Preliminary task

Here is my preliminary task.

Evaluation - Links to YouTube.

http://youtu.be/cWpag37YRGg - Question 1

http://youtu.be/BEyJNwPubOk - Question 2

http://youtu.be/S_5TH_dblGk - Question 3

http://youtu.be/fEqaGWTuz-U - Question 4

http://youtu.be/Up0KjuTNVpk - Question 5

http://youtu.be/ldtiER0INVo - Question 6

http://youtu.be/RH0UehPF-v4 - Question 7

All of these videos are unlisted, so no-one without the link can view them.

Here is the script that I used for my evaluation. I may have added some words here and there to make it sound better.

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

The title of my magazine is Undead. This suggests that the type of music is rock/punk, which is also pointed out by the bands listed on the front page and by my models clothing and pose/posture. In all of my images my models are wearing dark clothes or clothes with other bands names on. This was on purpose to let the audience know that this is the kind of music that this magazine supports and promotes.

My choice of models had to be ones that would suit the band style and the magazine style too. My first model is on the front cover, I chose him specifically because he had long hair and the mentality of a rock star, which would make him able to pose for the images correctly.

My title font is Myriad pro; I thought this would be perfect for the style of my magazine, as it is not too perfectly shaped nor it is too distorted that it would create discomfort whilst reading the title.

My written content is perfectly suitable for my style of magazine, especially on my double page spread. I have included a question and answer which is standard for a magazine of this type. There is also a background of the band and general information about them and their tours, which is also standard for this style of magazine.

The music genre of my magazine is punk/pop and the way that my magazine suggests that is the mise-en-scene of my images, my title, my font and my written content. My layout follows all of the conventions of other magazines. I have put all of my sell lines down the left side of my front cover, with the exception of a couple on the bottom. My contents page and double page spread also follow general layout conventions of other magazines of this style.

2.       How does your Media product represent particular social groups?

The postures of both of the images are quite similar; this is something that I strived to emulate when creating my product. The facial expressions are also quite similar which leads my product to convey conventions of punk/rock styles of magazines. Both are staring right at the camera although my models eyes are wide open whereas Chester’s eyes are squinted to show the expression on his face as a more serious one. Both are wearing different costumes but they both conform to the conventions of costumes. They both have different hairstyles but that is not highly relevant to the style of the magazine however it does say a lot about the social group that one particular person may be a part of. Overall, I think that these elements of the photos represent a young social group who love music, and who aren’t afraid to be who they are; weather they show that through being a bit extreme with their appearances, or by their personality.

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

Kerrang magazine is the magazine that I would consider related to my product the most. Kerrang magazine was published in the UK by Bauer Consumer Media; this publisher has made Kerrang a successful magazine for over 30 years. The other magazines that Bauer Consumer Media produces are; Zoo, Closer and Match! These magazines prove that they cover a wide range of magazine genres.

Some mainstream magazines are handed out at venues by using busy spots and locations to generate a bit of interest for the magazine. Some magazines are subscription only magazines, whereby you have to order them online or by telephone to purchase them. Lastly, some magazines are only sold in stores, which for some customers is an inconvenience which would detour some customers from that magazine. Obviously being able to distribute your magazine via all three methods would be the best way to distribute my magazine, and Bauer Consumer Media would be the best distribution company for my magazine as there isn’t as much competition as other distribution companies would have.

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

The perfect audience for me media product would be as the image shows. As you can see this person would be the most stereotypical person to purchase my magazine. He has long hair, dark clothes, and skinny jeans. The fact that he has all of these would indicate that he doesn’t care about what others think of him as long as he is happy, which is the general attitude of the audience of my magazine. This is why this would look like the stereotypical audience for my magazine. This person probably likes loud, heavy music which may often disrupt others. They would spend their time playing games or talking to friends, and of course listening to music. They would spend their money on going out with friends, maybe on games and clothes. They would go to see Sci-Fi’s or comedies but movie taste usually depends on the person. The reason that they would buy my magazine is because my magazine appeals to them, as proved by my audience feedback.

5.       How did you attract/address your audience?

One of the ways I attracted my audience was by putting interesting sell lines on the front cover of my magazine which would appeal to my target audience. I used promotional posters from the main focus of the magazine to interest more potential customers, because people will buy it just for the posters. I included popular bands for some of my sell lines.  I used most of the conventions of a normal magazine, such as barcode in the bottom left, masthead in the top right, sell lines to the left of the page and in line with each other, date, price and cost and I also have one main sell line underneath the masthead. I have one main image and a few sub images.

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

Here is an Image I made on Photoshop showing all of the equipment that I used, this includes Facebook ( to recruit my models ), Blogger ( to upload my progress and work ), YouTube ( To upload my evaluation to ) and the computer + camera that I used for my photographs. Using all of these has given me a much greater understanding of their uses and how effective they can be for Media. They have helped me a lot in the creation of my product. Without the use of Facebook, I would not have been able to recruit the models I wanted to use and I would have had to resort to using someone from my college who may not have the correct look I was aiming for.

7.       Looking back at your preliminary task (the school/college magazine task/short continuity film sequence), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from that to your full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I would say that I did quite well considering I had only a few short months to get to know Photoshop and develop my skills with it. Some of the aspects of that I liked from my preliminary task such as, how I positioned the masthead and following all of the common conventions of other magazines. The layout on my real product however, is much better than the one from my preliminary as my skills have developed in all aspects of media, which helped a lot when I was making my product. When I made my preliminary task, I knew almost nothing about photography, yet I managed to take a decent photograph and use it for my front cover and some for my contents page too. This is completely different when I was taking photographs for my main task, as I knew what I was doing and which angels I needed the models at and how close I needed them to be and of course, which pose I needed them to do. The font used on my preliminary was not one which was suited for my magazine as it wasn’t as tidy as it could have been which is what would have been needed as it was a magazine for a college. Looking at the font of my main product I can see that it is suited well for my style of magazine as It Is not too messy, yet it isn’t too neat that It will discourage readers from thinking that it isn’t their kind of magazine.

