1. Evaluation of my final media product

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

3. My media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products in many ways. On my front cover these are… I have used my house colours purple and blue on my front cover. This will help people identify the magazine as “ TWIST ””. I have also used some orange and black to help things stand out and get the readers attention, such as the lure and the buzzword in the main cover line. I haven’t go a slogan for my magazine on the front cover. This is because I found that my target audience don’t seem to pay attention to them and remember them. Therefore I felt that it wasn’t necessary to have one. I have put one large central image on my front cover. This is a long shot of a girl group/ I have cut out the background of the picture so that the girls stand out more, and the page doesn’t get too visually cluttered and look messy. I have used a large, bold, bright buzzword in the centre of the page, which helps to anchor the central image. This will attract readers, as when they see the word “EXCLUSIVE”, they will want to read more to find out the latest news/gossip. I have put the barcode in the bottom left hand corner. After looking at different magazines I found that this was a popular place to have a barcode. It is quite small so that it doesn’t take up too much space, and make the page look untidy. My masthead is positioned in the top left hand corner of the front page. I found that this is the most common and popular place to find the masthead. I have made it big and bold using one of the house colours, blue. My masthead also sits on top of the image. This helps it stand out, and makes it easier and clearer to read. I have put my dateline in the bottom left hand corner of the front page, next to the bar code and price. By looking at other magazines I found that this was a common place to have a dateline, therefore I decided it would be good to put mine there as that’s where people would expect to see it. Down the left hand side of my front page I have put a list of several cover lines from inside the magazine. This tells the reader a little bit about what’s inside the magazine attract, before they’ve even opened it. This helps to people to the magazine. I found that cover lines were mainly placed down the sides of the cover, and so therefore I put mine down the side. On my front cover I have used a strapline across the top of the page. This uses the house colours, and it helps to attract readers. The text is bold and in capitals so that it stands out more. I have got anchorage text in the middle of the front page. This anchors the central image, and lets the readers know what’s inside. I have used a big bold font to do this, and it is written in purple so that it uses the house colours. I have got a lure on my front page. This is in the bottom right hand corner. It is bold and bright, so it is hard to miss. This lure will persuade people to buy the magazine as they will want the thing that the lure is advertising. The headline on my front page is in the centre of the page. This is so it is obvious to the reader, and it stands out. I have used one of my house colours for the headline, this is purple.

4. My media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products in many ways. On my contents page these are… I haven’t got a singles chart list on my contents page. This is because I have put “twist top 40” on it, which is a collection of 40 songs that twist thinks it’s readers would like. Therefore I thought it was not necessary to have a singles chart list. I haven’t got any ratings of new albums on my contents page. This is because I felt it would make the page more cluttered and busy. Instead I have got some ratings on other pages in my magazine. I have used only my house colours on my contents page. This helps to identify the magazine as “ TWIST ” just by briefly looking at the page. I haven’t got any artist's or band profile/interviews on my contents page because there isn’t really enough room for it, and I didn’t want my contents page to look too visually cluttered. However I do have some on other pages in the magazine and on the contents page it tells you what pages they are on. I haven’t got any bylines for my images on my contents page. This is because I have got quite a few pictures and so therefore I would need a lot of bylines. I haven’t got any articles on my contents page because there isn’t enough room, but down the right hand side there are headings of articles on new artists so that the reader can find them quickly and easily. I haven’t got any reviews of gigs/tours on my contents page because there isn’t enough room, but like other things, on the right hand side of the page there are headings and page numbers for reviews on other pages in the magazine. On the bottom of my contents page I have put a message from the editor. This tells the reader a little bit about the magazine, and what it aims to do. I found that it is quite common and popular to have a message from the editor on the contents page, and so therefore I thought it was appropriate to have one. On the right hand side of my contents page I have a list of features which appear in this addition only. I fund that this was quite a popular thing to have and it is a good way to attract people to the magazine. It also gives the readers something new and different to look at in each issue. On the right hand side of my contents page there is a list of regular features in the magazine. These are things that will appear in every issue, but obviously they will be slightly different each time. Next to each regular feature it tells you the page number and a little bit about it. On the left hand side of the page I have got a collection of images that link to the articles. I have also got a small preview of my features page so that the reader will know what sort of thing to expect before they’ve even turned to the page. I have put the anchorage text for each image down the right hand side of the page. This is where it tells you what the article is about and also what page it is on. It is easy ti tell which image goes with which heading as the page numbers are on the corners of the images as well as next to the headings. Within my special features I have got some headings of reviews of singles, however I don’t have any reviews on my contents page. I thought it was important to have reviews in a music magazine as people will look at it to get advice on what music to listen to and buy/download.

