Frank F Harrison AS Media Studies: By Samantha Ryan (9122) Sean Poulton (9108) and Kristina Wooton (9170)

Showing posts with label By Samantha Ryan (9122) Sean Poulton (9108) and Kristina Wooton (9170). Show all posts

Friday, 18 December 2009

Music magazine contents page changes 8

I have changed the font of the writing to Arial because it looks more formal and I have also changed the font of the number to the magazine style of font.

Music magazine contents page changes 7

Here I have moved the picture of Sean with the guitar over to the left, because it cuts the writing up and makes the magazine look more presentable.

Music magazine contents page changes 6

We then added the writing about what was going to be in the magazine.

Music magazine contents page changes 5

We then added some more graphics to make it look more interesting.

Music magazine contents page changes 4

We also added page numbers on our pictures and a city scrape.

Music magazine contents page changes 3

We added a picture of a band called dynamite and also a picture of our lead singer out of random paradox.

Music magazine contents page changes 2

We added a blue background and put our title “contents”.

Music magazine contents page changes 1

We started of with a plain document.

Evaluation

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

Masthead - On all of my pages I have put a mast head at the top of the page stating what page it is. I have done this by using the artistic text tool which allows me to insert some writing of my choice in one of the many fonts provided by serif. The font that I have chosen is Davida Bd BT; I have chosen this because I think that it is very unusual and looks completely different to any other magazines I have seen, but also it is bold and it will attract someone to buy the magazine. The masthead on my contents page and double page spread didn’t stand out much from the other writing on the page, so I have created a bold outline around the text to make it stand out. Also I have added a few monochrome images behind my mast head because in my research this makes the mast head stand out. The colour of my masthead is white because it stands out from the background.

Puffs – In my research I found that the puffs are placed around the background picture, so I have placed my puffs in places where you can see the picture in the background and can also see the writing clearly, I think this technique works very well. In my puffs I have put written things like exclusive interview because in my research I found out that a lot of people read magazines just for the interviews that are inside the magazine.

Photographs – The photograph I chose for my background is of 3 people sitting on the stairs, I have edited my picture in serif by using the instant artist tool, which I used to make my photo black and white. The shot of my picture is a medium front shot.

Barcode – I have chosen to put a barcode in my magazine because in my research on every magazine had a barcode on it with its own individual number, so I made my own barcode in serif using the line tool and the artistic text tool.

Price – The price of my magazine is £3.00, but in all my research on other magazines I found that their prices were around £4.00 and over, so I decided to make my magazine a bit cheaper because it makes my magazine more competitive to others and will also make my magazine sell better than the rest. I have targeted my magazine on EMAP. In my research the price range of EMAP magazines was around £3.50 so I have lowered my price below this price to be more competitive with the company.

Date – When I did my research on all different magazines I found that every different magazine had its own style of writing for their date and also they were all in different places. The date of a magazine is there to help the customer know what issue they are buying, because no one is going to buy July issue then buy a June issue are they. So my magazine is easily recognised what issue it is because it is clearly

Page numbers – In my research I have found that most of the professional magazines page numbers are at the bottom right hand corner of the page, so I have put mine in the same place on every page so that when my reader is looking what page it is they know where to look. Also I have put the page number in my magazines font to make it stand out from other magazines.

Double page spread – My double page spread is there to tell people about the bands personal life because on this page it has an interview with band. This page also has continuous fonts from my other pages which make my magazine look more professional to its reader.

Contents page – My contents page is there to help my readers find their way around my magazine, for example if they wanted to find out some gossip on one of the bands they would only have to look at the contents page and look for its page number.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is aimed at teenagers, both male and female. So because I have aimed my magazine at both sexes I deliberately chose softer colours like blue to attract males and females to read my magazine. The band that I have used is of both sexes which mean my magazine will attract both female and male attention.

The type of music the band plays in my magazine is indie, so I wouldn’t expect my magazine to get a lot of colour readers because most coloured people like other types of music.

In my research I found that most professional magazines are around £4.50, so I would class this as being a magazine for middle class people. I have decided to price my magazine at £3.00 which makes my magazine affordable to most people and will also make my magazine sell better in shops because it is cheaper.

