evaluation

Evaluation


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


My media product both challenges and develops the conventions of other music magazines. Like many similar magazines i have a traditional masthead, for example in the music magazine Kerrang, their masthead is placed in the top of the magazine being both bold and recognisable. Mine however has challenged the traditional theme and is not spread completely over the page and my masthead is almost blending and merging With the rest of the cover. Most music magazines have headers and footers informing the audience of the topics and items included within the magazine in mine, i thought i should keep it simple and focus the front page on the band I was doing my 2 page article on. Also the way in which I used colours and script shows the social group representation. I have used the fonts to represent the social group the product is aimed at like many other music magazines; examples of magazines that implement this are kerrang and nme magazines. A more rock, scremo, grunge, indie based magazine. This music magazine in ways is very anti mainstream and doesn’t really attract the wider audiences that focus on more cultural music. For example the magazine vibe concentrates on a more rap and rnb based music including artists like eminem and 50 cent in ways this magazine doesn’t attract or cater for any other music preferences. Most magazines cater for a select genre of music and that’s what I incorporated into mine. Using images relevant to the genre of music within my product.


How does your media product represent particular social groups?


My media product in my opinion really represents a more closed social group, to people with a mixture of alternative music tastes like scremo, metal, rock, and grunge and indie persuasion. I didn’t want to attract an individual social group whom would only be interested in one style of music because in a marketing business this would restrict the target audience.
The social group is shown through the colours and editing through out the product which would meet there expectations of a music magazine.

Maybe People interested in going to gigs and festivals, finding out information about their favourite artist or band. The people on the cover represent people from a mixed background, with their clothes and their poses. This magazine however does not really appeal to people interested in rnb or rap genres of music. The magazines colours and layout show a more rock orientated magazine and the bands and headline placed the way they have been show the influences behind them.


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


The kind of institution that would distribute my media product is more of the rock music variety publishers. Kerrang is published by Bauer consumer media in the uk, my magazine would be aimed at there market and as my product/magazine is similarly styled to there’s, but including a more alternative and underground music may attract them to publish my product. If this wasn’t a possibility I would then try and get published by a more independent market or publisher. An example of this would be maybe getting a double page spread incorporated into the reading chronicle newspaper, therefore developing and widening their audiences and allowing my product to spread.


There’s a wide range of stores which would distribute my media product such as supermarkets, record stores and newsagents. For example in a record store a customer could be purchasing a different media product and will then notice my product in the same section which would catch there attention, for example if someone from my target audience was shopping in a place like HMV were a large number of my target audience is based around, they would go in to purchase a cd or game and notice my magazine, this would then help them to recognise and purchase the magazine.
Supermarkets would distribute my product as they aim to please all costumers with there items, my media product would achieve this in an entertainment section.

Who would be the audience for your media product?


The audience that would be suited and that my product is aimed for would be people around the age of fifteen to twenty years old. Probably people in schools or colleges. Readers from the same market as magazines such as kerrang and nme. This is a very attractive audience and there are many products aimed towards them, however with the unique style of mine I feel that it would become popular quite quickly. People into a more underground style of music (rock-indie-scremo-death metal, death core, trip hop, techno) would prefer and relate to this magazine.
As I was carrying out my media product I also took into account making it attractive to both male and females by using bold colours such as greens and white, the inclusion of both male and female people through the magazine would also appeal to both sexes.



How did you attract/address your audience?

In my opinion I used my texts and fonts to attract the audience and not make it too hard for them to read. The pictures and images I incorporated I feel gave it a feeling of continuity and the techniques and layout didn’t make it too crowded and confusing for the audience.
(I used my finished product and gathered together a group of media students doing the print sector of the course and asked them evaluate my finished product this is what I found out- I also asked some people outside of 6th from to see what their opinions were)

Rebecca- I like the way the pictures are very clear and colourful, the front cover is very attractive and I like the way it hasn’t been overcrowded. The 2-page article is good but I think more could be added, maybe more text. The contents page is the only place however I think you have struggled, the white space could be covered up but I think it looks good in white and is still clear.
Lyn- at first instance I think the font cover is very good, but maybe if more was included it may attract more attention, the colours and pictures though do still attract me, as they aren’t dark or fuzzy like most magazine covers. The contents page is god but the layout could be improved. But I like the structure within it. I have no complaints with your 2-page article, its clear and attractive and the content is very good.


Tina ruigwa- background works well with the band picture. Good colour coordination Not to cluttered. Nice. Think picture in bottom left could be less close and maybe retook. Good layout and techniques. Like the feathering around the pictures. Good incorporation of pictures and techniques using Photoshop. Good layout. Images work well and a good flow throughout magazine.

Dale Stewart – I like the way that you’ve used different editing and camera techniques to really create a unique look. The colour and text also flow throughout the product and I think it looks really cool. On your contents page however you could’ve laid it out a bit differently it looks a bit bland in my opinion maybe tried to implement a background into it. But overall I think its amazing.

Christian Mitchell- I like the front cover a lot, the way the picture really blends with the background is really cool. I like the way its not to filled, the way its quite simple of it makes it attractive and the whole page really stands out. The contents page I also liked, the layout could have been changed a little bit in my opinion maybe just flip the two sides over if you know what I mean. The article is awesome, the colours and feathering used worked really well, the content is also really good. Nice one jonny

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


That there are many tools and techniques that are available to you in creating any media product from print to radio to film are very extensive. I learned a lot through creating my media product.
I am now able to developed and manipulate images, edit them in a number of ways, changing fonts, size, and backgrounds.
I can now crop and transfer images to different documents and edit them to fade or blend in with other items.
Through Photoshop I am now sufficiently able to layer and create a range of different products, add pictures, text, even sound if necessary.

I have also become quite skilled at photography taking many pictures towards my final product, from going to gigs and taking live photo’s and also taking posed pictures in a controlled environment, afterwards I can add effects and manipulate them into nearly any programme of my choice.


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


I have defiantly improved my entire range of ict skills; I hadn’t used Photoshop before so this was all new to me but looking back to my preliminary task I can see how much I have improved. The preliminary task in my opinion was too bland and stiff; there wasn’t any real manipulation or editing done within the page. Everything was laid out to simply and there was no different in text. In my final product however I have layered and manipulated many images, I have also used different font’s ands text sizes to create different feelings and sections within the magazine. Through the use of Photoshop I have used its tools to feather and layer images together to create a whole new image and used layering to help the eye flow through the page. I have learned that a lot of preliminary work is necessary to actually create a final product. Research into the area that you producing for and relevant input from the audience your products aimed at really helps to know what to be included within the product.