Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I have used the latest computer and Photoshop to create the graphics of the cover. In my first task, it’s a school style magazine. So my image, background and the title is all about the school. In my school photo collection, I have used different camera angle such as high angle, low angle, establishing shot, mid shot, close up etc… finally, I have chosen the mid shot photo for the people because it shows the people’s faces and clothing, it gives the audience signs of what the people represent and suggestive like people holding a rugby ball which means he/she must be a sport player. In the background of the photo, I have chosen the establishing shot for the spotlight in the hall.
In my second task for the music front cover, content page and the middle page, I have chosen three different people by using close up and mid shot to photo them. Normally the interview always use the close up to show emotion on the face. In the middle page background, I used the photo which I took from a low angle under the building and put some effect behind those three characters. I’ve tried to give the iconic signs, so I imposed the portrait onto a playing card. On the front cover, I have used Photoshop to line out the image of the characters. I’ve cut the original background then I cut it into the band room. My music magazine is a pop style so I need to make it modern to match the style.
At the beginning of my media coursework I choose ‘Print’ to be my task. Because I always read different magazine during the week, so I had basic knowledge and learned some new media stuff after I read them. Also I feel interested in creating my own magazine, and have a good chance to use those new technologies software to edit my magazine.
The first task in my media coursework was “school magazine front cover”. Before I start to create my school front cover, I need to find the focus group, which is around 12~17 years old. This group consisted of 20 pupils all within the age range, I gave them the questionnaires, and the focus group suggested that images, colourful, fun stuff and surprising news will interest them in order to buy the magazine. And I also found some research on the internet, which I learned would give me some advantage.
Then, I used pencil drawings to draft a basic idea. After that, I used Photoshop, print and publisher to edit my school magazine front cover. I have used Photoshop to cut out the shape and change the light of the photo and create the special effect. Next I have printed out the second draft to show the focus group again and find out the strength and weaknesses. This would help me to improve my magazine by listening to their comments.
In my second task (music magazine) I found it was much different than the first task because the school magazine focus group isn’t wide enough. In the music cover, I have to find out the music type. I have chosen pop music as my title. I have to find out the image and details about pop music. I need to do the double page spread. So I have carried out more research from the popular magazine. The research is very helpful because I haven’t done it before and the opinion from the people who give it to me informed me. In this task, I had used Photoshop before so I found it easy to use this programme for editing my music magazine. In the research I was looking for the colour of the image and the cover line. In my opinion the image is more important. If the cover isn’t very good I wouldn’t consider buying it. I have learnt lots of things and also I have read and analysed lots of magazines. I have found that making a magazine is not that easy. It has to include time for thinking and researching.
Gratifications theory is a popular approach to understanding the media, the audience are not passive they have their own opinion and analytical, the audience will choose media to meet their needs. There are three main things in media effects hypodermic, limited effects and the powerful to limited effects.
In my school and music magazine tasks I used the image and the text to achieve the theory. By image using the indexical signs to represent and suggests. Also I use the funny and exciting title to fulfil specific the audience needs.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I know young adults are likely to read the gossip about pop stars so I have created the gossip of the pop star and also I have use sharp colour to attract young adults to buy. For example- FHM is a worldwide magazine, they aim for young males, and they are very successful because they find what the customers want to view. This is girls, sports, funny stories, Entertainment, games, Movies, TV reviews, health and fitness and work. FHM wants to attract customers so they have included lots of different subjects as hey know different people have different types of interest. They have found the latest news to attract the customers.
In my media coursework, Print is my first task and I have to produce a school magazine front cover. So the focus group in the school is around 12-17years old. The interest is about the school news and education. I have used mid shot to take 5 pictures of different characters. E.g. sport player and musician. By using mid shot it shows clearly the introduction of the image. It’s easier to view who they are. E.g. someone holds the rugby ball. I have used high angle to take the spotlight for the background. If the background has too much image, it will look like pixilation. Also I choose the spotlight because I want to make those 5 characters special. I edit those characters under the spotlight. This can make the audience feel they are special. I have chosen an easy name for the magazine customers to remember.
In my second task, it is a music front cover. This task is a bit different than the first task because the focus group is wider than the first task. This is a music magazine and is not for the school people. I have used mid shot to photograph the singer. He is wearing a suit and it looks professional. Behind him I have used a music studio as a background and edit by photoshop to change this into black and white. This would make the singer look special. In the middle of the front cover, I have made the coverline colourful and bigger. It clearly shows the topic of this scene.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I have looked at the Q magazine which is the biggest magazine in the UK. Just on the front cover they used a lot of new technology photo and editing for a special effect. They set themselves apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing . Q magazine used a single-letter title and this makes it more prominent on newstands and easy to remember.
In my coursework I tried to use the computer programme the Q magazine always used- photoshop, to edit the image. The logo is very easy to remember and slightly different from other magazines, and therefore I will consider the name for my magazine which is easy to remember and look special.
The image of the cover photo will match the headline also and the background, in my magazine i would like to match the image and headline together, the photograph will be mid shot because this can show the image what he actually looks like. The title will show my pop magazine style with attractive text.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Mainly young teenagers, male or female, who take interest in pop music, it should also appeal to the young working groups who still possess interest in the latest album of the day or have a singer idol. This is because teenagers find it is easy to spend their money buying magazine. At this age, the teenager will want to buy the product and they won’t worry about the budget or the future. This is different for adults who often will think “Do I really want this magazine?” So this means the market is bigger among young adults. If the price is fair the people will buy it even they don’t read all the magazine.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
The hypodermic syringe effect is very useful to attract and address the audiences. Because this effect can immediate and have powerful effect.
I will attract the audience by prominently displaying and mentioning constantly the most popular pop star or rock band of the day, possibly by using distinctive headline fonts with comments.
For example, the videogame industry always targets teenage males, because the company will have a market research, and by used the research they will know which thing the audiences will like the most.
Before I edit my magazine, I can’t make a market research but I can find the research by using the internet, newspaper and radio. I can examine similar styles to my magazine, also I will make a questionnaire for my school focus group and my friends, to help me to find out which is their favourites.
After I collected all the questionnaires, I found most people like interesting cover photo and cover line. So I will aim for those two things, more research for the cover and the cover line. And find out which is the most exciting title in the school or news. Also I will use different angles to take photos, like high, low, close up and mid shot etc. To make it special and increase the magazine interest for the audiences.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From the process of producing this magazine, I have learnt to use a lot of picture editing software such as Picasa, Photoshop, painter, flash and fireworks. I also got to know about the advantages and disadvantages of using each of these softwares. But I always used the photoshop software, because a lot of famous company will use it for their images. Photoshop is the new technology and popular, this software includes a lot of functions like change colours, cut, drawing, edit many photos at the same time, fade, dissolve and wipe etc. which can edit to make special effects .This is really helpful to edit the photo for my magazine, like the cover photo, logo and headline. By used photoshop I can edit the photo easily and quickly, for example if I took the photo by mid shot ,I can change my mind or compare the different between mid or close shot. In a situation when I can’t take a photo again, by using photoshop this can help me solve this problem, Photoshop had some functions to help the user to change the shape, zoom in or zoom out, it can edit the photo to look like a different shot, no need to use a lot of software to edit the image, which makes the work more efficient.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt to absorb and listen to different people’s ideas. Due to the fact, not all age groups are attracted to the same idea, the concept of making a magazine which appeals to a wide range of different age groups did not seem as easy as one might think. During the making of the magazine, I also learnt to solve several problems in the final production process and make hard decisions by sacrificing one thing to make the remainder better.
Producing a magazine is not as easy as I thought, because I need to find out which ways can attract the audiences, different age groups have different things they like to view in the magazines, so I need to use a lot of research and learn new things in media, such as looking at the new popular magazines. I had to link the research to my work e.g. school and music magazines and learn how to use the new equipment like new camera and new software. Planning is quite important, before producing the magazine I need to know what my magazine is for, which age group, how to edit the cover and draft etc. Making a clear plan is really helpful, because I can check out what I need, edit which thing can make the magazine better and achieve my aims and objectives. For example before taking photos of the images, I need to find who are the best people to show in the magazine, and decide which camera shot or effect. I have understood that Low angle can make the image look important and strong, so this is normally used in the interview photos.
In my school magazine research of the age group 12-17 female and male the thing they like to view in the magazine is:
1. Interesting cover photo
2. Exciting titles
3. Colourful
4. Gossip about the school
5. Funny stuff
6. Sports
In my music magazine research of the age group 12-20 female and male the thing they like to view in the magazine is:
1. Interesting cover photo
2. Exciting titles about the new music song
3. Colour match
4. Rank of the songs
5. Interview about the popular people
From this research I can see the most attractive thing is the cover photo even in different styles of magazines.
So in my task I would put more effort on the photo to try to make it different and special to achieve what the audience wants. And I will find a good quality camera to take the images, scene and background.
