For our media coursework we got the option to do an opening of a film For our media coursework we got the option to do an opening of a film or the print option. I chose the print option, which was to produce a or the print option. I chose the print option, which was to produce a music magazine. As I chose the print option, I had to complete all of my music magazine. As I chose the print option, I had to complete all of my project by myself. project by myself.

What is the genre for my magazine and why did I What is the genre for my magazine and why did I chose that genre??chose that genre??

There are numerous amount of different music

genres which I could have chosen for my music magazine. The music genre I did choose for my magazine is clubbing and house/electro/techno music. I chose this genre as…

• I am a fan and listener of this type of music• I am a reader of this genre of magazines myself

therefore I am knowledgeable about similar magazines in this market

• I enjoy clubbing and going out myself• I feel as though there is a gap in the magazine

market for a clubbing and house/techno magazine.

Typical elements Typical elements Typical elements are vital within music magazines as it is important the audience can recognise what genre the magazine is. Typical elements can be factors of the magazine such as; words and phrases, colour schemes, and photographs. The customer needs to know if magazine is the correct genre they like and want to buy straight away. Therefore, it is important to have typical elements of the genre so the consumers are not mislead into buying a magazine that they didn’t want. Typical elements of the genre is mostly important on the front page as the front page is what is advertised to the customers and it is the first thing they see of the magazine. If the front page portrays typical elements of the genre they like, it will encourage the customer to read on and buy the magazine.

Typical elements of the Typical elements of the clubbing//electro genre on my clubbing//electro genre on my front cover?front cover?

•Vibrant/bold colours (reds) •My photograph represents club/house music as it is just one guy, most clubbing/house magazines have just one person, and not a group of people. Also most DJs are men therefore hinting the model on the front cover is a DJ. •I have used words such as; ‘DJ’, ‘Clubbing’, ‘Drugs’, ‘CD’, (these words are all words which people automatically associate with clubbing and dance/electro music).•I have included a free CD of a new DJ called 'Lee Foss' for every reader, this will attract customers to buy the magazine and is a typical element of clubbing magazines. •I have advertised a competition to win a free clubbing holiday to Ibiza – this is typical for this genre as Ibiza is well-known for clubbing and house music•I have also mentioned some famous music artists which people will associate to this genre such as; -Chase & Status, -Deadmau5,- hot chip,

Comparison to MixmagComparison to Mixmag

To prove that all of my points are actually typical elements of a clubbing magazine, I have included the front cover of ‘mixmag’ which is a magazine a similar genre to mine. As you can see this magazine has many typical elements comparable to Disco Dirt.

•One likeness is mixmag uses similar words and phrases to my magazine, such as; ‘Ibiza’, ‘huge clubbing guide’, ‘DJ’, ‘CD’, and ‘Nights out’.

•Mixmag also mentions a lot of music artists in this genre. E.g. ‘Paul Van Dyk’ ‘Feddie le grand’ and ‘Heart Throb’

•Mixmag also gives the reader a free CD, like I have in my magazine.

•There is just one person in the photograph

•Mixmag have used bold yellow colours

It is also important to do something new and have un-typical elements to make your magazine different and stand out from the other magazines in this genre. This is called having a unique selling point (USP).

One major factor of my magazine which is not typical elements for clubbing/house magazine, is I have written very negatively about drugs and drug usage. This is not typical as most clubbing magazines talk about drugs in a light hearted way and make reader think is the norm to take drugs (this in a way promotes the usage of drugs). As a reader of these types of magazines myself, this was an element I dislike about this genre of magazines. Therefore I felt it was important to change this in my magazine, this made my magazine unique. I also think this is important as it sends positive messages to readers and may enlighten some people to not take drugs.

Examples of my negativity towards drugs are;

One of my articles which is advertised on my contents pages is about “the dangers of living the Ibiza life style and the side effects of drugs on the trance scene.”

