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

I feel that I have learnt a lot of new skills while making my magazine, I also feel that I have learnt about the whole process of producing a magazine and therefore I have been able to produce a magazine of good quality.

When I first made my preliminary magazine cover and contents page I had a basic knowledge of how to use the equipment, such as Photoshop. This was evident in my final preliminary product as it wasn’t great quality, this was also down to me not having a particularly good amount of knowledge on how to produce a magazine in areas such as layout and features. However once I had completed my preliminary magazine I looked at it and decided which areas of my production process I would need to improve to make a good quality final product. When I started making my product I made sure that I had an idea of what I wanted to produce however I did not want to have very strict idea because I wanted to be able to use my imagination during the production process to try and make the best possible media product.

I have learnt a lot on how to use various media equipment and programmes during the production of my media product. I have got a lot better at using Photoshop, which has been important to me producing a good quality product because if I had not developed my skills I would not have been able to produce a product of even sufficient quality. I also learnt a lot about using equipment such as the macs and cameras, the macs have been a vital piece of equipment throughout the entire process and I have learnt about various features of the macs that have made producing the magazine a much more simple process. I also feel that I have developed my skills with a camera as I was able to get many good looking images by using things such as camera angles and also picking appropriate locations; this is something that I was unable to do before going through this process.

I also feel that my knowledge of the overall production process has increased greatly, not only in the actual making of the magazine but advertising, distribution and publishing. I have learnt about good ways to advertise and distribute my magazine so I know what to do to help my media product sell, for example I looked at areas to advertise and came up with ideas like putting up posters at Hip – hop gigs so that I can guarantee that my intended audience will see the posters. I have also learnt about publishing companies, such as IPC media, and I have been able to think about which publishing company to choose, for example I f I choose I small publishing company it will be cheaper however the quality may not be as good, but if I choose I large and recognised publishing company such as IPC media it will be more expensive but it will be of a higher quality which will help the magazine to sell.

All the knowledge I have gained is vital to producing a successful media product and I feel that while learning this as I progressed has helped me to produce a good quality media product. It will also help me to produce media products in the future as I will have all the knowledge before I have even started which will enable me to produce good quality products.

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

Question 6 media evaluation

View more presentations from samc94.

Evaluation: How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by using a wide variety of features on my magazine that I felt would appeal to my audience. It was important that I researched my audience as I needed to know what things that they liked so I could attract them towards my magazine. To find out what my target audience liked I handed out questionnaire’s asking them about things such as what their favourite colour schemes were, this allowed me to choose colours that would attract my target audience and also make sure that my magazine would be eye catching. Also in the very early stages of my planning I did a questionnaire asking people about their favourite genre of music so I knew which genres would make for a popular magazine, doing these questionnaires is also a good way of addressing my audience because it would encourage them to buy the magazine if they feel like they have assisted in producing it. I also used a chatty style of language to help attract my audience as a serious and too formal style of language would have probably made my target audience disinterested in the magazine whereas the chatty style will be appealing to the type of people that will read my magazine. I also considered the images in my magazine and when I was taking the pictures for my special feature and I took them in a rough looking city area, I did this because my target audience live in similar areas to the one in the picture, this will help to attract my audience because they would be seeing a similar area to the one they live in and this would encourage them to read the magazine as it would help them to relate to the artist they are reading about.