5. My media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products in many ways. On my features page these are… On my features page I have only used my house colours, purple and blue. This is so it fits in with the rest of the magazine, and makes it identifiable as “ TWIST ”. My features page is a double page spread, and so therefore I have put my main image on the left hand side, taking up the whole page. This is a medium close up of the DJ the article is about. I have also used lighting in a way that makes the image look as if it was taken live. My headline is stretched across the centre of the main image, using leading to stretch it across the whole width of the left hand page. For this I have used one of the house colours, purple. After looking at features pages from other magazines I found that it was quite popular to use leading in the headlines to stretch them across the page. I have put a page lead underneath my headline on the left hand page of the features page. This tells the reader a little bit about the article so they know what it’s about before they’ve started reading it. I have used one of my house colours, blue, to do this. This was because I had used purple for the headline, and it has to look different so it is clear to the reader that they are separate things. After looking at other magazines I discovered that the page lead is always under or next to the headline/ therefore I put mine there. The body copy for this article is just on the right hand page of the double page spread. I thought this worked well and looked neat. The article starts off going across the top of the page, but then when it’s the questions and answers I split it into 3 columns. I found that most magazines usually just had the body copy split into columns, but I thought it would work better if I had a chunk of writing at the top to tell the reader a bit about the DJ and then columns underneath for the questions and answers. I have used a drop cap for the first word of the article, this helps the reader know where the article starts. To do this I have used one of my house colours, purple, so that it matches the headline. I have put a few pull quotes in with the questions and answers. This grabs the readers attention and makes them want to read more. I have made them stand out by making the font bigger, bolder and a different colour to the rest of the text. I have put folios on the bottom outside corners of the pages. After looking at other magazines I found that this was quite a common place to find the folio. Therefore I decided to put mine there as that’s where the readers would expect to see them. The folios in “TWIST” consist of the page number and the name of the magazine. This is important as it tells the reader where they are in the magazine, also they will know what magazine they are reading by looking at any of the pages.

6. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

7. Image on front cover of TWIST : Similar image on front cover of Q: Similarities and differences Posture TWIST: the models have quite good posture, but they also seem to be quite relaxed. Q: the models are quite relaxed and slightly slouched. Costume TWIST: The girls are all wearing short dresses, this is typical of a girl group. Q: The people in this image are all wearing clothes that you would expect someone into rock music would wear. This fits in with the headline “guitar heroes”. Expression TWIST: The girls in this image all have happy expressions. This gives the reader the impression that they have quite up beat/cheery songs. Q: The people in this photo look quite serious, this gives the reader the impression that their music is probably rock and is quite loud. Gesture TWIST: The girls have all got their arms around each other, this suggests that they are close. Q: They are all holding guitars and seem quite separate. This makes it seem like they are not a group. Lighting TWIST: In this image the lighting is coming from the top right hand corner. It is quite a bright, and slightly yellow light. Q: In this image the lighting is coming from above and in front of the people. You can tell this as there are shadows underneath their chins. Angle TWIST: The image is a long shot of the girl group posing for the photo. This shows you their whole body. Q: This image is also a long shot of the people posing for the photo. However, in this photo the people are slightly overlapped.

8. -There are a range social groups represented in my music magazine, this is because it is aimed at girls aged 14 – 25. I have found that many girls within this age range have very different personalities and are in to different things. Therefore I have looked at what the majority of these people would like, but with a slight twist. For example with the house colours I have chosen purple because it can be quite girly, but then I also have blue, which can be quite “tom-boyish”. By doing this I have colours that should appeal to all of the people within my target audience, and all of the social groups. -The people that would read my magazine would be confident, and would like going out with their friends to events such as gigs, parties, and clubs if they’re old enough. Due to this, they would be quite self-aware, You know this by looking at the content of my magazine. It mainly looks at rock/pop and dance music, and these are the genres of music you would expect to hear at these events. -I don’t think that they would be overly rebellious, but they would like to break the rules every now and then. For example if they are under 18 they could be drinking at parties etc. You can tell this as my magazine focuses on the genres of music you would expect o see at a party, and the majority of social groups within my target audience would drink at parties, however my magazine does not encourage under age drinking. -They would be open to new music,. You know this because my magazine looks at new artists as well as established ones. -They wouldn’t have a very wide range of tastes as my magazine only looks at rock/pop and dance music. -They would come from a range of different classes as all the social groups and people within them would come from different backgrounds. -They would have a busy lifestyle, and would socialise with friends a lot.

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

10. One of the most popular, and well known distributors for magazines is IPC Advertising. They distribute a wide range of magazines, such as gossip magazines, house magazines, TV magazines, and most importantly music magazines. IPC Advertising is also the distributor of the well known NME magazine. I believe that IPC Advertising would distribute my magazine as I believe TWIST could be a popular choice with many females aged between 14 and 25. This is because of the genres of music TWIST covers, and the content of the magazine. Also I have looked at NME to get inspiration for my magazine, so therefore there are some similarities, for example the layout of some of the pages, and the mise-en-scene and address of some of the images. I have also had a look at another distribution site, Rhinegold Publishing. I don’t think that this website would distribute my magazine because although it distributes many music magazines, they don’t appear to cover the genres of music that my magazine TWIST covers. Therefore TWIST wouldn’t fit in, and so Rhinegold Publishing wouldn’t want to distribute it.

11. Who would be the audience for you media product?

12. My Reader Profile By looking at this you can tell what sorts of things my ideal reader likes, where they shop, what they like doing, and what sort of lifestyle they have. I have designed this making it appeal to my target audience by using my house colours and many things that they like. I made a reader profile because I found that all the magazines I looked at had them, and so therefore I decided it was an important thing to have. To help me make my reader profile I looked at a couple of reader profiles for other music magazines. These included NME and UNCUT.

13. My ideal reader My ideal reader would listen to new and popular music that’s more up beat and you would expect to hear at a party or club. The genres of music that my magazine covers are rock/pop and dance, which is what my ideal reader would listen to. My ideal reader would typically watch TV programmes that relate to their everyday lives, and highlight many issues that they could come across, but but also offer high entertainment and give them something to talk about with friends. These would be programmes such as Skins, The Inbetweeners, Big Brother and The X Factor. My magazine is suitable for my ideal reader as it offers many things that would interest them and they would want to know about. These are things such as the latest artists and songs, exclusive interviews, and the latest gossip on well known artists. I think my ideal reader would by my magazine “TWIST” because of these things, and also because it is reasonably priced at £2.50. My ideal reader would listen to new and popular music that’s more up beat and you would expect to hear at a party or club. The genres of music that my magazine covers are rock/pop and dance, which is what my ideal reader would listen to. My ideal reader would be interested in things like makeup, fashion, music and friends. Young girls that are in to fashion would generally shop in places such as new look, top shop, river island and miss selfridge. These are all common shops on the high street, and they are not too pricey. This makes them suitable for my ideal reader as 14-25 year olds probably wouldn’t have high paying jobs and many of them would be students. This is an example of my ideal reader, a girl aged between 14 and 25. I have previously looked at the interests of my ideal reader, you can see some of these things by looking at my reader profile. This shows you what sort of things my ideal reader likes doing, where they like shopping, what sort of life they live etc.

