Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation -

For my product I analysed a variety of examples of professional products, which were of the same genre as my own, so as to gain an understanding of forms and conventions used with that genre of music magazine. So in evaluation of my own product and how it challenges or develops the forms and conventions of a real media product, I am going to look at my own product in comparision to another or other professional magazine.

Front Cover -

Personal Product -
Professional Product - Q a well known British music magazine, is an ideal comparision to my own product as by institutional context, it is similair in how I would like to market and sell my own product to it's selected audience.

Image/Photo (s) -

The image used in Q's magazine of the famous "Queen of Pop" Madonna, shows a certain coolness that could be attributed to the pose and mise-en-scene within the image, which is done in a mid shot. In my own image I have used a similair aspect to potray my artist, with them in a mid shot, dominating the right side of the page, clearly potraying their mise-en-scene within it. The image of Madonna used in Q is effective in how it contrasts appealingly with the other objetcs on the page, which I myself have tried doing, by using colours within the image or ones, which stand out nicely from it.

Layout -

The layout within the Q magazines front cover clearly shows that most of the objects on the page are focused to the right, bottom and slighty to the left so, as to leave the models face apparent through it all. In my own magazine I have done this to a degree myself, by placing objects to thge top, right and bottom, but leaving the left side of the page open, so my model is clearly defined.

Text & Font -

The use of text within the Q's magazine is very simplistic and only seems to use a few types of fonts in a small amount of colours, all contrasting and sticking to the colour scheme. In evaluation of my own front cover in comparison to Q's I find that I have used a small amount fonts for the main text including "Rockwell Extra Bold" as the main font, but use of variety of different texts in some cases, to create a heavy emphasise on some points. The actual text within the front page of Q's magazine, is based around what is inside the magazine and special attractions of the magazine are highlighted by use of special effects. My own product, does basically the same with the text on the front page, but also makes use of highlighting the special offers, being more of an incentive.

Colour -

Colour on the front page of Q is mainly red, black, white and blue, coincidentally three of the colours being that of the British flag, potraying who the magazine is targeted at, but there is also use of a gray colour to make it a focal point and to highlight its special offer. In Strain my own product for the front cover and even throughout the product, I myself use of palette of colours including red, blue, black, white and grey, with the blue acting as a highlighter for the special offers within the product. This is effective as it is bright and draws the readers attention, and being less jarring than a product which uses no particular colour palette, meaning it's more likely to be bought by a customer.

Special Effects -

The special effects used in Q is focused on the image as it makes it appear more crisp and appealing to the audience, this could be done by playing around with the contrast or brightness. With my own image on the front cover, I edited the shot, by increasing brightness and contrast to gain a more appealing picture which stands out, therefore being similair to Q's idea.

What did I do differently with my front cover -

My own product in the form of it's front cover, is different to Q's and many other of the like as it contains, a high amount of colour within the image, while many others are mainly made up of dark mise-en-scene and such, while with my own I use colour to stand out and potray my audience. The layout of my own product compared to others, is very much laid back in comparison to others, as their is a lot more emphasise on the images than the text.

Criticism of my product -

In criticism of my own work I find it to have a minimal amount of professionalism to t, but this could be due to the fact that my own version was a first for myself and I lack the experience the makers of Q have. I also see a small amount in my own front page, which I fidn slightly deteroriates the work, yet enhances the images attraction to the audience.

Contents Page -


Personal Product -

Professional Product -

Image/Photo (s) -

The use of images or photos within the contents page in Q magazine is very supportive of it's text and target anudience, such as through mise-en-scene which is mainly made up of dull flat colours, which are trademark of the rock or alternative genre. In my own product I have done a similair act, by incoporating a lot of black into my images through mise-en-scene, such as a leather coat. The main image on the page, that of the Courteeners dominates the right hand side of the page, making it a focal point of the contents page, therefore being a selling point. I have done this with my own image of my main act "Erin Finn", causing the audiences eye to be drawn there, like a real product would.

