Evaluation of your Music Magazine Coursework Evaluation Activity1: In what ways does your media product use , develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Magazines have got certain colours and formats which make them stand out at the point of sale. I chose the style of blues, as from a young age my Father got me interested with blues music, which was really brought on when I watched ‘The Blues Brothers’ for the first time. Whilst pondering for ideas on what genre my music magazine should be, this came to mind. I also realised that there seem to be comparably less blues magazines around compared to other music magazines, but blues itself still had a large fan base, who would act as a large range of target audience.
My Masthead My Masthead was successful because it had both the colour and the style which had the ability to grab the audience and reflect perfectly on the style and character of blues. I used a Serif font as serif font is the older style of font and my magazine was aimed at the older generation of people. This gave it that ‘old school’ style.
Main Cover Image I used my Media Teacher Sean to as a model for my main subject character, thus using him also as my cover image. I decided to go with the typical image of blues. So first of all I had him positioned in a typical ‘bluesy’ stance, sat on a stool, concentrating solely on his guitar. I wanted the shot to be a medium shot so the shot would establish two things. It would show Sean’s facial expression, to show his inner passion for the music, and two the shot includes all of his body, which led the reader to believe he was performing on a stage. Furthermore I edited the image so that the light shining on him was a straw colour-again, simulating stage lights so he looks like he’ on stage. I changed the background to black and the lighting into a straw colour because I wanted it to look like the picture had been taken in a dark pub, bar or otherwise bluesy atmosphere with dim lighting. Double Page Spread Title I designed my Double page spread title to have a style and colour which reinstates the house style of the magazine, the theme and the subject of the double page spread. I also put my masthead back on the top right hand side of the double page spread to reinforce the brand.
Features I liked features because I put a lot of creative input into it. For example I created the pretend album art for the John Lee Hooker 2 page pull out on Photoshop. I also made the background for the image of Rhyming Ryan, again on Photoshop. Also although you probably can’t see it due to how dark the background was made at the end, both images are on what looks like film from a movie reel. The format and colour of the text in the features section is the same as on the rest of the front page so it carries on the constant theme of the magazine.
My Layout My layout on the contents page was mainly derived from one which I obtained from Google images. However I changed the colour and overall style to suit the theme of my blues magazine. I designed the colour scheme of the various layouts, including the boxes, shapes etc. to be certain colours, as seen here where I have set the blue text against the red box, making it stand-out by seemingly receding against the red.
Life’s a beach with Seal image This image was not originally meant to be even part of my media project it was meant to be part of my photography but I found that it worked perfectly as a cover album.
Pull quotes/ Font I used a drop cap to make it obvious to the audience where the starting point to read is and successfully used pull quotes, for example the one in the image (left). I also used a kicker. My font was san serif, to make it look modern, juxtaposing the black and white, old fashioned look of the spread. I also did this so it would be easy on the eyes.
My Jump Sign I believe my jump sign was successful because it was obvious and it stood out. The fact that it was a large arrow pointing towards the next page made it clear that the audience should turn the page to carry on reading. It also maintained the same style and colour scheme as the rest of the double page spread.
Evaluation Activity 2: How does your media Product represent certain social groups? As you may have already realised the theme for my media product is blues-particularly oldstyled. So I wanted to make my magazine to represent an older generation of blues fans, a generation represented by blues characters such as John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles and many more. I did some research and used some of my own knowledge to do this. I noticed that in films such as the Blues Brothers, blues clubs had a mixture of being classy but at times poor, in a sense that blues doesn’t need glamour, but just needs to be rough as it is. I made my mood board classy but not glossy, and dark, but in a laid back ‘cool’ way. I included things such as cigarettes and cocktails. And so I decided to add these themes to my magazine, giving it a dark but laid back colour scheme and Serif font, relating not only to this but to my target audience of the older generation. On the front cover was a cover image of a man-not elderly but in his older years, sat on a stool playing a guitar. I made the lighting straw-coloured as if in a dimly lit bar, and had him facing down as if he was completely concentrating solely on his guitar and not paying any attention to the fact he is being photographed or the audience are watching him. My product is a typical representation of blues, in many senses. To start it is projected as being for the older generation, and blues is often presented in this way. It is very dark, classy and is mixed in with cocktails, night clubs and cigarettes. A good way of describing blues in this popular sense would be ‘old school’. For example, look at my front cover, and then look at the front cover of another blues magazine.
