Final production

 

 

evaluation question 7

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

I feel I have gained knowledge of how a magazine should be layed out, the common conventions it must include and what makes a magazine look professional. I have learnt this by doing lots of research into sale figures, circulation figures and different types of music magazines that still get published and have readers.

I am alot more confident on photoshop now I have finished the whole product. I feel I am able to contruct more, complete tasks independantly, and create what I want with planning. I didnt use InDesign on my school magazine, however I used to create my music magazine as the best of my ability and I feel I have learnt a new skill on how to use InDesign aswell as photoshop. 

I am pleased with the outcome of both the magazines I contrusted however, I feel there is an improvement in the music magazine. I feel I included very small detail to the music magazine which I may have forgotten about in the school magazine such as page numbers, links and thought lots more about mise en sence. 

I definatly learnt that it is important to plan how you are going to take your pictures, make sure a model is definatly going to be there, the surroundings fit in well and costume. I feel that these are important aspects to making a magazine look more appealing and professional. My knowledge of camera angles has improved, I learnt that there are certain angles which look best on certain parts of the magazine, for exmaple a mid shot, which is from the waist up of the person, is best for the main image to capture there emotion and draw in the auidence.

Evaluation question 1

 

Evaluation question 6

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

Throughout the process of construction I used Photo shop for my front cover and contents page and In Design for my double page spread. I used many skills on Photo shop such as how to crop, re size, insert and remove pictures and how to use photo filters. This helped me create the professional look that has been used on my front cover and contents page. This also helped me on putting the photos that are boxed together on the contents page in there neatly so the photos are at the right angle and fit in the boxes correctly. On In Design I learnt how to wrap text around an image, how to create text in different sizes and fonts. This helped me create a pull quote on my double page spread which is one of the common conventions for these pages. However, my picture didn’t meet the text on my double page spread so I did not use the wrap tool, however, with the use of text boxes and columns my text is set out in the traditional way. 

Other technologies I used were a Cannon camera to take my pictures with. I also used a white backdrop and studio lighting. By using these I have learnt it is important to plan ahead what shots you would like to capture, during my photo shoot I had the trouble that my model was very tall and you could sometimes see the top of the backdrop. I had also learnt the studio lighting is very important for clarity in photos. The studio lights made it look much more professional and you could see more detail with that instead of natural light.

I feel alot more confident using photo shop and indesgin now then i did at the beginning of the course. I can now work independent on photo shop and now how to use layers and more. I feel more confident on photo shop than indesign becuase I used photo shop for the main construction of the magazine.

evaluation question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by including bright purple text against a dark background to grab their attention, not only because it stands out but this colour scheme is often associated with Electronic Dance Music(EDM). Furthermore, I used a mid-shot of my model as the main image on my front cover. I chose to do this so you can focus on his face and also his clothing. He is dressed in a bold and outgoing t-shirt, which relates to the scene and his personality. This is relatble to the target audience as their clothing style would be similar. The model is looking directly into the camera which intrigues the audience to what his story may be and engages with then allowing it to create a welcoming mode of address.

I used a more informal vocabulary to relate to the young target audience I have. I used words that are easy to understand such as 'the drop' which means the peak of the beat in a song. I also didn't cover the whole page in writing I let the photo be dominant. This is because if young people see a large amount of writing it often puts them off and they tend to ignore it. So I used very little text on the front cover and contents to they could read what they wanted to read. This is almost the same for the double page spread. Although there is a lot of writing on these two pages, the picture still takes up alot of room as well and the pull quote. The article is set out in columns which is easier for them to read and I also chose to do a question and answer interview. I chose to do this because then they do not have to read the whole article to find out what they want, they can go straight to the question the want which is written in bold so they are not getting bored. 

My target audience is very involved with social media and will have a account for all the different social medias. I attracted those by having links to my magazines facebook, twitter and instagram on my contents page. This also allows fans of my production to become involved by sending in suggestions and photos. There is also a website for my music magazine where they can get infomation about events, fashion and artists/DJS.

Evaluation question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience for my production is young people aged from 16-23 that have a passion for Electronic Dance Music(EDM). They are also very sociable, enjoy going out with friends to clubs/raves or festivals. They are often up to date with the newest fashion and their look is very important to them. Not only do they have the newest clothes, they also have the newest technology such as the most up to date phone, laptops and ipods. This is so they can download, listen or find new music easily and quickly.

My target audience enjoy the buzz and adrenalin they feel when they hear there favourite artist/DJ live. They would have to enjoy the strobe lights and lasers and not be afraid of large crowds and this is what is often found at live performances of these kinds of artists/DJ's.

These people either have a part time/full time job (depending on age) or are still studying and their parents have a high disposable income. This is almost essential that the target audience are working class or upper class because endless nights out, festivals, clothes and the newest technology is not cheap. For example, Creamfields is the biggest EDM festival in the UK and a weekend ticket can range up to £250. Although there are other festivals which contain EDM, my target audience would want to visit Creamfields to get to see the most acts.

As I said before that the age range of my target audience is from 16-23, most events that take place within the EDM genre are strictly over 18 events. However, I feel like if you are going to become a EDM fan, it starts while you are slightly younger then 18 as you start to explore different music. Events such as Illegal raves will allow under 18's in where they can witness the atmosphere of this genre. Although not all young adults attend these raves because of the illegal status they have, some festivals do cater for all ages.

My target audience do not take life so seriously and want to have as much fun as possible. I feel that their favourite time of year would be summer. This is because during summer it becomes festival season, groups of friends often go on holidays together. In London during the summer people give off more of a friendly vibe which is what my target audience want. During the summer months it is more likely that they will drink more alochol and spend more times with their friends listening to EDM music.

Evaluation question 3

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

Magazine institutions such as Development Hell Ltd or IPC would be the most suitable distributors of my magazine. They both distribute magazine of similar content to mine, regarding they both heavily connected with music. However Development Hell Ltd would probably be the most likely as they distribute the MixMag magazine which influenced my own magazine production as this is the magazine with the genre the most similar to mine. Mixmag also promotes dance/EDM music and has a circulation of approximately 20,000 readers a month. Mixmag has also been being published for 31 years so Development Hell would be able to create sells and high circulation figures to stop House Creations getting cancelled. 

IPC media would be my second choice of institution as it distributes many media products such as NME, which is also a large selling magazine. Although NME and House Creations are not the same genre, they will often include the same artists in the magazine as NME has quite a large target audience and House Creations has a very niche target audience. Although, NME has a median age for there readers at 24. The readers of House Creations would be alot younger which is why I chose Development Hell for my initial institution.