Layout -

The layout used by Q magazine as showed above is layed out so that the main image sits at the right side of the page, while text and objects surround it to the left, top and bottom, with a smaller image below. With my own magazines contents page I placed the images to the right side of the page so, as to keep the audience comfortable with the genre, as mine and Q's are simialair, yet i tried to push a lot more images into the product so as to appear more interesting.

Text & Font -

The text within Q's contents page is mainly made up of three fonts, with little change in size, even for the headers and such, this creates a laid back, but appealing product. With my own it is made up of many different fonts, all to create emphasise, or appear more appealing to the audience, yet the size in fonts in something that dosent drastically change within the page, like Q's. Colour of text within Q again is another thing which dosent change much, mainly being black, with slight colour here and there, a similair to my own in some ways, as the main body of text is black in colour.

Colour -

Little colour is used within the contents page of Q, with the main colour being derived from the image of the main act, with the little outside colour contrasting appealingly with the colour in the image. With my own product, plenty of colour is used, but most of it is flat, so as to draw attention to the images and certain aspects such as the special deals, this creates the belief that more is going on than actually is.

Special Effects -

With the Q magazine there dosen't seem to be any outstanding special effects used within the contents page, as the pictures seem simple in their construction. But special effects is usually used throughout magazines to create better, brighter pictures or outstanding effects, I myself have used it and increased brightness and contrast to create more appealing pictures, which grab the readers attention.

What did I do differently with my Contents Page -

With my Contents Page, what I did different was include like the front cover a lot of special offers or contest so as to continue appealing to my audience and to grab their attention. Another aspect I did differently within my product was the layout, which included all the pictures being put to one side, while more colour was also used, which is different to professionals as they tend to stick with neutral, bland colours.

Criticism -

What I could have done differently with my work and wish I did, was include a lot more effects with the text boxes and such, to make a more sophisticated appeal, while I would also have liked to have included a lot more text, so as to seem like there was more going on than actually was.

Double Page Spread -

Personal Product -

Professional Product -

Image/Photo (s) -

The image used in the professional DPS has been edited so that it is more crisp, cool and appealing to the audince, it also dominant of the right side of the DPS with great use of colour to become a focal point of the pages. I myself have done a similair act within my own magazine, by placing my own image to the left side of my DPS so that it becomes a dominant focal point within the product, drawing the attention of the reader, while I have also edited it to appear more bright and lively. The other image I used to the right side of the page; a smaller one, gives the readers of the product the feeling that they are getting an insight into the into the stars life as is it is a picture of the past.

Layout -

The layout of the professional DPS is coordinated around the colourful picture to the right of the page and the dominant heading, meaning that the text is pushed to a small space on the bottom of the left side of the DPS. With my own magazines DPS i decided to do a similair thing and use my image on the left of the page so that it would be one of the first things my audience saw when they turned over the page, but also so that the interview with the act could be placed on the other side of the page, so as to give the audience something vast in amount to read, unlike the professioanl product.

Tetx & Font -

The font of the text on the professional product is very dominant in its size and boldness, drawing the readers attention due to its black background, but the DPS seems to be made up of just two fonts, the headers and the body of texts. With my own doule page spread it is made up of a minimum of four texts so as to appear more exciting and draw attention to areas. A quote a used in the professional product, so as to get readers interested, as is done with my own.

Colour -

The colour used in the professional double page spread, is fairly neautral apart from the colourful use of the image, so as to draw attention to it, maybe potraying the act; Lilly Allens personality. The colour palette of my own DPS follows the trend of the other two pages so as stay neutral, but contrasts appealingly with the image and the personality behind the act, that of a rock star.

Special Effects -

Special effects used with the professional product seem to be on the image, so as to brighten it and make it stand out on the white page and grab the readers attention, therefore hooking them. My own product delievers such development as well, by the use of enhancing brightness and contrast to appear more appealing, just like my other images.

