Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What do you Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?

Comparing my preliminary task to my main task, I think my work has improved and developed dramatically.

I feel that I have improved my approach to audience research in my main task as I have been very thorough and reflected on my results more than in my preliminary. I have made sure that all my findings impacted my product, which I didn't do as well in my preliminary.

By doing lots of detailed research and planning, I feel I have gained more of an insight in to magazine codes and conventions and understand them well. I found things from my research that showed me how I could make my magazine look more professional which I didn't include in my preliminary task. For example, I put the price in pounds and euros on my bar code, which I didn't put on my preliminary cover. I also used more interesting type faces thanks to DaFont, where as in my preliminary I used Times New Roman, Arial Black and Lucinda Calighraphy which are all quite boring. I think I also improved my language that I used in my sell lines and cover lines to make my magazine appear more professional. By looking at lots of magazine layouts in my main task, I feel I really improved my contents page because the design is much more interesting and looks much more professional than in my preliminary.

I was already familiar with paint shop pro so I don't think I have developed my skills, but by editing my photos and creating my masthead in here rather than just putting everything straight in to InDesign like in my preliminary, I think my magazine looked far more professional. I feel after improving my skills, InDesign allowed me to create a more interesting layout than in my preliminary and place text easily. I didn't know how to use InDesign when I started, so my skills have definatley developed on this programme from when I started.

I feel that my shots taken for my preliminary and main task are equally good. I don't think I have particularly developed my skills on setting up a shoot such as location, mise en scene and camera angles because I think my images work equally well for what they are aimed at. However, I did find that the Canon 60D SLR was much better for taking photos and allowed me gain the exact shots I wanted due to being able to chage so many settings. However, I did get different effects in my shots from the preliminary task such as the photo of the chain I had taken for my photography project and the image of the book which both used narrow depth of fields. In my shoots for my main task I also thought more about lighting than I did in my preliminary, therefore inporving the photos in this context.

I think I have also developed my critical evaluation skills my doing a more detailed evaluation of my own main task product. In my preliminary task I didn't go in to as much detail and simply typed it up on a word document, but for my main task I did my evaluation in thorough sections using images to explain my points. I think by doing this I have definatley developed my evaluation skills when looking at my own work or someone elses.

What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?

This is the asus laptop I used at home to do the majority of my work. I also used the dell computers at college during lessons to carry on with work.

I also used a memory stick to transfer work from my laptop to college and vice versa. This was extremely helpful because it allowed me to move work around in order to complete things faster aswell as backing up any work.

I also used microsoft outlook to email work to myself from college to home and vice versa when I had forgotten my memory stick. I also used it to keep organise dates with my models and keep in contact with teachers.

I used my lumix compact camera to take all my photos for my preliminary task.

By the time I was going to take my photos for my main task, I had my Canon 60D SLR which was alot better for taking my images because I was able to change many settings in order to get the image I wanted. The photos were also better quality.

My epson stylus printer was very helpful for scanning in my mockups.

I also used dafont.com to download the font I used for my masthead. I found this website to be very useful and it had a wide variety of fonts I could look at and choose from.

I used Corel Paint Shop Pro X to manipulate all of my images, as you can see from my print screens. I used this to adjust the photo and improve it, aswell as cut out the background ready to move in to in design. The tools I found most useful were the smart photo fix and the lasoo.

I learnt to use Adobe InDesign to create my magazine for the preliminary and main task. I found it difficult at first, but eventually I was able to use it quite easily. It was very good for positioning text, which I found when doing other work programmes like paint shop pro wasn't very good for.

I also used Publisher to create my timeline, table of organisation and moodboards which was helpful.

I then print screened and moved these documents in to paint so I could make them in to images and upload them to my blog.

I also used Microsoft Word to type up my preliminary task evaluation and my location recces.

I used Microsoft Power Point quite frequently. I used it to put together all my research and for my flat plannings. I found it was a good way to put information together.

I uploaded all these documents to slideshare and scribd which then allowed me to embed them in to my blog posts. This was incredibly helpful when putting up my work.

I created a blogger account to upload all my work on to. I found this a good way to put a body of work together and was very easy. It allowed me to upload images and my powerpoints and documents from slideshare and scribd, aswell as explain each part of my work in a post.

How Did You Attract/Adress Your Audience?

I used various techniques to attract my audience. My use of language was an imprtant factor. I tried to use language that my audience could relate to and understand. For example, I didnt use complicated volcabulary and sentence stuctures, I created something that was easy and enjoyable to read for my audience. I also tried to include aspects of spoken language that my audience would use in every day conversation, for example slang like "cool".

