Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Both images are very different from my preliminary task and my final front cover. I believe the front cover on my music magazine is a lot better as it follows the convention of a regular magazine. It does this as it is a medium shot of one main artist which has an article inside. The image on my prelminary task is a random image which represents the school. However, there is not an article included about the people that are previewed on the front cover. My mast head of 'Aim High!' lacks in excitement for my target market of school children to want to pick it up and read this magazine. There is limited use of cover lines and sell lines in on my preliminary task which would also deter my target audience from wanting my magazine.

As you can see there is a massive improvement for creating a contents page. They both have a copy of the mast head at the top, which follows a convention of magazines. However, to be honest my preliminary task on left looks absolutley pathetic. It looks plain and dull and I don't think anyone would want to read a magzine with a contents page that looked like this. This is why I am very pleased and proud of what I have accomplished with my music magazine. There is a main image, Band Index, clear headings so it is easy to navigate and page numbers which all follow conventions of a magazine. I have inderstood what goes in to a magazine to make my target audience want to be interested in my magazine and what to do to attract them. I am really proud of my final designs. However if I had to do it all again I would be more organised. For example, I left things to the last minute such as my blog because I didn't know how to use it. I would also make sure I properly plan on paper so I have a concrete idea of what to do. I would also get more feedback so I know 100% of what works and what doesn't for my target audience.

Feedback

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

Photoshop has played a major part in the development and production of my magazine. When making our preliminary tasks I had no idea how I was going to make a magazine that followed any of the codes and conventions of a real magazine, as I had limited knowledge of how to use the photoshop programme. I looked on YouTube how to cut out images from their background. I was also shown how to use the magnetic lasso tool, as the Photoshop demonstration (above) shows it in two different ways. I looked at several 'How to' video's to help create my magazine.

When first introduced to the apple macs, I have to be honest I got a little frustrated. Even though they had the similar programmes such as 'Word' and access to the internet. They had different layouts. At the beginning of the project, it took me a long time to complete my magazine and just general research as i'd never used them before. However, as I practised using them more often, I began to feel more comfortable and confident in using the macs. Plus, I would now rather use the apple macs than go back to the previous computers that I was using. Now that I feel more at ease with using the macs, I think I will be more calm when completing other projects.

At the beggining of the project, I did not know how to create, use or upload to a blog. For a while I left the blog and focused on the actual production of my magazine. I think this was because I thought I would just get more frustrated as it was another programme of which I could get confused with. If I could re-do the project knowing what I have learnt, then I would have started both my blog and magazine earlier. I didn't realise how much time it consumed, so now I realised I should have fully listened to my teacher when she said keep up to date with everything and odn't get left behind. From using blogger, I have learnt how to upload video's, audio's and images.

Just like the programmes above, 'Photobucket' and 'Flikr' were both new to me. I tried to think if there were any other easier ways to create slide shows of images. Although, when I was shown how to use them, I realised that they are so simple to use. I liked using them that much that I have even started using them for my photography projects. I think it proves that if I get shown how to use something and I practise for myself, then I can do pretty much anything. For recording my audio pieces, to begin with I recorded them off my phone. However, I decided not use them as I did think the sound was of a very high quality. I then plugged in a microphone, and recorded myself. Saved it as an mp3 file and placed it on my blog. Over all, I am glad that I have learnt and know how to use these different programmes as I can use them in future projects.

How did you attract/address your audience?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49556281@N02/4545530436/

Who would be the audience for your media product?

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

      Similarities

 -       These two shots are very similar in the way that they are both medium shots (showing from the waist up)
 -       Both costumes are black, with a similar of hair and make up as they are both aimed at .similar target audience of teenagers who are interested in the rock and indie style genre

  -       On both covers they take up the same amount of space on the page and are both positioned more the the right, and then has the majority of text running down the left side of the page.

Differences

-       These shots are different in the way that my model has her back facing the audience, but still seeing one side of her face. where as, on the rolling stones cover we see a full frontal view of Amy which has a direct mode of address.

-       In my image, Amy is less revealing as less skin is on show, which means tattoos are hidden

-       The Amy on the “Rolling Stones” cover is pouting and showing less emotion. Where as my model creates an impression of happiness.

-       The Rolling Stones cover Amy, is more slouched where mine reveals a more healthy posture

-   The lighting on the rolling stones cover is brighter, which is differs to mine as you can view shadows on my models face

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

a) Title, font and style - 'G.L.A.M'

I concluded on the title “G.L.A.M” which stands for “Girls Latest Amazing Music” as this connects with the conventions of any typical magazine, as it is short and a memorable title. Here are some examples of the convention in reality.

