AS Media course Work

Evaluation

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

Front cover

My front cover relates more towards rock magazines such as Kerrang. My front cover follows similar conventions as Kerrang especially the layout. The Kerrang layout conventions that I have followed are: having the Magazine title across the top of the page and the band name in the centre of the page with a caption bellow it. I had a banner at the bottom of the page and an image in the bottom left corner. I used the Kerrang layout conventions because I like the style of their front covers as well as having artists of the same genre to mine on the front cover. I used the “Kerrang!” title font as inspiration for the font I used for my “Flux” title.

With my magazine I mainly tried to challenge forms and conventions. The main way I tried to do this was by applying the concept of my magazine solely to the punk rock genre, there isn’t really any other magazine that does this so there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine. The colour scheme I used on the front cover is a lot different to any other magazine, Kerrang and Q two of the biggest music magazines both use red white and black. My magazine is black white and purple. The purple, represents the punk rock genre really well, it allowed my front cover to have a unique look. I used an unusual old fashioned looking font for some of my text particularly the “From Death to Glory” text, it added contrast and style to the font cover, I thought it related to the Punk rock genre well, the elaborate style that bands and band members from this genre have, such as Blink 182 and Green Day as well as the band member is my photo.

Contents page The inspiration for my contents page came from a magazine that isn't a music magazine, the one featuring a

skate boarder. I wanted something different that would challenge the conventions of regular magazines. I wanted my contents page to look unique and by using so I used some features from. Q and some from the Skateboard one. This challenges the convention shown by the mainstream magazine Q who have a very basic and boring layout. To represent the punk rock genre I had to make my contents page look a bit edgy and unusual. To do this as well as using an unusual layout I put “Fatality” down the side of the image and used it as and acronym, this idea challenges conventions as it is an unusual feature that you don't see in magazines very often.

The ways in which my contents page follows the conventions is by having a large image dominating the page, nearly all contents pages have a large image dominating the page. I have used the same colour scheme for my contents page as the Q contents page, I wanted to use purple again but this wouldn’t have suited the contents page and there is no purple in the image. I chose red instead of purple partly because of the Q contents page but partly because I wanted to tie the rest of the contents page to tie in with the image and the heart on the graffiti was an obvious choice because it stood out, this was red so using the Photoshop dropper tool I copied this colour from the image and used it for some of the text.

Double Page SpreadMy double page spread relates closely to the NME radar double page spread this is because I liked it a lot and I knew I would be able to emulate it as it was simple and effective. I used a similar layout, a large image to the left and a separate column to the right and the middle filled with the article. I highlighted a key piece of text in the article, similar to the NME double page spread and over lapped some text on to the image. However despite the conventional layout I did try and challenge the conventions. I used an unusual colour scheme, Purple, blue, black and white. I used this colour scheme because with out the unusual colour scheme it would have looked too mainstream and this magazine is meant to be a punk rock/alternative magazine. I copied a feature on the unconventional Paramore double page spread of having the band’s name on an angle simulating the angle that the band members were sitting at.

How does your media product Represent particular social groups? The idea for my music magazine was to focus on how the band members have been able to become

successful, despite their working class background. I wanted my music magazine to mainly represent young adults between the ages 16-24.

The setting of the images are important in symbolising the working class background, they are taken in quite a run down are on the edge of Bristol.

The graffiti represent the genre of music and the personality of the band, the creative punk style. It adds colour to the grungy setting.

The article text, shows that the band members are quite arrogant and brash when talking about their success, this represents the “rock star” status that they have earnt. The interview is informal and feels like the interviewer is just chatting to the band members, this shows their laid back approach and that they are still young lads who are basking in the glory of their recent success but also people who really enjoy making music.

The media product and the Fatality success story I created is good for young aspiring musicians and shows that it doesn't matter what background you are form you can still be successful. They can be seen as role models for the teenage working class.

What Kind of Institution might distribute your media product why?

My magazine has some links to Kerrang, Q and NME. I think it mainly follows the conventions of Kerrang because their target audience is similar to mine this is shown by artists that they feature and the design of their magazine.

Kerrang are firmly associated with the rock genre and alternative artists and are already under the Bauer media institution that is why I would choose IPC media to distribute my media product because then my magazine would be able to rival the magazines distributed by Bauer Media which as well as Kerrang includes Q and Mojo.