Throughout my magzine I also felt I used appropriate fonts that would attract my audience. For my masthead I used a bold, modern, futuristic font that I felt would appeal to my audience. I continued to use this font for more headings. For my written content I used an easy to read, sans serif type face that I felt kept a consistent modern style.

I felt the content of my contents page would really attract my audience. Something Ithought would definatley appeal was that I included the charts listings. This is because I decided my audience would be interested in anything mainstream, so they would be interested in keeping up to date with the music currently in the charts. I included articles about made up established and arising artists, aswell as an article all about new artists that were appearing on the charts. I felt these would appeal to my audience as they would want to know about all the updates to do with music. I also included free downloads, which would definatley appeal to my audience (as you can see previously from my questionairre results), aswell as an articles that again would keep my audience up to date with popular music.

I also tried to aim my double page spread content to my audience as much as possible. In the questionairre I included questions and answers that would appeal to my audience and be something they could relate to. I also used the term of adress "we", so my audience would feel involved with the article. In addition to this, I also included some existing artists that my made up artist would recommend. I used artists that people had mentioned in my questionairre, for example Rihanna was widely mentioned.

In my images I had my models wear casual yet fashionable clothing. I felt this gave them an image that my audience could relate to. I also had them pose in confident, fun ways which gave them a friendly, exciting image which is also something I think my audience can relate to. However, I think my models could have been wearing something more exciting in order to capture my audience's attention. I think I also should have used some males in my images to equal out the balance between males and females in my magazine, therefore appealing more to the male part of my audience.

I created my mashead to appeal to my audience by using a modern sans serif font. This was bold and easy to read, and I think it worked really well for the style of my magazine. I also made my masthead black with a hint of colour on the play button as I felt these were colours that would relate well to both males and females and the use of no colour combined with colour gave a modern and interesting touch. I also thought my use of a play button as the A was unique. It suggested to my audience that my magazine was up to date with technology, so it would appeal to them. I also think it worked really well with the name play for my magazine.

I represented my social group in a posotive way through my images and content. I think the way I have represeneted my audience would attract them to my magazine. In my images my artists look confident, casual and fashionable so I think this representation would adress my audience well.

I laid my magazine out in a clear yet modern way. I used a grid like style, especially on my contents page but placed images and text in a way that made it look interesting. The layout of my magazine cover is what a magazine would usually look like, which I thought worked best in the music magazines I looked at in my research. The layout of my contents page and double page spread definatley had a modern look, mostly because of the additonal graphics I had used, for example the shapes and text in the background of my double page spread. I think the layout of my magazine would appeal to my audience because it was easy to read yet each page had a modern and fun twist that my audience should find interesting.

I intended to aim my magazine at both males and females, but it turned out to be aimed at predominantly females. However, I think this would work well on the market because so many music magazines are aimed at males. I aimed my magazine predominantly at females mostly in the design of my magazine. I used images of females in casual clothing so it would be something the same gender could relate to. If the females in my images were wearing clothing that gave them sex appeal such as underwear, they would be aimed more at males. Although they were posing confidently, they weren't posing in a particular way that would aim them towards men rather than women. I think the colour scheme I used was also particularly feminine. I think the use of pink and green worked well for the magazine and males could also find this appealing, but the pink in the colour scheme is predominantly aimed towards a female audience. I dont think the written content and type faces I used are aimed more at females, I think they would easily appeal to both sexes.

My initial audience research had an impact mostly on the content of my magazine. For example, I found the most common artists mentioned in my questionnaire were in the charts, as to why I included the up to date music charts in my contents page. I also found that music was commonly consumed over the internet, so I chose to include free downloads rather than a free CD. This was also influenced by people saying they would like something free to be included with the magazine.

I gained audience feedback by emailing an audience feedback record sheet and asking them to fill it in and return it in an email with some additional feedback. Here is my audience feedback record form Audience_Feedback_Record_Sheet
Here is a print screen of one of the emails I sent to people

And here is the response I got

From my audience feedback, I think I have been quite succesful targetting my audience. All the females I asked said they really liked the colour scheme I used and the images, but the mojority of the males said they disliked this. Nearly everyone I asked said they liked how I had included the charts in the contents page and used a play symbol for the a in the masthead. People also mentioned how they liked the layout because they thought it was well composed and interesting. Some imporvements people suggested were to include some more articles on established artists in my contents page and sell lines because they said this would have attracted them more. Overall, I got good audience feedback and feel my magazine worked well to attract them.

