Seb Warren

’Rock N’ Roller’’

AS Media Studies CourseworkAS Media Studies Coursework

Portfolio Evaluation.Portfolio Evaluation.In this evaluation I will cover the following:- Forms and conventions of my Media Product and how it uses,

develops or challenges real media products- How my media product represent particular social groups- What kind of media institution would distribute my media product

and why- Who the audience would be for my media product- How the audience was addressed/attracted- What technologies I have learnt in the process of making my

media product- Review of progress from preliminary task to my full media product

Seb Warren 2

Forms and Conventions – Front CoverForms and Conventions – Front Cover

Seb Warren 3

The masthead ‘’Rock N’ Roller’’ is at the top of my magazine, the style of the masthead resembles the music genre my magazine is based on, the font used is ‘LD Rock Hero’ it resembles the font that is seen on Guitar Hero’s logo which has matching genre to my magazine, the colour is white with a black border around each letter to make the masthead stand out as well give the classic rock look.

The main image was used has the whole background of my cover so I could get every part showing. I took my photo outside using no props, I used my friend Hayden and myself as models In the picture (due to the original model being away at time the photo was taken), we are positioned in front of a wooden wall, We chose this stance because it looks like we are In control and looking off into the distance, I needed enough space above our heads for the masthead to go at the top and also space on the sides for the text. Therefore I set the camera up on a tripod with a low angle setting and took a self timer picture, because the location was outside I had enough room to achieve this. I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my picture to right style of genre. The techniques I used to edit this image included cropping, increasing brightness and contrast, changing the colour scheme to Black and White, I also applied colour depth to darken colours more than others. All of the techniques I used contributed in changing the picture to suit the genre my magazine is based on.

I wanted to use a font that would stand out and work well with the theme, So I used ‘Royal Acid’ for the headings , I type of font which is used as the masthead on the ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine, the style of it is very neat and very much suits the classic rock genre. Another font I used was ‘Chalkduster’ for the text underneath the heading, this font works well with the background image, finally the last font I used was for the main heading, this font is ‘LD Rock Hero’ it matches the font used in the masthead. The reason I chose more than font is because I wanted my cover to stand out more, because with only one font it could be bland and boring. I chose the colour of my font to work with the back ground image, the White stood out on the Black parts of the background.

I have placed a barcode on the right hand side of my photograph along with information such as issue number price. I chose to place it here because it was the only place where it wouldn’t have clashed with any of the texts, I made it vertical so it was easier to fit on the photograph. Also I have the date the magazine was released in the top right away from anything else so It’s not the way, and a webs address is placed underneath the masthead

Forms and Conventions – Front Cover Forms and Conventions – Front Cover Real Media ExampleReal Media Example

Seb Warren 4

Main image of cover, placed as a background.

Magazine information: issue number, price and date.

Masthead located at the top. Distinctive font. Largest text on front cover.

Model not looking directly into the camera.

The annotations are parts of the magazine front cover I have used In a similar style on my magazine.

Headline’s placed on one side of the cover.

No text covering a lot of the main image.

Main headline is big and easy to see.

Forms and Conventions – Contents Page

Seb Warren 5

I wanted to maintain the same style from the front cover, but also try to apply a different affect found on contents page you might see in a real media magazine.

‘Contents’ is at the top of the page, above the text , this is usually found on a contents page. The image used is very large and the font is the same style as the masthead seen on the front cover, I used the same colour scheme as the masthead on the front cover, ‘’LD Rock Hero’’ I selected the same font found on the front cover for the text used to show the headlines of the pages, ‘Royal Acid’ because the font is big enough to read and you can see it due to the colour I made it. The page numbers are also made clear by using a font called ‘Royal Acidbath’ this is virtually the same as the other font but now the colour covers all of the lettering this font is slightly larger so you can see the page numbers and I used the colour Black so stand outs against the back photograph, the name of the magazine is also located at the top.

Behind the wording have placed a photograph of a creased up piece of paper located on a wooden desk. I got this picture from a video game. I used a piece of paper on a desk to show the genre of my magazine, It ties in with the song ‘School’s out’ by ‘Alice Cooper’, also I thought that the creased up piece of paper on a school desk shows the classic rocker’s attitude to life. I got pictures of things that resembles the genre of my magazine such as ‘Aerosmith’ records and a ‘Gun’s N’ Roses sticker, as well other things you might find located on a desk.

