Q7. Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

During my preliminary task I was able to learn and comprehend and learn many different skills that would be useful; in the making of my front page, double page spread and content page. In the beginning of my task, I could start on making my media pieces, I had to learn different camera shot required for an effective magazine, I also learnt the different conventions needed for a typical music magazine such as keeping image in medium close because it meant that the conventions would be challenged. At first I was worried about challenging conventions but afterwards, after considering my target audience and ideal social group I had to consider challenging these conventions to make a more modern and timely magazine. Conventions and mostly traditional and basic and this was what I wanted my magazine to be far from because I wanted to aim at a more diverse social group.

Time management and organisation skills were required for this task so this experience enabled me to manage my time more wisely. At first I found it very difficult to do so because of various factors such as stress and pressure but afterwards I was able to control these factors and get on with my preliminary task. I managed my time by making sure I organised a set date for my models to come in for a photo shoot, various times these dates were not met but eventually I was able to attain the perfect picture for my front page. Likewise, photos for my contents page were organised for my other set of models for my contents page and this process was very straight forward and easy to do. Because I knew all of my angels very well I was able to photograph very well. I also decided to follow the conventions of my front page by shooting my model at a medium close up because I felt it was the best way to show the connotations of my magazine and how serious I want the tone of the magazine to be I so that my point is put across comprehensively.

During my preliminary task I had to learn how to use photo shop more comprehensively and professionally in order to create an attractive and captivating media piece. Before this task I was only aware of making front pages and content pages as this was what I had to make previously, in the beginning of my AS course, however what was new to me and a leap for me was knowing how to make a double page spread this meant I had to learn how to write persuasively and interesting, this at first was hard but after a while I got the hang of it and before I knew I stared to really enjoy what I was doing. Similarly learning how to use different tools in photo shop such as crop, magic wand, lasso tools and image adjustments were very difficult tools to use, I found difficult to set my image and adjust to manipulate it and make it look more attractive because I couldn’t tell the different, what I decided to do was go on you tube and look up photo shop tutorials on how to manipulate images and how to add text and other basic things and difficult things to do with photo shop and I was able to quickly learn and apply what I leant on the photo shop tutorials to my media work.

Post production feedback

Front cover

Strengths:

The title of the magazine was well chosen and was eye catching for the audience. The audience liked the idea of “switch music” because it makes them wonder what kind of music is included in switch music, also the main cover line was said to be a important and bold issue in society today and that it’s a really inspirational line to include in a magazine because it “encourages young people to shine” (student who reviewed my magazine).  The font of my front cover also received good feedback as it is very contemporary and modern in this day and age and it attracts the reader. Some said the entire colours used coordinate with each other which shows an immaculate side of a magazine; the audience particularly liked the colours because it’s said to be the most colour warn by young people so this immediately attracted them to the magazine. Some people liked the idea of bringing the concept of old and new and making half of the front page colour different to the other half, they also aid the issue raise on the old stuff being new is really smart and needed for this day  and age.

Weaknesses:

Some people preferred the magazine to have a font type that wasn’t too sophisticated because they felt that they couldn’t understand the writing and therefore this put them off the magazine. The font size could have been bigger because it meant the audience squint their eyes in order to understand the writing this can cause medical problems and so on. Some people said they didn’t like the idea of making half of the front page a different colour than the other half because they felt it caused confusion and made the magazine look messy.

The audience felt that there was too much things going on in the magazine such as too much colurs and too many different fonts, so I was advised to stick to three main colours and stick to it throughout the magazine.

Contents page

Strengths:

The models on the content page were well costumed and the hand gestured show made the magazine interesting. The editing of the love heart was a really effective as it promotes the concept of love and symbolizes love as a great and popular thing in the world. The headlines were very interesting because it seemed like unusual discussions and topics but it makes the reader want to know what is going on in the page. The font for the content page stood out to the audience and the heading “the appeal” was interesting, making the content page mysteriously interesting.

Weaknesses:

Some people didn’t like the different colours used in the content page, particularly the black and white, it seemed irrelevant to be there and was off putting for the audience.

Some people didn’t like the size of the font because they said it was too small and hard to read, and the font itself because this, on top of the small font size, made it hard to read.

