In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

Conventions

How does your media product represent particular social groups?



Simularities: My models hair as you can see looks black on the photo however she does infact have red hair, i changed this on photoshop so on the front cover picture the model has more red hair like the artist Rihanna however not as shockingly bright. Both artists have a wrist full of braclets on adding a fashionable connotation, this connotatin also is the young feature. The bright nail polish is also a simularity however for each colour scheme for the outfits, i changed the nail polish to match my colour scheme. The colour scheme i used for the clothing was to match the rest of my magazine with the bright pink. These colours and way of matching the colours up through the costume also is shown on the NME magazine above. The pose is slightly simular in the sense that they are both facing forwards with a slight vunerable look upon them as the arms and legs are close together and to the body, however the outfits give a sexy feel to the picture. Both models are slightly smiling as well to give a friendly look upon the cover.


Differences: The brightness of the images is a huge difference however i can change this on photoshop editing to brighten the image up. As well as this the background is still the same colour however mine is brighter in places. The choice of clothing is different as one is a playsuit and the other shorts with a blazer but in some respects they still present a party celeb theme. Rihanna is still more full of jewllery and has a head band in as in comparison i wanted to keep it simple.


Social Group: My magazines social group is a group called the Trendies who are those who have the access, knowledge and cash which they choose to spend on their fashion outfits. High street store play a huge factor in having fashion available to more people due to their prices in comparison to the cat walk prices, however are still copies in their own way. Therefore the Trendies social group is bigger than ever. This particular social group resembles not only my magazine but my audience to as it is very much fashion based and this is reflected through celebs and artists styles. The image above of Rihanna represents the fashionable side to music and as she is the main feature i have been working my magazine around.

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

Publishing companies is a process for the dispersal of a production whether that may be for a film, book or magazine/newspaper, the publishing companies vary throughout different ways of productions. It is there to give the public the oppertunity to view the content and avaliable to them such as being able to read a magazine or watch a film. Towards the begining of the publishing company they only tended to distribute book and newspaper which authors or writters had produce, but due to the high demand and development electronic versions are now produced and had become very popular amoung the public and education as they now have access to books and many more publications on the internet with easy access.

However this process is not as easy as it sounds, it is split up into different complex stages. These stages are:

1. Firstly, the development takes place from the original to improve and anaylse the content. 
2. Secondly, acquisition is where one company is purchased by another, this process allow possesion to take place of the content and work.
3. Then followed by copyediting, meanign editing is made on the document for the preporation of releasing to the public. 
4. Graphic desing is then the combination of images with the text.
5. Finally, the last stage is the production, mainly printing the finished product after being developed. However production itself is split up into stages consisting of advertisment, marketing and the last stage of this whole process, distribution to where the product is marketed to be sold.

For my final music magazine product i have chosen the production compnay IPC Media to distribute my document, this is due to their knowing for being "a leading magazine publisher in the UK" this is presented on their website. Therefore by using this company and being distributed by them the magazine will have success and the public will recognise. As it manages over 350  million copies of magazines each year and sells them proves the fact that it is extremly successful. I have analysed the NME magazine closely and also in my research found out that IPC is also the publishing Company for that particular magazine that my audience and myself took a great interest in, also there will simularity and the audience may be famiular to this.

The distribution of my magazine can include:

• mail
• sale in shops
• newsstands

The distribution and sale of magazines are in three different categories:

• Paid Circulation- This is found to be the most common and includes a fixed price and substcriptions can be made for certain periods.
• Free Circulation- This is where there isnt a fixed price to a magazine and often issues can be produced free. For example, The Metro in the newspaper.
• Controlled Circulation- This also is known as an insider magazine, usually free. For example computer magazines which are distributed to qualified readers.

As my magazine is closely analysed against the NME magazine having the same publishing company backs up to comparative ground. Therefore the stages of this process will be the same, eg both magaines will be distributed weekly at the same price each week.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my media magazine the audience would mainly be females as you can see by the front cover the colours are bright pink- being feminine, with a female artist base, however this could also attract males to the magazine due to the view of the women being an object of sexual desire. Also the context of the magazine such as the cover lines will also interest women more as i have also incorprited the fashion side which is often is an aspect of music magazines styles. On the front cover, a cover line advertises a fashion/ modeling shoot which includes the main female artist featured on the front cover, because of this females will also be to the majority of my audience as photoshoots are more common in womens magazines, i added this feature to back the idea up of my music magazine being more focused toward the female readers.


