I have now completed the final product, I now plan to complete an evaluation of the final product, I plan to answer the following questions
- In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- How does the media product represent particular social groups?
- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
- Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you address/attract your audience?
- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I think that my media product is fairly similar to existing media products that are currently on the market. My media product sticks with the typical conventions of a music magazine in the fact that I have a contents page and double page spread (typical features of a music magazine).
Front cover
I have also kept to the typical convention of the front cover, In the fact that I have one main cover image. The cover image also fits in with the genre of magazine that I have chosen which is really important as it needs to attract the target audience. I also made sure that the costume, facial expression and body language of the model all fit in with the genre of 'Hip Hop' as this is very important due to the fact that all existing magazines insist on the cover image matching their genre or target audience. I also decided against using props, even though some existing magazines use props I wanted my models facial expression to draw in the reader instead of the reader getting distracted by a prop.
I have also kept to the typical convention of the front cover, In the fact that I have one main cover image. The cover image also fits in with the genre of magazine that I have chosen which is really important as it needs to attract the target audience. I also made sure that the costume, facial expression and body language of the model all fit in with the genre of 'Hip Hop' as this is very important due to the fact that all existing magazines insist on the cover image matching their genre or target audience. I also decided against using props, even though some existing magazines use props I wanted my models facial expression to draw in the reader instead of the reader getting distracted by a prop.
I have also kept the masthead at the top of the page as I thought by going against this would make it stand out less which meant that it would be less of a focus which isn't a good thing. I also made sure that font fit in with the genre I was aiming at, I did this because I wanted the front cover to be completely urban instead of everything being urban related and then the masthead to let the whole thing down. I also made sure that the name also linked in with the genre as having a magazine completely linked to urban then having a name like 'classic' would ruin the whole vibe and genre. I also wanted to follow in the footsteps of existing magazines such as 'vibe' as they are very much genre orientated.
Contents page
I have however gone against typical conventions on my contents page. This is due to the fact that a contents page generally has in-line square text that is easy to read and follow mine weaves in the shape of a vinyl so is not aligned in any way, however I have kept to the convention of having several sections on the contents page, this is due to the fact that it makes the contents page easier to follow and to find the article you would like to read more easily.
Existing magazines also traditionally have several pictures showing what is to come through the magazine. I didn't do any of this as I wanted to create something different and individual to that magazine as I thought this is something that could make the magazine recognisable if it was mass produced. I decided to only have one picture as by having one picture means that the focus is on that one picture instead of spread around between several pictures. I also think that several pictures work best if the text and pictures are aligned which mine are not. I also have incorporated images into the background so layering pictures on top would also take focus away from this.
I have also gone against conventions in the articles as I have included articles that aren't linked to music, Even though this is a music magazine I found out through my research that my target audience wanted real life stories so I have included them, this means that I can please my target audience and encourage them to buy the magazine (eg ....
I have however gone against typical conventions on my contents page. This is due to the fact that a contents page generally has in-line square text that is easy to read and follow mine weaves in the shape of a vinyl so is not aligned in any way, however I have kept to the convention of having several sections on the contents page, this is due to the fact that it makes the contents page easier to follow and to find the article you would like to read more easily.
Existing magazines also traditionally have several pictures showing what is to come through the magazine. I didn't do any of this as I wanted to create something different and individual to that magazine as I thought this is something that could make the magazine recognisable if it was mass produced. I decided to only have one picture as by having one picture means that the focus is on that one picture instead of spread around between several pictures. I also think that several pictures work best if the text and pictures are aligned which mine are not. I also have incorporated images into the background so layering pictures on top would also take focus away from this.
I have also gone against conventions in the articles as I have included articles that aren't linked to music, Even though this is a music magazine I found out through my research that my target audience wanted real life stories so I have included them, this means that I can please my target audience and encourage them to buy the magazine (eg ....
Double page spread
In terms of my double page spread I have followed conventions in the fact that I have one main image that takes up one page and the artists name being a main focus, However I have gone against conventions as the image is usually on the left hand page I decided to go against this as I wanted the writing to follow on form one another but also wanted to have the 'Miss Fitz' next to the image and if that meant having the image on the opposite page this is what I was going to do.
I stuck to typical forms of having little images on the page as I felt that the page needed little images on it and they fit in well with the interview. I also didn't think that the main image was enough for the double page and also i wanted to have a double page spread that was similar to the basis of existing magazines and existing magazines generally have smaller images on the page
I also went against the typical background as I went for a very cluttered one I wanted the page to feel very colourful and hip hop so I decided to grasp this in the background. I really wanted the page to be more hip hop related through the background and more R&B related through the text and images, as by doing this I could merge the two culture together and get the mix of genres that I wanted for the magazine.
