AS Media Final Evaluation
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The document discusses pop music and media representation. It then provides details about how the author constructed their music magazine, including following conventions of real magazines, representing social groups, choosing a media institution for distribution, attracting their target audience of teenage girls and young women, and what they learned about technology from the process.
AS Media Final Evaluation
- 2. Introduction What is ‘POP’ Music? pop music as "a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz and folk music's". Although pop music is often seen as oriented towards the single charts it is not the sum of all chart music, which has always contained songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock and while pop music as a genre is usually seen as existing and developing separately. Thus "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. What is media representation? The term refers to the processes involved as well as to its products. For instance, in relation to the key markers of identity - Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity. representation involves not only how identities are represented within the text but also how they are constructed in the processes of production and reception by people whose identities are also differentially marked in relation to such demographic factors. Consider, for instance, the issue of 'the gaze'. How do men look at images of women, women at men, men at men and women at women. Definitions from: www.google.comwww.wikipedia.com
- 3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? In my magazine I have developed many of the conventional ideas used in other magazines of this genre. I have placed the price just below my masthead near the date and issue of my magazine. I have placed it here specifically so that it will help the consumer find it easily. On my front cover I have not challenged other forms and conventions. I have placed my masthead on the left-hand side so that when it is stacked on a shelf people can see it. Also, I have placedthe main information on both the left and right hand side so that which ever is visible consumers can easily see what articles are featured in my magazine. In my magazine I used a large masthead to show the importance of it. A bigger masthead further attracts the customer’s attention compared to a small sized one. Another convention that I have used is keeping the barcode at the bottom of the page as it’s less important. I decided to use a style of writing that stands out and also fits in with my genre. The writing style I used was ‘Gill Sans Ultra Bold’, I decided to use this writing because it’s easily readableand seems appealing to the target audience of young adults. The double page spread is set out as a typical magazine and uses pictures of the artist just like any other magazine would. The layout is an essential aspect of the magazine as it makes it easier for the audience to read and understand.
- 4. How does your media product represent particular social groups? Social groups are stereotypes that are made by the higher classes that represent certain people. For example a Rock themed magazine might have a male with a funky hairstyle holding a guitar. My music magazine represents a social group of a lower-middle class young female pop fans. It represents ‘Pop’ and therefore the model has used certain stereotypes such as wearing lots of make-up and fashionable accessories. Young female pop fans like colours like pink and red because they bring out their features therefore I have incorporated those colours into my magazine. I asked my model to wear a fashionable bright scarf because that is something the audience can relate to. The scarf does not look very warm but, because it looks nice or goes with what they are wearing younger girls would wear it.
- 5. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? The media institution that might distribute my magazine would be IPC; they are the largest media distribution in the UK which are owned by Time Warner. The reason I have decided to use IPC to distribute my magazine is because it would be cheaper then if do it independently. Distributing my magazine independently would be too expensive as I would have to pay for printing, advertisement and distributions costs. If I was a small business it would affect my sales because it would limit to where I can sell my product. If I was to distribute independently Therefore its better to distribute my magazine through IPC because they have cross media ownership. Cross media ownership is where a corporation owns more than one media outlet so a corporation own print, television, film and internet. This means that advertisement of the magazine will be much cheaper and this would then become promotion. This would help my increase my profit margins because I wouldn’t have to pay for advertisement deals. I will be looking to distribute my magazine in Newsagents, WH Smith and many large supermarkets for example, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. This will help me target my specified target audience because they are likely to shop there. Also having my magazine in a supermarket would help me profit more sales because there is a broader audience.
- 6. Who would be the audience for your media product? Prior to constructing my magazine I did a questionnaire with a group of around 15-20 people in my college. I asked them about what music genre they listen to and if they would buy a magazine based on their favourite genre. I also asked what they look for in a music magazine (album reviews, articles or more images then text) and why? Once I completed my questionnaire I analysed my results. The questionnaire was really beneficial because this enabled me to decide on what magazine I was going to create. I will be making a music magazine aimed at the pop genre fans. I decided that my magazine would be targeted at female teenagers and young adults. I have chosen this audience as people in their age category are most likely to purchase a magazines from the ‘pop’ music genre. I think targeting this audience is good because they will be able to relate to the content of the magazine. It is also more likely that late teenagers and young adults will go out and buy a magazine as it contains features and articles that they will enjoy reading. Also most pop artists are of a similar age to my targeted audience for example, Taylor Swift.
- 7. How did you attract/address your audience? On the front cover of my music magazine I have used a medium shot image of a teenage pop artist. I attract the targetaudience by asking my model to make eye contact with the camera so that it looks as if she is looking at you directly. I have researched magazines online such as Billboard and Kerrang to see what sort of conventions they use to attract their target audience. To get a better understanding of how a customer would see the magazine I decided to go to my local newsagents and purchase Kerrang magazine. The masthead will be over sized in every issue of my magazine as this is one of the biggest selling points of the magazine. The sub headings and body text are relatively smaller then the masthead. I used a bright red to attract more people into reading the magazine. I asked my model has used certain stereotypes such as wearing lots of make-up and fashionable accessories. Young female pop fans like colours like pink and red because they bring out their features therefore I have incorporated those colours into my magazine.