As i have already stated my audience will need to like the theme of fashion too as it is also featured as part of the magazine, so as a result my audience will need to like and have an interest in branded and outlet clothing and brands. These brands will be linked in with the R&B genre of the music i have chosen such as parts of River Island, SuperDry and Henleys, as well as the more girly side of the fasshion coming through related the features these involve shops such as, TopShop, Zara and AllSaints.


They will need to be interested in the latest most modern music out to be able to relate and keep up with the style and subjects that my music magazine will be involving. However most of all the genre of the music will need to be R&B as that is the genre i have chosen. The artists that may be most included and often included will be artists such as Usher, RKelly, N-Dubz and Chipmunk. On the other hand however the artists will mainly be strong females such as Rihanna, Kelly Rowland and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas.


The TV programs they will be interested in will mainly consist of series aimed at a younger more modern audience. For example Hollyoaks, 90210 and The Hills, or even The Jersey Shore show. This is because the audience is a younger generation and they then relate to these programs to their life styles. As they are mostly female audience's who watch these programs, this will then play a huge role in their attraction to the magazine and latest gossip will be featured in the magazine about them.  Also they include drama and life problems that they then face and keep up to date and follow. Models from 90210 and The Hills will also feature on the front cover to attract buyers as the TV series 90210 has an element on music featured. 


The audience will buy my magazine if they are interested in all of these concepts as the magazine will include the latest most modern information and prizes in relation to all of the stated above involving TV style, music interests and fashion.

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience i used a theme of fashion also running through my magazine as the main audience are females, this is represented through the clothing of the model and the other artists featured which are stated in the cover lines. Artists such as Rihanna and Usher are well known by the younger generation, also a focus point of my main audience, to be a fashion setter and very stylish. 

To connote a feminine vibe to the front cover i used the bight pink showing a more girly look and feel. The pink immediately will grab a young females attention without intention to do so this is exactly why i chose the colour pink in comparison to other feminine colours such as purple as that more connotes a 'gothic' feel. The artist's name is in pink also in relation to my main featured artist being a female. The bright colours on the models outfit also play a huge role in attracting my audience through the image as they will stand out from other music magazines which usually consist of the three main colour palettes being red, white and black, i found this out throughout my researching. 

I used a female artist on the front cover who is decently dressed as the audience is more towards women in comparison to men and i was not focusing on the male gaze, however still by using a female artist could result in still attract many male readers. In the pose by using eye contact through the model, the reader then pays more attention and takes a second look at the magazine due to this more personal approach.

Advertising programmes such as the 'X-Factor'on the front cover also addresses my audience as their weekly routine will consist of watching and keeping up with the reality shows and tv dramas. 

The price being £2.50 is a major appeal to my audience as they are of the younger generation their range of money on which they have income and are able to pay on more 'luxury' items is substantial and therefore the price had to be reason. I think £2.50 is not too high and is a reasonable asking price for my magazine, as a result more people will not only be able but will want to buy. My questionaire research also shows that the average price that people are willing to pay for a music magazine is between £2-£3. 

The size of my magazine is a A4 page and therefore still hand bag size, and easy to hold. I chose this size and you are able to get more information on the page without having to squash it on and use small text. 

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

I used my Mac to allow me to produce my magazine on photoshop, also to update my blog with research. i mainly only used photoshop but i also had to include my hotmail to be able to send my picture from my iphone to the Mac, which then i added into my iphoto booth ready to upload onto my blank page on photoshop. On my sample photos i did my editing on the iphoto booth however that restricted me to only rotating, cropping, straightening, different colour effects for example black and white, enhancing and retouching. Where as i wanted to 'paint' and co-ordinate colours from the fonts onto the image and hide blemishes, so i changed to do the editing on photoshop.  

As you can see my blog is up on the computer screen, Blogger became a very resource website to enable me to upload my research and work, recording and stating information and feature i will and wont include on my final pieces and most importantly why. Tested research is also blogged to show ideas that i came up with but may or may not of worked through trial and error. 

For my research i used 'google' mainly for images and basic information i could build my knowledge upon. This helped with my research into the different magazine, artists and various other research tools i made in the process. Google also aided my research as it gave me technology to use different programs and access to websites which specify in then information i wanted to research for example the NME and FLAVOUR websites. Slideshare and Scribd were to programs that i used to present my research, i found these very easy to use as all i needed was a embed code to enable me to add my work onto my blogger page. I used Scribd to enable me to add word documents onto my blogger. Animoto was where i added photo/images onto a storyline where it then added them together like a self running powerpoint. Throughout the blogger work i added videos off of youtube to give a more music feel and vibe through my coursework and also to give examples of artists music and work.



