CLOSED BLOG NOTIFICATION

Centre Name: Norbury Manor BEC

Centre Number: 14343

Candidate Name: Ruby Heathcote

Candidate Number: 1079

Unit: G321

Final Front Cover

Final Contents Page

Final Double Page Spread

Evaluation: Question 7

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


                      

Evaluation: Question 6

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

To present my research and processes onto my blog I have had to learn how to use certain different types of software so that I could bring some diversity to my blog. My favourite one of these to use was SlideShare which is an online PowerPoint that can be easily embedded into a blog. Along with using SlideShare I used iMessage (to receive feedback from people in my target audience), voice memos and SoundCloud, Emaze, Movie Maker, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word and Notepad (to type up my work and notice spelling and grammar errors easier).

Another technology that I've learnt about through the construction of the project are cameras and lighting. Although I knew how to use a camera previously I now know more about its different modes and different ways to use it. I have also learnt the hard way that it is easier to make a portrait photo work with magazine covers and contents pages as if it is landscape you are more likely to accidentally crop out the top of a head or a hand. The lights are something else I've learnt to work with as before this project I had no clue how to use them and now I even know which ones work most effectively for the type of image I'm trying to take.

Photoshop has been the software most involved in the creation of my final product and also the software that I believe I have improved most at using. When the project began I had completely no idea how to even select an item and delete its background however by the end I had not only learnt how to use the basic tools but had also remembered the shortcuts. Learning how to use the grid effectively on Photoshop was definitely the best thing that I picked up from this software. Doing this enabled me to line up and organise my work giving it the best and clean finish that my work would look lost without. Another thing that I learnt to use on Photoshop was the healing tool which allowed me to remove all blemishes from my models. At one point in the project I even used the lasso and magic wand tools to highlight my model's hair then I changed the hue and saturation making her hair red.

Evaluation: Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation: Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation: Question 3

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

Evaluation: Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents alternative rock fans as it is an alternative rock magazine. While my magazine is colourful and slightly rebellious looking it's not completely off the rails and dangerous which is how most alternative rock fans and artists are presented. While my magazine does represent a rock audience I believe that because it's not too restricting and specific, it could also appeal to people of other music genres.

The females in my magazine are represented as a strong group of people. This can first be seen by the stance of the model on the cover who has her hands rolled into fists while smiling and looking like she's having fun. While looking slightly violent the smiling tones it down making the model just seem playful and not aggressive. The fact that it was an ‘Attack of the girls issue’ also contributes to this strong vibe however as none of the models look threatening it doesn’t look like its encouraging violence.

My magazine represents young people in a positive light as all of my artists are young and friendly looking people. In my double page spread interview I made my artist (Enimsay) seem quite a chilled out person who was not out drinking or smoking or abusing any drugs. I did this as I not only wanted to make her seem like a role model but also because I wanted to create a positive light on young people who support and enjoy rock. I wanted to do this because there is an existing stereotype that people who enjoy rock are heavily into drugs and alcohol. By having my artist mention neither of these it in a way subverts the stereotype that rock artists commonly brag about boozing and being high to the point of near death. This in its self does not put a positive light over the situation just because I didn’t mention it, however it make my magazine represent young people in a more positive light than is common of a typical rock magazine.

As none of the models in my magazine are white I am solely representing ethnically diverse artists in the alternative rock genre. The way I have portrayed them is exactly the same as I would if the models were white. They are all wearing casual black clothing which has no link to their origins. I have represented all races who like alternative rock as one group of people which is not impacted by colour or background.

Evaluation: Question 1

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

Double page spread layout decisions

DPS layout decisions from rubyasmedia

Double page spread image decisions

I chose to only have one photo present on my double page spread. I did this to follow the conventions of an alternative rock magazine, especially Kerrang! which was a big inspiration for my own work. I chose this photo as to begin with it is clear and the artist has an angle of gaze. Another reason that I chose the photo is because of the way that the model is positioned. The leg would be suitable to spread over the two pages and acting almost as a link so that the two didn't seem separated. The artists clothes match the artist profile that I created earlier in the project. This creates more of a link between the artist and the information I have written in the interview which would be to the right of this photo.

Double page spread links to cover and contents page

Double page spread in relation to my contents page:

Double page spread in relation to my contents page:

Artist interview

Contents page feedback

After asking people in my target audience what they thought of my magazine this is what they replied:

Standfirst

Here are a collection of standfirsts that I put together to inspire my own text.

After looking at these existing pieces I have drawn the conclusion that my own standfirst should mention the artists name and lightly touch on the main subject of the article.

My standfirst:

Ahead of her first ever tour Enimsay gets personal on her past and where the main theme of darkness in her songs rose from...

