Evaluation Question 7

Q7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Taking a look back at my previous work, I feel there has been some improvements along the way. Throughout the creation of my music magazine in comparison to the preliminary creation I feel I have learned more about audiences, how to appeal to them and a little bit more about technologies.

Putting technologies into consideration, I feel one of the main technologies I have learnt more about throughout my progression is the camera. During the creation, taking images was one of the main tasks we had to do. As we planned our music magazines we had to also learn how to use a camera to the best of our abilities. We learned about different shots (long shot, medium shot, close up), different angles (canted angle, high angle, low angle) and the effects of these.

Above are images from my preliminary task and music magazine coursework (left and right respectively)

As I have shown above, the two images differ greatly in quality. In the preliminary task there was unnecessary background in the corner, lack of mise en scene choice and no real work with lighting. The music magazine task on the other hand varies in many ways. The lighting was more greatly considered as to make the background easy to work with, the mise en scene was also further thought out in order to represent the chosen genre through the artist and represent the social class involved. So not only did I have to develop my technological skills, but also my skills in terms of directing and being a photographer.

Furthermore, as I got further and further into the task, I also learned more about how to represent genre within a magazine through presentation. I learned about how colours can give connotations (give a message e.g. red connoting passion, love etc., black connoting darkness, evil, crime etc.), how certain fonts can be associated with certain genres (such as graffiti being associated with hip hop) and how particular mise en scene choices can also relate back to the genre (such as lighter colours for pop or darker colours for hip hop and metal etc.). In my preliminary task I did not know much about this and so in learning about it I feel I have improved my knowledge and been able to apply it to my final product.

Evalutation Question 6

Q6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product?

My knowledge for technologies has certainly improved throughout the progression of the creation of my music magazine product. In terms of Photoshop I already knew a great deal, but also feel I have become more efficient in the usage of the program and have also learnt a great deal about the tools available at my disposal. I have also learnt more about the usage of cameras and lighting.

In terms of cameras and lighting, I took some advice from an experienced photographer during the period of which I took my images for my magazine. I was told how to get an almost perfectly white background which would make it easier for the editing process. And example is the image below which I took using a white wall outside one of the college buildings. By standing at roughly five steps away, it made the background clear rather than being affected by patches that were lighter or darker than each other.

Also, I learned a bit more about editing the lighting composition of an image in photo shot. An example of this can be seen below (as taken from my front cover creation step by step on my blog). The first image shows my model as practically glowing with the aura of light that was present during the photo-shoot. In the second image, which was my one of my drafts for the front cover design, there is a clear difference in the lighting on the subject of the image. I adjusted the lighting (by using CTRL and L), and made the image darker, so he looked more naturally a part of the image, as if the background was always behind him.

Evaluaion Question 5

Q5 How did you attract/ address your audience

In order to attract my audience to the magazine, I had to consider what they might want to read about, and what an audience wants in a magazine. When we did our focus groups to research what audiences wanted to see, one of the things I noticed is that people like freebies, giveaways and competitions in a magazine. In response to this, i included a free poster, song download and competition all mentioned on the cover.

I also tried to use appropriate fonts and lexis in order to appeal to the social group withing the target audience. After asking several people whether they would buy a magazine with fonts and colour schemes that wouldn't be associated with the genre, they said it would put them off the magazine a bit, although a couple of people said it didn't bother them.

Also, I used the names of popular artists on the front cover, as people are more likely to buy a magazine with recognisable artists in it. I chose genre specific artists such as Busta Rhymes and Eminem to appeal to the audience- the people who like rap.

Evaluation Question 4

Q4 Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience I have chosen are people within the lower classes and working classes. This is because a lot of rappers talk about growing up in the ghetto and such, and the lower classes can appeal to the hard lifestyle the artists claim to have had. Also, I have aimed my audience at people who are wihin the working class as they may spend their money on magazines as a luxery item for themselves, to maybe read at work.

