This document provides guidance and deadlines for students to complete an evaluation of their media product as part of an AS Media Studies course. It outlines that draft pages and evaluations are due on various dates in April and May. Students must answer 7 questions in their evaluation addressing how their product used or challenged conventions, represented social groups, would be distributed, who the audience is, how they addressed the audience, what they learned about technologies, and how their work progressed from a preliminary task. All evaluations must be completed over Easter break and submitted on April 22nd in Word format before being transferred to presentation software.

1. AS Media Studies
Constructing and Presenting your Evaluation
(20 Marks)
DEADLINES
First drafts of front cover, contents pages,
double pages completed/evaluation set
Friday 4th April
Evaluation scripts submitted Tuesday 22nd April
Final Deadline with all work on blog, including
visual/audio drafts of evaluation completed
Monday 5th May
G322 Key Concepts Exam Friday 23rd
May (AM)

2. Your final magazine pages should be finished by 4th
April, (first drafts) in order for you to complete your
evaluation over the Easter break. The following questions are to be answered and presented on your
blog.
To do this you need to follow these steps.
• Using Microsoft word, write your responses to the questions, following the guidance notes
below.
• You will submit your word document for marking on April 22nd, the day we return from the
Easter break.
• When your work is marked and returned, to complete the evaluation, you need to draft your
written work into presentations, using a mixture of video, podcasting and Prezi software.
• Your evaluation will then be presented on your blog as 7 separate questions, under F:
Evaluation
In the evaluation the following seven questions must be addressed:
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
• How does your 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?

3. • How did you attract/address 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?
ALL EVALUATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED OVER THE EASTER BREAK, IN WORD OR ON THESE PAGES, AND
SUBMITTED FOR MARKING ON APRIL 22nd. THEY WILL BE HANDED BACK TO YOU ON Friday 25thH
FOR
YOU TO TRANSFER THEM TO PREZI AND DO VIDEOS/PODCASTS OF YOUR WORK FOR PRESENTATION ON
YOUR BLOGS.
Question 1:
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
For this question use elements of your product research, where you have analysed existing products. Use
the table below to help draft ideas
Music Magazine Done
The title of the Magazine:
Fonts/Colour scheme/lexis
(wording)
Font - bold/eye catching similarily to other rock music magazines such
as Kerrang & NME
Colour scheme - Dark colours used for the font such as black & red,
similar to rock magazines
design and layout/house
style/Guttenberg principle
Used guttenberg principle - most important feature (magazine name) is
in the top left corner, least important feature (bar code) is in the
bottom right corner, similar to all music magazines
House style of magazine is similar because the background of each

4. page is a photograph taken in the same setting & same fonts are used
consistently on each page, similar to all music magazines
photography /mise en scene/rule
of thirds/props
Mise-en-scene of each photograph is very plain/basic so person in the
picture is the main focus. This is a convention used in all music
magazines as the artist/band used on the pages is the main attraction
of the magazine
Special effects any image
manipulation you have used on
photography
Written article:
Format/style/tone/use of
journalistic techniques ie
simile/hyperbole
Layout of columns/use of
kicker/pull quotes etc
Informal interview - used quite alot in these sort of music magazines to
make it more appealing/relatable to the target audience
- Interview is set out in 3 columns - convention used on majority of
magazines
- Pull quote on the left side page which is also used on many magazines
to attract the reader
For all of the above:
• Discuss the conventions you have used
• Evaluate how successful you have been in developing conventions
• Explain and describe influences on your text and how you have used conventions
• Use examples from real magazines and images of them, as well as examples from your own
magazine
Question 1 Notes
- When designing my magazine I took alot of inspiration from rock music magazines such as NME
and Kerrang
- I have attempted to replicate many features of other magazines whilst making my magazine
pages

5. Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
How are age groups/gender/social classes represented? Use the skills and knowledge you gained for
preparation of section A of the exam.

