where I have a long distance of my artist walking with the shot bright in the centre and then the dark background. I have used a high angle shot to look down on the artist and I did this to help emphasis and show the detail from the guitar.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I found that when it came to editing my photos that this was good fun and at the same time challenging in areas. I found that doing the editing of the images and taking the pictures has made me analyse the photos I now take a lot more. I now use the rule of thirds when taking pictures and now consider the mise en scene in the shot as well as considering the photos. I now realise that editing a photo can take a long time and that every little detail matters.
Since I have been on the media course and started creating my music magazine it has made me more aware of the different music genres and music magazine distributors and the long time consuming task of putting a magazine together.
I have had to learn how to use the Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0. I needed to know how to edit photos quickly and effectively. I now realised what you can produce with using the Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0. I never realised how many alterations you can make to the photo to get to your final stage. In most of my photos I have had to edit the background or even the person themselves.
I also had to learn things about taking the photos. For example I had to think about the mise en scene in the background and I also learnt the rule of thirds when taking photos.
I have also learnt how key it is to get the right connotation. Connotation is the direct meaning you get from the image, and wording.
With my front cover image I wanted to clearly show that it is linked in with the acoustic guitar and that genre. I feel that it has done this by clearly showing the guitar. Throughout my music magazine I have kept the theme of the guitar in it throughout like on my double page spread there is the black and white guitar in the background which is slightly faded as well to add effect.
The layout design took a lot of consideration when doing it. The main thing I wanted to do was to make it easy viewing and keep it within the forms and conventions of the music genre. I was doing this but then broke them to achieve a better layout design.
