Asking various questions, discussing the challenges and changes of making my product and looking at how successful I believe the product to be.
(Any images wished to be enlarged, can be clicked on to view larger)
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1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Music magazines are known for their close up shots of artists on the cover. Looking at RWD Magazine, I found that very few were close ups. They were mostly mid shots of people posing or in mid action (Right: Footballer Messi in mid air, kicking action). I took inspiration from these mid shots and chose to have two boys posing in a club/bar. Having two people is not against the typical form as many magazines have bands and groups on the cover.
The background of my cover fades from black to white diagonally, which follows the conventional music magazine background.
I have a large, clear masthead that is not covered by the main image. This is because my magazine is new, therefore I want my readers to gt to know the name and content of MMG. Main images tend to cover the masthead when magazine publishers are confident that their readers know the magazine that they are getting. It is a sign of the magazines popularity among it's readers.
I have chosen to use a simple three way colour scheme of blue black and white, which is evident in many magazines, especially <<RWD, of which I take my inspiration from.
Simple, blocked cover-lines are found to the side of the main image, again following the typical form of music magazines. It gives the cover a clean, structured layout, easy to read and not too text heavy.
The background of my cover fades from black to white diagonally, which follows the conventional music magazine background.
I have a large, clear masthead that is not covered by the main image. This is because my magazine is new, therefore I want my readers to gt to know the name and content of MMG. Main images tend to cover the masthead when magazine publishers are confident that their readers know the magazine that they are getting. It is a sign of the magazines popularity among it's readers.
I have chosen to use a simple three way colour scheme of blue black and white, which is evident in many magazines, especially <<RWD, of which I take my inspiration from.
Simple, blocked cover-lines are found to the side of the main image, again following the typical form of music magazines. It gives the cover a clean, structured layout, easy to read and not too text heavy.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I wanted my music magazine to target a young urban multi-cultural audience. Therefore, had to choose a front cover image and feature group that would reflect the audience I am aiming to attract.
From the images I have, it is clear that MMG represents youth in urban London, and from the cover-lines listing a range of artists/rappers/groups, it represents the talent of young working class British youths that have broken away from the stereotype of 'delinquents'.
From the images I have, it is clear that MMG represents youth in urban London, and from the cover-lines listing a range of artists/rappers/groups, it represents the talent of young working class British youths that have broken away from the stereotype of 'delinquents'.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
UK Magazines Publishers would want to publish MMG Music Magazine because it targets a niche in the market of young aspiring artists, or simply music loving youths that want to get the most information out of a music magazine as possible. Most music magazines that are available today cover mainly rock bands, indie music and jazz. I feel a magazine that covers the whole R'n'B and Hip Hop genre would be greatly successful, in such an urban area that is filled with underground talent in this type of music, MMG is essential.
Anthem Publishing is a magazine publishing company that are responsible for MusicTech Magazine, which "is the practical magazine for recording musicians, engineers and producers. Launched in 2003, it is now a major voice in this market, selling strongly in the UK, the USA and elsewhere overseas."
I believe that if MMG was published, a much wider audience will be targeted and the gap in the market for this type of magazine will be filled.
Anthem Publishing is a magazine publishing company that are responsible for MusicTech Magazine, which "is the practical magazine for recording musicians, engineers and producers. Launched in 2003, it is now a major voice in this market, selling strongly in the UK, the USA and elsewhere overseas."
I believe that if MMG was published, a much wider audience will be targeted and the gap in the market for this type of magazine will be filled.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
My main target audience would be
- young people aged between 14 and 20
- Into hip hop and R'n'B music/culture
- Mixed gender
- Living in London
The magazine is called MMG. For those that watch music channels often, will notice the reference to MTV, which is Music Television. MTV plays a variety of music, but MTV Base is based on Hip Hop and R'n'B music. Therefore, those that recognise the link, are those that fit into my target audience. It also plays programmes such as Jersey Shore, popular among young males of any ethnicity, and also reality shows such as Super Sweet 16, Teen Mom and the Hills. These attract a younger audience of females into those types of drama series.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Photoshop
I have learnt a huge amount with Photoshop. Beginning the course with no experience in using Photoshop, I used my preliminary task of creating a school magazine to test out the tools and my skills at Photoshop. From the move tool, eraser tool, and marquee selection tool, I moved things, cleared things and selected objects. Then I progressed to the Lasso tool and magic wand to bring parts of an image forward, or simply erase it. I worked out how to move layers around, which brought some things in front of another.
Blogger
Using blogger has been difficult but working my way through posts and trying out different fonts, colours and blog layouts, I've learnt new skills.
I managed to set the fonts and colours of the text and changed the background of my blog using the Blogger Template Editor. This is where I can choose how my blog looks and is laid out.
I have also learnt to upload images to my blog, add hyperlinks and make some of the text into a link to another website.
Uploading videos was a more challenging task as blogger tends to not respond well to certain types of videos, so I had to create a YouTube account, upload my video to there, and then add the URL link into my blog.
Photography
I have managed to take much more professional pictures using a proper digital camera. I also got to use real photography equipment such as a tripod, light reflector and camera flash light.
In comparison to my own digital camera used for the school magazine and the professional one used for MMG, I notice a much clearer and better quality photo can be taken.
I think you should put your brilliant audio-visual guide on how you made MMG magazine here in your evaluation to show what you have learnt from scratch about Photoshop. Or at least add a link.
ReplyDeleteV.R.