Double Page Spread

Strength:

Some people said the varieties of colours were very well laid out. Some people like the fact that each image had a certain colour to it which also had a text box to itself also, this made the magazine more organized in the mist of so much colour. Some people also liked the NVC of the models, they said it was up lifting, fun and wacky which is effective because it made them feel likewise. The interview with the “four lions” were very interesting and funny to read, some people said the answers they gave were very inspirational and motivating to read, which also effected how they saw the magazine as a whole.

Weaknesses:

When the pictures were at 100% some things and features were cut out, this made it really annoying for the audience because they had to scroll up and down to get the right angels.

Q6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Since making my media product i have learnt more comprehensively how to work photo shop to a no longer basic standard but to a professional and technical standard in order to make my media product more enticing and rewarding for my target audience. I had to first use a useful and efficent device in order to produce a well made main imagae, so i uesd the 505 400D camera. I managed to use two different locations for myphotos to be taken, the first location was my college and the second location was my local church community centre. When taking my photos inside my college it was really easy becasue i was provided with a Geminal Espit Gm500 flash with a 60cm soft box, which is a flash device that detects the time you take a photo, with a radio trigger and captures to make a more effective photo, to rid wrinkles and enhance beauty. The camera was not too hard to use because I already had a basic knowledge of the device during my preliminary task I had already learnt how to use it.

I also learnt how to control my focus to make sure that the focus is on the models eye so that the whole picture will look clear and professional, at first it was hard for me to get the hang of this concept but after taking a few photographs and managing my time, I was able to produce excellent photos in college. My next location was a lot more difficult than my first location because I had not soft box or reflector to even out the lighting of my photographs. The setting of my location was very lively and fit for purpose, however the lighting was really dull and it was really hard for me to manage in such a low key room, eventually I was able to even out the variables and get to a section of the room where I could get enough light for my pictures to be taken and photo I wanted lighter I could just manipulate and edit them with photo shop.

   BELOW IS A DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW IT WORKED OUT FOR ME IN COLLEGE WITH THE SOFT BOX, REFLECTOR AND TRANSMITTER.

After wisely photographing my models in both locations I transferred it on to my home drive using a memory stick, this was used to transfer the photos put on the card reader.  This card reader reads all the information on it and transfers it directly from the camera to the home drive. After doing this I had to select the photos I wanted, this was slightly difficult as I couldn't get my head round what photos I wanted on my magazine but I eventually came up with some conclusions. After selecting my photos, in order to make them come out exactly how I want it and in order for it to blend in with what I want, I edited it on photo shop by selecting “image” and then than “adjustments” and, finally, “colour balance”. I learnt how to manipulate the images through photo shop tutorials and personal experimentation. Below is an example of how I manipulated my images, you can see how I did it and the finished product of it.

AFTER DURING 

  

Being given access to blogger gave me a better understanding of why it is so important. Before doing this task I had no idea of how to work blogger and I had no idea of how to set up, after the task I was able to add other bloggers and share ideas and also having other bloggers as partners and seeing their work makes me want to push myself to do better and go over and beyond myself. Because the blogger service was so easy and straight forward, it made it so easy for me to get the hang of it, because before this task I had never come across making a blog, also I learnt that you can share your views and inspirations and things you just want to share for the fun of it.

I also learnt how to edit my fonts, the reason why I wanted my fonts edited was because I felt it was going to make my magazine less dynamic, seeming as throughout of my magazine I use the same fonts as my main page, s what I did was added strokes to make it look the same but also have its own significant feature about it.

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

 

Q4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

My main audience would be people of diversity and popularity. My audience would find an interest in listening to new things and spreading the word about them. They would find a significant interest in jazz and soul music but also R&B. my target age would be 16-25 and my target gender would be both male and female. Because of the price of the magazine anyone younger will not be interested, however for this age range I thing that it will mostly reach out to 16-20 year olds simply because you become an adult at 21 and issues raised in the magazine might touch a minority of people above 20. Similarly I feel that it will attract both genders because the issues that are raised are both male and female concerns so I don’t feel there will be any problems with one gender buying the magazine more than the other gender.

 Below is a mood board of possible things my audience is interested in:

My mood board reflects my audience. The reason for this mood board is to give a more clear idea of what kind of audience I would like to aim for. As you can see there are different types of items that represent jazz and soul, I think my magazine is most likely to reach out to people who are into soul music and soul classical music, teenagers that are trendy and hip and also young adults that know and are into the modern trends. In addition to this I think people who are into hip hop and R&B music, which are ambitious about music and are inspired by popular artists like “Usher” and “John Legend” are most likely to be my preferred audience.