What did I do differently with my Double Page Spread -

With my own product, what I did differently was to use a snapshot of my act in the past so as to interest the reader and draw them in, I also used special offers such as a free poster of the act as an incentive to the reader, while still delivering a more pronounced amount of journalism.

Criticism -

In criticism of my magazines DPS, I wish I had included a few more images, so as to make the double page spread to appear more crazy in its appeal, while I would also have liked to have included more effects on the images so as to make them more surreal.

In evaluation of my own product I find that it follows a lot of the trends of the succesful magazines which appeal to my genre, yet includes more in the way of incentives so as to grab the attention of my readers.

Evaluation 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

title on, use this hyperlink to access prezi.com presentation for Evaluation 2

For this this evaluation I have decided to anwser my evaulation of how does my product represent my selected social group by using prezi.com

Who does the product represent? -

Alternative

- Emo

- Mosher

- Indie

- Scene kid

Detailed look at how they are represented -

Mise-en-scene and image -

The use of images and obviously the mise-en-scene along with them, I believe represents my audience quite well, as the model used is wearing appropraite clothes such as a leather coat to potray the vast fashions within alternative rock. The images I think shows my audience to be a clearly defined, fashionable and creative personality, something I believe my audience as stated in the reader profile.

Colour -

The colour I used for my product effectively represents my audience as they are a great contrast of flat dull colours and bright sharp colours such as red and grey/blue as seen in my product. This apsect is seen clearly in what my audience wears, such as dark colours, yet brightened up with the use of bright top or accessories.

Layout -

Layout of my product I believe represents my audience as it is jam packed with information and colour such as on the contents page, were there is a wide variety of things, pushed together, which is clearly seen in other products trying to target a similair audience to mine, such as "NME".

Offers -

Offers I believe are something which define my audience, as from the information I gained from my reader research, I heard that they would appreciate free offers such as competitions and posters within the magazine, which I myself have used at least once on each page to represent them and thier wants.

In evalution my product makes use of mise-en-scene/image, colour, layout and offers to effectively target and represent my audience which are of an alternative genre, including groups such as emo and indie. To gain an idea of how to represent them, I did extensive research of secondary and primary nature, to see who they were as a person and what they wanted in a magazine.

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

Evaluation -
In evaluation of my final product "Strain", in comparison to others such as NME, Kerrang and Q; all magazines within my alternative genre, so I find that I stick to my idea that my magazine should be produced by a mass production company just as the examples are, by a company like IPC Media. The reason for my belief that my product could be produced as a mass product is due to the fact it contains mainly similarities with other magazines like Q, one reason being the use text within my product, within my product I include a variety of pieces of writing such as an interview, review, contents and front page one liners, just as a major magazine like Q (contents page, above.) would. Another reason for my belief that my magazine should be marketed as mass media, is due to that has such an expansive audience, it is not just targeting a small audience like indie magazines. Lastly another reason for my continual belief in my product being similair to that of ones such as Kerrang, is the physical similarities between the two, they use many of the same colours, such as the main being black and white, but red and blue as well, all within my product, they also use they same layout and similair looking images, which is shown in detail in evaluation one.

Why should it be a mass media magazine? -

Looking at my magazine I find that it contains a lot of the traits, within a mass media product such as -

- Well known act (Fictional)

- Large header

- Large gig listing

- Professional reviews

- Special offers

- Large amount of pages, according contents page

But of course, my magazine is not perfect in it's appeal as a professional mass produced magazine as my images may not be as great, due to less experience and resources. The front cover of my magazine may also be a point in which is a bit less professional look maybe due to the fact that I again dont have the experience that editors or such at professional magazines do, for them to create highly glossy and effective magazines.

Magazines similair to my own -

NME

Kerrang

Q

In evaluation in comparison to other magazines of simialir genre, I find that my magazine "Strain" is similair in many such as the audience, physical aspects, writing/journalism and use of images, so I believe it to be still marketable as a mass media product through such companies as IPC Media, who owns magazines above, all sucessfully defined magazines.