Contents page features

Contents page colour choices

Double page spread research

Paper interviews:

Here are two examples of double page spreads available in the media today. Both of these articles are taken from Kerrang! magazine. I have taken both from this magazine as the majority of my magazine so far has been inspired by this magazine.

After reading both of these interviews I have noticed that they have a similar structure. They both begin with an introduction to the artist giving the consumer a bit of background information on the artist. They then go on to ask questions. The questions do have some relation to the artist for example in the second interview they ask Taylor about her parents and where the darkness in her songs springs from. For my own interview this is most likely the structure I will follow as it is used in real media texts and works successfully.

Contents page image choices

Here is the main image on my contents page. I chose it because the model looks slightly moody and rebellious just as many other alternative rock artist do. As this was an 'attack of the girls' edition it was only right to have a female model. I chose to do this to subvert the norm of alternative rock magazines which are usually male dominated. Along with this the image is clear and the model has a good angle of gaze as she is staring directly into the camera.


Here is the second image present on my contents page. It goes with the editors note. The model is casual as the editors note in kerrang! magazine (which is my main contents page inspiration), the editors note image is also casual. The model in the image also has a good and clear angle of gaze improving the image and attracting the consumers attention. The image clarity is also good and contributed to why I chose this photo.

Contents page layout

This is a slide share that I created to show the process of creation for my contents page.

 

Contents page research

To the right I have tried to show how my contents page links to some of the existing alternative rock contents pages existing in real press today. Each different colour bubble shows a convention of the magazine that I had decided to pull across into my own work to make it fit the genre better. Below I have deconstructed a magazine contents page and analyzed the main features of it.
  

To follow conventions and make my work look more like an alternative rock magazine I chose to include all of the main features from the deconstruction above. In doing this and keeping a similar layout it keeps my magazine style close to that of a real life text. I have done this as I wish to make my magazine look as real as possible.

Editors note

On many alternative rock magazine contents pages there is a small section on the page where the editor has a small piece of fun and informal written text introducing the issue. To follow conventions I am going to add one of these onto my magazine. Below are two existing editors notes that I used to help inspire my own by writing a piece of text similar to theirs.

My editors note

Audience feedback

 

Front cover linked to research

Model with consent form

Front cover features

Font decisions

Main body

 

 

Masthead

 

Options:

 

Above are the three options that I chose to be my magazine masthead. Eventually I came to the decision that font number 2 would work best on my magazine and even looks a little like the masthead on Kerrang! magazine.

 

Pull quote fonts

 

To get an idea of what font would best suit the genre of my magazine I did some research. I conducted this research by googling alternative rock magazines and then taking screenshots of the pull quotes then creating a mood board. From here I then went onto dafont.com and found some options which I thought might work.

 

Options:

 

 

From comparing the font options to those really available in the market, I came to the decision that I would use option 1.

 

 

Photograph manipulation

I manipulated the lighting on the photo to make the background seem lighter and cleaner. Alternative rock magazines tend to have white backgrounds, not grey so this also helps me to fit conventions of the genre.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

I also manipulated the models hair making it more red. I did this because many of the women in the alternative rock genre tend to have bright and vibrant hair colours.

 

Before:

 

After:

Cover layout decisions

Model with consent form

Final shots

This is the final shot that will be featured on my magazine cover. I have chosen it because it fits the theme of my magazine well and also matches the artist profile which I created.

 

 

Below is the image of my flat plan which matches the final shot above almost identically. This shows me sticking to the plan that I created because it works well.

 

 

Test shots

Flatplan feedback

To see how my target audience felt about the cover of my magazine I asked them to write some feedback on my flatplan. These are the results:

Although most of it was positive there was a comment suggesting that the main picture should be bigger which is something that I will take into consideration while constructing my magazine cover.

Flat plan

Visual moodboard

A short video showing the visual moodboard I created.

Reader profile

Shot list

Artist profile

This is a glog that I created using the website glogster. It is a profile for the artist who will feature in my magazine on both the cover and double page spread.

http://rubyheathcote5696c72b1563c.edu.glogster.com/artist-profile-638/

Imbed code: <iframe src="http://edu.glogster.com//glog/48431551" width="480" height="650" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="overflow: hidden;"></iframe>

Focused audience research

Here is a video showing a focus group that I held with two people in my target audience.

These are the two different magazine covers that were shown in the focus group:

During the focus group it was stated that 'rock sound' was the better looking magazine out of the two. They stated that the colours, the layout and the overall look were better than the 'Kerrang!' one. With this feedback I will most likely stick to the colours of black, white and red for my own cover. 'Kerrang!' was described by the pair to be childish and pop magazine looking due to the overpowering of the colour orange and the crowdedness of the layout due to all of the pictures displayed at the sides and bottom. Once again to respond to this feedback I am likely not to use pictures around the edge as this is clearly something my target audience does not want.

Here are the participants with their consent forms: