QUESTION 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
QUESTION 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?
QUESTION 3-What kind of media
institution might distribute your media product and why?
I
think the media institution which is best to distribute my magazine is Prometheus
Global Media. They are the company which distribute The Hollywood Reporter
media group who then distribute Billboard magazine, they are also known for
Adweek, Backstage, Film Journal International as well as The Hollywood
Reporter. These are all big parts of media.
The
Hollywood Reporter is a multiplatform American media brand. They focus on all
stars and artists that are Hollywood worthy, As the Hollywood Reporter on
the Billboard magazine I think they would be perfect for my magazine as they
will know exactly who to target and how to target them. Although my magazine is
similar to Billboard I believe they are also different in many other aspects. I
focus on more personal and young artists stories, whereas Billboard are very
wide ranged and focus on all aged artists and theirs is majority music based
rather than articles on personal lives of the artists. The Hollywood Reporter
and Billboard magazine are part of Guggenheim Media's Entertainment Group; they
make big investments into the magazines distribution, I would like my magazine
to be a part of this group as it would receive my media product great
publicity. I like how much they promote over social media and at such high
class. The Billboard magazine is seen as royalty in the music magazine world as
it is owned by such high media institutions. I think this is perfect for my
magazine as it could reflect with the Billboard magazine and please all the
same audiences. The Billboard magazine has been around for 121 years and people may be beginning to get tired of it and my media product being brought out may add something new on the market for the younger readers and something they can relate to a lot more.
However
as the Billboard magazine is a popular one, I understand that it may over rule
my magazine and there could be potential issues, but I do not think they would
be a big concern as people may grow fond of the intimacy my magazine gains with
music artists. 
QUESTION 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?
QUESTION 5- How did you attract/address your audience?
QUESTION 6- WHat have you learnt about the technologies from constructing this product?
QUESTION
7-Looking
back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
After
looking through my media product and considering my preliminary task, I feel as
though my media product reaches the requirements. I feel I have improved
massively from my school magazine and that there is a clear change to my
completed music magazine.
FRONT
COVER
In
my opinion I feel that my front cover has all the requirements and conventions
of a magazine front cover. I believe I have included as many aspects from the
conventions as I possibly could. I think I have improved massively in my
preliminary task from my school magazine cover to my music magazine cover. My
school magazine front cover is simple and messy if I am honest. I think I had
minimal thought about the colour scheme and how to position the masthead and
cover lines. I used pic monkey rather than photoshop and did not play around
with different layouts. I also put the text on through pic monkey limiting my
options of fonts and colours. I used a
simple font from pic monkey for my masthead, leaving it in black with a slight
white shadow effect around it to help it stand out slightly. My cover lines are
then in black, white and navy. I think this looks messy as I have not arranged
them carefully enough to make them reflect on one another. I have also used all
the same fonts for them. My main cover line is also in the same font and in
white it is just a little bit larger than the other cove lines, however I have
placed another cover line in white just above it on the right not allowing it
to stand out. It is very unclear that it is my main cover line which I think
would affect its ability to sell massively. I have put my price in pink in the
top right hand corner I think this stands out but is a random colour to use and
does not connect with my cover at all.
When
making my music magazine cover I did a lot of research of Billboard magazine
covers. I looked for reoccurring features and patterns and how one cover varied
from another. This allowed me to then choose how to style my magazine cover and
what to include. I choose to go with a grey/black/white theme. These colours
are all very similar and complement one another; grey is made from black and
white so it was a colour that fitted in between them both so the colours
weren’t so extreme in distance.
For
my main image I made sure my model was dressed in the colours I was using, so
therefore she has a black bodycon dress on with a fluffy bottom. I did her
makeup with a smoky eye effect for her eye-shadow; this allowed her to connect
with the colour scheme. I placed her in front of a white backdrop, and then
changed the brightness, highlights and shadows to create a greyish effect for
the background.
For
my masthead I used a font which looked like the pattern on a record to go with
the music theme. I then put it in black as it was the darkest colour and would
mean it would stand out the most. I then placed in a smaller and in Arial font
the date of my magazine. This was simple and did not overwrite any of the other
text but is still visible. I then placed my cover lines around the model in the
main image, using two different fonts and having every other cover line in the
same font, I kept them all in black font, and this showed range and was more
interesting to look at than to have them in all the same boring text. My cover
line was then in a swirly font and larger than all the other cover lines and in
white. I placed it across the main image model, to make it evident it was based
on her. I then put in a light grey underneath then white text a smaller quote
from the article to give the audience an idea on what it is about and to
intrigue them. In the right hand bottom corner I placed a grey triangle which
was a mix of dark and light grey. In black small text I placed text promoting a
competition. This allowed it to stand out without taking focus away from the
main cover line, it also made it separate and obvious it was different to the
other cover lines. Like every magazine in my left hand bottom corner I put the
barcode and in a simple black small font the price, so it was visible but not
overtaking.
I
think overall my cover shows improvement and development from my school
magazine. It shows I have done a lot more research and practice with different
programmes to create it. My photography skills have also improved and my main
image looks professional, also compared to my school magazine it shows I have
taken a lot more time and preparation into getting the perfect photo from even
the finest details. I took a lot more time in the planning and every part was
done separately and then brought together. My colour scheme was well thought
about and my positioning of every part shows that it was well thought about.