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

A magazine institution is a company that makes and publishes lots of different types of magazines.

There are three different types of media institutions and they are IPC media, EMAP and BBC, these are different media institutions which do completely different things.

I aimed my magazine to be part of the EMAP institution because my magazine is like the magazines empire and smash hits; also they are both aimed at the same age group. Smash Hits and Empire are both aimed at the teenage audience which is why I have aimed my magazine at EMAP. My magazine and Smash Hits magazine are both very similar because they both have interviews and competitions in the magazine; also on the front cover they both have a young band which attracts young readers.

EMAP is a British media company that specialises in the production of business to business magazines and the organisation of business events.
Who would be the audience for your media product?

After analysing my audience research I decided that the audience I wanted to target my magazine at was teenagers between the ages of 14 to 21. I have chosen this age group because I have found out in my research that teenagers like to listen to indie music more than people 30+. In my research I have also found out that teenagers are more likely to buy cheaper magazines, which means that my magazine is best suited for teenagers because my magazine is cheaper than most others.

How did you attract / address your audience?

In my research I have found out that people are more attracted to big bright mast heads and big pictures, so for my front page I have created a really bright mast head that stands out to the audience and also I have got a big picture as the background. I have used different competitions and interviews to try and attract younger readers, also I used a young band to try and attract young people to come and read my magazine.

I addressed the audience also by the price of my magazine; this was at a low £3.00 to address younger readers. I have used design elements that are more masculine and feminine elements, for example; I have used a pale blue which is more predominant to males, but I have used some micro elements that are more feminine and also the style of writing in the mast head is in a feminine style.

Most people like to know where everything is in a magazine so on my contents page I have clearly labelled where everything is with big bold page numbers next to the writing that tells them what in the magazine.

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

While doing this magazine I have learnt how to layout a music magazine and why music magazines are created. In the process of doing this I have learned about the different camera angles and what effects different angles have on the layout of the magazine, for example; if you have a close up shot on your contents page then the reader instantly knows that there is going to be something about specifically about him in the magazine.

I have also learnt how to take the background out of a picture using the magic wand tool in the paint.net program. Also doing this you can insert a different background behind the picture by using different layers.

Chroma Key – chroma key technology is a modern package which helps photo manipulation. It can be used to extract backgrounds of certain images which help to create photos of a professional quality to be used in a variety of ways.

I have used the chroma key technique to extract the background out of my pictures so that I can insert different backgrounds into my pictures. I deleted the green background from the picture by using the magic wand tool in paint.net.

I have used serif photo plus to manipulate one of my picture to black and white by using the instant artist tool. I have also used serif to get rid of my spot on my cheeks; the tool I used was the blemish tool.

I have also learnt how to use DTP. The skills I have learnt are, cutting the green background out of pictures, I had to use the magic wand tool on all the background and then use a rubber to get rid of all the left over parts of the background. I have also learned how to insert a picture into a shape for example, I had to insert a picture into serif draw a circle onto the part I want in the shape, then press Ctrl+C than Ctrl+V which will open up a new layer with your shape in it.

Look back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I feel that to improve my product I would have to:

Try some different ideas with my picture, for example different lighting and different angles. I need to change the lighting and angles because I have used too many of the same styles of lighting.
Do some more research on different magazines so that I would have more knowledge on what the public wants to see in a music magazine?
Write more description about what’s in my magazine on my contents page and try and write less about what is inside on the front cover.
Change the design around and see if I can make the magazine look more professional.
Do more research on fonts and try to find a better font for indie music.
I should use my research more closely to make my magazine better.
On my contents page I could have written more about the contents of my magazine and been a lot more specific to where and what everything is in my magazine.
In my double page spread I should have written more questions to the band to give the public more information about the band.

I have used a PowerPoint presentation in class discussing of my finished product. Doing this has helped me to consider the skills I have learnt through this unit.

Kristina Woottons Evaluation

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

My media product is of a new magazine which is audience to people who like indie music.

