Media Evaluation

1. In what ways does you media product
use, develop or challenges forms &
conventions of real media products?

2. I have used the same mode of address as NME, so all my models are looking
directly into the camera, and in many real-life magazines they use this too. I have
also positioned my models in a staggered way, like on the NME front cover,
however mine is more exaggerated, so I have developed this element of the NME
front cover to create this effect. The camera angle is relatively similar to that of
NME’s cover as they are both eye level shots, however the actual types of shots
are different, as mine is a long shot, whereas NME’s is a medium long shot.

3. My magazine uses some typical forms of real
life media products, such as the positioning of
the masthead, which is along the top of the
cover, and slightly to the left. I have also used a
‘puff’ which is ‘The UK’s no.1 indie music
magazine’, which many magazines use, such as
the one to the right.
The language I have used for my magazine is
relatively informal, as this was what my
primary researched showed my audience
preferred. I think quite a lot of music
magazines use informal language, and an
example of this is shown to the left.
For the colour scheme I used a dark colour (the
purple), with a light colour (the blue) and then added a
red. I chose the light and dark colour first, as I thought
this would work, as NME use black and white as their
light and dark colours, and have red too. I thought that
by not using black and white, it would make my
magazine stand out more, and challenges typical forms
and conventions of an indie magazine, as often the
colours black and white are used.

4. The composition of my magazine is quite different to NME’s, but it uses elements of the magazine, as the
subheading font is quite similar, and although both covers have a banner, mine is at the bottom, whereas NME’s
is at the top. The stereotypical social class of an indie band is middle class, as they have to be able to afford
instruments to play, and learn to play them too. My front cover plays up to this stereotype, as one of my models
is holding a guitar, showing how they have their own instruments, and suggesting they are middle class.
Stereotypically many indie bands are all male, therefore by using a mixture of both genders, I have slightly
challenged this convention. Generally the majority of indie bands are all white, therefore I have conformed to
this convention of an indie band, as all my band members are white.
All white & male. All white, but mixed genders.

5. Overall I think my magazine contains quite a lot of traditional elements, for example on the
front cover there’s a bar code, price, banner and lots of things like that, which are all used
on most magazines. The contents page uses photo’s that tie in with colour scheme, and the
double page spread is written in columns. However there are aspects that challenge and
develop conventions too, like the colour scheme and the way that there isn’t a majority of
one gender in my magazine.
The yellow rings point
out the typical elements
of my magazine, and
things that a lot of
magazine’s have, such as
the puff, competitions
and banner.

6. How does your
media product
represent particular
social groups?

7. Age: In my magazine, overall most of the people are aged in their late teens and early
twenties. This was so that my target audience could relate to them. I didn’t think that really
elderly people would fit in with my magazine, and didn’t think they would have the same
interests of my audience.
I have represented young people in my magazine as quite quirky & fun loving. The pictures
I have used reflect this due to the type of shot & the clothing that the models are wearing.
The band members look ‘fun loving’ individuals as there’s an action shot of them jumping,
which suggests they are quite laid back and like to have fun. The clothing that the band
members are wearing are very casual, but with a grungy edge to them, overall creating
quite a quirky look.
For example the girl is
wearing a flowing black
skirt which is quite grungy,
yet feminine, with a shirt
which makes the look quite
casual, finishing with a
bobble hat, which creates
the quirky feel.

8. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Gender: The gender is completely mixed in my magazine. I didn’t want to put either
gender off buying my magazine, therefore made sure there was a good mix of both boys
and girls to keep everyone happy. The girls in my magazine aren’t typically represented
like girls can be in magazines. Often girls in magazines are wearing revealing clothing or
really girlie stereotypical clothes. Both my girls are wearing quite casual clothes, and
nothing that is really revealing. I wanted my audience to see the girls as really passionate
about their work, rather than people that had been put in a magazine to look pretty. The
boys aren’t making themselves look overly masculine either, as male models and music
artists often seem to be presented in magazines.

