thriller coursework & magazine: May 2017

Friday, 12 May 2017

double page final

This is the final copy of my double page spread, the page is conventional to the R&B sub-genre.

final contents

This is the final copy of my magazine contents page, this page is very conventional to an R&B music genre.

final cover page

This the final copy of my magazine cover, this cover is very conventional to an R&B music sub-genre.

draft of double page

This is the draft of my double page, I cannot use this page as the picture overlaps my text and the font type has to be changed in order to look more attractive and appealing.

Thursday, 11 May 2017

evaluation 7

Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The four main things I am better at in terms of the design and editing process would be my ability to use photo shop effectively, learn how to handle data and put them into graphs, learning how to take photographs correctly and learning the importance of gathering research. I believe that overall, my music magazine production was successful as it carries all conventions needed for a ideal R&B music magazine and I have taken clear primary and secondary data which has allowed me to choose my correct targeted audience and what would appeal to this specific group. The main thing I enjoyed most whilst creating my magazine would be learning to use different editing software is, as this will benefit me in my future life. I believe the main thing that could be improved is my analysis of secondary research; it could have had more detail in depth. The main things I have learned over the whole process is how to edit magazine covers/pages and how to analyze different pieces of secondary research.

evaluation 6

Q6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this media product?

Whilst completing my coursework I was introduced to new technologies, for example I learnt how to use Photoshop, blogger, slide share and excel. I have used Photoshop for my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. Whereas I used slide share to upload my research on magazines and blogger to upload every single research, my magazine pages, my evaluation and my planning of the magazine I am making. I have used excel to make my graphs from the data I took from the results of my questionnaires. The camera I have used was a Canon digital camera; this camera had the function of focusing. Focus is a very important function as without having a lens focus the images you take will come out blurry and fuzzy. Another function of this camera was the exposure; this is known to be the volume of light on the scene. There are two types of exposures: auto exposure and manual exposure. Auto exposure is when the camera is adjusted the exposure needed in the picture. Manual exposure is when you can adjust the best setting, which you favor. These features were very helpful for my shoot; I used the functions to take clear and focused photos of my model. The only difficulty I faced whilst using the equipment is adjusting the exposures correctly; I overcame this difficulty by trying to adjust the exposure multiple times. Photoshop has taught me how to crop and edit photos to suit your liking, also has brought me skills such as learning how to add text in different font styles. During the editing process, I have faced small difficulties with learning how to use Blogger, Slide-share and Photoshop; I have overcome these difficulties by physically practicing how to use the editing software’s. I have presented all my ideas on my Blogger account, I have used slide share to upload Power Points of my research and evaluation. Overall, the importance of using this new technology has helped me develop new skills to use on further in my media work.

evaluation 5

Q5) how did you attract/address your target audience?

The main way in which I got the idea of my specific targeted audience was via doing secondary research into existing music magazines, by doing this piece of research of existing magazines of my own and other genres I had the chance to look into what codes and conventions appeal to different audience types. I also had the opportunity to look into the characters, narratives and themes that would appeal to my audience type. The targeted audience of my magazine would be young adults from the ages 16+ with no specific gender target so it Appeals to both genders. The socio-economic group would be group E as this age group would commonly stand with a student, employed or unemployed status. I have not dedicated my magazine to a specific ethnicity however, I believe British and American main streamers will definitely be attracted to my magazine. I had to follow the conventions of the R&B sub-genre in order to appeal to both R&B audiences and other similar genre audiences like Hip-Hop in order to meet their expectations. The particular audience type I wanted to attract would be men from the ages 21+, who are employed as part-time with an interest in artists of both genders of the R&B sub-genre. This is because this specific audience is most likely to purchase my magazine consistently as they are more likely to afford the magazine than an unemployed audience. I have carried out a questionnaire to gather information about my target audience and analyze what will appeal to them the most within a music magazine. The four key questions which have helped me key decisions were: the age of the participant, what music genre they are interested in, how often they purchase music magazines and the particular colour schemes that appeal to them the most. I have done this in order to ensure that I was addressing and attracting my targeted audience. One quote that I got from my open-ended questions were that, ‘Drake, Rhianna and Nicki-Minaj’ was the favorite artists of a participant. Another quote from my open-ended questions was that ‘passion and seriousness’ come into mind whilst thinking about the R&B sub-genre. The quotations from the open-ended questions gave me an idea of who to dedicate my magazine and made sure I attract the correct audience. Primary research is very important, as it will provide me with first-hand data to help me determine who would be my targeted audience and allow me to find ways that will be better to address my audience too. The criticisms that I may get might come from audiences of different genres. This will be because they are not interested in the genre of my magazine and therefore they may not like the conventions and themes that I displayed within my magazine.

evaluation 4

Q4) who would be the audience for your media product?

