Patrick Hogan - Preliminary Task - Evaluation Presentation
Evaluation
1. Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
My music magazine attempts to develop on forms and conventions of real music magazines. Due to
my analysis, my magazine has similar styles of those Music magazines which I analysed, especially
Kerrang! as they use the same genre as I am doing, which is Rock.
Within my Magazine I will use mature language rather than in appropriate language, unlike
Kerrang’s magazine who use language such as: “Heavy F**king Metal”. This suggests that my
Magazine is more appropriate for my target audience.
I developed on normal forms and conventions of real Music magazines by having an interview
mixed with some background information of the band. This would be different from other
magazines such as The Top of the Pops magazine which only had a interview, and other magazines,
such as Kerrang, which have a large amount of information. So in order to improve and
development, I added both a interview and information about the band into one in order to be a
greater interest to the target audience.
The font style of the title which I am going to be using will be different to other magazines,
however the font will be similar sizes, as larger titles catches the eye of the audience. This is similar
within other magazines, such as in Kerrang.
2. Evaluation
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My music magazine is specifically aimed at people who enjoy rock music. This is shown by the images of
Rock bands on the Front cover, Contents and Double page spread. As these are Rock bands, people who
are buying the magazine will have a specific interest with that sort of music, so they can relate more to
what is being said, as it will mean more to them.
Also the style of font which I am going to be using suits the target audience more, as it looks and suits the
style of magazine, such as other rock magazines, such as Kerrang!
The age range for my Magazine will be 16-30 year olds. My magazine represents this age group by using
appropriate language which they will be able to understand.
3. Evaluation
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and
why?
My Music Magazine could potentially be sold within Bauer Media. Bauer
already has Music magazines which it sells, they are; Kerrang!, Q, Mojo and
Empire. As these magazines are already established and are very popular.
This shows that Bauer are a very Influential and produce quality magazines
which are read by many readers which could be beneficial for me.
As Kerrang! are apart of Bauer and my music magazine offers a more of a
development on codes and conventions, which Kerrang use. So my magazine
can offer more to this industry. It will also allow my magazine and Kerrang's
magazine to become involved with each other, this could lead to a more
successful franchise. This could also lead to an increase in popularity as both
my magazine and Kerrang’s magazine could mention each other in their own
magazine. This as a result could increase interest.
My magazine could also be beneficial to Bauer as Kerrang! Has a gender
ratio of (Females) 38.1%:61.9% (Males). So my magazine can offer a more of
a balance in gender so it will appeal to a wider audience.
4. Evaluation
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My audience will be aimed at people who are aged 16-30, I found this out my asking people their age within my
questionnaire, and this is the age group of which was answered the most. The majority of my audience will be Primary
audience, who will be the ones who are going to the shops to actually buy the magazine.
My audience also like the genre of Rock, this also shown within my questionnaire which was handed out, this as a result
was one of the most popular answers. So I must provide content within my magazine which appeals to this audience.
However, I will also have a secondary audience. These will be people who come across the magazine, but they did not
necessarily buy it fro them selves. It could be people such as brothers and Sisters who come across the magazine within
their older brother’s or Sister’s room, and they would like to be like them so they also decide to read the magazine.
64% of the people who answered my questionnaire said they are employed, so they will most likely be higher up on the
Acorns classification scale. As a result, this shows that these people will have some money to spend. So I will provide my
magazine at a price which they can afford. This means that the majority of people who will read my magazine will have
some sort of income.
5. Evaluation
How did you attract/address your audience?
Uses and Gratification suggest that my audience will want to be more like the people which they see on the magazine,
and they will feel the need to be associated with a certain group. I will be attracting people who enjoy rock music, so the
group which I will be attracting are “Rockers”.
The audience will also be able to relate to the magazine as their favourite bands or band members will be within the
magazine, so they will become more interested with the magazine as it has a specific interest with what they enjoy.
Also as the age range of my magazine will be 16-30, it means there will be more teenagers reading the magazine, so they
will want to know more about celebrities or idols lives, so they can perhaps be more like them. My magazine can offer
this to them which will attract the audience even further.
I also found out what the audience wanted though the questionnaire which I handed out. This told me what sort of music
they enjoyed listening to. Also I was able to see which their favourite colours are so I was able to use this in order to draw
their attention in more closely.
6. Evaluation
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
I used many different technologies within the production of my magazine, I used
Desktop Publishing, which included software such as Publisher, Fireworks and
Photoshop which helped me to create electronic drafts and manipulate my images.
I also used Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress which helped me create the layout for
my magazine.
These technologies required a lot of time in order to be able to be used correctly.
However it helped me enormously as I was able to manipulate images eventually
with practice with the software.
I also required help when using the software, this shows the difficulty of the
software, as it was much harder to advance from the use of Publisher which I used
in my preliminary task to the more advanced software which I used for the main
task.
The software is also not very expensive as it was industry standard software, which
means it was already installed on the computers which I was using.
7. Evaluation
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learned that analysing already made products can help you give ideas and enable you to develop your product
more, as it allows you to compare your product to premade products.
I also learned that in order to create a product such as this, it requires a lot of research in order to find out what your
target audience actually wants.
Also getting a photograph to use for the front covers and other pages was very difficult as it required a clear view, this
took a lot of time to be able to do, so if I had a lot more foresight, it would have been a lot easier to do. As there was not
always concerts playing at the time which the genre of my Music magazine was focused on. So I learnt that I would need a
larger time frame and more preparation in order to get an image which would be of use.
I also found out that using software such as Photoshop, takes time to get use to, due to it being very complicated.
However by doing this I feel that I have learned more about how to manipulate images.