Who Would Be the Audience for your Media Product?

My media product is aimed at 16-21 year olds both male and female. However, the way I designed my magazine and the written content bend slightly more towards females. I think my magazine would still appeal to males, but I noticed when I was looking at Media Institution websites, music magazines were often placed in male entertainment sections, as you can see from Bauer media:

Therefore I think it would be good to have a music magazine with a slight bias to females. My audience would wear casual, fashionable clothing and be interested in popular music, most things played on radio 1 for example. They would spend their free time going out with their friends to pubs, clubs, parties and other events like festivals.

I based this audience on what I had learnt from my research. From my questionairre I learnt what was most popular amongst young people so I could base my magazine on this. Foer example, I found what artists, festivals and so on were most popular so I could use this in my magazizine. I also found things from my questionairre that helped see how my audience consumed music, which I thought was very important. I found that music was most popularly consumed over the internet, usually illegally downloaded:

How do you acess music?

Where do you watch music videos?

As you can see from my results, internet consumption of music was very popular. This told me a young audience were up to date with technology so I would need to base my magazine content around this. I also saw music was illegally downloaded, which is free, so I included some free downloads with the magazine.

Although my questionairre showed me what my targetting age range was interested in, it didn't determine what particulary social group from this age range I was going to aim my magazine at. From "Find Your Tribe", I got the result as a Townie.

I saw that this was the most popular tribe in the UK, so I decided to aim my magazine at this audience. Townie's are described as people who are interested in anything mainstream, so fashion, music, festivals, technology etc. A townie seemed to me as a completely normal teenager.

My audience's soci-economic group would probably fall in to groups D and E. This is because they would most likely be students at college or university working a part time job, or no job at all. Their phycographic profiling would be a combination of explorer and mainstreamer. My audience would be classified as explorers because they would seek new experiences and thrills, such as travelling. They would be mainstreamers because they would be interested in anything that made them belong, mainstream fashions as Find Your tribe explained. They may also be succeeders as they could be a student or someone trying to gain experience and qualifications in order to become successful.

What Kind of Institution Would Distribute Your Product and Why?

I think a suitable media institution to distribute my product would be someone such as IPC Media. This is because they already distribute music magazines "NME" and "Uncut" so they have experience in how this genre of magazines should be distributed. Although they already distribute two other music magazine products, my magazine focuses on a different genre and social group, so there would be no risk of them distributing competing magazines.

I also considered Bauer Media but they already distribute Q magazine which is of the same genre as my product. This means they would be unlikely to distribute my magazine due to that they already distribute for a competitor.

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups

The social group I chose to aim my media product was normal teenagers whoe are interested in pop/mainstream music. I used models that were wearing casual clothing that most teenagers their age would wear. If I compare the image on my contents page to this image of Alicia Keys in Blender magazine:

They are posing in a similar way with one hand to the side and one hand on their hip. Although they are wearing different clothing, I think the look of my model is something the social group I aimed my magazine at can relate to because of the way she is posing and her outfit. I have portrayed the social group as normal teenagers with typical interests.

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products

1) Masthead
For my masthead I used the font "quantum". I chose this font because I felt it was modern and interested and went well with the pop theme of my magazine. For the play button I used a seperate font called pointers, I felt this was a unique part of my masthead as it hadn't been done before. I stuck to bright, bold colours, using black and green for my title as I noticed these were the colours often used in other existing pop magazines. The type face of my masthead follows codes and conventions of some existing magazines. For example, it could be compared to the Blender masthead in that the font is bold and rounded with a modern feel:

And the Billboard magazine masthead in that it is black with hints of colour. The rounded, bold, modern font is also similar:

However, the masthead for my magazine does challenge the codes and conventions of magazines. I have used a play button to replace the "a" which magazines dont tend to do as they keep their masthead all one type face. However, I think this worked well because it was individual and made my magazine identifiable as a music magazine. It also fitted well with the name "play" for my magazine and in my opinion, made the magazine memorable.

2) Mise-en-scene of Images
I think the mis-en-scene of my images follow the codes and conventions of magazines. This is because the images used in other magazines tended to have a blank background to draw more attention to the artist. My images were very studio like, which potrays that the "artists" in my photos were professional. I also used a sunny scene in Italy for one of my contents page images, which gave a happy, fun, feel to the image, which fitted in well with the genre of my magazine. I had my models pose confidently, like they were enjoying themselves. This is portrayed by their mode of adress and they're looking directly at the camera in the images.

