evalution draft/planning

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

• On the front cover, I think that the masthead (stands out and big and shows link to music), close up shot and pug were important conventions to keep as these are the main things the reader will see or focus on and it should draw them in. Also these were all also on the magazine I analysed in my research stage. Barcode very conventional and  I think the price might be a little bit cheaper than other magazines
• Double page- haven’t used a drop cap which is very common so this slightly challenges conventions. Have an intro before the article starts which I think is a widely used code. Pull quote, logo. Used the artists name as the title instead of thinking of something clever, this keeps it simple and makes the artist recognisable. Article is written in three columns which I think is an average amount looking another magazines, some have more and some have less. Stuck with conventions by simply having question and answer in order after each other.
• Contents- title includes magazine name, this is common in other magazines and I think it emphasises the magazine brand. Made the main star on the front cover the main focus on the contents. Only included selected page numbers so everything isn’t revealed isn’t revealed, lots of magazines to do this to keep the reader engaged and curious.
• For this question, I will use prezi as that will allow to me add in pictures of my magazine and show all the things I have mentioned here.
   
  How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• Aimed at younger demographic of people- aged 16-24
• Males and females
• Not aimed at any specific ethnicity
• Colours- dark red, white and grey reflect indie genre.
• The story about drug shame could reflect a stereotype of young people or famous people.
• For this question, I think I will do a video as I think that will present the question well.

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

• NME and Q magazine will be my biggest rivals as they are the same genre as my magazine and targeting a similar demographic of people. But I think I have created a unique image for my magazine and I think it will stand out as a brand on its own even up against these big rivals. So with this in thought, as I said in my product placement, Time Inc. UK will be the media institution that will distribute my magazine. This is because they have a lot of knowledge about indie magazines as they already distribute NME and Q so they will be good at helping my media product getting well known.
• For this question, I think I will use an audio recording in the format of an interview because I don’t think this question requires any visuals.
  Who would be the audience for your media product?
• Lives in the UK
• Both genders, possible the colours are more male based but the topics are certainly suitable for males and females.
• I think people aged 16- 24 years old will be a key age range for my magazine as they are people who possible have more free time to read magazines or go to more concerts/festivals or are interested in the music more than people of an older age.
• Possibly still living at home so have some spare money to spend on things like magazines.
• Enjoy wider reading
  How do you attract/address your audience?
• On the front cover, the gaze of the photo is staring directly at the reader so I feel like this addresses the reader and begins to create a bond with them and the magazine.
• Also on the front cover, I have included a pug in a contrasting colour, this will make the reader curious and the colour will catch their eye.
• Quote from main story on front cover.
• The word ‘exclusive’ will make the reader feel that they are getting something that nobody else is.
• ‘You’- personal to the reader.
• Contents page- insight into main stories which will make the reader want to read on.
• Colour scheme is kept consistent throughout my magazine- shows a hose style and professionalism.
• I think I am going to combine question 4 and 5 as they are both about audience. For these I think I will do an audio recording.
   
  What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
• The construction of my media product would not have been possible without the use of serif page plus so this was a huge help as it was my main foundation for constructing my magazine.
•  Also the tool within this ‘cutout studio’ allowed me to make my images look good and professional by enabling me to cut out the backgrounds.
• Blogger was also a big part of my coursework as it allowed me to display all my work in an organised fashion.
• Prezi- I used this for my planning. It allowed me to present this part of my work in a more creative way and made it more interesting.
• Microsoft Word- allowed to me to do produce some of my simpler work like my product placement required a lot of text.
• For this question I think I will do video showing all the different technologies being used on a computer and then accompany this with text or put a voiceover on the video as I think this will be quite effective for showing off the technologies.
  Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
• I think I have learnt that simplicity is very important, you don’t want to overwhelm the reader.
• Colour scheme needs to look professional and text positioning needs to be correct
• Reader engagement, gaze is not looking at the reader in prelim front cover which won’t grab the reader’s attention.
• Need to keep a consistent house style
• Recognising/using codes and conventions is important especially ones that are already on established magazines.
• That editing is very important for the appearance of the magazine eg cutting around the pictures. This needs to look like time was taken for it and professional otherwise people might think your magazine is bad quality. On my prelim task, my picture editing doesn’t look very good at all.
• For this question, I will use a presentation software as well as like question 1, maybe powertoon, it will allow me to add pictures of my magazine and show the change from my prelim task to the final product.