Evaluation 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

For this evaulation 5, I again decided to use prezi.com.

title on Prezi

Again, click on the hyperlinks above to access the prezi.

Within my product I used a variety of techniques and incentives to target my audience and to ensure their attention, these included content, the narrative and the character or act.

Content -

The content within my article is all based on the common trends of professional magazines aiming at similair target audiences and the feedback that I gained from my research into target audience. The use of competition, events listing and offers within my magazine was something highlighted within my focus group that I tried to put into use multiple times within the magazine, such as free posters and competitions for gig tickets to effectively target my audience. The use of bright colours within my product was another thing highlighted within my focus group that I placed into use by using a consistent palette of red, blue, white, black and grey, to keep the product lively. A moderate amount of images was another thng seen within my focus group and audience research as the audience felt in professional products, too much was going on and by reducing the amount of images they felt more comfortable.

Narrative -

Text within my product was placed throughout my product in high amounts to target and gain my audiences attention, one technique used was the use of music reviews, which gives readers an idea of what's a great new buy or blunder depending on its success. Interviews and a look in depth into the main acts life, is another techinique which I tried to use to target my audience as it gives something interesting for my readers to read and entertain themselves as they think they are getting to know their possibly favourite act a little better. The use of news and gigs within my magazine, targeted my audience, as it was something highlighted by them in my focus group that they would like to see in a magazine to keep on top of what festivals and such they could attend or wanted to go to.

Character -

Finally the character, was my last factor to target the audience with and I tried to use a variety of techniques seen within professional products and some of my own, such as the personality of the act being something the audience can relate to. By scripting or editing my piece of text on the double page spread I was able to make the text more applicable to my target audience by loking at the readers profile and trying to place a voice for that, which linked in with my great experience with English Language as an A level subject. Lastly my character applied to the genre of my product which was alternative rock, mainly through mise-en-scene, which placed a heavy emphasis on the clothes, which were common within that genre, such as the leather and their attitude, which was sort of inattentive as shown in the image.

How did I find my audience? -

To find my audience I conducted a series of audience research, including a variety of primary and secondary research so as to find a suitable audience for my product, this included a questionnaire, focus group and research conducted on teh internet. From the research I was able to find that my audience was inclinded to be that of the alternative genre, including the likes of Indie and Scene Kids, this was done by the collection of data to make pie charts and analysis of certain social groups and that in contrast to my reader profile.

Comments on Final Product -

To collect my final product comments I constructed a questionnaire as shown above, with some anwsers shown below, followed by some comments of my own on them.

Aaron Bamber (Age 17) - "It's a great example of colour, you've combined your use of colours throughout the magazine to represent the genre and stand out."

The use of colour, within my product, was something that I wanted to represent and embrace my genre in alternative rock, so by using colours which were bright yet some that were common throughout professional products, I thought I achieved this. The use of colour was something that was commented upon in my focus group conducted earlier in the audience research stage.

Jade Brown (Age 17) - "The image that you have used of the main act, I believe shows the genre that you have chosen, because the outfit and colour is very muted, something I would picture when thinking of alternative rock."

The idea for my model and the images, was to construct the mise-en-scene so that it presented a more sedated version or a combination of the many audiences within my initial alternative genre. I achieved this by looking at images of the groups within my the altrenative genre.

Matthew Watson (Age 17) - "You have used special offers like competitions and more for your money offers, which is you know, like professional magazines, like Kerrang."

By demand during the focus group conducted earlier in the year and ealier analysis of professional products, I decided to use special offers as an incentive to my highly recpetive audience and draw them in.

In evaluation with my product I tried to use the content, narrative and character to apply to my audience, by the use of audience research which listed many things which could be included within content and tried to link the narrative and character together by voice within the DPS text.