9. Ethnicity: Primarily my magazine is white, as it is a British magazine, and also is based around
indie music, which is also primarily a white genre of music. I have represented British people
as having quite a casual, yet passionate attitude towards their work and my band members
are quite polite, and funny. This is shown in their dialogue, and fashion sense, which are both
quite casual and give the impression of a relaxed personality.
Class: My magazine front cover represents middle class, as it is an indie band, and these are
often middle class people, as they have to afford instruments to play. My magazine
represents middle class, as the photo’s show one of the instruments that my band
use, therefore proving that they have their own instruments. This reinforces the fact that
they are likely to be middle class, as they have bought instruments, and potentially been
encouraged to play by someone too.

10. I wanted my band to be represented in a way
that made them seem just like ordinary
people, and just four friends having fun, while
creating good music. I have shown my band
like this, by using fun & even quite different
types of photo’s, to give the impression to the
audience that they are fun-loving
individuals, as well as a band that’s working
hard to achieve what they want. In the
interview my band members give some
humorous answers, to emphasize that they
have a good sense of humour, yet their
introduction does state that ‘it’s clear their
main focus is to be successful music
artists, striving to achieve the best they can.’ Gemma: He was sick in one of my hats!
This shows how they are also a very focused Marie: (laughing) She didn’t find it until
group of individuals, and this represents an a week later..
indie band as being very passionate about
their music.

11. Stereotypes: My magazine plays up to the indie stereotype as the band on the front
cover are typically wearing what an indie band would wear. The girls are wearing the
type of clothes that are typically associated with this genre of music. In the interview my
band also present themselves like a lot of indie bands do – they state that they don’t
want to fit in, yet this is what a lot of indie bands do, therefore they fit in really well with
the indie music stereotype.
‘We don’t want to be another generic indie band, with no personality.’

12. It represents the younger generation as quite quirky, and confident, yet still with some
of the typical elements associated with them. It also represents the younger generation
as passionate.
These are quotes taken from my double page spread:
‘Both very passionate and committed to their music’
‘Sorry she’s always grumpy in a morning’ – this is after one of the band members says
she’s tired, and this coincides with the stereotype that teenagers are grumpy in the
morning, and moody.
‘She’s going to kill me, but Marie has a weird routine before going to bed, which
involves putting mashed up banana on her feet..’
This definitely makes Marie seem quirky.

13. What kind of media institution might
distribute your product & why?

14. What kind of media institution might distribute your product & why?
IPC media would probably be a good
publishing house to publish my magazine. They
already publish NME magazine, and this is the
main competition I think that my magazine
would have. It has many similar aspects to my
magazine, for example the indie/rock music
element. I think that by them publishing it, it
would help sales, as this publisher will already
have the distribution network needed to sell
my magazine, as it sells NME which is quite
similar. I think that by publishing my
magazine, it would limit any more direct
competition, and even if the audience choose
to buy my magazine, over NME, this publishing
house would still gain from that.

15. I think that this publishing house will also have quite good experience within the genre,
as although it only publishes one main music magazine, that music magazine is very
popular, so the publishers must be doing something right. I think as IPC Media only own
one other music magazine, there is room for them to expand this section of their
brands, and help them to properly break into the music magazine market.
IPC also claim to be ‘committed to working in partnership with its consumers,
advertisers, business partners and employees to deliver exceptional value, service,
innovation and creativity.’ This is the kind of company that I would want to distribute my
magazine.

16. Bauer media is another potential publisher that could distribute my magazine.
Bauer media are the largest privately owned publishing group. It owns the largest
UK music magazine, Mojo, and therefore would also be a good choice. Bauer
media also own Q magazine, the UK’s biggest selling music monthly magazine. It
has quite a lot of magazines, but nothing too similar to mine, and nothing specific
to indie music, therefore it could help them break into the indie magazine market
by distributing my magazine. It also has a lot of experience distributing magazines
in general, and that’s a huge plus.

17. Who would be the audience for
your media product?

18. My audience research showed that people that might be interested in reading my
magazine could be;
Also interested in reading NME and/or Kerrang, as these magazines are the ones that are
most similar to my magazine, therefore the audience should also have some of the same
interests if they read these magazines.
They will probably be interested in indie/rock/alternative music, such as;
Two Door Cinema Club

19. MUSIC
Male 51% Indievidual readers are passionate
Female 49% about music. Reader research
Median age 19 shows that they rely on the
Student 58% internet, magazines and their
Circulation 25,465 friends to keep them up to date
Readership 357,000 with new music.
MOBILES FILMS
Indievidual readers are Indievidual readers enjoy
three times more likely to watching films, and often go to
persuade friends and the cinema with their friends.
family which the best Specifically research has shown
mobile is to buy. that they particularly like
comedies, and action films.

