Front cover, Contents and Double page spread.

Evaluation Activity 7

Make gif

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 full product?How have you approached the two tasks and how have you managed your time, equipment and other resources?

When first producing my school magazine I didn't have a plan or an idea of how I was going to have the front page or the contents laid out, I just saw it as a blank canvas for me to design and be creative with. As much as this was a good idea, there were many stages of the design were I didn't know what to do with it, it took me a long time to decide how I wanted it done and I kept changing my mind therefore having to change the design. I first thought to my self that planning it would take too long and therefore doing it this way would be a lot quicker but the more I got into it and realised I didn't know what I wanted to do with my layout the more I realised having a plan would be a lot easier and time consuming to work from. So for my music magazine layout, I planned into detail the front page and the contents page. Although I knew they were probably going to change a little bit I was glad I had something to work from.

Another thing I feel I have learnt is how to research before I start my work for example, on the school magazines I didn't do any research, apart from looking at previous students ideas, I just rushed straight in and started it, by doing this I learnt that some things were not appropriate to be in a school magazine and other things such as the school houses should have been in the school magazines, if I had researched this I would have known this before. Because of this I decided to do some research before I started my music magazine, I found specific things that were meant to go in my music magazine and things that were not, I also researched things such as what types of people should be mentioned in my magazine, the lay out of my magazine and the types of clothing and poses my model should do, this made designing the music magazine a lot easier.

When taking my pictures, I feel that they have improved from the school magazine to the music magazine a lot. Although I feel I have always been quite lucky that my image editing has never really needed to have a lot of work done to it, I still feel that things like my cloning and spot healing techniques have improved. I believe that the school magazine was like a trial run for me to find out what I was good at and things that I need to improve on for my music magazine.

Taking the pictures were a lot more harder then I had thought, in the school magazine I didn't think about the angle of the shot or the props that should have been in the shot. I only thought about the place the picture should be taken because it had to have something to do with school in it and the length of the shot because we had been told what shot it had to be. I didn't think about the props in my picture, seeing as one of my models still had her coat on when she was in library. Where as in the music magazine I thought a lot more about all these things such as props and angle shots, in my main picture on the front cover my model has got sunglasses on which I had researched and found that many pop/RNB singers wear sunglasses in there magazine shoots and I have taken it at a low angle so that it looks like her body is facing down on the reader showing a slight bit of attitude. I also learnt that taking one picture is impossible when wanting an ideal photo, many pictures get taken and very few get approved as an ideal picture.

When thinking about how I managed my time through out the course work of both the school magazine and the music magazine, I realised that with the school magazine I didn't really set my self any time boundaries or deadlines, this was why I was shocked when i found out that my contents page had to be in soon and I was still finishing off the front cover, although I got it all done on time, if I had set deadlines I would have completed it without the stressful rush. So for my music magazines I set my self strict deadlines, made sure I followed them and believe that this help me get my front cover, contents page and double page spread done in a more relaxed way.

Evaluation Activity 6

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


I used a camera to take my photos for my Magazine and my School magazine. By using the camera I learnt what different types of shots to take the photos in, for example, some of my pictures were close ups, medium shots or long shots. I also learnt that I could make my photos extremely attractive and eye catching by using high angle shots and low angle shots. The main thing I learnt when taking my pictures was to always take more then one picture of the model in a certain pose and try the picture with both flash and no flash.
The Mac computer was the source of which I did most my work on, I was able to use InDesign, Photoshop and Grab shots on here. The Mac computer taught me how to easily grab parts of a picture that I wanted to use. It also taught me how to have many programmes up at once and yet still see all of them by pressing F3.
Google was the search engine that I used to find research and ideas for both my magazines. By using Google to do this task I have learnt that there is not just one way of researching things ( typing it into the search engine). We can also research things by getting a picture and analysing it or just typing in a certain part of what it is we want to find out.
I used Microsoft word on the Mac computer, although I didn't use it much, I learnt to insert my pictures on there and then analyse it with arrows and writing. I realised that by doing this in Word it was then easier to upload the document as whole onto blogger, showing that many programmes are designed well enough to work together.