Also, my target audience contains people of 14 and above. This is because people in their teens are more likely to listen to songs with cusswords to feel rebelious, but also the people in the older ages might listen to it as they have the ability to listen to the music, so they migh buy it because they can.

Also, I have included mention of some less known artists who work on things like "Epic Rap Battles of History" and "Red vs Blue", so my magazine will also have an appeal to the niche audience of people who watch these videos, like the music and actually have the internet.

Evaluation Question 3

Q3 What kind of media distribution company might distribute your product and why?

There are many music magazine distributers, some online and some that are in shops. As my magazine isn’t professional, and is made by me for a specific audience, it probably won’t be distributed by some of the larger distribution companies.

Here is a part of my research into what distributers might distribute my magazine.  Worldwide Magazine Distribution (WWMD)is a company that specialise in “the distribution of magazines to independent and multiple retailers in niche markets”( taken from the website). They assist in distribution and the logistic side of distributing, and, as they distribute to niche markets, they could distribute my music magazine.

 Another possible distributer of my magazine could be the Bauer Media Group. Their distribution could help my magazine reach more mainstream audiences as it is a multinational company, meaning my magazine could get distributed all across the world.

Evaluation Question 2

Q2 How does your product represent particular social groups?

I think a key thing in my product is the social group I am trying to represent, and how other people might interpret this representation. My magazine genre is hip hop but mostly the rap side, and as everybody knows there has only ever been one rapper who was white who was successful and actually good. When I showed my magazine to a friend I got asked where all the big artists like Snoop Dog (or Snoop Lion) was. I explained we had to use our own images and then he lost interest in the magazine. I mentioned some artists in text on the cover but it wasn’t enough. However he did say that the lack of emotional facial expressions did represent the lack of emotion in the kind of people that listen to rap. So that’s a victory on my part at least.

I suppose this also brings me onto the audience this reflects. I asked a few people on what audience they thought my magazine was aimed at. Some said teenagers, some said people who were brought up in the ghetto and can relate to the music. My magazine conforms to what music they listen to, as my magazine is hip hop, rap does fit in there. But if this particular social group picked up my magazine, would it appeal to them? Maybe if it had big names in there, but if it lacks those names they won’t be interested.

In terms of stereotypes, which is important in any media product, my magazine does not quite fit in to mainstream audience, and more niche audiences may show some interest. This is because when It comes to hip hop, the stereotype is normally people of ethnic origin being the artists, and my product contains the exact opposite. There have been some exceptions but when we think of hip hop we normally consider this stereotype.

So in terms of representing the audiences and social groups my magazine has hit the mark in some cases and in others it hasn’t. However in terms of whether it would appeal to the mainstream audiences is a target I haven’t quite reached.

Evaluation Question 1

Q1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Throughout the creation of my product, I did research on conventions of hip hop magazines. For example, I looked at the layout and what content was on a contents page. However, as it didn’t look like a mainstream music magazine it was suggested I didn’t conform to this convention. Instead it was recommended I challenge the convention of a hip hop magazine and make the magazine more mainstream. Below are examples of contents pages. The left image is of a hip hop magazine, and the right is from a more mainstream magazine.

By trying to make my magazine look more mainstream, it would make it appealing to a wider audience, but could also alienate the audience who don’t want the magazine to be mainstream.

Also, I conformed to the conventions of real media products in terms of content. The main feature of my magazine is featured on the front cover, the contents page, and the double page spread is an interview with him. By doing this is gives continuity throughout the magazine and clearly shows who the main focus of the issue is.

Furthermore, I conformed to the conventions of a music magazine in terms of layout of the front cover. I didn’t put too much writing on so it didn’t look cluttered, but I did include the magazines features. I used the aforementioned image of my feature of the magazine, to clearly show he was the focus of this particular issue. I also used typical magazine features such as a barcode and QR code (so it can be accessed via mobile devices, which is beneficial in the technological age), the issue number, price and of course the magazine title in a large font as to make the title recognisable.