I think my magazine would be able to do this because it would focus more on the up and coming artists. It would focus on alternative genre artists who aren't as instantly recognisable as the mainstream bands. The artists who haven't reached world wide stardom but play at smaller venues in the UK and have a loyal fan base.

IPC media distribute NME and Uncut who both are struggling to keep up with the likes of Mojo and Kerrang in the sales of their magazines, IPC media saw a 14.2% drop in its circulation year-on-year. This is why my magazine could revamp IPC media, who need a fresh new magazine and perhaps get rid of the falling lesser known title of uncut who saw the biggest drop in its circulation in the second half of 2011.

The way forward with distribution of music magazines is subscription including offers on the website encouraging people to subscribe and getting the magazines cheaper. A downloadable version of the magazine. Would a great way to reach the younger audience. If magazine was distributed by creating an app or an Ipad version of the magazine then this would increase sales, and would mean that you could reach a wider target audience as the amount of people going out and buying music magazines is decreasing.

Who Would be the Audience for your Media Product? Age- My magazine is aimed at young adults between the age of 16-24. Gender-Predominantly male because of the colours and style of my

magazine Social background- Students at University, college or Sixth form. Interests and character types- It would have to be someone

interested in punk rock/indie music. He would be out going and enjoy going to see local bands. His friends would share his music interests and music would be the main topic of conversation. Him and his friends would always be on the look put for new music that suites their taste, they would enjoy reading and finding out about their favourite bands.

Demographics

The social class of the audience- C1. lower middle class- supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional

Social values/ mindset- Strivers. Attaching importance to image and status, as means of enabling acceptance by their peer group, at the same time holding on to traditional values.

How Did My Front Cover Attract/ Address The Audience?

Distorted Graphics relates to genre well and compliments the look of the band members

A unique selling point, draws the reader in.

Related artists of Punk rock/ indie genre

Shocking pink colour related to Punk rock genre, adds to the style and works well with the background. Catches the readers eye.

Exclusive interview draws the readers attention, a contrast to the members of Fatality, a more indie style, attracts a wider audience.

Elaborate text contrasts the distorted text and gives it a gothic look

Contents Page Analysis

Red title the same colour as the heart on the image, ties the text in with the image, and uses a limited colour palette.

Blurred background highlights the band members presence

Acrostic draws the readers attention because it is unusual.

Unusual text layout, draws the reader in.

Strange graffiti makes the reader think about what it represents

The angle of the shot makes the page look interesting and uses the setting well

Double Page Spread Analysis

Purple represents the genre and works well with the blue, two high contrasting colours, to give the page an edgy look.

Blue text the same colour as the band members trousers, ties the text in with the image and helps gives the page a colour scheme.

Darkened trees adds to the reflects the mood and expression of the band members

The picture is the main feature this gives the page a big visual impact would attract the readers attention

The pull quote typifies what the article is about

I like how I have used this text to make the pages look less split and defined.

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

I have mainly learnt about how to take all the individual components needed to make a music magazine and piece them together to create an affective magazine that achieves a certain style depicts the genre I chosen.

I have learnt how to use a range of Photoshop skills and how to apply them to the task, I do an ICT course so this helped with the basic understanding of Photoshop but this course has allowed me to develop those skills and use them creatively as well as teaching me how to use some new tools such as the burn tool and the gradient tool.

This task looks simple but the attention to detail needed to achieve the desired look and make it look to a similar standard as your research requires a lot of effort and experimenting with different ideas and features.

I have learnt how to take good quality photos and the importance of the photos on the quality of the final piece. I used the photos as the basis for my designs when it came to choosing a colour scheme for the rest of my magazine.

I think I have used the Photoshop tools well to create some interesting designs that challenge the conventions of a normal music magazine.

Progression From The preliminary Task

I think I have improved a lot from my preliminary task, I feel that I used the Photoshop tools to better affect and paid more attention to detail.

I filled the page much better and included more features. I did a lot more research which helped come up with stylistic ideas that suited

the genre of music I had chosen. The quality of my images improved a lot and this allowed me to create a more

affective magazine that had looked much more professional. I was much more creative with my designs and came up with some good

layout ideas rather than just strictly following the conventions of other magazines.