Wednesday, 21 April 2010

evaluation

Q1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
my media product uses many classic codes and conventions of real music magazine most notable would be the layout, as I have positioned the master head, coverlines, images, strap lines and word texts on my magazine in similar positions to what NME and kerrang do for there real media products. I have chosen to do this because I feel to capture the professional look and feel to a music magazine, I need to include these basic things to get a basic structure in which i can work on and then challenge or develop my ideas as I work on.
to develop my ideas I have decided to take the classic code and convention of a music magazine such as the image being a studio shot and having a white background, and to develop this I created a simple graphic to feature behind the artist, in order to make it more interesting to look at so when audiences see it they look a bit longer as it draws eyes into it and guides your eye to the centre were the band is featured. I later challenged this convention by changing the background colour to black, and i left it this way as i felt it worked better with the images I had used and the whole design of things, like the boxes i used to be behind the images of bands,the effect i used was a rock and water transparency pattern which looked better with black showing through the transparent parts, also i used the rock and water pattern as it relates to the name of the magazine 'paradise' like the image of a beach and relaxing by the sea, it is a fantasy which many would associate with the word paradise.
i have also challenged codes and conventions for example the main image on the front cover on mine i have used an image where the person does not have a direct mode of address with the audience but instead i have taken the photo so she is side on with her hood up so you can just see the bottom half of her face as the hood is covering the rest. I have done this to display the meaning of this band as it shows her hood up looking away and it represents the youth and this is a young band and because she is looking away it gives an impression that she does not really care and that this group is rebellious. also the way she is seemed to be leaning against the edge of the magazine cover shows her to be a bit rebellious and being a youth just hanging out, also the way she has her arm in the air like pointing to the sky is a similar arm position to what people do at raves and so show enthusiasm towards what she does and again is that idea of youth. I feel this would work and appeal to the younger age group as they would be interested and intrigued buy this band that seem to have no rules and doesn't care what you think about them as it provides them with a mysterious aspect that we feel drawn to and willing to investigate. but for older age group I feel that the main image will not attract them but other things on the magazine such as the strapline at the top is aimed for them as it is an already famous band and also the smaller images at the side of a classic rock band so it provides something for all age groups.


Q2 how does your media product represent particular social groups?
my media product of a music magazine, with genre rock represents a particular social groups, which would be the rock group. there are many different sub groups within the rock group, that listen to difernet types of rock music, such as heavy metal, classic rock, modern rock, glam rock and punk rock. all of these groups dress differently and will be intrested in different things within a music magazine. i will have to included something for all different genres of rock music. my magazine represents the rock group by containing stuff for that genre and interviews and reviews of music.
In my magazine i will include things for all of my different audiences based on my audience profile and what sort if institutions would publish my media product. On my front cover I will use a large image of a famous person of group as it is a classic code and covention of music magazines it will be a modern famous person or group. My magazine will be aimed at popular rock fans and soft rock that has a large audience, as the music i will review will be of music in the charts which will attract young people who inspire to be famous. I believe that my media product represents these people in many ways to the colours used and the clothes that they wear.


Q3 what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When researching institutions I learnt many things and started to realize actually how much of our media is controlled by a few huge conglomerates.
 Such as Bauer, a large German publishing company which owns many media subsidiaries which operate in the UK. But also operates in 14 other countries worldwide, including Germany, USA, Spain, France, China, Russia which are the most powerful countries in the world and all 1st world so that they have a large audience with the money to buy their media products. Bauer has recently bought EMAP consumer magazine division, radio station division and consumer media business, so expanded greatly across the UK. Bauer currently owns Q and Kerrang which are two very popular music magazines in Britain with different audiences, such as kerrang being a more popular modern genre of music whereas Q is more hard rock for adults, Q also has its own radio, television channel and also its own annual music award show, and are considered one of Britain's best music award shows. Bauer also has a 50% stake in the British television company, box television.
another institutions is IPC media, which is one of the UK's leading consumer magazine and digital publisher, that currently own magazines like NME and Womens own. it is holdings of three companies- george newnes, odhams press and fleetway publications. it is now a time Warner subsidiary
a media institution similar to Bauer and IPC media, are the sort of people who will distribute my media product as it reaches out to a large audience and contains international music from the UK and the USA, so it will be able to be published in many countries. also it is similar to kerrang and NME which have proved to be big sellers and reaches out to a large audience. I believe that my magazine will help provide more to a media institution by expanding there target audiences and thus a new found area of profit.


