evaluation

1. My Evaluation
HERE I LOOK BACK AT MY WORK AND STATE WHY I HAVE MADE THE DECISIONS I
HAVE AND EVALUATE MY WORK.

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
 My media product uses conventions of real life media products in many ways. Firstly during my research
and planning I looked into how different producers produced there real life magazines. I looked at
different music magazines to get inspiration and decided on a few I liked so I could focus on them. After
this I then looked at the codes and conventions of a front cover, a contents page and a double page
spread. I noticed they all had a typical lay out and these were the codes and conventions to which I
looked at in more detail so I could gain a further insight into the product I was having to create. Firstly, I
knew from my researching that my model on my front cover had to be looking directly into the camera as
this was one of the main codes and conventions on a front cover. I kept my front cover very generic using
the codes and conventions I knew were fit for a front cover. For example I used cover lines, had the date,
price and issue number and had a masthead. However on my first draft I only had cover lines on one side
of the front cover, this is slightly challenging forms of conventions of real media products as most front
covers have cover lines on both sides. However after asking my target market and gaining feedback form
them they decided it would look better to have cover lines on both sides as it made the front over look
more filled. I also used a green and black and white colour scheme, the reason I used the green was
because I wanted the green to stand out against the dark background. I also feel like the colour green
represents the club/rave scene in which my magazine is based on. I chose a bright colour as I originally
wanted to use a brighter font in contrast with the black and white and my target audience liked the idea
of the bright green in my mock up.

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
 My contents page is slightly different as it doesn’t follow all of the conventions of a real life media
product however it does follow some. On my contents page there is an image which is taking over the
left of the page, this shows my model looking away from the camera using a long shot. Around my model
there is a lot of white space, here I have challenged the conventions of a real life media product as there
wouldn’t usually be this much space on a contents page however, I feel like my magazine is very simple
with only key details in it and I think the space links in with the columns and gives it a sense of order. My
contents page has 2 headings, ‘features’ and ‘every month’ both filled in a text box with a bright green
background, the reason for this is because I think the bright colours reflect the club scene my magazine
represents. I also think it stands out against the black and white showing again the important information.
I used a bright pink font for my page numbers on my contents page as again I felt this represented the
bright flashing club lights and the genre of music I was basing my magazine on. Originally on my first
draft I had chosen a bright red font however decided to change this due to feedback form my target
audience saying the colour scheme didn’t go. I therefore acted upon this and chose a colour to which I
thought went well and still represented a bright colour. The word shuffle is also in bigger writing to the
word contents, this is unusual for a contents page as usually the word contents is bigger than the name
of the magazine. Therefore I have challenged the conventions of a contents page and changed the sizing
of the fonts and moved them around.

4. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
 My double page spread originally challenged forms of conventions from real life media
products in a few different ways, firstly on my mock up and my first draft I used an
image which had my model central and the writing on both sides, this isn’t very
common on real life media products however I decided to proceed and come up with a
double page spread that challenged the stereotype of a double page spread. I then
showed my target market and they decided they did not like this layout so I acted on
this and moved my layout so it was a more generic stereotypical layout. I moved my
image to the left to the page and kept all of my writing on one side of the page. I then
asked my target market if they liked this layout better to which they agreed so I carried
on developing this new layout to create my final production. On my double page
spread I have used a different colour font for my questions and a different colour for
my answers, this is also a typical convention of a double page spread as there is a clear
difference between what is being asked and what is being answered.