I have also portrayed my interviewee (Mikey) as very anti-drugs. Some quotes from my interview are; “Let me just make this clear, drugs do the exact opposite of making you a good DJ.” and “drugs are for mugs who just need a hug ‘cos their fucked off that silly bug!”. I have made my interviewee anti-drugs because I think readers are more likely to listen to a famous DJ whom they look up to and someone who is seen as cool, rather then just statistics and facts. Generally everyone knows that drugs have negative side effects however readers are more likely to listen to someone who has been there and has had experiences with drugs, like Mikey. Therefore, I felt it was important to make my interviewee very anti-drugs.

EMAP (East Midland Allied Press) EMAP is an extremely well-known British media production company. In the past EMAP has

produced the ‘SMASH HITS’ magazine, this is similar to mine in a way as it is a music magazine and its target audience is young people. This would mean that EMAP might be a good institution to produce my magazine.

IPC Media IPC media produces over 85 iconic media brands, with print brands alone reaching almost two

thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men –almost 27 million UK adults – there online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month.

IPC Media has produced magazines such as NME, therefore I know that IPC can produce music magazines. However from my research of IPC media, I cannot find any evidence that they have ever produced a similar genre music magazine to Disco Dirt. On the other hand, this may have advantages, because my magazine would be unique for their company and could attract a bigger target audience, therefore increasing the companies profit. I have come to the conclusion that IPC Media would be a good institution to produce my music magazine.

My feature article is an interview with a DJ called ‘Mikey’. I have portrayed as a typical DJ. I have done this by making him;

•Confident

•‘Party animal’ he likes clubbing going out,

•He likes drinking

•He has a past with drugs

•He has Tattoos

•He uses slang words

• Swears a lot

However, I have also challenged the stereotype. I did this by making Mikey dislike fame and media attention – which many DJs crave. An example of this is “I don’t like all the media attention. It’s all fake to me, just not what I’m about”

I have also portrayed him to be a family guy who loves his mum, which is very unlike the typical DJ. Example – “I would move there but I’m a secret mummy’s boy! I’d miss my family too much”

As I mentioned previously, Mikey is very anti-drugs, this also challenges the stereotype, as well as making Mikey a positive role model.

I chose to challenge the stereotype as I wanted to make Mikey unique and different from a typical DJ.

MikeyDJ Pauly D

I have compared my photograph of Mikey with a famous DJ called DJ Pauly D to show how I have made my model look like a stereotypical DJ. There are many obvious similarities between these photos such as;

•They both have tattoos on show

•Their stances and body language are very similar. They both look a little cocky and self assured. However, this comes across in a cool way and not an arrogant way.

•They both have short, styled hair.

•DJs and music artists

•Unisex (but mostly males as DJing is a male dominated job)

•Young

•Trendy

MY TARGET AUDIENCE!

•Unisex (more male due to colours, photographs, genre)

•Young people (16-30) due to the genre,

•Outgoing

•Likes clubbing, parties and dancing/raving!

I have chosen the target audience for my magazine, using GRASS!

The gender of my target audience is both males and females, because I think that they can both enjoy this type of music and generally reading magazines, therefore this will mean that there will be more profit for my magazine as I am not just targeting one gender. However Disco Dirt may appeal more to males due to the actual genre of my magazine, I feel as though house/techno music is generally male dominated.

The age range will be between about sixteen and thirty. I have picked this age range as I feel this is the age of people who are most likely to be interested in and listen to house/techno music, also it is mostly young people are likely to enjoy clubbing and this type of music. I have not made my target audience under sixteen as my magazine is a lot about drinking and clubbing, and there is a lot of swearing in my magazine, therefore I don’t think it is suitable for under sixteens.

The socio-economic status of my target audience will probably be group C1, lower middle class, and upwards because generally young people don’t have a lot of money, due to being students and new to their careers, therefore they wont be able to spend a lot of money on expenditures such as magazines. I think it will be C1 and above because they are likely to will have spare money to purchase magazines. People in groups below C1 probably will not have money to spend on luxuries such as magazines.