I have used the same style of mast head on all of my pages. The font I have used for my masthead is the Davida Bd BT font; I have chosen this font because I think it is stylish and different to other magazines I have researched. I also choose it to create a brand.
When I did research on the other magazines I found puffs which are what will be inside the magazine, so like all of the other magazines I have put puffs like this on my magazine just a few short snappy quotes. I did this so it will attract people to want to read the magazine so they would want to purchase it.
The photograph I have chosen of 3 people sitting on stairs has been changed to black and white so it will stand out against all of the other coloured magazines. The shot of my picture is a medium front shot.
I have a barcode on my magazine because when I did my research I found this, this is so when the audience will go to buy it all they have to do is scan it and this will show the price. This makes it easier to buy.
The price has been put by the barcode because it is easier for the customer to find. We add the price so the customer will know how much the magazine will be. When I did research I looked at how the price range was and it was between £2.50 - £3.50.

There is a date so the audience can know what issue the magazine is. Also the date is there for the customer to know is the product is new or old stock.
In my research I looked at why people brought magazines and what they looked for the audience liked to read stories or interviews. I have chosen for my double page spread to do an interview which will be an interesting story for the audience to read, I have done a text which is the same as the other pages so my magazine will be consistent. This gives an insider to the band’s likes and dislikes, also saying who or what inspired them to do music. I feel that putting an interview with an up and coming band with pictures will attract the customer, will get people to come and read my magazine and lead them to buy the magazine.
In my contents page I have used photographs of what will be inside, also I have put a few clues of what will be said and shown inside the magazine. I have put page numbers so it is easy to find what the customer is looking for.
I have put page numbers so the audience can find the page they are looking for easy.

All of these micro elements contribute to the macro product of my finished magazine. Each micro element contains professional qualities to depict a real established music magazine.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups

The target age I have decided to aim towards teenagers as the music magazine is usually based on bands who teenagers will have heard of so they will be interested to read the magazine. So, I have done a newly established band that are roughly the age of my target audience of teenagers so I think the public will be interested in this magazine.
The racial target for my magazine would be mainly white ethnicity. This is because indie music is mostly associated with a white audience.
My magazine goes to both genders as any sex can read it, the magazine I have done has blue writing but it has swirls as the text go it matches both gender.
The sexuality can go to both it doesn’t matter what sexuality you are to read this magazine.
The magazine I have done doesn’t go to one nationality as any one can read it but it would have to change depending on the language spoken.

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

“Emap is central to providing the latest information, analysis and inspiration to the apparel, style, design and retail industries, so that our customers can maximize opportunities and avoid the pitfalls of today’s changing fashion industry. WGSN’s forward-looking trend analysis and real-time intelligence is updated every hour. Drapers have been at the heart of the fashion industry for over 120 years, offering the inside-track on the news, trends, and views that are shaping the sector.”
EMAP is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events.
I aimed my magazine is an Emap magazine because my magazine is like empire, smash hits ECT. I decided to go by this because I did the same range of audience. I have picked out Emap because the kids can relate to them. Smash Hits and Empire are both aimed towards the teenager audience and this is why I have chosen to aim my magazine towards Emap. I have added a young band like how Smash Hits and Empire have on there magazines so the young audience will recognise the band and want to look at the magazine and buy it.
My magazine and the smash hits magazines are audience to the same ages.

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

I did my research and I have decided to aim my magazine at young people who will be around 14-21 and also to find what music they would look for in an indie music magazine. I have chosen this age range because that’s what ages will be interested in what my magazine is about; also the age range is what Smash Hits or Empire would go by.
I have also decided to aim my magazine towards both male and female genders as both genders can read my magazine. My magazine isn’t either masculine or feminine it is designed to be appropriate for both sexes.
I have chosen this because the price range I have chosen isn’t too expensive this would be reasonable for anyone. As the price range is between £2.50-£3.50.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I have used a bright mid blue so it will stand out on the black and white background this will attract the audience this is more a masculine colour but then my micros are more feminine as they are more what girls will be attracted to.
My price is at a low range to address young readers. I have used design elements which are more masculine and feminine elements.
My pictures stand out well against the blue background on my contents page, also on my double page spread I have put a border around my pictures so it will draw people to look at them.
On my contents page I have added big page numbers with what’s on that page so when the public need to find something it’s clear and easy to find.

