AS media coursework

1. Music Magazine Evaluation By Nancy-Jane Morris

2. 1.In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products

3. The font I used for my masthead was a font that a band ‘iron maiden uses’ as their logo. But I inverted the colours to suit my colour scheme of white black and red to suit the theme of a typical rock magazine. I believe this title can be compared to a magazine such as ‘Kerrang’ as it is also placed on a black background with white text which makes it stand out to the reader due to contrasting colours. I have left my title of my magazine in capital letters as I believe that this stands out to the reader and is large and bold resembling the magazine as a whole.

4. I think that the Mise en scene of my pictures relate to the theme of a rock magazine, because I used settings for the photo shoot to be performing in front of a crowd therefore able to see what the band is like live, this is similar to photos that are found in other magazines such as Kerrang. The main image on my front cover was taken in front of a dark background therefore able to show the image of rock, as rock magazines are normally portrayed to be dark, also following my 3 colour scheme of black white and red.

5. For my magazine pictures I used clothing that they would wear on an average music tour therefore able to see a real rock band and what they would wear on the front cover. For the pictures for my contents and double page spread they are included with mics, and other equipment that may be used throughout their tour, therefore altogether connected to a rock tour. As shown below band members using a mic and keyboard with their average clothing worn.

6. The people I have included into my magazine are all from separate bands, with some that are well known, and consist of typical band members mainly male of 5 or 6 therefore likely to also be shown in a typical rock magazine. A group of 5, with a 3 colour scheme, similar to a typical rock magazine The target audience for my magazine is teenagers or young adults therefore I have chosen a younger band members therefore the audience is able to relate to them more, as they are more likely to read a younger generation magazine rather than middle aged bands on the front which are more than likely not known to them due to age differences.

7. For the title of my band I used a font called “bummer” which I then changed the colours to white with a darker backdrop, cutting around the edge and adding a drop glow therefore to stand out more to the audience, to notice the band name and draw them in. I also added text with the font “stencil” placed as a stamp over the band name making it interesting and in a brighter colour to be eye-catching and show there is an exclusive interview inside the magazine. I kept my title of the band to be bold to follow along with typical rock magazines.

8. My magazines written content is similar to what you would find in a music magazine with similar topics such as favourite songs that they have and which they prefer out of their own songs made etc. These which would the younger audience would find interesting to find out and want to read on. My contents page includes of catchy page starts which they would find interesting and want to find out more about them, Followed with a chance to subscribe for my magazine monthly at a cheaper price, which my audience may want to do if they buy all the time.

9. The genre for my magazine in rock with other indie bands included inside, my magazine shows this well through the colour scheme throughout of blacks and white which is associated with the typical rock magazine, for example using a smashed glass background which you would sometimes find in a magazine. My Front cover, contents, and double page spread all link together with the same theme of colours and smashed glass in the background which I believe links it all together. I also believe that Mise En scene also helps to the understanding of genre shown within my magazine.

10. The layout of my magazine is displayed like a typical rock magazine, with the masthead at the top on my front page, with the main band overlapping the title. However i have placed the price of my magazine in a bold circle near the middle of the magazine showing that it is such a small price for everything that is included inside. Also the contents and double paged spread have got the content written in columns with pictures at angles spaced around the text making them look more eye-catching for the reader.

11. My contents page has been kept to the same colour scheme linking throughout the magazine relating to the genre of rock again. I have set the content in standard columns so that it is easy to read, with pictures either side to show what is also included inside the magazine. I have chosen to show a logo of my magazine on the contents page as well so that in the future my magazine can be well recognized towards this audience.

12. 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? I think my media product represents teenagers up to mid 20’s, interested in rock music, gigs, and offers influence and support to those interested upon being in a band. It represents the social group in various ways such as the images included which relates to the demographic; images such as the band artists expressions may related to the audience. There’s also included a page full of places for band practice, band clothes, and upcoming gigs that my audience may be interested in.

13. Able to relate, as they are taken from gigs, of real bands.

14. 3. What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why? I would want my magazine to be distributed by Bauer media. This is because Kerrang! Is published by this media group and has the same audience that i wish to buy my magazine, also this is well known by many and i believe would be good for my media product.

15. Bauer Media therefore has a good reputation and I believe that it would bring my magazine lots of buyers, also I think that it will be well advertised if I go for Bauer Media. Bauer Media is the Number One top selling Magazine Industry, Publishing over 300 magazines in 15 different countries as well as Television and Radio Stations.

16. 4. Who would be the audience for your media product? I believe that the audience for my magazine would be people who listen to rock music regularly. Also attending to many gigs that would be shown in my magazine. The audience would mainly be dominated by men, but the occasional women of a rough age of teenagers, to mid-20s.

17. My Target Audience would be…

18. 5. How did you attack/address your audience? A title that is bold and stands out to the audience, drawing in their attention. Dominating the magazine with a large picture of a popular band. Intriguing to show popular, well known bands included inside. Showing a cheap price for everything that is included- a bargain. A puff, to interest the reader, in bold letters.

19. Bold and bright title. A small indication to show the well known magazine. Labelled clearly what is inside, and where to find, merging around the pictures making them more interesting. Interesting them, as how to buy a subscription for this magazine an cheap costs. Included pictures of the bands at a live gig, and showing them which pages to find them on.

20. Bold title, with “Exclusive interview” over the top linking back to the front cover Same background throughout the magazine with the 3 colour scheme. Quotes from the interview that may intrigue the reader. Picture of main singer and another band member to attract the reader from a gig picture, large, catching the eye. Well labelled numbers that are large and well set out for the reader to read each question and answers.

21. 6.What have you learnt from technologies from the process of constructing this product? Through this task i have developed skills in technologies such as:

22. Technologies… To begin with I used a standard school computer using fireworks I started to produce my magazine. I made a plan of a paper sketch of what I would like my final piece to look like where I used a scanner to upload it onto my computer. To transfer my documents when I worked on them at home I used my standard USB and the school websites study wiz as back up to transfer data to put extra time in my work.

23. Technologies.. When I took my front cover picture I used a high quality camera, Nikon where it could be good quality for the front of my magazine For other pictures that I took during the gig I went to, I used my standard Samsung camera which was also good quality producing pictures again using my USB to transfer these. Finally when uploading my pictures I put my power points on a site called slide share where I could then place them onto Blogger so that it was available for my teachers and examiners to view all in one place.

24. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product? From the preliminary task i believe it helped me in the long run, as i was able to use the software to enhance parts in my magazine such as the masthead and how to overlap the main image. I was also able to know positioning of text and images throughout the magazine of its full potential.

25. I believe that from my preliminary task, I was able to enhance features such as the titles, using backdrop glow on titles so they stand out more to the reader. Also I have made my music magazine relate more to a typical magazine by overlapping pictures with titles etc. I have used the same idea of alternative writing and pictures on my contents page, as it looks more exciting than straight forward text. I also added the name of my magazine on my contents this time as it is normally seen on many. At the bottom of my contents I added a subscribe to the magazine as this is also well known to be shown