Updated media evaluation

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

 My magazine attempted to develop convections of the genre of my music magazine. Whilst developing my magazine I had to take consideration of features such as layout, masthead, and colour scheme, types of camera shot, format mis-en-scene and typography. My case studies inspired and helped me understand the general expectation of R&B Hip Hip magazine. My magazine was inspired by Vibe magazine and XXL magazine in terms of masthead, main cover line, layout, bar code and colour scheme. For example XLL and vibe both had consist colours throughout the magazine which I did follow as I used the same colour throughout my content page, double page spread and font cover.

Whilst doing research on Vibe and XXL magazine I became aware that the masthead would either be behind or in front of the models head, depending on their popularity and their position in the music industry. The artist Gen is covering the masthead of the magazine due to her new popularity as she has done an album which has sold numerous copies. Pursuing convection i placed the masthead on the top of the magazine, and used a colour which is very appealing to the audience as the model is wearing the same colour top- therefore it would complement each other. Also the magazine used cover line which included artists that would appeal to other fan which would buy the magazine; such as J Cole, Nas, Tulisa, and Rihanna. I used other artist such as Jay-z and David Guetta for pull quotes to appeal to more fans what would buy the magazine.-which would result to more audience. Also for the main cover line I used the main artist of the magazine “Gen Williams” as magazine such as Vibe would use the main artist to sale the magazine or to appeal to the readers. Also vibe would use other artist on the cover line and use different fonts which I used as well. However I used the same font for the cover line to show the importance all artists. I also used different artist to attract different audience.

Generally most magazine only use one type of genre, but I wanted to challenge the idea and use more than one genre which would appeal to more people and gain popularity. Another convection which I challenged was to make the main cover line bigger than the other cover lines which most magazines don’t do. I wanted to make the main cover line bigger as it linked to the main image, which effectively appealed to more people.

The colour scheme of my magazine used only three colours through-out the magazine, as other magazine such as Vibe and XXL would use the same colour consistently.  I used white, grey and burgundy. However as the issues changes the colour scheme of the magazine changes. The colours would change to appeal to different audience and using different colours would not make audience bored. However magazine like XXL mostly use red masthead. Mainly to make sure the audience knows it is XXl when they see the masthead.

The image used on the front cover of the magazine is a medium-long shot; I made sure the model Gen kept eye contact with me at all times as it very vital and common among magazines such as Vibe, XXL and billboard. Most magazine use mid-shot, but i wanted to use medium-long shot as it shows what the artist is wearing and makes it more appealing to the audience to see what the artist is doing.

On my content page and double page spread I followed convection. I used different artist on the content page to show that they would also be included in the magazine. On both columns of features and regulars I used page number so the readers can just jump to the artist they are interested about.  Vibe and XXL both use features and regulars which inspired me to do the same.  However both magazines would use the same colour writing, but I wanted to challenge the idea and use two colours to write. Also like other magazine I used one main image of the main artist. Another convection I followed was having more than three images on my content page. Vibe also had one image of the main artist which I also followed. However another convection I challenged was that I added another column which is called the favourite. Both XXL and Vibe does not have this extra column.  This would make the magazine unique as other magazines do not have this.

On my double page spread I included a small cover story which summarises important details about the artist Gen Williams and i included an interview which is common among other magazines. Another convection which i used was the use of columns and the use of pull quote from the interview. The pull quote was in bold text and placed in the middle of the images so it appeals to the readers as they would know what type the interview is about in detail. This is another common convection used in other magazines. Also I used several images of the artist to show their emotions, personality.  Another convection which I developed was using colour coding to make the interview interesting and easier to read.

 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 My magazine mainly represent females, although it was supposed to represent both female and male between the age of 16-27, this because it is mainly based around Hip Hop and R&B which is chart music and is mostly popular and appeals to female and male between the age of 16-27. The artist I used in the my magazine only appeals to females between the age of 16-27 as she has a similar fashion sense due to her age and gender. This can be seen through the cloths she is wearing. The crop top she is wearing appeals to male readers as she is showing skin, which male readers find “sexy”. The pose of her holding onto her jacket promotes wealth and states her sex, which is used to sell the magazine. The sex sell is very vital as females would admire her and want to wear the latest cloths that she’s wearing and males would be attracted to her.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine would be distributed by interMedia partners who always distributed Vibe magazine. Intermedia partners distributed Vibe which is national popular music magazine. Intermedia partners invest in television, radio, and Internet which means my product can be published by a very successful company. They also have a large portfolio reaching 19 million consumers per month. Intermedia partners will distribute my product through online, via mobile and television shows- which would result to the audience having several ways to access my magazine. Also younger people are more likely to use the Internet to access the magazine by using their phones, ipads etc.  My magazine would appeal to Hip Hop and R&B genre which would make it popular. Another reason

 Who would be the audience for your media product?

