Saturday 31 March 2012

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

   

Thursday 29 March 2012

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

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

I want a distributer that has a lot of experience with well known music magazines. I wanted to steer away from IPC, the distributor for NME because with a magazine so well known as NME i don’t feel like there would be a market for my magazine because it is very similar. I also feel that NME is for a younger age group of around 14-18 and i wanted my magazine to be distributed to my target audience which is up to the ages of 24.

Another distributor ‘Bauer Media this distributer distributes two very good magazines ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang!’. These magazines are well known and popular within the music world. Q is especially well known for people over the age of 18 liking it and it not being a teenager’s music magazine like NME this is why I have not chosen Bauer Media because i don’t feel that there isn’t a market available for my magazine because it is pretty similar to the ones that they already publish. Bauer Media is also a good publisher because they have their own radio station, and have offices all over the world, this making it perfect for my magazine if I wanted to make a music magazine in a different country.

I have decided to go with the very popular magazine and newspaper distributor ‘Gold Key Media’ they publish magazines and newspapers like Marie Claire, Men’s Health, The Daily Telegraph none of which are music magazines, they are so well known in the distributing world that it would be easy for my magazine to get out there and get sold. The fact that there isn’t another music magazine in their long list of newspapers and magazines is good because my magazine will not have to fight in competition for the sales of an indie magazine.

I think that Gold Key Media would like my magazine because it has an edge to it, it is like other indie magazines but it is not exactly the same. The colours I have used are eye-catching and have made it look professional enough to fit in with Gold Key Medias other products on the shelf. The interview is interesting and appropriate for young readers. They have connections and publish in other countries like Ireland and Germany, allowing me to distribute my magazine in those countries and therefore making more money for the company and myself.

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Who would be the audience for your media?

Who Would Be the Audience for Your Media




Tuesday 27 March 2012

How did you attract/ adress your target audience?

                                                                              How did you attract/ address your audience?

In my magazine I have used a bright green colour to attract my target audience, green not being feminine or masculine appeals to both sexes. Also the shade of green that has been chosen is bright and fun, this is something that ‘indie’ music is supposed to be, fun quirky and easy listening. The colour is also appropriate for the age range of the target audience being from 14-25.
Also there is a choice if they want to buy the magazine online or for their tablet or android phone. This would attract my target audience because it is convenient to them to read it wherever they may be during the day this also includes having a fan page on Twitter and Facebook, these are sites that almost every teenager goes on allowing them to keep up with new artists and realises before they read the magazine.
I have made sure there is a variety of artists in my magazine/contents, both male and female and artists that are somewhat different to ‘indie’ bands. Also, there is a free poster of a well known artist up for grabs, making the target audience want to buy this magazine because they are getting more for their money and maybe making them want to buy the magazine more often.
I have attracted the target audience by the use of the model that has been chosen, the clothes he wears, and his hair and facial expressions. The target audience will be able to relate to the model and feel more welcome to pick up the magazine if the model is like them.
The style of writing that has been chosen is modern and not something that you would usually see on an ‘indie’ music magazine. This would attract the target audience as they like different things, stuff that isn’t ‘main stream’ and like anybody else.
Lastly I wanted my magazine to appeal to my target audience under the uses and gratifications theory, Escapism. I wanted them to feel relaxed while reading my magazine and interested, allowing them to escape from everyday life and just read about something that they enjoy the most, reviews, gigs and albums that they want to read about.

Monday 26 March 2012

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

                                                    

The first thing that i have learnt about technologies from making my magazine is the ease of using a digital SLR Canon camera. This has shown me how much easier it is to use digital cameras, keeping photos and deleting the photos you do not want instead of printing off 28 photos and having to scan in the photos that you like. Another way of printing out photos was by doing it in a dark room this was a long process and took too much time, time that we do not have when making a making a magazine.Using a digital camera added ease to the whole process allowing me to look at the photos that i have taken making sure the lighting is appropriate and if not deleting the unwanted photos.
Search engines have contributed hugely to making my magazine look professional. Those allowing me to look up already established magazines and taking inspiration from them. Things like YouTube have also helped me to make my magazine come together; YouTube helped me when I was unsure how to do things on Photoshop tutorials allowed me to do things without my teachers help. Also search engines allowed me to compare other magazines to my own, seeing what I have missed out and allowing me to make my magazine look as professional as possible.
Photoshop is the programme that i used to make my magazine this is a bit of technology that professional magazine companies use to make their magazines. This programme is something that i have learnt to use over the years of taking media. This technology makes it easy to make a magazine and make it look professional and artistic. The brushes and text tools are things that i have used in my magazine on my front cover, both double page spreads and contents page. At times using Photoshop was difficult but the outcome has been better for using the programme. In Photoshop i used the cutting out tool, played with the levels of photos changing the lighting of them. Downloading fonts allowed me to make my magazine look unique and add a certain image to it. I was allowed to do whatever i wanted on my magazine but keeping within the guide lines of a conventional music magazine.
I would not have been able to make my magazine without technology. Technology has come so far since printing out photos in a dark room and scanning them into a computer. Technology like digital cameras has allowed us to make magazines and newspapers within hours and Photoshop allowing us to edit photos and change the appearance of things. Technology plays such a huge part in the media industry, filming, photography, magazines and newspapers. Without technology like photoshop and digital cameras i would not of been able to make my magazine.

Sunday 25 March 2012

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


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task it is clear that i have gained more skills in Photoshop. The qualities of the photos that i have taken are far better than the ones that were in my preliminary task. The first main thing that you notice is the background of the images, some were taken in Brighton on the beach with the sea in the background and some taken in school with a plain white backdrop with special lighting effects to make them look more professional.
The text on the preliminary task is simple and boring it is not eye catching to the reader at all. The text that i have used on my final draft is eye catching and is a font that i have downloaded from the internet. I have used a backdrop on most of the pieces of texts to make it stand out from white background. The downloaded font on my final draft is very different front my preliminary task it is different and adds a unique feel to the magazine.
The colour used in my preliminary tasks is very different to the final draft. The colours were boring and didn’t really match. Unlike, the colour scheme that i have chosen for the final draft. The colour scheme is bright and eye catching, with selected parts of the magazine with bursts of colour. A lime green is the colour that has been chosen for the magazine front cover, both double page spreads and the contents page. By choosing the colour green for my final draft and not using the colour purple like did in my preliminary task it allowed the magazine to be attractive to both men and women. Also the green is better and suites the ‘indie’ look instead of the purple being more something you would associate with a pop or girly magazine.
The Photoshop skills that i have gained whilst making my magazine have come along since making my preliminary task. I have learnt how to change an image by changing the levels of the image. Finding another way to cut out images, changing the opacity of boxes and images, changing images into black and white. Also downloading texts and inserting them into my magazine making it look sophisticated and professional.
I believe that i have become more creative in the way that i look at things. Placing things in different places and playing around with colours, texts and images to find what looks best. Gaining Photoshop by looking at tutorials on youtube and fronter has helped me to do this. This therefore meaning that i do not have to ask for helped a lot of the time and can get on with things that i need to do with my magazine.