Skins is a particularly good example of my target audience as they are; young, trendy/cool, outgoing, drinking, clubbing and party goers! They are typical teenagers, whom I think my magazine would appeal to.

I also think Skins target audience would be very similar to mine. Therefore, advertising with a programme such as Skins would be extremely profitable for my magazine.

Is this a good target audience?? YES – my target audience is potentially a large mass audience. This is due to the popular genre. Although my

target audience will not be as large as a charts magazine would, I think my target audience has potential to be extremely large. I did market research and asked 10 males and females, aged 15 – 20, what genre of music they liked best. Therefore, I have evidence which shows dance music is very popular with young people. Here are the results….

My pie chart clearly shows that dance music was the most popular choice. Which proves dance music is in demand with young people, therefore creating a large target audience for my magazine.

I also researched my target audience by handing out 10 questionnaires to people aged 15-20, I asked a number of questions about music and magazines they liked. I also asked “Do you liked clubbing? If so how often do you go?”, I felt this was an important question for my magazine. From this question I found out most people like and go clubbing often in this age range, therefore I continued my theme of clubbing throughout my magazine.

To attract and address my target audience i have used the A.I.D.A theory. Attention – pictures, colours and layoutInterest – Titles and subtitlesDesire – Making the reader want to read onAction – the customer actually buying the magazine.

Young people (16-30) would be attracted to Disco Dirt due to the photographs. My photography on the front page would attract young people because my model is; young, good looking, his appearance is trendy, cigarette in hand, tattoos and sunglasses. These are all aspects which many young people find ‘cool’. Also it is generally young people who listen to this genre of music and who go clubbing/partying.

Also as I have mentioned previously, young people generally don’t have a lot of money (the typical student). Therefore they would be attracted to receiving a free CD, this may encourage them to buy this magazine as they will think it is a good deal.

Disco Dirt is very club orientated. An example of that is this photograph actually in a club.

This aspect would attract my target audience as generally they will be people who enjoy clubbing/parties and who like dancing/raving. Therefore, they would be attracted to the clubbing element of my magazine.

My photographs and model would appeal to both sexes. Females may want to buy this magazine because my model is good-looking therefore, stereotypically, attracting females due to the sex appeal of my male model.

Males also may buy the magazine due to the photographs and the model. This is because the model looks very cool and trendy so males may want to buy this magazine to aspire to be the model.

Also males would be attracted to Disco Dirt due to the masculine colour scheme (red, black/grey) throughout my magazine.

From my audience feedback, “the contents informs me of what the magazine is about by the subtitles. However, it also invites you in because of the pictures and fonts, and the interesting subtitles makes you want to read on.”

The language used in my interview would appeal to young people as I have used a lot of swear words and slang. I feel this factor will appeal more to young people than older people. Some examples of this swearing and slang are “who's getting shit faced at some snobby club and who’s bangin’ who” and “shut ‘em up”.

Young people will also be attracted to my interview as I have made my interviewee extremely rebellious. Examples of this are; He doesn’t listen to his managers and gets in trouble with them – “my managers were giving me grief”. He has tattoos – “I’m getting a tattoo of the phrase ‘live it now’ tomorrow”, he also has visible tattoos on show in the photographs.

Young people are likely to be attracted to this rebellious side, as generally young people find rebellion cool. Also young people like the ‘live for the moment’ attitude, this is why I named his album ‘live it now’.

Audience Feedback ; “Yes because the layout is easy to follow, its also on a white background and the black write contrast makes it easy to read. The title and the subtext also makes you want to read the interview because it makes this interview sounds like one you cant miss. The photograph is also very intriguing. ”

I have used many different types of technologies and learnt about how to use them throughout the process of constructing my magazine. Such as:

Photoshop is a software which I used to edit my photos. Photoshop actually allowed me to use the photo I did use on my front cover, This is because my photograph had a very dark background, therefore any text would be hard to see. However, I didn’t want to make my model any lighter.