My Front Cover:
A Front Cover of another blues magazine:
Notice the colour scheme of the cover image is similar; a dark background, with the light of stage lights. The content of the cover image is similar also. A man from the older generation playing a guitar/singing into a microphone-(either way he’s performing) on stage in a dark atmosphere. However in many cases the colour schemes, fonts and styles of other blues music magazines are much different than my own. As you can see in this one; the text is all white, and in a san-serif italic font, giving it a modern, laid back look. However with my own magazine I’ve used high contrasting colours such as red and yellow, which stand out to the reader. My Masthead was blue and along with the serif font, reflected on the ‘old-school’, ‘cool’ style of blues. Also, with the text on the front colour being made up primarily of warm coloured san-serif fonts, this makes the masthead stand out.
Evaluation Activity 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Any media institution which distributes magazines might distribute my product as it is of course a magazine. However, Blues is not currently a publically popular form of music. It’s very rare for blues to be played on live radio, or a music channel. I have not yet myself found a blues radio station or a blues music channel on the television, however blues CDs are still sold. Big supermarkets such as Tesco or Asda sell both magazines and CDs. If you were to walk into the CD section in one of their stores you are likely to find lesser heard of music such as blues, or swing, or country/folk, but you very rarely find a music magazine in the magazine section relating to that genre of music. However there are many media institutions such as IPC, Emap or Dennis, sell a range of different magazines of many genres including music, so I think one of these would be more likely to distribute my magazine. However, taking in the trends that certain media institutions and other retailers have, a small publishing firm would be more likely to publish my magazine, and if a large one was to publish it, it would most likely be IPC.
Evaluation Activity 4: Who would be the audience for your media product? I aimed my magazine at the older generation of blues fans-particularly men. Blues is listened to majorly by the more upper working class members of society with (generally) a large income. This would put them at an A-C1 range in the socio-economic Classifications. These people are often high-livers who like to drink and are often found in bars and clubs. Others according to the socio-economic classifications, and to my survey, enjoy playing instruments, and probably perform music either as a hobby or a career. However there are many in the audience who live work but overall live a quiet life, and enjoy listening to blues music as a way to unwind, for example after a long day’s work at the office.
Evaluation Activity 5: How did you attract/address your Audience? (Question answered on flicker)
Evaluation Activity 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learnt how to use many different devices of hardware and software, both on the computer and off of it. To start I learnt how to use and set up the college’s white backdrop with two tripods. I also started using a card reader and gained experience using a range of different digital cameras.
I also began learning how to use Photoshop on a more in depth level than before. For example, I learned how to use the crop tool to cut out certain features of my PDF files, to talk about on Evaluation Activity 1. I also experimented with the hue, colour balance and lighting of the image, and have made great strides in cutting and selecting certain features. This has all been vital in creating my magazine
I have also been introduced to Blogger. Before I started this constructing this product I had never
heard of blogger and although I had heard of a blog I had no idea of what one was let alone having my own one. Now however I have my blog, and can use it efficiently, coinciding with other computer programs, and websites.
One of the websites I have been using which coincides with blogger when creating my product is Slideshare. Slideshare allows me to upload slideshows, from a program such as Microsoft PowerPoint, onto the internet in a suitable format. It can then be uploaded onto websites and blogs. This was crucial in uploading certain images, graphs and processes onto my blog in a form which is appropriate and easy to use.
Another website I have been using for the creation of this product is Flickr. Flickr is an internet page which allows a user to upload, share and analyse photographs. This was needed a lot as I needed to upload many photographs to my blog and analyse them.
I have also learnt how to effectively use ISSUU to upload text documents into suitable, easy to read format which can be added to my blog.
Evaluation Activity 7: Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full project? I have made great progress from my preliminary task to my completed project. To start I have learnt extensively how to use various websites and programs such as Photoshop, Flickr, Blogger, ISSUU and Slideshare. Whilst constructing my preliminary task, I could only use Blogger and Photoshop-and only at a very basic level at that. Furthermore, I can now use a tripod, and various types of digital camera. I even learnt how to use the white back drop, to take photos against. All together I have learnt many things looking back at my preliminary task.