20. How did you
attract/address your
audience?

21. In my audience research I found that putting a
free gift in my magazine, may attract more
people to buy it, therefore I used both a free
poster, advertised in bold on my contents page
and a competition advertised on the front
cover and contents page to ‘win festival
tickets’, to try and attract my audience.

22. I decided to also try and attract my audience by pricing my magazine competitively,
and during my audience research I found most people would be willing to pay between
£2 and £2.99 for a music magazine, therefore I priced mine at £2.50, right in the
middle. It also means that my magazine is more expensive per magazine than it’s
direct competition, NME, however mine is out fortnightly, and NME is weekly,
therefore if they buy every copy, mine would work out cheaper. This is because they
would spend £4.40 on NME, each fortnight, but only £2.50 on mine. This might make
people more willing to buy it, or they might choose to buy mine as they can afford
every issue, but not NME.
Per month
£4 £10
£8.80
£5

23. I chose to address and attract my audience by using a suitable colour scheme, which is red,
blue and purple. I thought this was appropriate for the 14-24 aged target audience, as it was
still quite bright, yet not too tacky or unprofessional looking. I edited photo’s on my contents
page to fit in exactly with the colour scheme. I thought this would make it stand out as
looking quite smart and potentially straightforward to read. I also used elements on my front
cover that fit in with the colour scheme, for example the red colour of the hat, is the same
red as my font. On my double page spread I outlined the photographs with an appropriate
colour, so they still looked as if they fit in, and didn’t look out of place.

24. When I did my questionnaire, I found that many people wanted an equal amount of
pictures to text ratio, therefore I tried to create this, and make sure there wasn’t too
much of one or the other, so my audience would be happy. I also found out that the
majority of people wanted a more organised and neatly presented magazine layout, so I
tried to make sure my magazine wasn’t too messy, and was quite clear to read. I
organised my photo’s in a way that I felt ensured the page wasn’t too busy and
distracting for my reader. The images I used were both a combination of posed, and
natural, as my research showed there was no preference, so I thought that by using a
mixture of both, the majority of people would be satisfied.

25. All of the people that filled in my questionnaire said they would prefer a more chatty and
conversational mode of address, therefore this is what I used in my magazine. I also used
bits of humour, to fit in with the informal theme, and thought it would attract my target
audience. I also thought that by using an informal mode of address it would add a more
personal and friendly touch to my magazine and make my audience feel at ease whilst
reading it. Here are some examples of informal language used in my magazine.

26. My audience research showed that the most important thing in a magazine appeared to be
factual information and gossip, therefore I tried to include this in my magazine. I used
factual information when I was talking about ‘The Bobcats’ and in their introduction, so that
my audience got facts about them.
• ‘Will, originally from Newcastle, moved to York and decided to set up a band after
learning to play the guitar. ‘
• ‘started off playing small gigs in their local pubs’
• ‘They came across another duet performing at one of the venues, and this is where the
quirky new band, The Bobcats, came to life. ‘
However I then did an interview, and the information in that part of my magazine, was more
like gossip-type information. It was one band member talking about the other, and joking
about funny things that had happened, so it was more like gossip.
• ‘she’s always grumpy in a morning’
• ‘Marie has a weird routine before going to bed’
• ‘And Gemma snores!!’

27. On my content’s page I showed a reader’s story page, about festival experiences. I
thought that it would add a personal feel to the magazine, and might make the reader’s
feel more included in the magazine. I thought it might make the audience feel accepted
and part of a cultural sub-group. If an individual was lonely, by reading this magazine,
they may feel more accepted and like the magazine was almost like a substitute for real-
life companionship, as they could get involved and write in to the magazine.
‘Readers funny real life festival experiences!’