5. How does your media product represent particular
social groups?
My media product represents particular social groups in a few different ways. In terms of age, my
music magazine represents young, late teens/young adults who have a love for music, whether it is
aimed at specifically house/techno people such as my magazine specifically or just for someone who
loves all music. My magazine shows a real passion for music and therefore is aimed at those who have
a genuine interest in music. In terms of gender, my magazine shows images of all girls, both models I
used are girls, I did this because I feel like it is a stereotypical thing to have girls on magazine covers
however if I had to do this again I would change my images and have both genders so that it was
equal. This also shows there should be no difference in equality, so both men and women should be
represented however in my media product only women are. You could say my media magazine is
stereotyping some people in some ways however, I would say it wasn’t because my magazine is aimed
at a specific type of people, this means I am showing how they are represented and not stereotyping
everyone who loves music on a whole. Due to it being music magazine I am not representing people
for who they are I am more representing music and what it is all about. Therefore I would say my
magazine wasn’t stereotyping people it was more stereotyping people who love music but not
presenting them in a bad way.

6. What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
 An example of a media institution that would publish my media product would be
IPC as they are one of the leading media institutions in the UK, ‘NME magazine’ also
use them as their publisher. 26 million adults in the UK read a magazine published by
IPC media, therefore in using IPC to distribute my media product I can be assured that
they are reliable and provide a good quality of care. They are also such a big and well-
known company that the opportunity's they offer nay be broader and more ‘door
opening’. For distributing my media magazine I would use local retail shops such as
WHSMITH and local news agents and music shops, the reason for doing this is that this
is straight to my customers and easy access for people. Supermarkets also sell
magazine and are one of the most common places where people buy magazines. This
is due to the amount of people who visit super markets ,therefore this could be one of
the biggest distributers .

7. Who would be the audience for your media
product?
 The audience for my media product, my music magazine, would be a specific audience
as it is based on a specific genre of music aimed at those who listen to this music. My
magazine is a mixed genre, this is where the name ‘shuffle’ came from. My genre is
mixed between house, techno, chart, pop type music, I have created this by using a
black and white theme with black and white font and a bright green. I feel like the
bright green stands out against this background and adds a different side to the
magazine. I think that the name shuffle represents this as when you listen to music if
you select shuffle you get mixed genres and anything can come on, this is what I
wanted to create with my magazine, showing different types of music and that the
m0agazine can feature anything. I did various things to attract my audience to ensure
they would be interested in my magazine. In doing this I had to look in more detail into
my target audience and what they like. I think that due to the target audience I was
trying to appeal too I needed to keep my information up to date and recent so that my
target market will want to buy my magazine. It also needs to be eye catching which is
why I have used the bright green font.

8. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
 During the process of making my final media product I have learnt about different
technologies. For example I am now more aware with Photoshop as this is what I
created my magazine on. Doing my preliminary task I did this on paint, this I was
already familiar with so this made this task easier for me. However at the start of the
task we had to learn how to use blogger, this I was unaware of using so had to get
used to a whole new software. In doing this I also had to understand how to use
certain other websites such as ‘slideshare’ as this is what I shared most of my work on
to allow me to upload it onto my blog. I used Photoshop to create all of my final
production pieces, I found this difficult at first to get used to the different tools and
how to use each platform. I also had to learn a lot about uploading each different task
to blogger and how to change different formats of documents to enable them to be
compatible with blogger. I feel like looking back at the start of this process I have now
learnt a lot more and I am not more familiar with many different software’s so I can use
these in future tasks.

9. 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 I feel like I have learnt a lot in the progression from that to my
full product. There are many different things I have now learnt about for example different
technology platforms which I have previously mentioned. I needed to ensure I learnt about each
technology I did my work on and how to change the format to upload this to blogger. I have also
learnt about different conventions for real life media front covers, contents pages and double
page spreads. In learning about these I have applied them to my media product to ensure it shows
the same as a high quality professional media product. I understood what was needed to make
my magazine as similar to a real life media product as I could, so I could make my media product
look more professional. I have learnt a lot to do with media magazines, the layout and different
ways to challenge the stereotypes of a magazine. Besides from this I have also learnt about time
management and how to manage my time to ensure everything was prepared when it needed to
be. For example, I needed to organise my photo shoot, this shows skills of time management. In
doing this I also needed to be organised to ensure to ensure all of the work that was needing to
be completed was. I have learned to work independently to make sure my work is to a high
standard using all of the new things I have learnt.