I decided to go for a hip hop/ R&B theme as these two groups are similar but different at the same time, They go well together so I wanted a magazine that could bring them together. I will talk through each of the pages that I created and how I have used the images to link in with these social groups
front page
The front cover links in with R&B/ urban more that hip hop, I wanted the front cover to be striking and daunting. this is why I decided the cover image to be urban and 'street'. Firstly I decided on the costume that the model was going to wear, I decided on a hoodie as this is something that I link with urban clothing. Then I decided on the shot type that i was going to do, I decided on a mid shot as I wanted most of the attention to be on the face. However I decided not to go for a close up as I still wanted focus on the outfit and body language.
I also conducted some research into the main images used on vibe's front cover and found that the shot type used and the body language was very similar to mine, this meant that my magazine had grasped the genre well and would be a contender against the existing magazine's front cover.
Contents page
I decided to go for more of a hip hop style for the contents page, I tried to grasp the culture of 'hip hop' through my own knowledge of it. I link music and 'decks' as a part of hip hop life, this is why I wanted to incorporate the vinyls into the contents page. I also decided to use an image of a break dancer, this is because I wanted to incorporate the hip hop side into the magazine and felt this was a good way to achieve this.
Double page spread
I used four images on my double page spread, I used one main image and three smaller images.
The main image is more R&B as I wanted to have a serious facial expression and a slouchy laid back body language. I also made sure that the t-shirt was colourful and slouchy as this is what my research came out with.
I went for more of a fun, artistic vibe for the smaller images as i wanted the little images to grasp the artist's personality and how they act when they are on tour as this is what the magazine is essentially about.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I conducted some research into IPC media as they are a very well known and widely used distribution company however they do not publish any hip hop music magazines this could be regarded as a positive or a negative, the positive is that I wouldn't have competing magazines being published by the same company as mine however this could mean that they wouldn't have the knowledge about R&B / Hip hop magazines which could put my magazine at a disadvantage against competing companies. I could also use Inter Media partners as they currently publish magazines such as 'Vibe' this means they would have knowledge on the genre of music that I am doing and would be experienced and would be able to help make the magazine successful however on the negative side I would have a competing magazine also being published by the same company ; however this could mean that the institution could make us both a very high standard so we would moth get a good chance in the market.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you address/attract your audience?
I have addressed my target audience through the images that I have used as they are linked to Hip Hop or R&B through the body language and facial expressions. I have also tried to keep my audience happy through the articles that I have included due to the fact that they are all linked to hip hop music or hip hop / street culture. I have used my research, and through the opinions of my target audience I found out that the majority of them wanted real life stories and hip hop related topics, so I have included them in the issues as keeping my audience happy means it will encourage them to buy each issue.
5. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
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6. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I felt that I have learnt how to use photoshop to a much better standard and have learnt what each of the tools do through trial and error. I had hardly ever used photoshop so have only used the basic tools before, so by experimenting with the tolls I was able to see what I could create and then I was able to understand the type of product that I would be able to create using that software
During my preliminary task I also used the in-built text tool on photoshop; this meant that there wasn't alot of choice and there wasn't genres of text. Through using a search on google i was able to find http://www.dafont.com/ this gave me a site which had text that linked with certain genres and gave me much better text for the music magazine
I also learned how to use a camera more effectively, I decided that I wouldn't conduct any research as I wanted to find out what I could create not what everyone else has already created. I took over 50 photos as I wanted to try out all the different functions on my camera, this way I could find the best setting for the types of images I was attempting to take. compared to the preliminary task where I took all the photos in the same setting and only took around 12 photos in total. I learnt that it was better to take more photos as by taking more there is more likely yo be a photo that works well.
I also learnt about the lighting of an image. with the preliminary task I just took photos without thinking about the lighting. I learnt that lighting was a significant part of a photo through the failure of the first set of images. this meant that I took a lot more care and thought into the lighting of the images which helped me to create a better product.
I have learnt a lot through the course of these tasks and have learnt a lot about the practical side but also what happens behind the scenes to create a magazine and about the distribution of magazines. This helped me widen my knowledge of existing magazines and helped me to create an overall better product.
I am really happy with the overall product and I think that it is of a professional standard, and could potentially be sold alongside existing magazines, and through the response of the target audience I believe that the magazine would also sell well.
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