Finished product

This is my finished product. after reflection on my previous finished products i realised that i needed to make some amendments to not only improve the quality, but also improve the appearance of my magazine. For my front cover i realised that at the bottom of the page it defiantly looked like it was lacking attention and detail, so instead of having a picture on the top half and plugs at the bottom i decided to have the main image dominating the entire page and plugs and sub headings going down the side of the page. this is also conventional of a music magazine. For my contents page, again, after reflecting on certain aspects that i could improve i decided that i needed to add more detail and make the page look more full, this will encourage people to think that they are getting more value for their money. i decided that i would have a short extract from the main story so people will be able to read it and be intrigued to read on. Along the right hand side of the contents page i have done a weekly section. This will not only give more reading to the purchaser, but this also indicates that the magazine has been around for so long they have already had to make certain popular subjects weekly. Along the top of my contents page i have put a title saying 'contents' i wanted to make this really big and dominating, therefore i made the title stretch across the entire page. i put two pictures of artists on the contents page, i did this to make the page not only look more interesting but also so the reader will know straight away what artists are in this magazine. For page '2' the title for the article was 'new band hits the street' and then goes on to write a small section on the new band and finishes off by a rhetorical question. this will again make the reader want to read on.

Evaluation

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

My music magazine challenges conventions because as apposed to other music magazine that are on the market i feel mine is slightly different because of the appearance. It looks different, because normally with magazines the background has one consistent colour, therefore mine fades up and ends up going from black and the bottom, to white at the top. My magazine appeals to a younger generation, the is represented by the image of the young band on my front cover. Apart from the background, the front cover is very typical in terms on conventions. I wanted my front cover to look full and have many different sub-headings and plugs to look like it was worth more than what is being charged for it. My title is very large because i wanted it to be noticeable and attract peoples attention. I wanted the main storyline image to dominate most of the page. My contents page continues with the same background as the front page, i wanted to carry on the dark theme. On the contents page I've separated all the different stories into separate boxes, this is because i wanted it to look simplistic. On my double page spread I have only filled one side of the pages in writing and the other page has a large image of the band, this is so people are aware of what the story is about, i have also got an image of the person i am interviewing and an image of the band together. Which is typical of a music magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I wanted my music magazine to attract the younger generation. The story that i chose to write about will represent a lot of people situations because it is about affairs, and adultery is very common in modern day society, so many people will be able to connect with the situation in some way. Also younger people tend to be more music orientated. it represents particular social groups because younger people have a larger interest in music and also i think the appearance of my magazine represents the music and the fashion of the music and therefore the fashion that people who favour that type of music genre tend to wear.

What kind of music institution would distribute your media product and why?

after looking at some other magazines that focus on this music genre and that are similar to my magazine i looked at their distributers. The magazine that i feel my magazine in most similar to in Kerrang, which is distributed by Emap. i feel they would like my magazine because my magazine focuses on the same music genre and is similar in a lot of ways.


Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that i would most like to attract would be the younger generation, perhaps people who are aged between around 15-20. the reason i would like to attract this audience is because aforementioned, younger people tend to be more music orientated and therefore pay a lot more attention to music and a bigger interest and are therefore more likely to buy my magazine. my audience would be similar to the audience that is attracted by Kerrang! magazine. because it generalises in the same music genre and therefore rock lovers will want to read the competition as well.

How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my audience, i focused a lot on the appearance of my magazine. I made my main masthead very large and noticeable. I used a large dominating image that would also attract people attention because the band that i have shown on my front cover is a very famous band. i put a sub heading underneath the picture with says 'split up for good?' the reason i chose this sub heading is because it will take the potential buyer by shock, because the band is so popular and well known, they will immediately want to buy the magazine and read on to find out if the band is splitting up. in the bottom right hand corner is a plug advertising free posters. this will also attract the audience because not only will the potential buyer want to get a free poster, but also they will feel like they are getting good value for their money.

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

As i was making this product i was introduced to many different technologies and techniques. The main was photo shop. I was unaware of the ability of photo shop. discovering photo shop meant that i could now make my photos a lot more advanced and i could edit them to make them look more technical, and also make my magazine look more conventional. i did a lot of research into magazine conventions and was the able to transfer what i had learned about the conventions of magazines onto my own work. I also because very familiar with Microsoft publisher and found it extremely helpful with the planning of my magazine. Before doing this i was unfamiliar with publisher but i found it very helpful during the production of my magazine. I was able to plan how i was going to arrange certain aspects of my magazine and get a clear image of how it was going to look over all. this is a lot more advanced as apposed to drawing my plans. Another website that i used regularly was dafont.com. the reason i used this website is because i was able to chose different fonts for my writing. this helped a lot because i could now used fonts that were a lot more imaginative and unique. Another way in which photo shop was very useful was when i was focusing on achieving the most suitable background. the reason photo shop helped was because i could chose a background and if i didn't like it, i could easily change it or adjust it.

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

I think that the preliminary task helped me a lot because it introduced to to useful techniques. it also introduced me to the common conventions that are presented in magazines today. I feel i have made massive improvements since i completed my preliminary task, i was introduced to programmes such as photo shop and lunar pic, both picture editing programmes which helped be create a more original looking picture and magazine. I have learnt the full conventions of music magazines and learnt how and why the layout if presented the way in which it is. doing the preliminary task gave me a good opportunity for explore and experiment with different ways to present my magazine using all different programmes that i was previously unfamiliar with. this helped with the progression of my main task. i feel i have improved vastly since doing the preliminary exercise and feel i have learnt a lot since the beginning. I feel in comparison to my final task, my preliminary task shows how little knowledge i had in technology skills and conventions.