14. How did you attract/address you audience?

15. After doing these surveys/questionnaires I knew what my target audience would like to see in a magazine, and therefore I knew how I should design it and what I should put in it. My target audience is females aged 14-25. I had to design my magazine “ TWIST ” in a way that would make it appealing to this target audience. I did this in a number of ways. To find out the right information to make my magazine more appealing to my target audience I did some questionnaires. The first questionnaire I did was about music and how my target audience listen to and get their songs. To get answers to this questionnaire I sent it in an email on facebook to a range of people within my target audience. I did this as I know a lot of people use facebook, and I felt it was a quicker and easier way to get my results. The second questionnaire I did was more specific to my magazine, trying to get information on how to set it out etc. To do this I used a programme called survey monkey, and then I posted it onto facebook for my friends to answer. This worked well and I got quite a few answers after posting it several times. “ Max started off in his hometown of Bournemouth at small parties and clubs. ” I have made the mode of address suitable for this target audience. To do this the language used is quite catchy/humorous, also I have used shortened forms, quotes and questions. This is all because the magazine sets out to make the reader feels as if they know the artists personally by using first names and nicknames The house colours in my magazine are purple and blue. I chose these colours because they seemed to be popular with my target audience, as they can suit all social groups. I have used these house colours throughout my magazine, only using other colours occasionally for buzzwords, lures etc. The overall layout of my magazine is quite simple and clear. I have chosen to make it like this because I think my target audience could soon lose interest if it is too complicated. I also thought that the way I have set out the pages is quite neat, but also has a messy side to it. For example some of the pictures have been tilted.

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

17. I have used Serif Page Plus 11 to set out, design and make my magazine and most of my research. I think that it is a simple and easy programme to use., and I have used it a lot in the past. You can do a variety of different things on this programme, such as add text and images, and arrange them in many different ways. I didn’t really learn anything from using this programme as I have used it a lot of times before. I have used Serif Photo Plus to edit many of my images. Using this programme you can do many things with images, such as crop, erase, recolor, blur and resize them. It is easy to use and it works well. From using this programme I have learnt a few things, such as how to blur/smudge images to make them less pixelated. I have also learnt how to quickly cut out the backgrounds of images, rather than trying to do it on paint. This has saved a lot of time and it looks better. I have used paint to put my work onto my blog. This is because you can only add work from Page Plus 11 to your blog if it is saved as a picture. Therefore, every time I wanted to add my work onto my blog I had to print screen it and save it as an image. I have used blogger to display all of my work and planning. Everything I have done, I have put onto a blog that I created for my media coursework. I have learnt different things form using blogger, such as how to add pictures and PowerPoint's to my blog. I have used Survey Monkey to create a questionnaire for my target audience to answer so that I knew what they would like to see in my magazine. I found that this was a good way to do a questionnaire as it was quick and easy. Also it automatically gathered up the results, which saved time. I have used facebook to send out my questionnaires. The first questionnaire I did I sent out as an email to many of my friends within my target audience. Also when I did a questionnaire on Survey Monkey I posted it onto facebook several times to get as many people as possible to answer it. This worked well as a lot of people within my target audience use facebook regularly, so it was quick and easy to get a large range of results. The camera I used to take the pictures for my magazine was a Hitachi hdc-1095e. This is a 10 mega pixel camera with 3 x optical zoom. I had used this camera many times before so I thought it was easy to use, and it worked well. I have used slideshare to put PowerPoint's that I have made onto my blog. I had never used this programme before, but I felt that this was easy to use, and it worked well. First I had to make my own account, I then had to upload my PowerPoint onto slideshare, and from there I could then post it straight to my blog. For the picture on my front cover I just used the ceiling lights that were in the room. The majority of the pictures on my contents page were taken at a gig that I went to, therefore many different lights were used. These were spotlights, strobe lights, and many more. For the pictures on the features page I used ceiling lights and also on the main image I used a desk lamp and pointed it up at the person posing for the photo. Paint

