Note To Moderator

Dear Moderator,
My brief for my AS Media Studies Coursework was to create a Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread for a new music magazine in my choice of genre. I chose to do my magazine in an indie based genre due to the recent trends causing a higher demand for indie based products such as music, clothing and magazines. In order to please the ever growing audience, I decided to create a new, modern, indie music magazine aiming at the demographic target audience of both genders aged between sixteen and twenty five.


I have used labels on my blog to make the navigation to each section simpler so that you find what you are looking for.


Yours Sincerely,
Riley Smith, Edgbarrow School


Candidate Number: 0229
Centre Number: 51111

Question 7

Question 7

Question 6

Question 6

Question 4 and 5

Question 4 and 5

Question 3

Question 3

Question 2

Question 1

Question 1

Evaluation Draft

Evaluation: 7 Questions

 

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of real music magazines

• On the front cover, the masthead, pugs and the silhouette shot important conventions on the page because they are the main thing the reader spots and see as they are the biggest and boldest on the page. All of these things were also on the research magazines that I analysed for me planning and research. Other convention on the front cover would be the barcode as this also stands out from the rest of front cover. This also shows the price which I would say is cheaper than some weekly music magazines but it is perfectly priced.
• On the contents page, I again used the masthead with the logo of my magazine in it. I did this because I think it makes sure the reader doesn’t forget the name of the magazine and it emphasises the fact that MFT is a music magazine as it stands for (Music For Them). I didn’t out every page on the contents page and I didn’t put every page after one another so I mixed up the numbers a bit. This doesn’t reveal everything and doesn’t make the page look too busy and over-crowded.
• For the double page spread, one of the conventions is used was the drop cap in the introduction of the artist. I also used a pull quote, which are positioned around the picture and I used the logo of my magazine in the title in the middle of the page. I used a question and answer type of interview which has been positioned in columns but only 2 as this makes it simple to read but still look professional.
  I will use a prezi for this question because I will be putting screenshots of each page and labelling it and writing a lot and I think prezi will look good even with lots of writing on it.
   

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• The target audience for my magazine is anyone between the ages of 16-25 because I believe this demographic of people listen to indie music and would buy my magazine.
• This magazine appeals to all genders, both male and female
• It is not aimed at anyone specifically and can be read by any ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion etc.
• The reflection of the indie genre would be in my colour scheme (Grey, black, white, turquoise, purple)
  I will do a popplet for this question as I can make it interactive and put sounds and still use text and screenshots to show what I am talking about.
   

What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

• I will be using the distributing methods of The Wire magazine but the publisher of NME magazine. I believe that the distributing methods shown by The Wire will give my magazine the exposure they want and can give me different channels in which I might want to venture down to increase the royalties I want to acquire.
• By using the publisher that NME use, I believe they can help be produce the high quality product I want and help me gain access into the market of indie music magazines. By distributing my magazine online as well and promoting it on social media sites, I believe I will reach my target audience better as the possibilities I may take to exceed my sales to my target audience are more modern way to comminute with the public.
• The most popular magazines get distributed to large supermarkets such as Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s. I think this will help me get the maximum amount of sales I want as the footfall in supermarkets is high.  I would also want to sell my magazine in record shops which also do in store gigs to help promote bands or new upcoming artists from each new issue that comes out.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

• They will live anywhere in the world (mainly in Europe( UK))
• Both genders
• People aged between 16 and 25 will be the key demographic age as they are the people that have the freest time and that they are more likely to listen to indie music, read about it and attend festivals.
• People that enjoy reading about indie artists

 

How do you attract/address your audience?

• The silhouette of the front cover will draw the reader in as it is a mystery to who the artist is. Also the question marks on the picture will draw the reader in as they would want to know who each band member is.
• The contrasting colours in the pugs will also draw the reader is as they are bold and stand out from the page among the other colours and conventions.
• The contents page will have an editor’s note which will be directed to the reader which may draw them in.
• The colour scheme is consistent throughout the magazine which creates continuity and fluency which makes the magazine look more professional.
  I will combine both question 4 and 5 as they are both related to the audience. I will do a video for these because it will come across more direct to the audience viewing the video.

