AS MEDIA STUDIES

G321 EVALUATION

BY JACK DAVIES

Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Front Cover:

My front cover uses conventions of a real media product because the cover has the same layout as magazines that I based mine on; such as NME. The masthead in the top left corner, the cover star using direct mode of address and the cover lines down the sides of the cover. I also used a pugg at the top of my cover which would attract people to by the magazine just for the chance to win free Glastonbury tickets. I wouldn’t really say that I did anything with my front cover that really challenged the typical conventions of a real media product.

I based my front cover on NME magazine:

Contents:

My contents page follows the conventions of a real media product. I have chosen 5 main stories and put them in the centre of the page. The main story is the story on the cover and the other 4 stories are dotted around the main story. This idea was influenced by NME contents. I also used features that will be in my magazine every week at the bottom under the header ‘plus:’ this will just show all readers and new readers too where to find these features. I have also added a subscribe box in the bottom corner of my magazine. The subscribe idea was influenced by NME, I like this idea though as it can attract people to give the readers a better deal as they turn to their first page.

Double Page Spread:

I have stuck to the conventions of a real media product. I really wanted to do the left page a huge picture of the cover star with a quote. I see this in a lot of magazines now and it stuck to me as the best way to do this. The left side of the page can also be used as a poster for anyone who gets the magazine. The next page is the article. The article is pretty simple. It just explains the bands EP and discussing the bands future (touring, album etc) I think this is how music magazines would structure an interview with a new artist. So I feel I have used to correct content in my article here as we would see in magazines I am influenced by such as NME etc.

Here on the bottom left is a DPS that is in NME, as we can see the left is a picture/poster and the right is text.

Here is a link to my blog, showing my understanding of codes and conventions: http://jackdavies96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/codes-and-conventions-analysis.html

Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social

groups?

I have gave my cover star; Liam Connolly, a ‘cocky’ look with attitude. The smug look he gives off, gives it a sense of cockiness and attitude. It looks like he knows he is the best and I wanted to portray this kind of look to the target audience. Teenagers of the magazine would see this and automatically want the look of ‘rebellion’ and ‘attitude’. The look he gives down the camera, is smug. He is wearing a leather jacket, which is normally clothing people associate with rebellion and attitude.

The gender stereotype in the 21st Century is that way more men than women are in rock/alternative rock bands. I could only think of a few women in bands from the top of my head, whereas there are loads of men. In my magazine I have added a female into the contents page, which we don’t see a lot of. But there are still more men than women in this magazine.

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?

The distributors of my magazine would be IPC Media. It would be IPC Media because my magazine is a major magazine distributor and LOUD magazine would be a major magazine if it was on sale.

IPC Media distribute NME magazine which is the magazine that influenced my magazine. This is the only thing which would make me choose IPC Media over Bauer Media who are also a major magazine distributor who are notable for distributing Q, Kerrang and Heat magazine among many others.

Magazine Distributor

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine mainly targets both males and females aged from 15 – 23 who enjoy rock/alternative rock music. My magazine will give information of different bands, tours, reviews and posters covering many different bands.

I would say my magazine would be more linked to magazines like NME and Q who will focus on the bands and music that LOUD will focus on rather than other major rock magazines like Kerrang who focus on heavy metal/pop-punk bands.

The link here takes you to my blog which has the questionnaire of my target audience which influenced how my magazine was going to be made: http://jackdavies96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/publication-plan.html

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Colour Scheme:

I chose red, white and black as my colour scheme because they appeal to the reader. All three colours are different from each other therefore it makes it easy for things to stand out and jump out at the reader. Normally my text is black but the main things are highlighted in red. On my cover the black is my masthead and the information bit underneath my cover lines. My cover lines are red, which makes it stand out.

Language:

I have used simple language so this can appeal to a younger audience. The conversation I have is an informal chat, but it sticks to the lines of what needs to be said. It involves everything that the reader would want to know.

Exclusives:

I have used two PUFFs. These are at the top of my page ‘win tickets to glastonbury!’ and also ‘free posters’ these will attract people to buy the magazine even more. Also, saying my interview with the cover star is an exclusive will also attract people to buy the magazine because if they want to know what he’s got to say then they will buy it as they can’t read it anywhere else.

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing the product?

Microsoft Publisher

Strengths:

-Easy to use-Easy to move objects-Less ‘fiddly’ than paint.net-The lines tell you if it is straight so it helps organise the document.

Weaknesses:

-Less detailed than Paint.Net

Paint.NET

Strengths:

-A lot of effects to use-Change the brightness a lot easier which gives a better image

Weaknesses:

-Complicated-Time consuming-Very ‘fiddly’ to use

Blogger

Blogger made the whole process easier. All of my stuff, my whole work was on the internet, I didn’t have to worry about printing stuff out, putting it in my folder and keeping it safe because it was all there available for me to use on the internet.

Photography

I took my pictures in Digbeth. I found there was more places where I could get good images. I eventually found a very good place in a side street where there was a white background which is where I took my photos.Here is a link to my blog showing my original photography: http://jackdavies96.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/blog-post.html

Question 7

Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression

from it to the full product?

FINAL PRODUCT PRELIMINARY TASK

The front cover of my preliminary task is just so basic. There’s gaps in the masthead. I am using basic ‘calibri’ font. The colour of the main cover line clashes with the red of my jacket. Whereas my final product is so much better, detailed and looks more professional than my preliminary task.

FINAL PRODUCT PRELIMINARY

Again, my final product is so much better. My preliminary attempt is basic and looks like I done it in 2 minutes. Whereas, my final product looks much better.

How successful do you feel your end product is in fulfilling the task?

How well does it fit the brief?

I feel that my final product is a decent attempt. Obviously I was never going to live up to NME expectation as I’ve never done this before and I done it on my own. But I feel as a lone and first attempt it was quite a decent job. I think my strongest bit was my front cover and my weakest bit was the contents page. The DPS was a good attempt, I thought. I feel that the content in the article is what you would see in a normal music magazine.