AS Media StudiesMusic Magazine Evaluation

Candidate Name: Alima Ali Candidate No: 4503

1. In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products?

My music magazine ‘Musica Classica’ uses the structure and

conventions of the classical magazine ‘Classic Fm’ My magazine follow the same

conventions of ‘Classic Fm’ by incorporating the genre of my

magazine within the actual title.

On many of ‘Classic Fm’ magazine issues, the image used reflected not only a specific article within the

magazine, but also the magazines genre itself. For this

reason, I ensured that one of the props included within the

cover image was a classical music instrument.

Classic Fm’s magazine’s main colour schemes consisted of

White and Red. This co-ordinated well with the

magazines front cover and by using a simple colour scheme, it added a sense of sophistication.

I chose Teal and White as my colour scheme as I felt that the

two colours complimented each other. Like Classic Fm, I

used this colour scheme throughout the magazine in

order to reinforce consistency.

1. In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products?

I used headings and titles throughout the magazine where I felt necessary and ensured that articles were categorised under

suitable headings.

Each article was numbered, allowing the reader to navigate their way through the magazine.

I included the ‘Issue No’ as well as images that connected to some of the articles

that were published within the magazine. Headings and titles were underlined and made

bold to catch the reader’s attention when

flicking through the magazine.

In classic fm, the language used and the articles published within the magazine were quite formal,

mainly because their target audience was the older generation and so for this reason, I too used Standard English throughout my magazine in order to attract my

target audience.

2. How does your media product represent a particular social group?

For my particular magazine, I tried to represent a modern and upper-class social group through not only the language used within my magazine, but also through the images used as well as the actual layout of my magazine. I used Standard English throughout my magazine and I referred back to famous classical singers such as Myleene Klass. This would attract not only my target audience, but also younger readers who may be willing to pick up and read my magazine, mainly because they recognise a famous name. My research showed that Classic Fm target audience was mainly upper-class people who had a great interest in i.e. classical music.

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

I believe that a media institution such as Rhinegold Publishing will be interested in my music magazine as they are an independent publisher that publish classical music magazines as well as study guides for music, drama and theatre studies. Such classical music magazines include ‘International Piano’ and ‘Opera’. As ‘Rhinegold Publishing’ is an already well known and successful, it would mean that my magazine would gain a great advantage in selling a large number of copies.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Having a target audience is of great importance as by having a target audience; it ensures that your targeted audience’s interests are presented within the magazine. For example, a teenager wouldn’t be interested in reading about upcoming classical events. When deciding upon my target audience, many factors had to be considered such as the age group. My main target audience was the older generation and so for this reason, I used Standard English throughout the magazine as my research showed that the language used within a magazine reflects the genre itself. My target audience also included individuals who have a great interest in classical music. However, that’s not to say that individuals from the younger generation wouldn’t be interested in reading my magazine.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I addressed my audience in many different ways. This included a bold and eye-catching colour scheme of teal and white which reinforced the elegance of classical music. I ensured that I used a consistent font for the main heading and sub heading of the magazine and used a classical style font. It was this font that was most preferred by individuals who had filled in my questionnaire.

My research showed that text within a magazine was mainly aligned in order to reinforce professionalism as well as make it easier for the reader to follow and so, I used this within my magazine. This structure was mainly used on my contents page and the use of page numbers will easily guide the user through the magazine. Having a plain background allowed the headings and text to stand out as well make it easier for the reader to read. On the magazine cover, I added an issue number, price tag and barcode in order to make it look more authentic. The use of various camera shots such as the close up shots that I had taken that were used on my magazine cover would attract the audience’s attention. I used a variety of strap lines on the cover such as ‘Exclusive Interview, Robyn Brown’ and ‘LIVE Music concerts this Christmas’ in order to engage the reader and persuade them into buying the magazine.

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

Before the development of the magazine, i knew how to use a camera and i knew the basics of Photoshop. However, during the development of the magazine, I became more confident in using the software and I learnt the different ways that a camera could be used in order to obtain different results. The most common feature that I used on the digital camera was the macro mode which allowed me to focus the camera resulting in me being able to take high quality and non-blurred images. This is so that it provides the reader with an immediate impact and persuades them into purchasing the magazine. For many readers, there is a great difference between a high quality Image and an average image which can result in there being a difference between the reader purchasing the magazine or not.

The editing software that I used was Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop was of great use as it allowed me to perform certain actions such as removing the background on the image used on the front cover by using the magic wand tool. It allowed me to manipulate my images by allowing me to add borders which reinforced the quality of the images as well as make changes to the lighting and contrast of certain images.

Whilst I designed the magazine. I used a digital camera to take the images. A great deal of time was spent trying to get the lighting right for each shot as well as deciding whether a flash was needed as well as the camera shots needed for each picture.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from It to the full product?

For my preliminary task, I created a magazine cover and contents page that would help and teach ‘Photoshop beginners’ the basics of Photoshop. In my preliminary task cover, I used more of varied colour scheme whereas in my music magazine, I made sure that I had stuck to a specific colour scheme. In my preliminary task, I believe that I had overdid it with the colour as well as the strap lines which over powered the cover whereas with my music magazine cover, I balanced out the white space and the strap lines.

I believe that the cover and contents page that I had created for the preliminary task was not of the same standard of my music magazine cover, contents page and double page spread mainly because of the lack of time. During the preliminary task, I hadn’t really balanced out my time resulting in me having to rush the designing stage whereas with the music magazine, I had good time keeping skills which resulted in me producing a magazine that was of a higher standard. Overall, I am pleased with the design of my music magazine cover, contents page and double page spread.

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