 

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

• Serif plus- wouldn’t have been able to construct the magazine without it as it was the main bases of my magazine
• Blogger- I wouldn’t have been able to get feedback and work on my magazine without uploading onto blogger and getting people to comment on my drafts.
• Pros- serif was easy to use, helped a lot and made the magazine look professional

• Blogger helped me get the feedback I wanted, easy to upload on, easy to get comments quickly

• Cons- it took a while to get used to serif and find out which tools I could use and what not
  I will use padlet to present this question because I have used it before and it will help the answer of my question be easier to understand.

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 that less is more and that contrast colours really help emphasise the bits you want people to see
• The way you position everything on a page is important in the professionalism of the magazine.
• You have to keep a constant house style and keep continuity throughout
  I will use audio probably for this question with pictures synced in as it will help describe the difference and progress from the preliminary task to the final piece.

Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Front Cover

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Front Cover

Double Page Spread

Research and Planning

Product Placement


Magazine Analysis


Magazine Planning

Prelim Contents Page

Prelim Front Cover

Prelim Evaluation

1. Did you plan your magazine? If not, what have you learnt about the importance of research and planning?
   I did not plan my magazine as such, I knew what I wanted in the sense of content and the way I wanted it to look but I think if I had planned it properly by drawing it out and labelling what I wanted, it would have turned a lot better than it has. Planning it fully would have saved me time because as I spent a lot of time working out if aspects of the magazine looked right in certain places and what text I wanted to put onto it.
2. What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?
   I used the computer to make the magazine as a whole. This was my main form of technology that I used. I also used my iPhone to take the pictures I used for the magazine. The camera on my iPhone was sufficient enough to take good quality pictures and it was easy to transfer them onto the computer. To upload them onto the computer, I used the lightning cable to put them onto the computer. The software I used to create the magazine on the computer was Serif PagePlus X6. There was a software inside Serif PagePlus X6 called Cutout Studio which I used to cut the background out from the actual picture I wanted. The main software, Serif PagePlus X6 was very simple to use as a whole but had some complex elements to it which threw me off a bit. Overall, I found the software very simple and self-explanatory to use. I also used the internet to research codes and conventions so that I could get a better understanding of what each part of my magazine was actually called and what they mean.
3. Did you encounter any difficulties? If so, what were they and how did you overcome them?
   The difficulties I encounter with my magazine were the cutting out of the pictures. I used Cutout studio to try and get the picture away from the background but I found this hard to use because it takes a lot of time and precision to cut them out perfectly. In the end, I used a picture that was easy to cut out from and I found that using a different size tool make it easier and also if I took my time when doing it, I found that I could make it as neat as I could. I also found it difficult thinking of some of the text to put on the front cover and where to put it. In the end, I thought of some articles I could put inside the magazine and put those on the front cover. I placed the text around the page so it was spread out and not cluttered. Another thing I found difficult was finding a font and colour for the text so it would stand out from the page and the pictures I had placed into it. The font I chose, I think, stands out from the page and is easily readable. Also, the colour I used for the text on the background stands out and you can read that as well. I found taking the pictures for the magazine very difficult. We had to get a medium to close up shot and it was hard finding a person that would be willing to be in the magazine and finding the right angle to take the picture in. It was hard figuring out if the shots I took were medium to close up as I had never taken photography before.
4. How successful was your magazine? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
   I think my magazine wasn’t as successful as I had hoped it to be but it was a good effort for a first time user of the software and a first time thinking of a concept for a magazine. If I had planned it fully and prepared myself in what I was doing, I think it would have turned out more professional looking. I think if I had thought of the whole idea beforehand and thought out each individual concept so that I would know where to put everything, I think that my magazine would have looked more unique and different that everyone else’s as I feel, from the ones I have seen, that most of our magazines are similar looking.
5. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
   I have learnt that planning ahead really helps in the process of making a magazine. If you plan ahead, you know exactly what you are doing and you know where to put all the content and what to write about. Another thing I have learnt is to use a colour scheme. A colour scheme really helps so that the page doesn’t look all cluttered and childish; it looks professional and modern. I have also found that knowing what type of pictures you want in your magazine really helps save time. Taking lots of pictures of different people from different angles will help you decide what angle and what type of person you want on your magazine. I found out the hard way but cutting lots of pictures I had taken and placing them into my magazine to see if they fit. This took up a lot of time as I was trying to figure out what picture looked the best in what position and what went well with each picture; i.e. other pictures, different text or the colour scheme of the whole magazine.