Media Studies

Evaluation

Introduction

For my media project I chose to do a magazine front page, contents page and double page article. For this I worked by myself although I used different people to pose for the pictures for me. I put together the three pages and chose how I wanted them to be laid out.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

The genre of my product is pop and I have used a boy band to portray this. It was vital to use typical elements so then the audience could understand which genre it was for when they bought the magazine on the front cover. The thing I did different was try to bring other genres into the magazine by using names of bands of different genres therefore the magazine would have a wider audience. I tried to make pop the main genre. It is vital to do something new to the genre otherwise it will become boring and people won’t want to buy a genre that is the same every single time although I think elements need to stay the same so people can recognise which genre they would like to buy. I think my innovations were likely to prove successful because I looked at different magazines which were also pop and saw which elements they used also so tried to use similar elements but some in a different way that way it wasn’t boring to the reader but it also wasn’t something completely new.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups my media product represent are music stars and young people. The costume I have used is casual, I have done this so they look like ordinary people to the readers therefore the reader connects with the band more, also they are dressed similar, this is to show they are from the same band and makes the reader connect with them more. In the interview with the band they are talking to the interviewer in a light hearted manner so this shows that they are normal people and the reader laughs along with them.

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

One of the big institutions for publishing music magazines is , it produces magazines such as Q! I think they would be likely to fund my magazine because it is a pop magazine for an older audience and there isn’t as many of them around, also because it is mainly a pop genre magazine, it does include other genres inside it to show the variation. I also think this is why it would make a profit because there isn’t really any magazines for an older audience. One of the ways my magazine shows it is for an older audience is on the front cover it is advertising the chance to win concert tickets and children can’t go to concerts without an adult.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media project is; females preferably and the audience range between 16-25. I would like the ethnicity/nationality to be a wide spread. The socio-economic status is……

This is a good audience to target because there aren’t many music magazines that target that age group therefore they would be thankful for the magazine also I think it is a large mass audience because pop is a very popular genre and a lot of the top 40 are pop songs. They are right for my product financially because at this age they are more likely to have a job of their own to spend on hobbies.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My choice of magazine title is REST, this is the bands initials put together, I did this to create a sense of originality to the band because it isn’t a fancy name, it’s just simple. The audience expects there too be a main feature in the magazine on a band therefore on the front cover is the band featuring on the two page spread, the are stood facing the audience and it is a mid angle shot, most of the boys are using direct mode of address to connect with the reader but another is looking away, this creates mystery about him so the reader wonders where he is looking.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?I have used various technology to create my magazine. The internet has been a big part in helping me with creating my magazine because I looked at online front covers but then read magazines also to help me get a better understanding of how they use different functions. The blog has been useful because instead of at the end of the task having to write everything we had to do and keep it all in a folder we have been able to update ours blogs as we have gone along and upload the photos onto our blogs we have found off the internet also what we have created. I also learnt which angles were best when using a camera to take photos of the people, also the editing on programs such as photoshop and indesign helped create the realistic and professional look of the photos. The limitations I found were finding a place to take photo’s to suit the genre and finding people to fit the right image. I had to alter my photo’s a lot because I made a mistake and took my photos landscape when I should have taken them portrait so I had to cut around two of my boys and then move them closer together, also by erasing around the top of the photos it made them look less cut out and more natural. I used technology for audience feedback by asking people on the social website Facebook to look at my blog which has the magazine on it. This was an effective way because They were able to answer my questions quickly and it wasn’t time consuming because I didn’t have to stand and wait for an answer also they are more critical over the internet other than in person because the feel they have to be nicer about the work.

Looking back at the prelim task, what is better now?

I think that looking back at the prelim task My finished product is much better because I didn’t know now to do a lot of the things I do now and also I understand a magazine will have a colour that follows through each slide, also when I had to cut them out in the prelim task I didn’t smooth the edges but now I did it looks a lot more professional.

Conclusion

My overall strengths are the article sounds professional and the front cover is appealing because of the bright and loud font although I think I could have made the pages a bit busier especially the front cover. I think that it has turned out better than I expected but if I was to do it again I would do some things differently.

Audience Feedback

What does the title suggest to you?

Most people answered by saying that the title suggested to them that the magazine was a fun magazine and featured pop bands. Also it suggested that it was a bright and friendly magazine.

What genre/type of music does the magazine focus on and how

do you know this?Most people said that they could tell the

genre was a pop magazine by the boy band on the front because they look like the typical boy band.

What makes the pages look professional and what stops them from looking professional?

How genuine does the front cover seem?

Does the contents page simply inform or does it also manage to interest you in reading the rest of

the magazine?People said it interests aswell as informs

because they want to read on as they like some of the bands in the contents page.

Does the article sound like a piece of journalism? If not what bits don’t sound right?

Does the articles layout make you want to read it? If not why not?

• Most people answered yes that it does make them want to read it although they said it looks a bit bare and it would be better if it had more quotations in bold to split it up.