For my sample shots i used my iphone4 which gave a clear image in a decent quality however for my final shots i used a camera which had a tripod with it so it was easier to hold and keep still. I had to learn how to use the camera however in comparison to my knowledge of the use of my iphone. Overall when the focuser went green on the screen i then took my images to assure a clear focused picture, after uploading them onto my Mac i edited them on photoshop.

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

When i first started my preliminary work i was not able to use photoshop and never had done before, however since then i have learnt how to crop and cut images using the star and square tool and the side monitor, how to add different shapes ranging from animals to arrows which i have included in my drafts and finals magazine pages. i have also learnt the use of layer whereas before the concept confused me and the magazine got mixed up having figure overlapping the text. most of all i have learnt how to edit picture through zooming and the changing colour, even blemishing to improve the image/photo on the screen. This was one of my favourite part of making my magazine as it enabled me to colour co-ordinate the colour of the text with the models lips and other features.


Also i have learnt how to set up a plan to your magazine including the draw up plan to test out the different layouts, i found this helpful as i then could compare which one i preferred and which one looked best. By looking at colour palettes and learning to focus on three main colour which contrast for the attention but also compliment and work well with each other for a neat look, helped me develop the presentation of the magazine as my preliminary work looked like a children's magazine with not many magazine feature on it. These magazine features included the date and issue number, along with the numbering of the page and the layout of the cover lines.


By looking at the posing positions on music magazine since my preliminary work i have gained a feel for the pose and what i am meant to be looking for and the particular style that are often seen on music magazines. Where as in comparison to before my model has just a straight face, therefore not giving the eye contact and serious/sexy look upon the magazine. I learnt that the model on the front cover will attract the audience alone with the bright bold colours resulting in the pose needing to be strong.


After the preliminary work i also looked at and learnt the type of text style relevant, for example big bold fonts to attract attention to a special feature of advertisement, i include this in my magazine by the word 'EXCLUSIVE'. the text also had to be columned in the article, not only to follow the conventions of a magazine layout, but also i was then able to fit more on the page.  For the cover lines the text had to be short and snappy without too much detail but enough to draw the readers in to buy and read more. After researching and analysing a few magazines i found out that usually a name is catching enough when relating to who is feature or what specifically is in the magazine.


How to position and use the camera through different shots played a major part in the process of learning, so not only how to position a pose but also how to angle the camera to get a mid shot, close up ect. I wanted to use a mid angle shot for my front cover so i tended to take most of my shots in that position. On the other hand i tried other shots such as low angle shot in my sample to widen my variety and to see which stood out and best suited that style of the magazine.


Overall, from the preliminary work i think i have progressed into learning and adapting the magazines conventions into my own work through the research. However i then looked more deeply into the music magazine conventions closer to be able to focus on the genre more, i found as a result of this that the music magazines tend to have a relation to fashion as well, i then also included that into my own magazine.

Preliminary                      Final Peice

Media Questionaire on Coursework Magazine Drafts.

1.What colour scheme would you prefer to be used in a music magazine? (Pleasecircleanswer)

White/BlackWhite/GreysRed/PinksBlack/PurplesGrey        

Other (Please state below) 

.....................

2. What grabs your attention through my models pose? how do you think it can be improved? (Please circle answer adn state improvement below) 

Yes/No

......................

3.Rating between 1-10 (one being low ten being high), how neat and professional do you think my magazine comes across and looks? 

.....................

4.How do you prefer the magazine style to be in, colour or black and white? (Please circleanswer) 

Colour/Black and White 

5.Would you be more interested in the magazine if there were coverline on the front cover advertising a featival or gig? (Please circle answer) Yes/No     If yes, why? 

................................................... 

6.Can you tell that my front cover, contents page and double -page spread are all from the same magazine? (Please circle answer) 

Yes/No 

7.Do you think my article is interesting and catching? (please circle answer)

Yes/No

8.It the title of my magazine catching? (Please circle answer)

Yes/No

9.Which do you prefer out of plain and simple or busy and exciting? (please circle answer)

plain+simple / busy+exciting

10. What grade would you give my overall music magazine?

....................

Draft Magazines Feedback.

Front Cover:

• Lucy quote needs to be lower
• Cover lines need to be exciting
• Model needs to make eye contact

Contents:

• Use another artist
• Need relevant text on photos
• Say what is exclusive

Double Page Spread:

• Photo at the bottom is random
• Alternative fonts for questions
• Consider end question of the interview- needs to be more exciting

+ Page numbers needed!

R&P Level: 2 (8)

Practical Level: 1 (20)