Evaluation 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation -
The audience of my to my product I believe is to be targeted at the alternative genre, this a genre made up of multiple groups or tribes, consisting of emos, scene kids and indie kids. All of the tribes within the genre follow a common trend or factor with their choice of music, is that it is mainly made up of different types of rock, screamo for example. Bands within my genre could be "Paramore" "Panic at the Disco" "Flyleaf" or "Fall out Boy", which are commonly popular with nearly all th tribes within the genre. My target audience is made up people who are individual in their choices of music, not following the popularily publiscised acts of mainstream pop, hip and such, they are also passionate and dedicated in their likes and loves while also knowing what they want in a product. My genre is made up of both genders, but is mostly the younger generation, as the they are the only ones to really be open to the new types of genres within music, as can be seen on http://www.uktribes.com/.

A look at the tribes within the genre -

Scene Kid -

As seen within the images a scene kid, is a highly independent person, as is expressed by the exterior of the two models, potraying themselves as wholy a different person to anyone else. The fact that they are such an independent group within the genre, means that they need special attention, with special offers, images and so on that appeals to them as well as the rest of the alternative tribes I have highlighted. A scene kid is a greatly colourful and creative person, maybe expressing a factor that would appeal to them with a product they would consider reading, as I have included within my own product. The scene kid as a tribe is not completley seperate in their look or likes as they are in very much in many way similair to that of emos and such, due to their almost obsessive use of black within their clothes and as stated on uktribe.com they have similair music tastes, meaning that their tastes combined are easier to cater for.

Indie Kid -

The Indie kid within the alternative genre, is probably the most numerous as it is the least outstanding in its fashion stake, in comparison to emos and sceneo's, yet they are just as intense in their interest of the music within the genre with bands like "Coldplay" and such appealing to them as an audience. A indie is kid more laid back in their approach to life, maybe potraying the factor that will target them, as they maybe more interested in the content of the magazine or product rather than the layout which maybe more important to emos or such.

Emo -

Emo as a social tribe, are probably the most well known, predominantly as being depressed and upset youngsters, gaining its name from the word "emotional", they are well showcased tribe within the UK. An emo although being stereotyped in their behaviour are typically trying to appear an individual person, just as the scene kid would do themselves, also meaning they need to be catered towards, maybe by including different things which appeal to them as an audience such as lots of colour or lack of.

In evaluation my audience by analysis of my research into my reader are the alternative genre, consisting of emos, scene kids and indie kids, all with their unique sense of fashion, yet similair tests in music, following the trends of alternative rock. Different could be taken to target them all, being the use of colour, images and special offers, applying to them.

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

In reference to what I believe I have learned while working with the new technologies and such presented to me in my course, is a lot, from photography, file types and to different softwares such as indesign -

File types, File sizes & Resolutions -

During the process of my final product, I believe I have gained a lot of knowledge in the way files, such as the different file types like PDF's and Jpegs. The file type which I have gaine dthe most experience during the project would most probaly be the Jpeg, as it is a file format which makes a files data size smaller, maybe by flattening image such as on photoshop, so it is easy for a person export away from the computer such as on a memory stick or by email. The resolution or size of a file is something I have gained experience with, as the resolution is a good way to for a person working with software like photoshop to see their product in quality clarity, my understanding of it is, that it determines the amount of pixels used within certain measurement on the screen.

Photoshop -

During my experience within the final product, I believe that I have learnt a lot to do with photoshop, such as the ease with which an image can be placed within the format from another file and then be cut and edited to achieve the desired final image. The ease with which objects can placed anywhere on the page is another aspect of photoshop that amazes me, all you need to do is grab the object by its layer on the side of the page then move it to its desired position, another aspect of this could be the free transform tool, which allowed me to change the rotate and change the size of my objects easily. Another part of photoshop that I gained knowledge in was the use of effects such as drop shadows and strokes, so as to give text and objects more defined and professional look. I believe the use of photoshop as a software has been easier than I thought, due to the fact that photoshop is easily understood and creates a dramatic and clearly sophisticated product in the end, such as my front cover below, having its finishing touches put to it.