It is also placed across the top across the page horizontally, as all magazines do this. I could have tried my mast head vertically to break the forms and conventions of a magazine.
My target audience, who are young, teenage girls, would like this name for my music magazine as the word “Glam” is appealing to the more “girly” girls. It sounds like it could be a fashion magazine. However, when you realise what “G.L.A.M” stands for (Girls Latest Amazing Music) you discover it is actually a gossip style music magazine. I have chosen the colours of pink and black for my title for the whole house style. This is a code and convention of magazines across all genres as the majority of magaiznes consist of a very limited colour paletter, therefore making it easier to navigate and not look too overcrowded. However, music magazines sych as 'Smash Hits' and 'Top of the Pops' subvert this convention as they tend to use a variety of bright colours as their target audience are for young children.

('Smash Hits front cover'http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/archives/images/set2/539216_1.jpg)
('Top of the Pop's front cover https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpuWASwHTUHUlsYtsOtVqKB4JFIwQaxpBcvmmcLHPhlQvAc7EKRi6m4tnEQoAWlqbM6jrYADKtR7NJ838iVimrLFOPWij3gaVlkuuvIcaAnIvVHiyktdLoxVdDrSgF8I_ivU16WHXNIk/s1600/Untitled-3.jpg)

When seen the colour pink, you stereotypically assume that the product is for females, and this was the effect and technique I was hoping to achieve. I also used a slightly rock style font to give it an edgy look of rebellion so it wasn’t just a completely 'girly' magazine. This is similar to 'KERRANG'S' logo (shown below) as it looks like smashing glass. The 'smashed mirror effect relates to the genre of music and artists featured in this magazine. I asked 30 people aged 14 - 18 to choose which mast head design they liked best out of all my designs and 90% of them chose the one used in my final magazine. This is the main reason of why I concluded on the design. For my anchorage text and cross head I have used serif font. Although this is usually a formal text used, I wanted to break the rule of the codes and convention as I believe it created a more edgy atmosphere when teamed with my mast head.

b) Mis en Scene of Images

On my front cover, for my main image I only had a coloured background as I wanted my main star persona to have the spotlight and be the main focus. I chose my main image and model look straight in to the camera to give a direct mode of address which draws the reader in. I also had a smaller picture of Lady Gaga at the side to show what else featured in this weeks G.LA.M magazine. This follows the convention of the majority of magazines across all genres, as magazines usually have just a plain white or coloured background so it doesn’t distract the audience away from the magazine, with their main image being the largest. I have followed this rule on my contents page too. However, my double page spread does not follow this rule as my main image has a background showing the countryside to portray that they are on a country holiday which is what is read in the article to relate the images with the article itself. I also had three other, separate smaller images on my double page which follows the conventions in magazines, as this lets the audience have a closer look at a celebrity’s private life.

c)Costumes, props and people

For my front page, as my leading image of Amy Winehouse I had to choose a girl who would look good in trying to recreate her style. I chose the person I did as she has long dark hair which I tried to put up in the style similar to Amy’s and dress her in the more “emo” style. I also dressed her in black as it’s a very dark colour, similar to her reputation and personality. I chose a medium shot as it focused completely on her. Although, on my front cover I had her pose smiling and healthy looking as the article was suppose to be about her being happier. The Lady Gaga photo on the front cover was chosen as it looked like a slightly mad pose and this is how she is portrayed in the industry. This was why I also chose just a head shot and also because as it was a much smaller image in comparison to the leading image, it would have been more difficult to see that it was her if it was a long shot. The images of Blake and Amy on my double page spread mainly consisted of long shots and medium shots as this time I wanted the reader to see a whole body shot of them two together. I had them both smiling in all of the photo’s as the article was supposed to be about them back together and how happy they were about it. This time I had has Amy wear a red, blue, white and black to create a bit of colour for her. This also showed a more casual look as the front cover image was a more posed shot. Where as this double page spread images were to show the reality of Amy and her partner on holiday. This is why Blake wore just a plain top and jacket with jeans.
d) Music Genre
My music genre is indie/rock. It immediately suggests this as on my front cover it shows the main article of Amy Winehouse and shows a “Band Index” on the contents page which shows the majority of bands which fit the indie/rock target audience category. The mast head font also gives it that edgy look which appears a little scruffy and untidy which relates to the artists stereotypical appearances.