Blogger has been my main technological programme that I have used, Before these two tasks I had never used Blogger, but I have learnt how to upload pictures, how to design different, individual posts with my screen grabs on. I have learnt how to label each post and changed the date and time on them, so that I can edit a post when I want and do not have to worry about it changing position of layout.

InDesign was used on my Music Magazine double page spread rather then my school magazine. I learnt how to text wrap a picture. This is when text goes around the picture out lining it. I also learnt how to make columns for a double page spread and the different ways of producing a double page spread that looked realistic yet totally different to all the other music magazine double page spreads.

Photo shop has taught me many things to do with my pictures. First of all I heave learnt how to edit the lighting on a picture, either to make the model stand out more or to brighten up the background they are up against. I also learnt many tools down the side of the photo shop programme such as the clone tool, the spot healing tool,custom shape tool, blur tool, gradient tool and the magic wand tool.




The clone tool was a tool that allowed me to copy parts of the background my model was up against onto other parts of the picture, so that things such as doors were not in the background.. The spot healing tool helped me clear up my models face and complexion making it look like she had been air brushed.
The magic wand tool was an easy way of cutting certain things out for example if I wanted to cut my model out and place her onto a black back ground, I would use the magic wont tool, out line my picture and place her where I wanted her within seconds.
The custom shape tool was used more when I was designing my double page spread, I wanted a certain pattern on both sides of my double page spread to add a sense of house style, this was easy to do when using the custom shape tool, by clicking on the custom shape tool it allows me to choose from a variety of different shapes and patterns that I can adjust and upload onto In design for my double page spread.
The blur tool was used a lot on my front cover and contents page, if I felt there were certain parts of the front cover that were not the correct colour to a certain part I had cloned I would blur the colours together making it look a lot more natural.
The gradient tool was used on my strap line on my front cover, I designed a box and filled it pink but to add more effect and make it easier for my audience to read the text I was going to put in it I decided to use the gradient tool which gives us a range of different ways we can have the box, I chose to have it faded all over. But there were other ways that you could choose such as shaded from the outside in or the other way round.
I also learnt many other things from photo shop other then ideas with pictures, I learnt the variety of text fonts and the usefulness of boxes and symbols I was able to use.

Evaluation Activity 5

Another digital slideshow by Smilebox

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5
How did you attract/address your audience?

My target audience ranges from 15-19 year old. Mainly 90% being female readers and 10% being male readers. My magazine appeals to mainly girls as they dominate the circulation by a huge amount. Many of my attractions are therefore based on girls but there are things such as posters that can be attractive to the opposite gender to increase sales.

The photo of my model will attract readers, some being male because of her sex appeal but also mainly female because of the confidence and aspiration she portrays in her picture, the way she is posing shows her to be a confident inspirational woman. I have tried to add in my genre of music here by the way she is posing and the things she is wearing, the genre pop that I am basing my magazine around is very much a trendy popular genre so I have put her in girl like trendy outfits with sunglasses on. The shot composition also came from the fact that I wanted my audience that were fans of my musician on the front to see her as feisty and look up to her, so she is based a little higher then the camera looking down to show confidence. On the front of the cover I used things such as Fashion and Music fro the New Year! To interest my readers into information they could find out early! I also did tings such as making my text bigger on certain subheadings, such as WIN, this can be very enticing for an audience if they know there is a chance of winning something.

I also wrote 4 posters of THE SCRIPT. By putting the name of the a new popular band in bigger font, this will attract the audiences eye straight away, with the band being such a popular band in the music industry at this time I thought it would be a good way of attracting my audience.

On my contents page I have done things such as made sure my model is the main attraction to the audience seeing as she was the main attraction on the magazine, if this has attracted them they will want to know more about her on the contents page. I have also used things such as photo graphs and graphics to make her stand out. I have also used big graphics and catchy sayings which is the mode of address for Nation to create the house style used throughout and also to attract my readers through out my front cover and contents page.