- 8. Front Page - How did you attract/address your audience?The masthead will be over sized in every magazine; this is the big selling point of the magazine. The sub headings and body text are relatively smaller then the masthead. I used a bright red to attract more people into reading the magazine. From comparing the two previous magazine’s I’ve taken inspiration from both. However, for the eyebrows I took for inspiration from Kerrang magazine. I thought adding eyebrows added another dimension. In my personal opinion I think that including eyebrows made the magazine seem more professional instead of like a project.Analysing both Billboard and kerrang magazine I realised that neither include the issue date. The reason I chose to include this was some people like to collect magazines or refer back to a certain issue.Like other music magazines that have a house style (colour and font) I chose the two colour that are featured in the masthead and also black as a contract and neutral colour.I reason chose to include the barcode was that most music magazine I’ve seen have the barcode at the front . I think that having the barcode on the front cover with the price alongside shows that this ” new” music magazine is official.The word ‘Lucas Taylor’ is in a larger font compared to the rest of the text on the cover . The reason for this is Lucas Taylor is the main artist who is featured in the magazine and by putting his name in a larger font also tells the purchaser.The image is of a pop star who is a substitute for Lady Gaga. I thought the clothes contrasted well with the background. The image is a medium shot. I thought a close up shot would make the cover look hectic. Vibe’s magazine cover above is a close-up (/medium) shot however as there isn’t much text the image doesn’t overwhelm the cover.
- 9. Contents Page - How did you attract/address your audience?The word contents are in the house style . I chose to use the colours black and red as I found the pairing of colour white and red was repetitive.I chose again to include the issue date as most magazine contents pages include this. Here you can see that there are words which are different sizes, the reason is to separate the text and indicate different sections. I used different colour to separate the sections as it would be better to change the font.I included the biggest image of the most important artist in the whole magazine to represent his importance. The image I chose blends well with the rest of the page and does not look out of place.The page numbers are in the same colour as the text. I have them neatly piled to the left before the actual article.
- 10. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
- 11. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? The process of constructing my magazine involves using the internet and computer software such as Photoshop. I conducted all my research on the internet using a search engine called Google. As a personal preference I use Mozilla Firefox to internet explorer simply because I find web pages open and close faster. Another very important factor into constructing a magazine is preparation. I find that if you plan your front cover, contents page and double page spread first it makes it easier when actually designing the product on In-design or Photoshop. We use the Photoshop to edit the images which we are going to use when creating our final product on In-design. The Photoshop software which involves the programme in design which has been made to produce magazines. The Photoshop software brings out a new edition nearly every year with improvements and new facilities. The first ever Photoshop could only change the colour and contrast of the picture, now u can completely transform the pictures using edits and filters to make them look more attractive to the customers. This technology has led me to be able to edit and finish my product much quicker and still have quality due to the software being more advanced then before.
- 12. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?I have definitely gained a wider knowledge into how to construct a high quality magazine product. The preliminary task has helped me organise my time effectively when creating my actual final product. In my preliminary task I had no idea how to design a magazine. In class I learned the basic functions such as how to upload an image. I know that it is vital for you to not only research magazines online using the internet but, also to go into shops such as supermarkets and newsagents. I find it better to actually feel the product and hold it in your hand to see how a customer would look at the product. When researching you must ensure you ask yourself what it is you like about the magazine and why? It was also much easier the second time around when editing my images to use for my magazine. At this point I became much more confident and could freely use the stamp tool to edit around the face and also apply new filters to enhance the front cover image. It was much easier for me to use Photoshop compared to In-design because I feel more confident working with layers. However, I designed my practise magazine using In-design and found that it was very simple to use.
- 13. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? At home I experimented with the different tools on in design such as the text tool and how to drag it using the arrow tool. I found that if you practise at home it becomes much more easier to design your product in lesson. My friends also helped me on how to apply different tools in order to create a desired effect. Personally my flat plan helped me in the progression of my product as this showed me how I was going to set out my layout for my magazine. The AS Media Coursework has challenged my knowledge about how to use codes and conventions in giving a positive representation in my music magazine to target my potential audience. Looking at my product from a critic’s perspective, I am very pleased with my final outcome. Although it was a very hard process I enjoyed learning how to use new design software such as Adobe Photoshop and In design. I have gained new skills and furthered my knowledge by looking at other magazines that have been made by the previous year students. I think I have made a positive attempt towards my work in constructing this magazine from the preliminary stage to the final product.