Evaluation: Who could be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine would be teenagers aged 13 – 19, mainly boys, who have an interest in Hip –Hop music. They would most likely live in urban areas in big cities such as London, Birmingham and Sheffield and attend state schools also they would probably be in a family that had a fairly low income. They would dress like the artists that they read about in the magazine as that is the style for Hip – Hop music, for example they would wear baggy jeans or tracksuit bottoms and most likely a branded hoody like Addidas or Nike and a t-shirt, they would also probably wear a baseball cap and probably a lot of jewellery such as chains and rings, they would be likely to wear Nike basketball trainers or Nike high-tops. They would probably not be that interested in terms of education, however they would probably enjoy playing sports such as basketball and football however they may not take their sports too seriously. Other interests and hobbies would be playing computer games and listening to music, they would also like to go out with their friends a lot and hang around on the street. My audience will be quite laid back people and they will not be particularly outgoing. They are most likely to live in small city terrace houses or flats due to them having a lower income bracket. My audience will like to idolise people such as kanye west who are worldwide hip – hop stars as they like this genre of music and will look up to people like him. They will also idolise people who have “rags to riches” life stories such as 50 cent as they will feel like they are in the same position as he once was and he has gone from having almost nothing to being a worldwide star and they will be able to relate to the artist and therefore idolise them, this is one of the main reasons I included the artist I did in my magazine as he has a “rags to riches” story and this could make them want to read the magazine more as he would have the likeability factor.

Evaluation: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 3 media evaluation

View more presentations from samc94.

Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents the social group that is most likely to read my magazine. It represents the artist featured in a positive way as it portrays them as a successful person. If the audience were just looking at the photos they would probably see the main artist in a negative light as he is pictured in a rough looking area wearing a hooded top which is a bad stereotype, however the reader may understand that is just the trend for Hip – Hop music. But the text represents the artist in a good light as it is an interview and the type of answers he gives makes him seem like a good person, the answers in the interview that relate back to his home town will represent him in a good light as it will give the audience the impression that he is a down to earth person that has not forgotten his roots, things such as this will make him an easily likeable public figure. Also the artist being pictured in a rough back ground will have connotations of a “rags to riches” story which will make younger readers idolise the artist and also this will make the artist more likeable to the reader as they will feel like they are on the same level as he once was. The genre of music is represented in a typical way, things such as image locations being in urban areas are all stereotypical of Hip – Hop music, also the language used is specific to the type of people that are most likely to read the magazine which could make them appear in a positive or negative light. I think that the genre of music being represented in that way is good as it will help the product appeal to the target audience and also people that are not in my target audience would understand why the music is being represented in that way as each genre of music seems to have its own unique image and language style.

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

My magazine uses allot of current magazine conventions, for example there is a large main image on the front cover and also smaller images around the edges, the features are all conventional for example the title of my magazine is in large writing and in the centre at the top, also my magazine cover is very busy and that is typical of modern magazines. As well as this my contents page is similar to other contents pages as the features are all conventional in things such as position and size. My contents page follows the same colour scheme as my front cover and it also uses similar images as this will give the magazine some form of continuity instead of it changing all the time which gives it a look of professionalism and also I do not believe that the readers would like it if the colour scheme was changing all the time. My two page spread is also similar to other magazines as it has similar features and layout style. I used the same image and colour scheme for my two page spread as I did on the front cover because that is where this feature was advertised and therefore I wanted it to link to my front cover and also have some continuity about it. The reason I made my magazine similar to other current magazines is because I had looked at other popular modern magazines and they all had similar layout and features, therefore I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to make a successful and eye-catching magazine I would have to try and follow the forms and conventions of other magazines. I also believe that if I had tried to change the way my magazine had looked my audience may not have liked the change and purchased a magazine that did follow the trend of how modern magazines looked. I think that using the forms and conventions of popular magazines was a good decision as I feel that my magazine looks good and professional and this would persuade someone to buy the magazine, whereas if I had changed it there would have been a risk that my magazine would have looked unprofessional. In terms of the genre of my magazine I did challenge the forms and conventions of media products as there are not many magazines that focus mainly on r ‘n’ b and hip-hop music , however I felt that genre would be good area in which to challenge forms and conventions as it would enable me to exploit a gap in the market, if I had used forms and conventions in genre if would be producing a magazine that has the same content as others and therefore it would probably not sell as I would be up against magazines such as Kerrang and Q. When it came to deciding what type of language to use I had to look at things such as the content of my magazine and also my target audience, I did this because if I had used the wrong language style my magazine may not have appealed to my target audience. For my language style I used forms and conventions of other magazines as I looked into what language other magazines of the same type used, I found that they use a chatty and informal style of language in their magazine so that is what I decided to use.