Q4 who would be the audience for your media product?
In order to establish the audience for my media product which is a music magazine of the genre rock, I am going to have to make an audience profile which is creating a mass audience for certain age ranges. I have split it in to three age ranges, Teens, 20-30 and 30-50+ I have done this as those three different groups have lived very different music related lives.
The teenagers who listen to the music will be listening to modern things and will want to know about new and upcoming bands, also these teenagers have not yet lived a full life yet or even one of freedom with no school so they imagine what life will be like as a rock star, they aspire to be famous and to live the life and if not fame the freedom of travelling to gigs and listening to the music. Teens also will not have a great deal of money to spend on albums so they would download individual songs and the magazine can provide a website in which they are able to do so.
Whereas the 20-30 year old will have grown up on rock music and would be into more of the big bands at the moment as they will be living the life and going to gigs and wanting to know what's hot in the present day which is still performing now. They have lived a bit and are at their prime time to go out and have fun so in the magazine they will want to know what's good to buy as they will be the ones earning money and being able to go out and buy CD's.
The 30 -50+ are the people who have already lived the rock life and have gotten old and settled down to a peaceful life and in the magazine they would want to relive the good old days listening to the classic rock band and reminiscing on their personal stories and their connections that they have with the bands. These people will not want to know about new bands and music but old classics that provide nostalgia.


Q5 How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract audiences for my media product I have, on my front page used colours that stand out from each other for instance my masterhead is white on black and same with my band name, and i feel this works as it draws the audiences eye to that part which is its main selling point, as they would recognise the band name and be intrigued into finding out more. i have also added effects to texts on the magazine such as on the front cover the text that says 'top 100 summer hits' i have added a patterned transparency and used light colours that stand out against the dark background and also on the '100' i have added a reflection which makes that bit stand out more and emphasises the large amount that is 100 songs. Also the smaller images on the left hand side which relate to music and fashion, which are topics reflected through out my magazine and are subjects that i have focused on for my audience. also on the front cover i have used an image of a someone who is 17 and this also shows my main target audience for this edition. the clothes she is dressed in also help to capture my audience, as she is wearing a hoodie and jeans which is what a large majority of young people wear so when looking at this they would feel like they can connect more. also on of my side stories was on fashion and based on different social groups which is intended for teens and younger people so i feel that they would feel connected to there and interested in finding out more, and that is a main feature with my stories i give the basic information away to hook the audience so that they want to find out more and so it interests them enough so that they feel bonded with in and intrigued. 


Q6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
i have learnt many things during this whole process in the way of technology. my photoshop skills have improved massively and i have learnt things such as how to make things transparent and refine edges. I did find difficulties though but I managed to experiment and find ways round and sometimes getting the quality right was difficult as the photo did save in the correct format to put straight onto page plus so every time i wanted to add a image i had to print-screen it and add it to paint then save it as a JPEG file so that it was compatible and this was a pain every time but it was the only way to do this as i needed to edit my pictures in photoshop to enhance them and make them better.
on page plus i managed to make images transparent, on on text i discovered how to add reflections underneath and add a patterned transparency over the colour on the text and i also learnt how to add lines round the text and how to increase and decrease the size of the line and colour.


Q7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
i feel i have progressed greatly on my final product since doing my preliminary task. i have learnt what works well and the use of colours scheme and patterns. i feel my preliminary task was quite well done and a crucial part of my final design as i made mistakes and improved on them. also as my final product was based for a paying audience i fell i got in a frame of mind that allowed me to focus on my audience and submerse myself in the whole project and when creating was thinking about my audience and  what would appeal to them and sell.
also when doing my final piece i enhanced the images and made every single detail count and took into consideration what needed to be done to make this magazine the best it could be.
i feel i have a greater knowledge of computer than most other doing the AS media coursework and was often asked on how to do things and took it upon my self to help and learn as well from ideas and develop further 

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