When I was taking the picture of the creased up paper, my camera wouldn’t allow me to get all of it in one shot, So I had to take a picture of one section and then move down, I did this for 4 shots. Once I had the shots I used Adobe Photoshop to piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle, I had to use tools like the healer took to join the lines that were showing from where It didn’t quite fit. While I was in Adobe Photoshop I also added real life pictures, ones I had taken for my front cover and double spread, as well one of my other friends,. I located these around the page

Sadly I did not have enough room to sort the headlines out into a categories or put picture headlines on one of the sides.

Forms and Conventions – Contents Page Forms and Conventions – Contents Page Real Media Examples Real Media Examples

Seb Warren 6

The annotations are parts of the magazine contents pages I have used In a similar style on my magazine.

Contents title located at the top, In big writing.

Ripped/Creased piece of paper look.

Headlines of what’s in the magazine.

Pictures of what’s in the magazine.

*Lines in Black so they stand out.*

Forms and Conventions – Double Page SpreadForms and Conventions – Double Page Spread

Seb Warren 7

Much like before I wanted to maintain the same style from the front cover, only this time for my double page spread, It was more difficult for the double page spread.

The two main problems were the background colour and the original pictures I had taken to go on my double page spread. Getting the right background colour Is needed for when the page is printed because I wanted a clear background, but because of the original images I took didn’t fit In with any background or the layout of the page I decided to use another set of pictures and cut Hayden and Myself out and place us onto it.

Also a suitable font was needed so It can be easy to read. I used a fairly basic font, which was ‘Arial’. This font was probably clearest to read , so all of the paragraphs have the same font.

In between the paragraphs I have included quotations, this is quite common in articles that are about people, the quotes state something big that is said in the next paragraph, so I have put them in a different font and made the text larger. The font I used was ‘ Harlow Solid Italic’, this is because the italic shows it off as a quote. Both text’s are White to stand out against the background.

I have used ‘Harlow Solid Italic’ for the title of the double page spread which is located at the top, I wanted to stick with two fonts, to avoid it looking messy. This is also white so it stands out.

My paragraphs are located on each side, I have made them fit around the two images located on the left and the right, because I cut the pictures out I didn’t need to worry about the colour scheme not fitting in with the image. Due to both the photographs still being in colour they stand out the most .

I also put the magazine name onto the double page spread, along with the website, the date issued, page numbers and under them then first 3 letters of the main name, I also included a small grey text box with Black writing to state an album release, along with a picture of the created album cover. the font used in that box is ‘AR BERKLEY’.

Forms and Conventions – Double Page SpreadForms and Conventions – Double Page SpreadReal Media ExamplesReal Media Examples

Seb Warren 8

The annotations are parts of the magazine double page spread I have used In a similar style on my magazine.

Person in colour.

Black background

White text.Text not covering main person.

Article in columns.

Main title of article.

Page numbers.

Name of magazine.

Representation of a particular Social GroupRepresentation of a particular Social Group

Seb Warren 9

The social groups I have chosen to attract my audience were classic rocker’s who go festival’s such as ‘Download’ and concerts held by big name bands. The representation can be seen in my magazine with the type of colours and fonts involved in my magazine, these were all achieved through techniques used in Adobe Photoshop.

It also represents the social group of the younger generation who are into classic rock music, the type of clothing and body position this can influence the younger generation. It can give them a sense of power and they can achieve what they want. This impression is seen in many music magazines companies because they make there model’s look this way.

The photographs I have used also represent the social group because I have taken pictures of two males and you usually see classic rock bands made up of a group of males. In some ways It can represent that the classic rocker’s are in groups and not by themselves.

Institution for distribution of my Media ProductInstitution for distribution of my Media Product

Seb Warren 10

After the magazine has been completed and produced, an Editor of a company will have to think how to distribute the magazine to the target audience, So this means a Publisher will come in and help distribute the magazine.

Big name publishers are Wenner Media LLC the publishers of the magazine ‘Rolling Stone’, also IPC Media is a leading magazine publisher who also publish the hit music magazine ‘NME’

The Institution I would use for distribution of my music magazine is Bauer Media Group, this is because they are the biggest rock music magazine publisher in the UK. They have also published many music magazines such as ‘KERRANG’, ‘Q’ and ‘Mojo’

My magazine would hopefully become popular in the UK and the US because classic rock and originates from the US and some in the UK, classic rock has been a hit since 1970’s and there are still many classic rocker’s out there who would buy my magazine. So hopefully the Bauer Media Group would be able to get high enough sales around the UK and the US to then start to distribute it to other countries.