My magazine is very much like a lot of other magazines that are out on sale in the music magazine industry, just the same as many double page spreads do I have pulled out some of the most attracting, interesting quotes that my singer has said and high lighted them and made them bigger so that there the first thing my reader sees and is automatically attracted to reading the double page spread. This gives the reader a preview of what the whole interview is about.


I believe that my unique selling point of my magazine is my model on the front, I feel that the way I have presented her automatically attracts the reader I can imagine them seeing my magazine straight away due to her pose and the confidence she portrays.

Evaluation Activity 4

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?

The video is from the UK tribes, describing "Trendies" this is the type of person that would read my magazine.

http://uktribes.com/?p=article&id=1&article=180

I feel that this kind of person would buy my magazine because it would supply them with all the latest gossip about the music that they would be interested in, it would also supply them with many different posters and quiz's to do acquired to their interests. I feel that the musicians mentioned in my magazine would grab my audiences attention too because I have insured the people that I have mentioned is in my audiences taste. I also feel that the double page spread about my new singer on the front page would be extremely eye catching for them because not only have I dressed her to a certain style but the style of writing and the way the double page spread is set out is also very appealing.

Evaluation Activity 3

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Circulation plays an important role in advertising, so understanding the various components of a magazine publisher’s statement is key to a productive dialogue between advertisers and publishers. I have looked at different media institutions and the types of magazines they publish to the public. When researching "publishers for music magazines" i found four popular ones, Rhinegold, Quincy Jones, Dennis publishing and Bauer Media. I feel my magazine would best fit in with the company Bauer, I think they would distribute my media product. They produce the magazine that I have been following "Pop" and many more such as Heat and Yours. They also publish things for the radio station Kiss, this is where I would put my musician and her genre of songs on if they were to go on a radio station.

I have decided to compare contents pages to see if my magazine would fit in with the POP magazine 's contents page, which is distributed in the company Bauer. Just like the POP contents page, mine has a big, bold, eye catching "contents title" it also has a list of things such as interviews and subheadings on the cover just like the POP contents page.

Both contents pages have a main model on the front, mine being my model and POP contents page being Katy Perry. They are the main view of both contents pages.

Mine also has extra on it such as Features and Posters.

Bauer publish music magazines such as Kerrang, Q, Mojo and Pop. Future cut being my magazine would fit in well.

Evaluation Activity 2

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2


How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents a particular social group, the social group that it represents is a typical girl from ages 16-19 that likes to make her self look good, with either curly or straight usually dyed hair and make up on. They like to dress in nice clothes that will get them recognised and like all the latest fashion and music.

I am comparing my model to Blenders model Taylor Swift. Just like Taylor swift my model is in a medium length shot, staring directly at the camera, I feel this draws the audience in and makes them feel like the model is staring at them rather then the camera. Just like Blenders model my model has long curly hair this makes them look particularly girl like and is appropriate for my genre of music with it being "pop".


The outfits are extremely different with my model being in a dress and Taylor Swift being in leggings and a top but in one way they are both the same, they both look like they are dressed for a night out. Both models appeal to both men and women with the outfits they are wearing, men because of their sex appeal and women because of the way the way they look an are aspired to be like.



The posture of both my model and Taylor Swift are very similar, although my model has both arms up and Taylor Swift has one arm up, they both look extremely confident and happy in themselves. A fierce posture like this shows the girls to be to be confident and brazen.
Also the lighting of my model would be made a lot brighter and put on a white back ground just like Taylor Swift has been done for Blender magazin, I feel this makes the model more of the main attraction rather then having a back ground around her which could distract potential buyers.


Here are a few models that have featured in magazines such as blender which was the magazine i was following. I believe my picture of my model fits in well with them.

