Log Book, Evaluation and Preliminary task
- 1. OCR Media Studies – AS Level Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation Name: Olaf Blazewicz Candidate Number:6605 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College Center Number:64770 Set Brief - Print Music Magazine – Production Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and Evaluation
- 2. Preliminary Task Progression– Evidence Front Cover Step-by-step I firstly took a image of the school building, there was shade to add contrast, I cloned some of the sky to make it seem that the school was the best school but I also tried to keep it realistic. I then added a smart font to replicate a students handwriting, then I added the chalk font to replicate a whiteboard as chalk is normally associated with writing and schools so I did this to make it seem like a school magazine Then I decided to keep the font, I then had to put the box at the bottom to go with my contents page, this was to keep it fluent. I decided to put the website at the bottom as this was inspired by a couple of magazines.
- 3. I took some ideas from these magazine as at the bottom it has a website where people can go to. From the rugby one I used the colour as it seemed as a appropriate colour and I used the text from the chosen hill magazine as this was a appropriate font for my magazine (Steve Neale). However my magazine has some differences and they are I have less straplines, as well as I used a picture of the school and didn't add anything else.
- 4. Preliminary Task Progression– Evidence Contents Page Step-by-step I decided to use purple as these are colours which are associated with young people who go to school. I also used blue as it is a nice colour which is associated with the sky and peace. Then I decided to create a guide for everyone who is viewing my magazine in order to make it not look messy and I used black to make it a heading and red for the subheading or the information. I then decided to add my editorial on the final box and I decided to screen grab my magazine and underneath it I had some extra space so I added a bubble and put in it the website.
- 5. Section 1) – Log Book
- 6. The masthead has the colour yellow as this is meant to represent the band as a lively band. The main headline is in he same colour as the masthead to represent the liveliness of the band and the immaturity that comes with it. The cover lines are in pink which is a stereotypically a feminine colour to appeal to the feminine side just like the male side. The main image is there as a reminder who the band is or if you don’t know them then it gives you a certain idea of what they are/ do, the a main image represents the band being bonkers therefore you can conclude that their music will be unique. The barcode is there to show the price, the issue number and the date.
- 7. Convergence- at the bottom is a link to their website where you can see all of the magazine issues, reviews and many more. This magazine hasn’t got a strapline because it is already established in the genre which is different types of rock, such as hard rock and many more. Rock sound is promoting itself as it has an website, social media page so that people are aware of the magazine or what they are associated for.
- 8. Established Magazine for my Research We have a variety of things that are missing for example we have not got a strapline. There is no strapline as they don’t need one to appeal to the audience as they use a variety of colours which can attract anyone.
- 9. • The magazine hasn’t got a strapline which is promoting the magazine such as UK’s number one rock magazine as it has no competitors.
- 10. Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs The target audience for rock sound are teenagers who are into the modern rock bands as it only features s it features exclusive interviews that’s are made for teenagers as they are interested about the band, also the magazine that I have annotated is childish and unique just like teenagers. What is the USP of this magazine? The unique selling point of the magazine is the cartoon animations as this attracts a different amount of audience, for example the hand can represent Mickey mouse as he wears that sort of animated glove.
- 11. Publisher research The first magazine that was published was in 1999 by a French publisher called Editions Freeway, from that day they have been publishing monthly around the world, the magazine aims to be more in with the community and less commercial, the magazine generally focuses on pop, punk, post-hardcore, metal core, punk, emo, hardcore, heavy metal and other extreme genres of rock music, however it rarely covers indie rock. Today the main offices are in London. The magazine company was firstly French but it was then brought by a British company, it has got a few offices around the world, the main three are located in the UK, France and Spain. RockSound.tv is the second most read magazine site in the world, following Kerrang which are number one. They specialise in facts about band members backgrounds such as their article about the Foo Fighters. They like for their fans to be informed about everything prior to any event that may occur. I firstly decided to take some inspiration from their magazines as they were based around rock, but then I decided to use some of Kerrangs features such as their yellow text and incorporate it into my magazine.
- 12. Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs The target audience for Rock Tribute magazine can be denoted as teenagers ranging from 13-21. I made my target audience that big as I am using songs from the 80’s and 90’s as well as the 2000’s hence the name Rock Tribute. The magazine is meant to build a personal relationship with the user by making them more involved. What is the USP of this magazine? From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is my star appeal as I have the picture on my front cover, contents page and as well my double page spread. The logo of the magazine SHOULD be placed on this slide neatly somewhere
- 13. Publisher research • This was my magazine of inspiration. The Publisher was Bauer Media Group and the first issue was released in 6th June 1981, in the UK, they are devoted in the New wave or British Heavy Metal bands and the rise of rock acts such as Paramore and Fall Out Boy including bands which are popular such as MCR or Linkin Park. In the early 2000’s it became the best selling British music newspaper. The founder is Alan Lewis.