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

I have learnt by using paint.net, how to use the magic wand, the magic wand gets rid of your background that you don’t want so it cuts out your picture so It doesn’t have a background. I used this on my contents and double page spread. I can insert different colour backgrounds.
I learnt on serif how to make an actual magazine I used this program to do my masthead, headline and background I put things like barcode, picture and graphics. I have also learnt how to manipulate one of my pictures to black and white. By using the instant artistic tool to blemish the skin on one of the people in my picture.
I used the internet to go on to google and research magazines to find out what kind of things I had to use.
I also used Microsoft office 2003; I used this to comment on my magazine changes this kept track on what I was changing to my magazine.
I have also used DTP, the sort of things I have learnt is cutting the background from out of the green sheet I used the magic wand to do this and then the rubber to get rid of the bits I missed. I have also learnt how to insert a picture or shape. If you hold Ctrl+c then Ctrl+v this will open up a new layer with your shape in it.
Chroma key is how you manipulate a picture it can be used to extract the backgrounds of certain images which will help to create my picture. I have used this to extract my background out of my pictures so I can insert a different background.

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

Firstly I would have done more changes to my picture and tried different things because the ones we have done are mostly the same lighting and we didn’t have a very big range of picture to choose from.
Secondly I would have done more research to find out what the public wanted.
I also would have tried to put more information about the band dynamite this would have added more interesting stories than just one story to talk about.
I would have liked to added more description to my photos to say what they were doing when this photo was being taken and to make it look more professional.
I would have had less things going on in the contents page I’ve made it look too crowded. I could have also made it more specific to be and what everything was about.
On my double page spread I would have added more of who was saying what. Also I could have asked the band more questions to make the pubic more interested.
I could have looked more at my questions and made them more professional and made more.
I should have taken longer to look at my research to find out what they were looking for to make my magazine better.

I have used a PowerPoint presentation in class discussing the evaluation of my product. This allowed me to consider the skills I have learnt through this unit.

My final magazine double page spread

This is my first page of my double page spread. After looking closely at my magazine i decided to make changes and this is the final product i came up with.

i feel that through adding the micro's it makes it look more attractive. I also chose to add these because i though that it works well with the band, Using these micro's this creates a brand for the band and to look at the double page spread you can tell by the music notes that it is an interview with a music band.

This is the second half of my double page spread. i also decided to change my second page because my original page was plain and didnt attract the eye of the readers. I know feel that the second page will attract the reader and i also think that my magazine colours are continuous.

Sam's Evaluation

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• My media product has used a number of micro’s in which you would find in an everyday EMAP magazine
• In my media product I used normal everyday things you see in a magazine for example I used a barcode because in my research I found that a bar code was used on every magazine and is necessary because they are used to scan and detect the price of the magazine if it isn’t displayed on the front cover. I also used the date and a price on my magazine like you would see this on any other magazine
• I think that the images I used on my product was at the right angle as you can clearly see each person in the shot, I used a low angle shot for my image angle.
• Also on my contents page I used a number of features that an everyday magazine would, I used page numbers and images to attract the reader to keep them looking at the product.
• My double page spread article has a similar layout to an everyday magazine article. This is because I have used columns and images that relate to the columns, I have also used puffs referring to sections out from the article.
• Looking at my research on my blog I chose to look at several different font types I then looked at several colours that may work well with each font. I then changed my font to suit both the male and female gender.
• After looking at my research I chose to use a font with swirls I picked this font because the colour that I have chosen for my font was masculine but by adding the font with swirls adds a feminine touch to it, I decided that I would have the text size large because my researched showed me that using a bigger masthead caught the eye of the product buyer better than a small plain masthead.
• when I created my masthead I decided to have the same font continuing through all pages this then made the product flow evenly and it didn’t look mixed and matched. This also makes the magazine look like a professional macro.
• I then continued this style of font onto my contents page. I also added micro’s to my contents page I added a footer and page numbers. I then did the same for my double page spread.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• My media product represents an Indie style band aiming their music at the younger generation who are just finding their feet on what music styles they prefer.
• My media product is representing the music industry. The product does this by advertising a fresh released Indie band. The magazine is based a soft Indie music genre.
• My magazine is represented visually as my image and my puffs collaborate. This is because my puffs are relevant to the image I had chosen for the main cover of my magazine.
• I think that the representations are seen in my magazine as it is a young appealing magazine and that’s what the band represents young people who like Indie music.
• I’d say that this magazine represents and appeals to the youth of a working- middle class environment as it is presented in a normal everyday environment for example the image was taken in school.
• I think this media product would appeal to young whit youths because you never find a coloured Indie band.
• My product is aimed at both the male and female gender, you can tell this through the band. The band is a young mixed sex and colour schemes are very even for both sexes as the blue isn’t to masculine, it is a soft blue.