Evaluation Activity 1

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I have made sure my media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products in a variety of ways, one way being my title of my magazine, "future cut", I decided to pick this as my title because I wanted something that linked in with music and was not just a word on the front cover. When I researched music magazines, I could see that titles such as "pop" was used, this being for a pop magazine, this was used to express the genre of music the magazine portrayed. I decided to go with "Future cut" because of the fact that I was advertising future musicians that had new albums on my magazine. When making a new album or a CD it is called a cut. I then decided to put future and cut together making my title "Future Cut". I also chose the title font and size to be large and italic, I used the font "Riesling" because I wanted my title to stand out, not for being Bold and Big but for being elegant and classy. I also then made the title of my models name the same size and font because I knew that the title was the first thing to get noticed and by having the name of my model the same font and size I was hoping that it would be the second thing that was noticed.



The Mise-en-scene of my images used through out my media product has challenged forms and conventions of real media products by the props that I used on my model, very many of her pictures are her in sunglasses, when looking through music magazines I came to realise that many musicians such as Jay-z, beyonce and P-diddy had sunglasses on in some of there pictures, I feel this is because it seems to give the musician a sort of mysterious look about them yet a clear and welcoming look at the same time. I wanted my model to have the same vibe giving off as those particular musicians. I also dressed her in very up to date fashionable clothing that many young girls like to wear or like the idea of being able to wear. I dressed her a trendy but elegant dresses and shorts.
When it come to the musicians I had on my cover line and front page I had to think about the genre of my music and my model, for example I couldn't have rock bands on the front of my magazine when its a pop genre magazine. I decided that I was going to put pop singers and RNB singers on there so that my model fell into two categories. I researched many Pop magazines to see who they had on the front and just like me they had a pop group and then a couple of individual musicians. I did exactly this by having a typical girl pop band "The Saturdays" as my group and then pop and RNB role models such as Lady gaga and Taylor Swift.
My written content, such as the text on my front page and the text on the content page was the hardest part for me to think of because although I had to make sure it still sounded "Pop" I had to make sure it didn't sound too young and more like a little girls magazine rather then a music magazine. I did this by looking at music magazine's such as "Kerrang" to see if they had a certain text that fitted in with their rock genre. I feel that I presented my written content as "pop" genre well by doing things such as "Hot or Not?" and "The year in numbers, how 2010 stacks up!" just like many other pop magazines have.
The layout of my magazine is similar to many music magazines no matter the genre of music, many magazines have the main artist as the middle attraction on the front cover so that the audience know who the main musician in the magazine is, just like I have. I have also put her artist name in a bigger font and size then everything else so that it stands out as one of the main attractions on the front cover with the other subheadings smaller around it. Many music magazines do this to be able to ensure that the musician on the front is the main focus. Also on my contents page I have made sure that although all the other text and page numbers are on there, my model who is the main attraction on the front page is also an eye catcher on the contents page. My model has her own quarter of the page with a picture of her and a little introduction of what the interview with her is about and what page number it is on, I got my influence from a Pop magazine called "Pop".
Overall the music genre I wanted to do was Pop because I felt that I knew that style of music very well and could come up with many ideas such as how to dress my model and how to write out the double page spread. I feel my magazine suggests "Pop" genre by a range of different things such as my model, her poses, the clothes she's wearing, the layout of the front cover and the contents page, the colour theme on both pages. Although I never copied a "pop" genre magazine I feel that my magazine could fit in well with them as a whole.

double page spread grabs

I will use the idea of having an opening sentence below the Title of my model just like the editors do on Rhianna's double page spread. I think this will attract readers straight away and make my model look and sound a lot more interesting.
I will use the idea of cutting out my model so that she does not have a back ground to her like Taylor Swift, i will do this by using "define edges" in "In Design"
I am going to use the idea of my model with other people in her pictures so that she does not look like she has just posed for the interview and so that the double page spread its self does not look too empty.
I am definitly going to use the idea of having certain things my model has said qouted in larger fonts and texts.
I like the idea of having a specific and main qoute under the Title and name of the model, this will show the start of the double page spread.

double page spread

Here are some of the double page spreads i have been researching, i like the idea of having many different pictures of the model with other people, I will be following this and the part in each interview where the interviewer asks the questions and the model answers them

I find the picture of Taylor Swift cut out interesting and eye catching, i would like to do this with my model.