A target audience is defined, as a selection of a group of people who your magazine will potentially be aimed at, it is a process of market segmentation. It is very important to have a particular targeted audience as it give you an idea of what to base your magazine on, or what people would want to read. Having a targeted audience will mean you know what appeals to your readers, you will know what conventions and themes to involve. My targeted. I will dedicate my magazine to young audiences with no targeted gender so that appeals to both sexes. The particular socio-economic group that will purchase my product is group E; this is the ages 16 and over which will mean they are commonly students, working part-time or unemployed. I price my magazine so that it will be at an adequate price for my targeted audience as if I set the price too high then my dedicated audience will simply not be able to afford to purchase my magazine. An audience profile is highly essential in order to identify your target audience. Audience profiling is essential for all media institutions whilst creating a new product to launch. The main factors that must be considered whilst profiling is the Gender, Race, Age, Geo- demographics, Socio- economics and Psycho graphic profile. The socio-economic is defined as the social standing of an individual or group, the class of the individual is measured by their income, occupation or education. The psycho graphics is an analysis of lifestyles in order to create the ideal consumer/ customer. The research is conducted by asking opinioned questions to consumers, after the results are gathered they are put together with the geographic and demographic research to create an ideology of their targeted audience. This is very useful when planning a music magazine as it will provide me all the information I need in order to choose my particular targeted audience. The geo- demographics classify individuals by their surroundings according to the common characteristics of the particular area. Creating a music magazine for a particular music genre will mean that targeted audience has already picked the genre they want, however by using this specific research of my own I can learn more details about my audience. The quantitative data I would use is going to help me more as it allows me to question my potential audience and allow me to find content that they may find controversial. I believe my targeted audience will enjoy my magazine as it meets all the criteria’s that my audience wants. For example, my front cover is basic structured unlike the chaotic formats of rock magazines, this is because R&B is created to make an intimidating impression. Colour use is highly important in R&B magazines; I have used red, black and navy within my magazine. This is conventional to the R&B sub-genre as red connotes both danger and passion, blue connotes dominance, power, and black because it represents a dark and rebellious attitude, which R&B music expresses. The model’s I have used for my magazine are portrayed as two attractive females, the main reason why I have used females is to appeal to my audience. The females were dressed as classy and seductive in order to attract more attention.

evaluation 3

Q3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

To begin with I will start with sister publication, which means I will publish for an existing magazine within the same institution. My magazine will get published every month and according to the month if there is a particular calendar event it will carry the theme of that month as a new edition. My brand is easy for the audience to access as it is aimed for an easily accessible socio-economic group. My main aim is to encourage to encourage my audience to persistently purchase my magazine, also to encourage brand loyalty so that my advertisers will continuously give me money. There are many ways in which my audience can find my product, some of those ways are through our website, music channels on TV, sponsored hash tags, apps, gigs, tours and festival stages. I would choose IPC ltd, the reason for this is because they are known to be one of the leading magazine institutions. Also, the “NME magazine” uses IPC as their publisher and they are a well-known magazine and a type of magazine my targeted audience will purchase. IPC media have over 26 million adult readers in the UK who read the magazine they have published, this means that this media publisher has customer loyalty so by using them as a publisher will be very good for my magazine brand. This media institution is in the public eye and highly recognized, and therefore it will be easier to advertise my business as they are a big institution. The kind of method I will be using would firstly be the one of the most common, which is to put physical copies of my magazine in various retail shops (like newsagents). I will do this so that I reach my specific targeted audience. I would also have visual copies of my product which will be online as a visual distribution. Majority of magazine companies are now using visual distributions therefore, putting DENSEM online, I would be decrease my competition. This will also be easier to access and will attract younger audiences to purchase my magazine.

evaluation1

Q1)In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions?

My media magazine uses many media forms and conventions within the whole magazine. However, more specifically I have analyzed examples of images that appeal to particular audiences. I have looked at examples of existing magazines to examine the different uses of codes and conventions within magazine covers, contents pages and lastly double pages. In the magazine covers, there were different uses of codes; some examples of these codes were the different uses of color, language and the main image of the artist. They all had different conventions for example they can connote the genre of the magazine just by the use of language and a main image. I also analyzed the layout of a variety of magazines the main elements of the lay outs were a masthead, a main image, a heading, a sub-heading. These elements are required for a basic magazine cover.