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
• EMAP- emap is a British run media company, specialising in business-to-business magazines and the production of them. They also organise business events and conferences

• I chose my magazine to be an EMAP magazine. I have chosen this because my magazine has a similar layout to the magazines that the EMAP Company produces. The EMAP Company produces magazines such as FHM, smash hits and empire.
• After looking at my research that I have collected the most brought magazine was an EMAP magazine therefore I created an Emap magazine in order to get the same amount of sales.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
• After looking at my research I chose to aim my media product at young people who are maybe just leaving school or are at university and are looking to find what specific type of music they like if they don’t already have one.
• Also after looking at my research I chose to aim the magazine to both male and female buyers. I think my magazine is appropriate to both sex because it isn’t dominated in anyway by any masculine or feminine features it is equally mixed.
• I have chosen this audience because I think that the price that I have chosen isn’t too expensive and would be appropriate for anyone to buy.

How did you attract/address Your Audience?

• I think I attracted my audience by the masthead, because I used the black and white effect on my image I think that the masthead stands out from everything else. I also think that the image I have chosen for the front page attracts the reader’s attentions because the people in the image are well seen and the image is clear.
• I also think that the font I chose for my masthead would draw the readers to the media product because it is different and isn’t plain and boring. It is attractive and appealing to both male and female readers.
• I think that by using this text and the spray paint splodges, I think that I have created a brand, I also think this because the colours in my media product are continuous.

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

• To create my media product I used a number of different technology programmes. One of the programmes I used was serif page plus. This is the main program I used to make my media products.
• I used the digital photography in order to get my images that I used in my magazine. I used a chroma key stand to take my pictures on this then helped me when it came to me cutting out the background using the program paint.net, this program allows you to use a magic wand and using the contrast of the green on the chroma key stand, this then allowed me to cut out the background of my image and place the remains of the image onto a different back ground.
• I also used a programme called serif photo plus, I then used this program to manipulate some of the images on my media product for example I used this program to edit the contrast levels on a picture on my contents page. I also used the blemish tool on this photo package. I used this tool in order to remove any marks on the skin that may not be wanted on the image.
• I used a DTP package to create the media product. I used several different tools in this package. Using this package I was able to add text to my media product I was also able to manipulate images that I used, by using the image filters. I also used the blemish tool to remove any impurities from the skin on the person in the image.

Chroma Key

• A Chroma key can be used to mix two images or frames together, you do this buy removing or making one colour from the image transparent. This technique is also referred to as colour keying, colour-separation overlay (CSO; primarily by the BBC), greenscreen, and bluescreen. A Chroma key is used in everyday life for example to broadcast weather forecasts, they are used in this industry as the weather man/woman appears to be standing infront of a weather map.
• The only downfall with a chroma key is if the person standing on it have the same colour clothing on as the chroma key for example a green top on a greenscreen when removing the background the top will disappear aswell

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?How would you improve your product?

• After looking back to when I first started my media product I think that I have improved a lot, I also think that with the use of the serif programmes it made it easier to create the product.
• Looking back I think I would improve my product by laying out my design first instead of jumping straight in and putting things anywhere. After looking at my magazine front cover I chose to improve it by changing my image from colour to grey scale. This then improved my magazine by a lot because my masthead stood out from the background.
• I would also improve the double page spread on my media product, I think the layout could be improved because it is very cramped in places. I also think that the puffs could be improved because they aren’t very interested.

I have also done a powerpoint presentation in class discussing the evaluation of my finished product. This allowed me to consider the skills i have learnt through this unit.