- 14. Section 2) – Evaluation
- 15. In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Example sentence starters: The magazine, across the 4-pages, ‘repeats’ (Steve Neale) codes and conventions from the yellow strapline which is seen on the front cover and the contents page at the top, but it seen at the bottom of the double page spread. There are examples of some ‘difference’, however, in terms of the forms and conventions in my own media product for example is the way that the contents page as my contents page goes from the top right hand side to the bottom whereas in the picture the contents page starts at the bottom half of the magazine.
- 16. How does your media product represent particular social groups? Example sentence starters: The magazine, across the 4-pages, helps to represent the genre of rock by having rocky text as well as the colours that represent a rock magazine such as yellow and black, originally I was going to use red and black but it didn’t seem to have the vibe that I wanted it to have so I changed it. For example, on page 8 the heading is in yellow and the straplines are multi-coloured, they have colours ranging from pink to white.
- 17. What kind of media institution (Publisher) might distribute your media product and why? Example sentence starters: From the research that was completed pre-production, I would envisage that the magazine would have similarities and differences from different magazines making it unique and Kerrang may publish ‘Rock Tribute’ because my magazine is unique and it will cover the rock of the past making this magazine special, it will be targeted for teenagers and people who are in early adulthood. The similarities of my magazine to ‘Kerrang’ also ‘signifies’ (De Saussure) an element which links to Kerrang as my magazine will use the same colours as Kerrang.
- 18. Who would be the audience for your media product and why? Hartley’s seven subjectivities According to Hartley’s seven subjectives I will be focusing on my targeted age group which is 15 to 21’s, the gender can be both, any class can enjoy this magazine, any ethnic background can enjoy it and it will be family friendly. It will come in several languages ranging from English to Austrian. Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory The audience will be able to relate to the interviewee of my magazine as there will be a lot of relatable things as it will be going into the persons life and giving them inspiration. I will also ensure that the audience will build a strong bond with the magazine. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs the audience will be able to sympathize with the interviewee’s situation as the magazine will provide a full interview with the select artist which will cover their life stories.
- 19. How did you attract/address your audience? In order to attract the intended target audience of people who like listening to 80’s rock up to 2015 rock bands so decided to make the magazine seem a bit old fashioned as well as using some styles that modern day rock magazines use. The inclusion of codes & conventions such as the headline, straplines and the main image helped to appeal to the target audience because I blackened the image surrounding the main picture.
- 20. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? The denotation of the software used to construct the media product entitled ‘Rock Tribute’ was Photoshop CS4. It offered many things to manipulate images as well as touching them up. In order for this product to look fit for purpose and appeal to the target audience, I decided to blacken the wall around the main character using the sponge tool because I wanted to make the image seem old fashioned but not removing a lot of the colours. I also used the spot healing tool because I wanted the character to look older than he is.
- 21. Analysing my Front Cover I used Yellow and Black which signifies the stereotype of rock. Screen grab of Magazine page positioned in the Center of the slide (Remove the BLUE box once placed in as well) I used a typewriter font to symbolise how the magazine uses older bands.
- 22. Analysing my Contents Page Used black box to stereotype the genre of rock. Used Combat text to symbolise the brutality that comes with rock. Screen grab of Magazine page positioned in the Center of the slide (Remove the BLUE box once placed in as well)
- 23. Analysing my Double Page spread Interview Screen grab of Magazine page positioned in the Center of the slide (Remove the BLUE box once placed in as well) It is yellow so that it has the same colours as my Front page and double page spread The image is positioned on the right just like kerrang has done (Steve Neale) I used red to show who is the interviewer and black for the interviewee
- 24. Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I feel that, having completed the preliminary task and learning about the demands of this production process, I have learnt how to use Photoshop, how to manipulate images to suit my liking. I have also learnt the different tools which are needed in order to manipulate an image. It takes a lot of time and effort as well as dedication in order to create the perfect image. There is evidence of progression that I feel particularly demonstrates how I met the demands of the production process, for example at the beginning I didn’t know how to use photoshop so my work turned out very amateur.