Furthermore, the fashion trends that I would like to reach out to be a more retro but modest fashion trend. I am also reaching out to different audiences with diverse fashions, people who are not afraid of having their own signature “swagger”, which is a developed look that suits you.

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Q2: how does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

Q1: in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product uses conventions in many significant ways in order to convey a more attractive and eye catching media product piece. The way I laid out my magazine front page was merely inspired by the past magazine analysis I made previously. For example the first front page analysis I made was of a college magazine called “Rio Salado”, this was really useful because it gave me a clear idea of how a magazine should generally look. I was able to pick out the connotation and denotation of the magazine, how Mise en scene is used to engage the audience, as well as features that support theses connotations, and draws the audience to the magazine. For instance the girl posing in the magazine seems like a stereotypical figure of a student, this is ideal because it’s aiming at students. Analysis like this made it easier for me to understand features that need to be thought of before making a magazine, loads of ideas that have to be put down and considered,  and connotations that have to be clear and precise because the audience have to understand the purpose of why you’ve put certain features in certain places.

Similarly, I was able to also analyse a music magazine so that I can get familiar with the ways other creators of music magazines incorporate ideas and connotations in order to produce an eye catching magazine. I noticed that the masthead was in the middle of the page, and believe it’s intentional in order to attract the audience. I also realise that this magazine follows the typical conventions of music magazines.

In the run of this I decided to use the typical convention of the production of a music magazine in order to effectively attract a wide range of audiences and ages because my target age group like things that they are familiar with. I first started off by creating a masthead that could possibly attract the audience and keep them wondering why my magazine has been called this strange name “Switch”. I did this based on a study that I produced by asking people their preferred music genre, I varied them from R &B to rap, from Pop to opera, I also included genres that are particularly popular to the same social groups so that I can get a valid and accurate evaluation. My conclusion was that most people between the ages of 16-25 are interested in R&B and rock. The thing that I found very interesting is that a lot of the people who left comments said that the thing they love about R&B music is the famous “slow jam” songs, I felt that slow jam songs and soul/jazz music fit the same features, and it was because of this that I decided to do a magazine on the music that was left behind so that I could show the audience a newer and, possibly, more popular side of music. As you can see, next to the masthead I put “out with the old and in with the new” to show the view that trying new things are good and “popular”. Similarly I used conventions with the shots I made with my model for my front page, I took my photo at a medium close up because I felt that it was ideal to do so that I can attract my target audience who are not too keen on magazines that challenge conventions, also because my topic is very different to what a typical music magazine would usually be about I have to make sure the features and attraction of my magazine outweighs the topic tremendously. Similarly the reason for the large, bold and dynamic font of my masthead it to make it stand out to my publishers and the actual audience because, intentionally, I want my magazine to be the most attractive magazine to read, this also shows that my magazine is dominating and controlling. The colours that I used for the masthead were intentional because it connotes a sense of “royalty” and “popularity” the purpose is to make the reader feel as though it’s a magazine that must be read and talked about afterwards. I also felt that the colours “blue and purple” went with the theme of my magazine because it looks more relaxing, not too much is going on so it doesn’t look disorganised and messy.

Referring to my Masthead further I decided to place it at the top left corner of my main image. The reason for this was because I was given inspiration by a particular magazine that goes by the name of “Jazz”, it’s masthead was placed in the same way and I felt that it worked very well being that jazz music hits a minority of social groups the way the masthead was aligned with the main image made the magazine look much more attractive and eye catching for the audience. The main Image of my magazine was also inspired by this same “Jazz” magazine I was observing because the models costume was a stereotypical outfit that people into jazz music would wear, this was a very useful technique as it shows culture and originality of a social group that is not very popular or has not been heard of. So in the run of that I made sure I thought very hard about the models I use in my magazine, particularly front page, as a main image, I purposely choice accessories that connote my jazz theme.

 For example, this image here was my front page and the main image

 

        

Feedback:

Peace- where are your evaluations and rough drafts? the final deadline is 26th April. please ensure you do these, or your grade will suffer.