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

19. P R E L I M I N A R Y T A S K F I N A L P R O D U C T

20. Photography When taking a picture for a magazine it is important that you consider the different camera angles. Different angles can have different effects, and they can determine the mood of the photo. Therefore it is important that you chose the right camera angle for each picture you take. Mise-en-scene is also an important factor to consider when taking a photo. You must make sure you have the right props and setting to make it look as professional as possible. If you have things in the photo that are completely irrelevant then the photo won’t look very good, or professional. Lighting is also important. If you get the lighting wrong then it can completely ruin the photo. You have to think about what effect you want the photo to have, whether the photo is live or posed, and then chose lighting that is suitable. You should also consider the address of the photo. Whether it uses direct address or indirect address. Layout When designing the layout of a magazine you should consider your target audience. You should think about how they would like to see it set out, and what sort of layout would be most suitable for them. You must think about whether you want it to look neat and sophisticated, or untidy and jumbled up. Different styles would suit different target audiences, you wouldn’t see a magazine that was for an older generation that looked untidy, with slanted images and crazy fonts, because that’s not what they would want to see, You must also consider how many images you want, and how much text you want on the pages. You should also think about whether you want your page to be visually cluttered or not. A younger audience may prefer a more visually cluttered page, whereas an older audience would probably prefer a plainer looking page. Fonts When making your magazine you should chose the fonts you use carefully. You need to decide whether you want to use sans-serif fonts or serif fonts. Sans-serif fonts are fonts with out a bar or ‘foot’. These fonts are less personal. A serif font is a font with the little bars added to the ends of the letters. These are more traditional fonts. You should also look at the size of the fonts. The main copy of the magazine should be in a size 10 font, and subheadings and headings should be bigger. Also it is a good idea to have things like pull quotes in a larger font so they stand out more. You must also consider the colour of the fonts you are using. You should chose a colour that you can read easily. To do this you should look at what colour the background is and chose a colour that will stand out from that. It is also a good idea to use your house colours for some of the text so that it fits in with the magazine. For the masthead of the magazine you should choose the font carefully. It must appeal to the target audience and be suitable for the content of the magazine. Modes of Address The mode of address for you magazine must be suitable for your target audience. You need to decide whether you want you magazine to be formal or informal. You need to decide whether you want your magazine to set out to make the reader feel as if they know the artists personally by using first names/nicknames. Also you must thing about what sort of language you want to use, for example, catchy, humorous, sensational, technical or explicit language. Once again you must consider your target audience when deciding this. If you magazine was for young children you wouldn’t have swear words or technical language in it because it wouldn’t be suitable. You must decide how many images you want on your pages, and how you want the page to be set out. You should also consider the content of your pages. Whether you have interviews, reviews, ratings, etc. Things I have learnt…

21. As you can see, there is a big difference between the cover of my preliminary task, and the cover of my final coursework piece. My preliminary front cover Is quite simple, and only uses a few conventions, such as a masthead, cover lines and a central image. I have got a lot more text on my final piece than on my preliminary task. This is a good thing as it helps to sell the magazine, and it looks busier and more professional. The quality of my main image has also improved and also my image editing. This is because I learnt more about the different camera angles after creating my preliminary task, and I was then able to apply these to my final coursework piece. I also learnt a lot more about the forms and conventions in this period of time, which helped me make my music magazine look better, and more professional. Looking at my preliminary contents and my final contents, I can see that my final contents is a lot better. My preliminary contents is very simple, with only a few images and some cover lines. It doesn’t give you any information about the articles inside, and it doesn’t link the pictures to the cover lines, whereas my final contents page does all of these things and more. This is because I got the chance to do more research, looking at the layout and conventions. After doing this, I was then able to apply the things I had learnt to my final features page. I also looked further into what my target audience would like to see, and what would appeal to them. This included things like house colours, modes of address, layout and content of the magazine. How I have improved