To improve I could have taken even more time on planning my cover and to make it look more professional, for example my cover lines could be in a more range of fonts and fitted better to the page. Also the colour scheme could be a bit brighter to make my magazine more eye catching due to it will be up against many other magazines. Also my main cover line could be made to be more clearer, due to the contrast in the models dress and the background the main cover line had to fit on the model so it was visible, this could be changed by making the background darker or using a different colour that fits on both of them. However I am happy with the overall outcome.
To improve I could have taken even more time on planning my cover and to make it look more professional, for example my cover lines could be in a more range of fonts and fitted better to the page. Also the colour scheme could be a bit brighter to make my magazine more eye catching due to it will be up against many other magazines. Also my main cover line could be made to be more clearer, due to the contrast in the models dress and the background the main cover line had to fit on the model so it was visible, this could be changed by making the background darker or using a different colour that fits on both of them. However I am happy with the overall outcome.
MUSIC MAGAZINE COVER-
CONTENTS-
My
school magazine content’s is very simple and bland. I edited the images on my
contents on Picmonkey which limited my choices of effects and edits. I then
created my cove on publisher which limited my choices in editing and colours
and fonts. My masthead is very subtle and simple; it is in white and just in a
larger font than the rest of the text. For my sections I have used the same
font as my masthead and the same colour. Despite the masthead being able to
stand out due to its size it is not that eye catching due to the sections being
the exact same just slightly smaller. They are also poorly laid out as they
look messy and are also all different sizes. I think this looks unclear and
non-aesthetic to audiences. Also on the images I have places two cover lines,
on the second image the text is in black and is extremely unclear, this would
make audiences not want to buy my magazine as it is difficult to read. My
images are also very simple and armature; meaning it does not look professional
and would make audiences not want to waste their money in buying it. However
for a first attempt I think it does include basic features, but it does look
very rushed and unplanned.
My
music magazine's contents show development and planning. I did all of the
creating and editing on Photoshop which opened my resources up massively. First
I had to choose my images and delete their backgrounds so they fitted on to the
contents well, apart from the large image as the background is a part of the
image. After doing this I then choose a background which fit with my colour
scheme, so I choose light grey and white diagonal stripes. I used a bold font
from ‘dafont’ to use for the masthead. This meant the text would not be the
same to any on Photoshop and that it would stand out against the rest of the
text. I made it black as this stood out the most on the background and was the
most bold.
I
then put each section in a different pink, as my main cover line is based on a
female, like Billboard I dedicated the magazines colour scheme to that week’s
feature. I think the use of different pinks for sections helped them stand out
and allowed them to be clear to read. I used three images to intrigue my
audience. By having these images it made the contents more vivid and
interactive. I put my main cover line model at the top and with her section the
largest to make it clear she was still the main feature. Then by the other
images I had their sections larger than the other sections but still smaller
than the main ones to make sure they stand out.
I
like my contents as it is vibrant and looks interesting to look out from the
background and the range of colours. I also think it contains all of the
conventions of contents pages and also shows improvement from my school
magazine. It shows I have took a lot of care into the positioning and colour
scheme and what images I want to place on it and how things are perceived by my
audience.
To
improve I would lay the text out in a different order and have the images on
the inside as some of the text is close to overlapping the others which would
be seen as unclear and messy. Apart from that I am very happy with the final
outcome.
SCHOOL MAGAZINE CONTENTS
MUSIC MAGAZINE CONTENTS
DOUBLE
PAGE SPREAD
This
was my first time creating a double page spread. So it took a lot more research
and planning than the rest of my magazine features. I looked mainly at
Billboards double page spread. They focused one page on an image and the other
on text. However I chose to use half a page for an image and still include text
on the page as it would make audiences feel like they are getting a lot more
for their money and that it was a long interview they are reading about and
nothing was cut out. I used a pink tie-dyed background as it fitted my artist’s
persona. I then used a swirly text for the masthead as it was girly and suited
the interview. I placed this in two parts across the top of the left page. In
between the two parts I placed an image of the artist looking fierce and
mysterious. This would intrigue the audience to want to read on. I then used a
quote from the interview as a subheading to give a taster of what she was going
to be saying, this would catch reader’s attention and make them want to find
out why she has said this.
I
included a short introduction about my interview to let the readers who were
oblivious to who she is know who she is and to inform those who know who she is
of what is to come. I used a drop capital for the first letter to help it stand
out and show a range and to make it look more interesting.
I
placed my article in the format of question, answer. Using grey for the
questions and black for the answers meant it still fit in with my magazines
whole colour scheme and I also feel like this still fitted with the colour
scheme of the double page spread and actually worked quite nicely.
I
also included an image of her and her boyfriend to make the article relatable
and to make the audience have shared knowledge with the interviewer. This makes
the interview a lot more interactive and understandable.
I
also included her YouTube channel to promote her and to also let audiences know
where to listen to her and where to find her. This is also interactive as it
gives an afterlife of the interview as it will let people follow her journey
and hear the music she is speaking about where it is released.
To
improve I would have made my masthead and subheading more interesting and make
the page look more creative as I think this makes it look quite bland. I would
also use a different font for the text as I think this text is very subtle and
not much too it.
Despite
all this as my first attempt of a double page spread I think this turned out
the best out of all three of my preliminary tasks as it looks the most professional.
MUSIC MAGAZINE DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