Audience of Dope magazine would be male and female age between 16 and 27 because my music magazine concentrates on people who listen to that particular music.  Also as my magazine only aims at Hip Hop and R&B it would be based around Hip Hop culture. Also it would appeal to people above the age category and people within the age group

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by using Gen Williams which is an artist that just produced her second album which would appeal to countless young people as they know of her. I used Gen Williams to be my main model and feature on the front cover and double page spread because she represents my target audience and I felt that she would be a role model to the female audience as it would be easy for them to relate to her. Also Gen is in the same age range as the audience so it will be easy for them to feel like they have things in common. Another way which I attracted my audience

 I also used other popular artist such as Jay-z, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna, these trendy artist are featured on many other magazine cover lines such as Vibe and XXL.  Also i attracted my audience by offering free ticket if they answered questions about other artist online.

Also I attracted audience by using websites such as twitter and Facebook which are common among young people and it would be easier for them to access information about Dope magazine. Another way which would attract my audience is through the radio and television as intermedia partners would have access to TV advertisement. This would mean the audience would be familiar with Dope magazine.

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

The process of constructing my music magazine I have learnt several different things about camera, Indesign, Photoshop, slide share and prezi. At the time of using camera i didn’t know much about camera. I didn’t know basic information such as lighting and camera shots.  We used the studio which I wasn’t familiar with, but i had an insight about how to use the camera, what types of lighting to use such as spotlight lighting.  Planning my photo shoot in advance meant that i knew who my model was going to be, what type of clothing she was going to wear ect. In general using the studio was much less complicated and entertaining. Problems with the camera were that it would not switch on and if it did work it was not up to good standard which meant that I had to ask for help. After my teacher fixed the camera, the photo shoot went well. I was very happy about the quality of the pictures in the studio. I liked how the backdrop was white. Although the white backdrop was creased it did not show on the pictures.

When contracting my music magazine I had to use Adobe Photoshop which was not that complicated compared to Indesign.  I never used Photoshop so using the tools was complicated at first but, practising for my college magazine made it easier for me on the second around.  Doing my music magazine it was challenging as I had to learn various different tools but after a while I understood how to use them and became more comfortable using it.

Using indesign was very complicated as I had forgotten how to use the software; after I understood how to use the tools it was less complicated than i thought it was. I liked how indesign allowed me to work freely around the double page spread and content page. For example after constructing my double page spread I realised that if I was to print my magazine the text would be in the middle so I moved the text box and images to the right so the middle of the page could be clearer. 

Using blogger was not difficult even though I had not used it before. I understood how to use it very quickly and it was an effective way to present our work as it allowed me to change anything I wanted to change and show my development.  

Also using slide share and prezi was very simple, even though I didn’t have any experience using it. I thought it was a very effective way to present my work.

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 college magazine it wasn’t as good quality as my music magazine due to that fact that I had done much more research towards the music magazine I wanted to produce and done more planning than previous magazine. My college magazine was not as good as my music magazine because I had very little knowledge about how to use Adobe photo shop and Indesign.  Also my college magazine wasn’t as sophisticated as my music magazine as I didn’t know much about lighting, camera shot, ways to use various tools on Indesign, which meant my college magazine was not as creative as my  music magazine. Due to the research and planning I have learnt during my music magazine I feel like I can make a magazine successfully.

During the process of making my media product I learnt how to use forms of convection's that are appropriate for the type of genre I’m studying. Also I learnt how to use colours with background as I didn’t know how to blend it in before, and I now know how to use various interesting house styles. While constructing my music magazine i learnt how to use appropriate language depending on the gender, class and age of my audience.  Also choosing the right colour scheme and layout was challenging.

I have learnt how to use the studio and the type of lighting should be used.  Also I’ve learn that bright lighting can affect the way photo’s look and the camera setting should always match the location.