Audience for my Media ProductAudience for my Media Product

Seb Warren 11

An audience is the biggest part and the start for any media product. Which means when producing a music magazine the audience must be chosen and then market correctly before the process of production can start. For a music magazine, the audience is wants the genre of music covered in a music magazine.

For my music magazine I chose to include the classic rock genre, I wanted my magazine that would include this music, and put it into one media product for the audience of it to read about the genre’s. The Audience of my magazine would like reading the news and information about the genre of my magazine.

My audience for my music magazine are fans of the classic rock genre, which I believe to be the older generation who remember the classic rock era and also some younger generation who have grown up with it, the ages for the older generation would be 50 to early 60’s and for the younger generation around early teens 14 to 20. The fans are about mostly male when it comes to gender, because I feel my magazine targets more of the a male audience, because mostly the male’s are known for listening to classic rock more than woman. I also hope that some woman will read my magazine as well.

How my Media Product addresses the audienceHow my Media Product addresses the audience

Seb Warren 12

There are lots ways in which I address the audience of my Music Magazine, This includes the use photo’s I had taken and the Adobe Photoshop editing I had done on all 3 pieces to attract the audience with the use of text the fonts and the colours. Also the type of effects I used to show the genre of music.

My photography used address the audience because of the type of angles I used and the stance I had the model standing in. This is because the audience want to see something that will stand out. My magazine will address the audience because what they see is what they wanted. The photoshop editing that used on the photo’s that I had taken. The black and white effect will interest the audience because the same style is used on other magazine’s with the same genre. The style I set edited my photographs shows of the type of genre my magazine is.

The text was an important part in address the audience because I wanted to make sure the text worked well with the colour on my pieces as well have the right style of writing that is best suited for my genre. I kept the font the same style on the front cover and I also used it on the contents page, I used it because it links well with the music genre because It has been seen on various products from my genre. But on the double page spread I needed something that was rather plain so it was easy to read. The colour’s used also work because the black is well known as a colour that links well with the genre, the font colour also had to be white because it stands out and it means my audience can read it clearly.

The style of writing I have used addresses the audience because they want to read about classic rock and also have parts that stand out, the type if words also show of the genre, I included a small information to tell the audience to look out for this and check out this site.

Technologies I have learnt about in the process of making Technologies I have learnt about in the process of making my Media Productmy Media Product

Seb Warren 13

I have learnt about many technologies in the process of creating my music magazine. I have used and learnt different technologies in making the 3 pieces , front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Straight from the start I learnt about the technologies involved in photo-shoots for each of my media products. Using my camera, I found out different angles and techniques that are used in some pictures. Some of these techniques are setting the zoom and the colour effect in order to made some great photo’s that can be used.

The editing and design process of the photo’s I had taken. I learnt a lot of Adobe Photoshop techniques when creating my front cover and contents page, one of those on the front cover was how to change the colour of the photograph to ‘Black and White’ and how to add different style of texts in area’s. For the contents page, I used had learnt how to piece all the photographs together and then use the ‘Healing tool’ to match the colours and merge them together.

In the design process in making the double page spread I learnt how to use an new program I had never used or heard of before, this was Adobe InDesign. It let me create the double page spread with fair easier than trying to make it on Adobe Photoshop, It let me create and move the text area’s to where I wanted them go. I learnt how to cut out another image and use parts of it on my double page spread, finally I learnt how to add effects to the double page spread.

As soon as I started the course, I learnt how to manage a blog site called ‘Wordpress.com’, It allows me to upload the photo’s of my work and organize everything into a nice and neat page which includes text.

Looking back at the Preliminary TaskLooking back at the Preliminary Task

Seb Warren 14

This is a look back at the work preliminary task at the start of the course to prepare myself for the real Media Product, this is to asses the knowledge I have learnt.

This is my front cover I created on Adobe Photoshop at the start, It is magazine designed for a school, as you can see there is nothing on this cover that stands out, the masthead just blends in with the background and all of the text is located on only one side. It looks like it is just placed on there in areas that are free, but it does go over the model in the picture. There is only one font used on the cover which is just plain and looks bland, but the title’s are in a different colour. I also kept the main photo the same colour as It was taken

You can see a big difference between this and the main task.

This is the contents page I created on Adobe InDesign at the start, I kept the same design as the front cover so it was nice and clear as you can see it. I have included the name of the magazine at the top, as well as the word ‘Contents’ , I put all the text at the bottom so you could see the picture in the middle, this wasn’t a good idea because It means the text was squashed at the bottom. All of the text is in the same font but like the front cover it has a different colour. The background image stayed the same colour. You can see the massive improvement on my main task compared to the preliminary task.