The mode of address on my preliminary task is somewhat vague, as I had only been studying for a few short months. However on my main task I am certain that I know of whom I am addressing and how to get my product to interest them.

An example of my Photoshop Practicing

Looking at this piece of work, from month ago, and looking at my current product, I can say that I have come a very long way in terms of my knowledge of the industry with the conventions of magazines, and my Photoshop skills. This was when I first started thinking about designs for my front cover, obviously this one was not going to be thought about any more, as I had most the conventions of magazines wrong. the masthead is in the wrong place, the barcode is in the wrong place, the date and issue number is in the wrong place. 

However; even though there are a lot of bad things about this magazine I do like how even at the start of me not knowing much about Photoshop and conventions, I made the magazine look decent enough, with the fiery background and the photoshopped band members to be in front of the fire. Also this is the image that I wanted to use, and there was no room for the Masthead at the top left corner.

Possible layout of my double page spread

This is one of the layouts that I like for my magazine, I have just quickly put the images and text on here just to see what it would look like. With a big of work this may start to look really good.

Rationale Questions - Double page spread.

Double page spread flat plan rationale questions

Colour usage: The colours I am going to use for my text title will be black or green to highlight either the mood of the band and to stand out on the page or to outline the craziness of the band with the colour green. I will use the colour White for the first paragraph indicating a new start to the article, and then as the article continues I will use either purple or green, depending on which colour I use for the title. The colour from the title will contrast with the article as they will be on opposite ends of the colour wheel, or at least colours that contrast well.

Image usage: for my double page spread I am going to use 3 separate images with the page separated in half at the top and then in half horizontally at the bottom, the top is where the singer will be, and the bass guitarist will be on the bottom left and the drummer will be on the bottom right. The singer will be looking down at the other two, with the other two looking at each other in shock or with a star struck/ confused look on their faces. The images on this page will be close ups as that compliments the personal level of the article itself, also the camera angle will be eye level so it again compliments the personal level of the tone I’m creating with the article. There will be black background so it doesn’t steal focus from the images, and it makes the expressions easier to see.

Text usage: the narrative voice for the magazine article will be male as it is written from a male point of view and the context used in the article points towards a male narrative voice. There will be a joke/pun at the top of the page underneath the title of the page, probably something to do with the bands funny antics. There will be their slogan “We’ve come to conquer” near the top of the page making the readers aware that the article is about Misfits of Mayhem.

Layout and Font: I will use the same font as I used for my masthead on the front cover to indicate that this article is important or worth a read. I will use the font Tekton for the article as it suits the style of the magazine and it will assist readership of the article. I have created a photograph framing of sorts for the bands photographs; this is to create an effect of wackiness within the band. The frame looks like this, the singer will be on the top, and the other two will be on the bottom squares.

Rationale Questions - Contents page.

Contents page.

  Colour usage- The reason I have chosen to have a black background is because it makes the red writing stand out, additionally it conforms to the general pattern of this kind of magazine. There will only be two colours on the contents page so it will not conform to a three-colour scheme.

Image usage- I am using a large image at the bottom of the page underneath an article about the image below. I have also used images down the right side of images of articles on other pages so the images are related. Most of the images will be of bands doing gigs and bands posing with their instruments to let the audience know what the article will be about. They will mostly be mid shots of the bands; however the gig photos will be long shots as it’s hard to get photos of gigs close up.

Text usage- There will be the use of teasers and hooks such as “find out what the band has been getting up to on page 12”  Title of content at the top of the page will be in the same font as the front cover’s masthead. There are not going to me any enigma codes, sell lines, headlines; however there will be puns as captions on some of the images.

Layout and font- The contents text on the top of the page will be the same font of the masthead on the front cover. The Article title’s font is going to be in the font sans serif / impact, as these fonts stand out and are easy to read. The layout is easy and simple to read which also follows an easy format to read. I haven’t placed anything in diagonals because a contents page needs to be easy to read and follow as it is essential for the audience to be able to find which articles they want to, otherwise they would have to take time and find it themselves. If it wasn’t easy to follow the magazine wouldn’t be very successful.

Rationale questions - Front Cover.

Rationale Questions

 

Front cover-

Colour usage- The colours I used for my front cover are red for the main text and white for the non-main text, the masthead is going to be colored black, thus conforming to the three-shade colour scheme. Colours will contrast well as all colours make each other stand out, and don’t look similar.

Image usage- The images I will have will be the front cover of three people using a mid-shot with an eyeline match with the audience. The other images I will have placed along the bottom as a lesser known band image x2, then I will have a gig image of an upcoming band, then it will be followed by another lesser known band image, lastly there will be an image of the promotional item that I am including in the magazine.

Text usage- There will be a male narrative voice as the images are all men. There won’t be any key words. There are teasers such as “read now to find out about the music event of the year!” and “Don’t miss out!” There will be sell lines that relate to the main image and that relate to what’s inside the magazine, which can be used as teasers and can be seen as enigma codes.

Layout and font- for the masthead the font will be Sans serif bold which will make it look appealing to this kind of audience. The main sell line will be Sans serif/impact to make it stand out from the other sell lines/enigma codes. The layout helps the readers eyes come down the page, from the masthead to the main image, then to the main sell lines/enigma codes, then to the sell lines, then to the images across the bottom, then finally the barcode.­­­ I have put the bar of images along the bottom on a diagonal slant to conform to the “Z” shaped format.