28. What have you learnt about
technologies from the
process of constructing this
product?

29. Camera’s – I have learnt that to get a picture right, particularly an action shot, everyone’s
timing has to perfect. Both the photographer, and the models need to work together well to
get the shot right. It took me quite a few times to get the photograph of all my band
members jumping, but when I finally got the timing right, the photo was worth it. I have also
learnt that good framing and lighting are essential for a photograph to look good. You can
alter lighting partially afterwards, but even so, if you get it right to start with you don’t need
to, so you can save a lot of time. The framing and actual type of shot need to be right
though, as these are difficult or almost impossible to alter afterwards. You can’t just make a
rubbish photo good by editing it, the initial photo needs to be decent.

30. Photoshop – I have learnt that Photoshop is very complicated! However when you get the
hang of it, I think that the end effect is definitely worth it. You can change any tiny detail
that you don’t like, and you can improve photographs so much. I experimented with the
layers, filters and resizing of my photos. I loved the end photo that I used for my front cover
and think that Photoshop was really good for adding the text and banners for my front
cover and believe the program can be used to create a very professional looking end
product. I think I’ve improved my Photoshop skills, as I found it quite hard to use at first,
but felt more confident towards the end of my product.

31. SD cards & USB stick- I used an SD card to store my photos on when I took them
on my camera. I never really realised just how useful they were, and how I just
take it for granted how I use them to transfer photo’s with ease from one place
to another. I then transferred the photo’s onto my USB stick and used it to move
my photos from the camera, to the various computers I used. This meant I could
alter them on Photoshop, and to put on Microsoft publisher for my double page
spread and contents page, then finally to upload from there onto my blog. I
have learnt that without these useful pieces of technology, transferring photo’s
from one place to other would be a lot slower and less easy to do.

32. Computers – I used Microsoft
publisher on a computer to create my
contents page and double page
spread. I also used a computer to
access Photoshop for my front cover. I
have learnt that Microsoft publisher is
especially good when organising how
to lay out a double page spread. When
I was creating my double page spread,
it made it really easy to move and
change where different aspects of the
page were. The text boxes made it
really easy to lay out my double page
spread exactly as I wanted it. This
programme was also great when
adding my photographs to it, as it was
so easy to move, resize and crop them
when needed. I also used a computer
to access the internet and Photoshop.

33. Internet
I have used the internet quite a lot during the making of my magazine. I have learnt that
Wikipedia is a very useful website for collecting information about almost everything, and
I used it to research lots of different things, such as different publishers. I have learnt that
Blogger is a brilliant website for sharing information with others, and have found it quite
easy to use. I think it’s great how people all over the world can see my work, and think I
may use it again. I used magazine websites when researching the competition y magazine
would have, and think that all of the magazine websites I looked on were very useful. I
also used slide share to create a PowerPoint that would go directly onto my blog for
people to see. The internet allowed me to access all of these resources, and without it I
would have struggled in many different areas.

34. Looking back at your preliminary task, what
do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

35. During my research I feel like I’ve
learnt how important audience and
market research really is. If you don’t
know what your audience want or
what’s already out there, you won’t
know what to aim for, and who you’ll
be competing against. I have learnt
that I particularly like
questionnaires, as from them you get
a lot of people’s opinions, rather
than just a couple from an interview.
I think that they are great, unless you
want really in-depth answers, and
then an interview is obviously
better, but more time consuming.
I’ve learnt about the music magazine
market, and about publishers, which
really helped me, as I compared my
magazine to the others out there, to
try and make sure my magazine
stood out among others.

36. Finding out about publishers meant I have learnt which ones look good, and if
I was to create a real magazine, I now know all about various publishers, such
as Bauer, who could distribute my magazine. By looking at which magazines
they also own, it helped to see if any of them had a gap in the market for my
magazine, or had prior experience with the genre of music my magazine is
based around.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=music+magazine+publishers&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1257&bih=626&tbm=isch&tbnid=lhxIub0p8AuShM:&imgrefurl=http://riverscourseworkblog.blogspot.com/
&docid=J7Ke4mEXaFmxHM&imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PaJf7hKL-
mQ/UIko_ZJ2WaI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/ezJFWSp4yFU/s1600/Untitled.png&w=1450&h=671&ei=c9pKUdv8C5C7hAfJmoEY&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=388&vpy=293&dur=937&hovh=153&hovw=330&tx=160&ty=121&
page=3&tbnh=134&tbnw=290&start=49&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:58,s:0,i:257&surl=1