3)Costumes and props
The costumes and props used throughout Play are conventional and unconventional. I didn't use any props, which was unconventional as images in magazine do tend to use props. If I were to take my images again, I would have taken this in to consideration. My models were wearing casual yet fashionable clothing, which I think worked well with the genre and my mode of adress. However, the costumes could have been more interesting and given my artists a more fun and interesting image.

4)Models
The people used in my magazine are quite unconventional. This is because they are slightly younger then artists usually featured and not as extreme in the way they are dressed. The use of females was conventional, as a lot of female artists to tend to be placed in pop genre magazines. However, my magazine could be veiwed as biased as I didnt use any male models. If I were to make my magazine again, I would have definatley used some males to equal out the sexuality in my magazine.

5)Title font and style of double page spread
I decided to follow the codes and conventions of a blender double page spread I previosuly looked at for my double page spread:

I stuck magazine codes and conventions in that my quotes were very large to attract the audiences attention, but the title "sarah ashcroft" was much smaller, although is was highlighted in blue. This stuck to blender's codes and conventions, but perhpaps not other magazines. I used the same type face "quantum" for my title to keep a house style throughout my product.

6)Written Content
My magazine sticks to codes and conventions of music magazines by covering similar topics in the questions asked in the interview. For example I asked the artist about upcoming albums, gigs, parties and so on which are commonly found in existing music magazine interviews. The stand first also keeps to codes and conventions by introducing the artist at the beggining of the interview. I also included some artists that were supposed to be reccomended by the artist. I noticed that some other music magazines had done this and I felt it was a nice addition to the interview. The language I used was chatty and casual which I felt teenagers could relate to.

7)Music genre and how your magazine suggests it
The chosen music genre of my magazine was pop/mainstream music. I intended to aim my magazine at a variety of music that appeal commonly to teenagers. This is clear throughout my magazine because of the look of my models and the bright, modern style of my product. For example, I have used the colour scheme of black, pink, green with hints of blue which I found to commonly used in magazines of the same genre, such as Billboard and Blender. I also included the music charts in my contents page which clearly identifies my genre. This is also visible in my double page spread, where I have included my artists recomendations. Existing music magazines suggest their genre through colour scheme, images and featured artists meaning I therefore kept to magazine codes and conventions.

8)Layout
The layout of my magazine was quite conventional. My cover has a classic layout of the image taking up the entire page, the artist covering part of the title, the sell lines displayed around the edges and the masthead at the top. A conventional layout is also evident in my contents page, where I have the heading "contents" across the top and the page organised in to sections. My double page spread also sticks to magazine codes and conventions in that the interview is organised in to columns on one side, and the main image is on the other.

9)Contents Page
My contents page contains elements that follow the codes and conventions of existing music magazines. For example, it includes feature articles and some other main articles which I found existing magazines often did. I have also included an image from the main article paired with a quote and page number which attracts the reader. I have also included a subscription which is commonly used in music magazines. My contents page follows the codes and conventions mainly of the Billboard contents pages in the way it is laid out and how I have included the charts:

Final Double Page Spread

Here is my final double page spread. I used Paint Shop Pro to edit the image and InDesign to create the page. I think my double page worked out reasonably well, although I would have made some improvements which I will discuss in my evaluation.

Evidence of Image Manipulation - Double Page Spread Image

I have edited my main image for my double page spread in paint shop pro so I can then move it in to InDesign. Firstly, I used the smart photo fix tool to adjust the brightness, shadows, highlights and colours.

I then adjusted the colour balance of the image.

And then the brightness and contrast.

I used the airbrush tool to erase any imperfections.

I also used the burn tool to emphasise here eye make-up.

I then used the selection tool to cut around the image.

I then used the eraser tool to neaten up the edges and remove sections of the background still remaining in gaps.

Here is my final image with no background ready to move in to InDesign to use in my double page spread.

Final Contents Page

Here is my final contents page. I edited my image in paint shop pro and created the page in InDesign. I think my contents page worked well, but I could have made some improvements which I will go over in my evaluation.

Evidence of Image Manipulation - Contents page image

I edited my main image for my contents page in paint shop pro before moving it in to in design. I started off by using the smart photo fix tool to adjust the brightness, shadows, highlights and colours.

I then used the airbrush tool to erase any imperfections.

I then adjusted the brightness and contrast

And then used the selection tool to cut out Sarah from the background.

Here is my image with no background ready to move in to InDesign