6. Question 2 Notes
- On my market research questionnaire I found that people who preferred rock music also
preferred darker colours and bold fonts etc
- The biggest age group which would be interested in my magazine are ages 18-25 so I have
attempted to target my magazine toward them, an example of this is the bands/artists I have
featured on my magazine, such as The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys

7. Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The two major publishing houses in the UK are as IPC and Bauer Media. Look at the profile of each of the
magazines on the links below. Look at the existing magazines, or ‘brands’ they distribute. Are there any
similar magazines/brands to yours? Would your magazine fit their profiles? Which of the publishing
houses would best suit your magazine?
http://www.ipcmedia.com/about
http://www.ipcmedia.com/brands
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands
Question 3 Notes
- I would prefer Bauer Publishings to distribute my magazine because they distribute many other
magazines, however the only rock music magazine they distribute is Kerrang therefore I feel as
though there could be a gap in the market for my magazine. As Kerrang lean toward genres such
as heavy metal and punk style of music, my magazine is more based around Indie rock/grunge
style of music.

8. Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Relate this to your existing market research. Also carry out a focus group over the break where you show
your finished product to at least 5 people. The best way to do this is set up a closed group on Facebook
and invite friends to comment upon your work. Screen shot these comments to present on your blog.
Ask them questions related to the product i.e. Content/Genre/Photographs/Colours/Fonts and the
overall success of the magazine you have produced.
Question 4 Notes
- The preferred target audience for my magazine is males or females interested in rock music
- Aiming toward age groups 18 - 40, this is because I have included bands on my magazine such as
Nirvana and Fleetwood Mac whom I think older generations would be also be interested in, aswell
as younger age groups.
- My magazine will be £2, I think this is an affordable price for the target audience, and from my
market research survey I found that ages 18 + thought this was a suitable price to pay.

9. Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
State your target audience, based upon your market research. Assess the responses of your focus group
from question 4. Consider how the content; photography, house style and design and layout of your
magazine, as well as use of the Guttenberg principle on your cover/pages addresses the needs of your
target audience.
Question 5 Notes
- Target audience is specifically males/females age 18-40 interested in rock music
- I have found from my research this particular audience prefer features such as bold fonts that
stand out on the page, and particularly dark eye catching colours such as red.
- I used a consistant house style throughout the pages of my magazine because I learnt from my
research that my target audience prefer this
- I tried to replicate magazines such as NME and Kerrang because from my research i learnt my
target audience prefer these magazines.
- From my research also I learnt that the first thing an audience looks at is the title & the main
image on the front cover, so I put these features in the main focused on areas according to the
Guttenberg principle

10. Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Evaluate your progress with all of the technologies you have used, such as Photoshop, Eblogger,
Slideshare and digital cameras whilst completing your project

11. For all of the above assess:
• Successes in your use of them
• Limitations in your use them
Comment upon how we use digital technology, via TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE, to research,
record, edit, distribute and present our work from the same machine.
Question 6 Notes
Whilst making my magazine i have used:

12. -PhotoShop - successes of using this software is it allowed me to edit my photographs the way I
wanted them to look, e.g. changing the lighting of the photo
Limitations - Not always straight forward to use
-Nikon camera - success of using this camera was it allowed me to take high quality photos to
make my magazine look more professional
-Slideshare - successes: quick to upload all my work and easy to embed onto my blog
-Blogger - successes of using this software is it was easier to keep track of all my work, easy to
present it quickly/in a structured order
-Prezi
-Soundcloud
-USB

13. Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, (college magazine) what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Evaluate what you learnt on your ancillary, and how you have progressed in terms of use of:
• digital photography, (composition/rule of thirds/lighting/uploading and saving work etc)
• knowledge of design and layout
• use of Photoshop and photo manipulation
Question 7 Notes
- Use of Photoshop improved - learnt to edit photos by use of exposure, brightness, contrast etc.
-Also improved the layout of my magazine compared to my preliminary task due to focusing on
the guttenberg design principle
-Improved when taking photos due to taking into account aspects such as the use of rule of thirds

14. Presentation of your Evaluation
http://prezi.com/
Create an account with Prezi and practise creating Prezi’s over the break.
You will transfer your evaluation to a combination of Prezi, PowePoint, audio and video, after you have
submitted it on April 2ndh
. Your work will be returned marked on April 25thh
and you will then create
Prezis, video sections of your evaluation and redraft final coursework pieces, for the final submission
date of Monday May 5th.

15. You will also use Soundcloud, to create podcasts for some of the questions. Each of your answers to the
questions must be posted separately on your blog, in order 1-7
Create your Soundcloud account here:
http://soundcloud.com/
See the links below for level 4 examples of evaluations last year, using Prezi software and video
http://ryandenner123.blogspot.co.uk/
http://cucumber194.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/F.%20Evaluation
Happy Easter!
Good Luck!
Paul & Iain