In design -

The use of indesign as a software, was at first admittedly very confusing, due to the fact that although it was similair to that of photoshop, the tools and such where in different places and were done in different ways, so indesign is definately something I have learned about. Particular things I have gained experience with indesign are editing, effects, images and the use of texts. Editing and effects within indesign were something that at first I couldnt find due to the different layout, but I found are easily done, by use of the tab image and then effects, so as to gain a effective, professional look. Placing images within indesign, is definately a lot more harder than photoshop due to that the images need to be copied or placed rather than dragged into place, but I found this created a definate size to the object, meaning it all fit together better. Placing and typing text within indesign was something I found difficult because, it all had to be written within a text box, rather than done anywhere to be placed randomly, it meant that like the images the text was within a different space and wasnt overlapping.

Photography -

While working on this final product I have learnt about photography, such as the different lightings, natrual and strong fake lighting being the most used by myself. Ligting within a shot is a key factor, because if a shot is to blurry, grainy or dark, it may not achieve its purpose of appealing to the audience, yet with great lighting, the lighting will mean more definition and that little description within the image is lost. Positioning of the camera is another key aspect of photography as it projects a certain message, such as a low angled shot looking up at someone with long shot will try to intimidate, this in conjunction with mise-en-scene as that also projects a message such as who the image is pushed at; the audience.

Blogspot -

Blogspot itself is something I have learnt from, as before I had never been or tried to get on a blog. It has taught me a lot in the way, of how to record my research and thoughts in detail, through the use of a seeable text for the teacher, even including images, presentations and charts, meaning it is something refer back to.

In evaluation I have gained a lot of experience during the time doing my final product, such as in files, photography, photoshop, indesign and blogspot.

Evaluation 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation -
Having a good look back at my preliminary task that I completed at the start of the year, in comparison to my newer product I find that there is a great difference between the two, with the final product obviously being the most professional and appealing to look at.

Prelim -

In comparison -

Special Effects & Image/Photo (s) -

The images within my prelim task, in most cases are evidently done in poor lighting or have had little thought put into their appearance or such. I believe that in my final product I have built upon this mistake and produced some better images, with the use of effects and lighting, also I believe in the later product that I had a longer time to plan the images and also put a lot of thought into them, so that in the end it achieved a better appearance. I think that with the factor of images in mind, in the time between my final product and my prelim task I have learnt a lot in the way, such as good lighting by use of fake and natrual, also I have become better adapted with the use of photoshop and such, due to the use of it in media and my other subject; graphical art.

Layout -

The layout within my preliminary task is very focused to minimalism, with little activity going on in eiter the front page or the contents page. This I believe is something which I have built upon due to personal experience, research with the focus group and more time, I have been able to perfect the layout so it represents that of a professional product. I believe considering the layout I have learnt many things since the prelim task, such as priortising objects so they attract the audiences attention, or to size objects correctly so as to achieve a professional look.

Text, Font & Colour (s) -

The fonts and text colour used within the prelim task are all mostly of the same size and quite boring in their presentation and not really suited to the idea of the magazine, which was to be a college magazine. The use of fonts, colour and sizing of the text is something I believe I have learnt since the prelim task at the start of the year, as I have analysed media texts I have developed the idea within myself that certain texts, colours and such suit a certain genre or idea, such as yellow being happy and probably suited to a childrens magazine. The text within a magazine, is something I believe to have gained skill within the past year due to media studies, this may due to my extensive analysis of media texts, but my comparison my final product and prelim shows this to be true, as with the final I have managed to pack it with appropriate text. Of course since the prelim I have learned to write as a journalist as shown in the DP, this is due to workshops with media, looking at professional products and my linked subject in english language.

In evalution I believe that during the time between the prelim and my finished final product I have gained a lot of experience in how to present a magazine, such as keeping in mind that you are always representing someone with a media text, how to layout a magazine, how fonts and colours represents certain things and how to write as a journalist.