Finished article

this is my finished article of my magazine. overall i am happy with my final production. i think that if i had to improve anything then i would adjust the contents page and add more detail and more story lines. I am very happy with my double page spread because i haven't made it look too busy, so it looks quite simplistic and easy reading, also people will immediately establish that the story is about that band. i also added images of who the main story line is about. when i was taking the picture i wanted the two band members to look very stern, this is representative of the storyline. also on the right page i included and image of the band members looking happy and jumping into the air, this represents joy and success. This works well against the serious photo in the background. the reader can immediately see the contrast.

Double page spread story

For my double page spread i had to come up with a story. so i decided to brief the story at the beginning of my article and then continue on to show an interview.


We all know that STATIC FIX is the most rocking band on the streets, but we have recently discovered that they are on the verge of a break up, after an incident between Tim Harson (the drummer) and Mick reels’ (the singer) wife. Mash-up reveals all.
After static fix hit our speakers in 2006 we were instantly hooked. With their mix of heavy metal and punk rock, it took metal and punk lovers “who is this new band?” introduced by Warner brothers static fix made it to the radio, hitting the charts faster than a foot hits base. But sadly their fresh and inspiring new music has floored after Tim Harson sneaky affair with none only but the singer of the band and also best friends wife was discovered last month. We caught up with Mick over coffee in Las Vegas;
How do you feel about discovering this?:
“I don't know, I cant describe how I feel, my best friend and my wife...what are friends for eh?”
You don't seem too upset by this?:
“I’ve realised its probably better to laugh than to cry in life”
That’s a good motto… has this affected the band in anyways? I imagine things must be a bit tense?
“oh hell yeah, I mean, I cant even sit in the same room as him, or the rest of the guys at that. They all knew about it”
God that must be awful to know..
“yeah its pretty tough, as hard as it is, I’m determined to stick at this for the fans”
I hope so. So will we be expecting any new music soon?
“aha, I seriously doubt that, I don't know if were even going to be together much longer. I want to make this work though, music is my life”
Maybe in some ways this will help your song writing?
“Well yeah, maybe, I’ve always written about my feeling and things that have happened, so yeah. You may be right”
You have been getting a lot of support from your fans. has that helped you in any way?
“oh yeah definitely, id be really struggling if it wasn't for the support that I’ve been getting, its helping a lot”
We’re all really gutted to hear about the tour being cancelled, any chance of it happening?
“ well I don't know, given the circumstances I doubt it, but, if things were to progress then maybe”
That’s a shame to hear Mick.
“ yeah its tough, just give me time”
Oh we will, well Its been nice talking to you Mick, hope to see you some time soon.
“ yeah hopefully you can be interviewing me about my new album!’
Haha, good luck mick!


The reason i chose to do an interview is not only because its very conventional for magazines to have interviews with celebrities, but it is also a lot easier to read and to understand than large articles.

Photo shoot

For my photo shoot i got a group of my friends to pose for the picture. i chose to take these pictures against a gray brick wall. the reason i chose this background was because it looks dark and Gothic and fits in well with the music genre of the band. first of all I made them look into the camera whilst posing and then made them do an action shot of them all jumping up. The reason i took the picture like this is to show that the band used to have fun and be happy. I then took a picture of the man that my main story line is about 'mick reels' in this picture i made him look straight at the camera and look quite sincere. This is to show that the story line is serious. i want the photography to be representative to the story, and i want to portray the serious headline by the photography. i think i chose the best picture of the band to represent then. i chose this camera angle to make them look dominating and also casual and laid back.

This is my nearly finished front cover for my magazine. I have got my title of my magazine at the top in large writing. The font of my title is distorted and i found it on 'www.dafont.com' i thought this style suited the genre of my magazine because it looks distorted and really matches the Gothic look that i wanted my magazine to achieve. In the right hand corner i have put a large advertisement saying 'GIG updates.Leeds fest 2009' the reason i put it there was because the person who is going to be looking at the magazine is going to see the title and then look across and the second thing they are going to see will be the advertisement. this will immediately attract them to buy this because as music lovers, if they were interested in going to Leeds festival then they have easy access to finding out what bands are playing and when. My Main image is of my band 'Static Fix' The reason i made this image so large is so that potential buyers will see this image and know that the main story is going to be about that band. and i have portrayed static fix to be really famous and a really advanced, popular band. the reader will also be shocked when they read the sub heading 'split up for good?' and will immediately want to read on to find out if this popular band is splitting up and why. 'Split up for good' again i got this font from'dafont.com' i used the distorted font again. the reason i chose to have this sub heading in distorted writing is because the story line is quite shocking and the distorted look adds to the effect that i have tried to give off.

contents page

After making a plan of what my contents page is going to look like, i started making my actual contents page. This is what it is going to look like, i am going to add pictures to it also. after i have added my pictures i am going to then put the page numbers over the pictures. I chose this background because it is a light grey but it is not too dark, so it still has a grunge look to it. I got my title 'Contents' font from 'dafont' website.