I used Photoshop to cut of my model, make the background lighter and contrasted, and I then placed the model back onto the photo.

Photoshop was extremely good to improve my photographs, however, it is very confusing and complicated to use.

Indesign is a software which I used to produced my magazine on. Indesign was an extremely important technology which used to produce my magazine. This is because I actually used Indesign to produce my magazine on.

Indesign enabled me to do many important things which was necessary for the making of my magazine, such as; It enabled me to use a photograph as a background for my front page and it enabled me to insert a three column stencil onto Indesign for my double page spread.

‘Da Font’ is a font website where I found my font for all my titles and subtitles on. The font which I used was called 'CGF locust resistance‘.

www.dafont.com

http://www.blogger.com is a blogging website which I have used to recorded my research and development of my magazine.

Advantages of using blogger was it is a good way to keep work organised. It is also a good method for teachers to view how much work students have done and to check to see if anyone is behind.

Disadvantages of blogger are; it sometimes take a long time or it stops working when you try upload files onto the blogger.

Other technologies… I used a camera to take my photographs - 'Canon EOS 1D Mark III Digital SLR Camera'And scanners to scan questionnaires and mood boards onto blogger. Scanners are good as they are quick and effective.

My preliminary task

This is my preliminary task. Looking back, at the college magazine which I chose to do, I can clearly see that I have improved on my techniques since I did this and how my music magazine is much better. This is because:

Prelim task

Disco Dirt

•My prelim task looks very boring, its not eye-catching at all. It has dull colours and doesn’t look inviting.

•The layout makes it look very unprofessional. The subtitles are misplaced and aren't eye-catching

•I didn’t edit or Photoshop this image at all. This college magazine is meant to be for the students therefore it was suppose to look cool and fun. However, this image doesn’t portray that at all. Therefore, it doesn’t appeal to its target audience.

•Whereas, Disco Dirt is very eye-catching, has vibrant colours and looks interesting making the audience want to read on.

•The layout of disco Dirt looks very professional, with catchy subtitles

•I edited my photo on the front cover a lot to make it brighter and

more vibrant.

If I was to do this prelim task again….

•I would concentrate more on appealing to my target audience. I would try make this college magazine a cool thing for students to have and not something they would be embarrassed to be seen with

• I would do this by having a bright, ‘feel good’ photograph, I would Photoshop to get this effect.

•I would also use bright colours and a different font for my title

•Finally I would change all my layout to make it look more interesting and professional

Overall strengths of my magazine include; It looks professional and realistic I think my photographs are well took and look professional and are relevant to the genre. I think my interview was realistic and I made a believable character (Mikey) who is a good role model to readers.

Weaknesses × I should have spent more time on my contents page. As I completed this page last, I feel as though I rushed it and I could have filled the page more if I had allocated more time to complete this page. The page does look simple and not confusing, however, I think this also makes it look like the magazine isn't very in-depth and doesn't have a lot of articles. If I had more time, I would have also liked to have wrote a editors note. If I was to make another magazine I would take all theses factors into consideration.

I have learnt many things about the process of producing a meaningful and realistic media product. I have learnt it is very difficult, it takes a lot of time and dedication. However, it is achievable if you are determined and have the right working attitude. I have also learnt research is an extremely important part in producing a media product.

I have also learnt many things about myself from this project. Such as; •I am able to achieve a high standard of work and complete projects when I put my mind to it and once I start something I become determined to finish what I have started. •I have always struggled with English, and being dyslexic I have always doubted myself when it comes producing written work. However, I do think I excelled with writing my interview. I made a believable, interesting character and I enjoyed writing it at the same time. Therefore I have proven to myself that I shouldn’t always doubt my writing abilities just because of my dyslexia •Another big aspect which I have learnt about myself is that I really enjoy photography. I have always enjoyed taking photos, however this project has encouraged me to think about furthering my photography abilities with taking a photography class.