37. During the planning process I learnt that drafting is essential. I drafted basically everything
before creating a final piece, as it helped me to realise what worked and what didn’t work.
Looking at my school magazine, you can see the progress I made to get to my final piece. On
the school magazine, the photo doesn’t look professional, the colour is quite odd, but not in
a good way, and there is hardly any writing or interesting elements to make people want to
purchase it. Then on my planning for my music magazine, you can see I’ve tried to make sure
all of this was changed, for example on the plan there are free things advertised and different
points of interest, all to entice people to take an interest in the magazine. Then on my final
piece you can see how I’ve changed some things, to try and make it look more professional,
such as the layout, and I have slightly changed the colours, as now the red is darker then on
the plan, and the blue is a different shade.

38. I have learnt that to get the perfect photographs takes a lot of planning and preparation. Not
only did I plan the photographs on paper, so I knew what I needed to take, I had to organise
the models, and clothing and props, to make sure I got the shots I needed.
Shows some of the
props/clothing used.

39. I also had to find a good location to take the photographs. Luckily on the day of the shoot,
the weather held out, but if not I had a back-up plan, which involved a different location,
which I had to plan for too. I feel like I progressed with my photography skills and feel more
confident to tell people where I want them to stand or what pose I want them to do now,
whereas before this task I was more reserved and didn’t really want to tell people what to
do. I learnt that I had to be specific though, or the models just didn’t know what to do, and I
was actually more helpful to them when I was telling them what to do. The photo on my
preliminary task is quite boring, and the editing doesn’t look particularly good, so you can
see the improvement if you look at the other pictures I took for my final magazine. The
lighting is much better, and the framing, and because the photo was good to start with, I
didn’t have to do much editing to get it exactly how I wanted.

40. During production I think I have
improved my Photoshop skills
considerably. At the beginning, you
can see from the school magazine
how poor my skills were. Then if you
look at the final magazine front
cover, you can see I’ve got better and
more confident with using the
software. I now feel like if I had to
use it for other things, I’d be able to.
Specifically I feel like I have improved
my skills with using the text tool, as I
now know how to change the colour,
size and location of text.

41. I also feel lots more confident with using the different layers too, as I understand how they
work now. I think during production my camera skills have also improved, as I’ve learnt how to
get lighting right, and how to edit properly. For example I slightly changed the contrast of my
front cover photograph, as it looked better that way, and I altered the colours of the ones on
my contents page, so they fit in with my colour scheme.

42. If I was to do my I think I would also change I think I would also add
magazine again, I think I the colour of the text box more photo’s to the
would probably make outline to make them stand contents page to add more
the most changes to the out a bit more, like below. interest to the
contents page, as this readers, potentially of
was probably the aspect different instruments, or
of magazine that I was different bands.
least happy with. I think
I’d alter the layout and
potentially change the
font of the highlights of
my magazine. I think I
would probably choose a
font more like the ones
below.
PAGE 6 THE BOBCATS
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
PAGE 6 THE BOBCATS
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

43. I’d probably alter the photo of the pair of girls on my double page spread as the lighting
isn’t great, and it could definitely be improved. I think I’d probably make them more
comical if I was to do it again too. I might do this by adding props such as oversized
moustaches or something really weird, just to make readers think, ‘what are they doing?’.
It would also relate to the element of being ‘different’.
If I was to do it again, I think I’d also change the background of the double page spread
and contents page, and try and somehow make it more interesting. I might add a
pattern or something like that, just to make it less plain. I think I would add a link to
Facebook or Twitter page or a social networking site, as these are extremely popular
among my target audience, and I think by not having that on my magazine, I could
have missed a opportunity to appeal to my target audience.

44. I might also advertise the ‘FREE MGMT POSTER’ on the
front cover as free things were shown to appeal to
people quite a lot my research showed, and although I
did advertise the festival ticket competition, if I advertise
the free poster and competition, it might grab even more
potential reader’s attention. I might have put this on my
front cover in the form of a strip, across one of the
corners, as shown below.
During the audience research I think if I did it again I
might also ask more in detail questions about more
specific elements, such as ‘what type of free gift would
interest you the most when buying a magazine?’, instead
of ‘would a free gift with a magazine make you more
likely to buy it?’. Or even by using both, I ‘d find out
more.