Evaluation

Evaluation – Question 1In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

I named my music magazine Alive because its an effective, catchy name. I did the masthead in a bright red, bold font as it stood out well on a black background. I got this idea from a Kerrang magazine. All of their mastheads stand out, also the name of the band is always stood out on the page.

I chose two different fonts to use in my magazine. I kept them throughout the project so it would fit together better. It was a bold bright colour so it stood out to the audience.

The magazine was aimed at a young audience, so the written content was not too formal, it said how the band began and what they have done to achieve their career, this is something people may want to know as they could be seen as role models to the audience.

In each of these magazines the layout is similar to mine. The masthead is clearly stood out and the artist is the main focus. The artist name is presented clearly on the front and they all have the colours of 3

The genre I chose was a rock genre. Magazines such as Kerrang and NME are usually based on the rock genre and their layout, images and colours are usually presented to fit in with the genre, usually using dark backgrounds with brighter colours to stand out.

The band I chose to be featured in my music magazine was Vintage Collection. The costumes they wore were skinny jeans, leather trousers, leather jackets, lairy make up, and other small accessories. I made the background quite dark, and made them brighter so they stood out more on the page attracting the audience.

Question 2How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I chose this picture as they all look like they are having fun. They look rebellious as rock stars are stereotyped to be. Also the background is very dark however the light is on them, which make them all look much brighter so they stand out from the background.

I chose this picture to be the photo on the front cover as this photo looks like they have a lot of attitude and that they are having fun. Also you can see that they are comfortable with who they are even though they are a unique band.

Question 3What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Q3:Bauer Media Group – KerrangIPC - NME

These magazines all have similar aspects to my magazine. My magazine is based on a rock genre which all of these magazines are, and they attract a similar audience. Also the masthead is clearly shown at the top in every magazines and the band name is stood out clearly usually by the font being a bright colour and the background being a dark colour.In all these magazines they have the artist as the main feature on the front and they take up most of the page with some cover lines surrounding them.

Question 4Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine was designed for people aged between 12+. The band on the front cover was a young group of friends and these can encourage more young people to pick up the magazine to show how far bands can go at any age. Also as they are a young band, young people are more like to pick up my magazine as it would be more ‘up to date’ music. The price is only £2.50 a month so it would be affordable for anyone of any age.

Question 6What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From creating this magazine I have found that I should always back up my work wherever I can, the main way I backed up my work was onto a memory stick , this helped me as It was easier to access my work and I could do more work at home.By using blogger it was easier to upload your work onto there than to print it out and carry around in a folder, also you can access blogger from anywhere and you can easily show how you updated your work .The best way to create my magazine was to use fireworks as you could easily edit pictures, and find the best layout for your magazine cover. I then used publisher to do my contents page and double page spread, this was easier than using fireworks as there is a lot more text included in these pages so it was easier to sort out the layout on publisher.

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I have learnt what colours work well with each other and how to make different things such as the images and mastheads stand out. I also found out how to edit pictures to make them look more effective and to fit in with the genre. By taking photographs I found out the best way to get a better image by practicing different shots in different lighting and backgrounds to see which had the effect, also to make the main focus stand out more a clear background helps. By doing a school magazine and a music magazine I found out which poses were better for each magazine and which style was better. The school one had to be more formal however the music one would be less informal to attract a bigger audience.