Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

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

When I look back at my preliminary task I feel that I have progressed quite a lot since doing this task because I have improved in many different aspects in improving the magazine such as using different fonts and styles throughout the whole magazine to display the same sort of genre and same flow in the magazine. I also improved on the editing of the fonts as in my preliminary task I was typing out text in publisher and just entering it into the magazine without care and it looking quite messy and quite amateur; I also made an improvement on these featured as I went on to google and went onto the website Dafont to make them look more professional and with every single font I would crop them out and then remove the white line and adjust the contrast of them which made my magazine a lot more appealing and less amateur. Also with the images I would remove the white outline of them and also adjust the contrast and brightness of them which was another key factor to making things stand out in my magazine as the bright images and well edited ones where seen as quite eye-catching and appealing. I developed these skills of editing from having constant use on programs such as publisher where I can adjust sizes, placement, contrast and brightness etc. to make the images and text more appealing. I also used the two editing programs of Photoshop and Fireworks where I developed a vast amount of editing skills such as using the magic wand tool, layering, cropping, transform selection etc. These tools in the program made the images look a lot more professional. I also made my recent task a progression from my preliminary task by actually taking a much better quality photo with a better camera and actually thinking about the pose that my model is doing to not stereotype him in the wrong way.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

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

I have learnt how to use different programs such as Photoshop and Fireworks by editing photos and cropping them and also so that there is no white line around the image when I place it in publisher to be placed on my magazine, also with the use of fireworks or photoshop Im able to make certain shapes to fill something that I may need such as an odd shaped picture boarder. Publisher is also another program I have learnt how to use and adjust different images and also to adjust the contrast and the brightness, with publisher with the basic tools able to be used I can make a standard boarder for a picture or set a lay out for my magazine. Also I have used surveymonkey and also different ways to find out what sort of colours scheme and genre etc that my audience would prefer me to use for my magazine which really helped to adjust my magazine to what people would want opposed to me having what I think people would like so it helps highly on the research side,  so that my target audience were suited to the magazine as best as possible to keep buyers happy and interested.

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience?

I think I addressed my audience quite well by linking it to my genre because I used dark colours in my magazine throughout the front cover, contents and double page spread but then I also used bright colours to display the pop side to may magazine which varied the colour scheme and also my genre is being displayed through the fonts and colour scheme. I think by including a variety of the dark colours and contrasting them with the bright colours through the magazine makes the bright coloured images and text stand out which is very appealing to the target audience as it is quite eye-catching and can make you feel quite intrigued all the way through the pages in the magazine. I also attracted my target audience by using a variety of different images of a model in different clothing which sort of made the audience think that there is a different side with the genre as his clothing changed throughout the magazine which gives it a different flare. Also I used a different variety of images from different concerts which gives the magazine a good vibe of how the concerts would be like if you were to go to them.

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be targeted at any age and any sex and of a target that enjoyed listening to rock and pop music also as the genre is quite mixed between the two of the genres as displayed through the style in my magazine and how the facts are about the genre and also the free giveaways are CD’s and also concert information on the acts performing are of this genre. I also think that my product wouldn’t really appeal to any other audience apart from the people that are actually interested in the rock and pop type of genre in the music industry.

in this link is my target audience prezi. 

http://prezi.com/lha-7bp_fkcy/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

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

Timeinc.UK (IPC) distribute NME which is a high brand music magazine, my magazine would fit nicely beside this one as it is also a music magazine but the genres do not crash giving the company two magazines of a different genre giving them a wider audience, which makes me think they would distribute my magazine especially with the large target audience it hits.

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents a particular social group which isn’t a particular sex which is therefore spreading the range my target audience bringing more people to buy the magazine, my magazine just really appeals to any sex and age that have an interest in the rock and pop genre and this is displayed with this genre by the use of some dark colours with most of the background pages in the front cover, contents and the double page spread, but it is also easily displaying the pop genre throughout the pages by sticking to a colour scheme and by also using bright colours such as orange and yellow. I ended up picking this social group because when I was on Survey monkey the main genres that were preferred in my question was rock and pop, this gave me a very clear indication to which genre I would be using in my magazine. In the magazine I have made the model have a pose that doesn’t make him look rough and unapproachable or look to nice and happy, he is just standing in a way that makes him seem quite intriguing and it makes the audience want to read through the magazine. And also I haven’t specifically set the magazine at a certain sex or age as I tried to keep all target audience appealed to the magazine to keep a wide variety of interest in the magazine and make sure that the magazine would be able to sell to a large amount of people instead of just a certain type of target audience such as by targeting it at an age of teenage boys; you wouldn’t be likely to receive a lot of purchases to the magazine so by actually opening up the range of target audience it will benefit the person trying to sell the magazine as it will be more likely for people to actually buy the magazine like this.

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

My magazine has forms of conventions from different magazines, as it holds a lot of the same generic conventions that a real magazine would hold such as a bar code, date, masthead etc. But although it is holding a lot of the same generic conventions it is also quite a unique and individual with its own genre and also holds most of the necessary generic conventions. My magazine also sticks to the conventions of a real magazine by using a 3 way colour scheme where I have used generally 3 main colours to use throughout the front cover contents page and the double page spread to display the same genre and flow the whole way through as I wouldn’t want the audience to think that the genre or style of the magazine is changing as you flick through the pages of the magazine. With my magazine I have generally used white, black and orange throughout the pages to keep a rock touch with the darker colours and also I brighten it up with the white and orange to make it seem livelier to the audience and make the magazine have also a pop touch to it. Also another way that I have made my magazine consist of the same conventions of a real media product is that when developing my magazine I looked at different sorts of magazines on the internet such as Q Magazine which clearly displayed to me which type of generic conventions I needed to use in my magazine and influenced me massively when producing my magazine. When I was looking at the different magazines on the internet I had to take into account of which generic conventions would be necessary to include into my magazine which were also things such as: Including free giveaways, different facts, issue number, logos etc. These different generic conventions make the magazine out to be more professional and worked on and not simple and basic.

layout plan of magazine

My Generic Conventions Used

finished magazine

Music Magazine Interview

When and why did you start playing?

I started playing as a youngster at the age of 6. Naturally with the playing I began to sing and through the years I gained the talent I have today. When growing up my father had a great influence on myself and brought me into the music industry helping me grown as a musician concert to concert.

Which instruments do you play?

I got taught guitar by my father but then through just the knowledge of music and all different  aspects including being able to read music allowed me to teach  myself the piano, bass and even the amusing ukulele. I like to be able to just switch instruments and mix things up making my creation levels grow.

Who was your first teacher? Other teachers?

My father was always the one I took after, always copying what he was doing at a young age but then he noticed how I enjoyed it so he started to teach me slowly but surely and from there he’s always been my teacher, even now im still learning from him as I go.

Which famous musicians do you admire? Why?

 It’s a hard choice seeing as I grew up listening to so many musicians including my farther, but if I had to choose one or a few musicians due to how their music made me think and feel it would be Mumford and  Sons because of their get up and go attitude to music, their songs make you feel alive, they make you want to get up and dance and be happy with the ones you love and that’s what I love about music, it can generate feelings in people which you never knew were there, it allows people to let go and release themselves from this up tight judgement world and get into their own little world. That makes me enjoy music and want to make it, so people become happy.

How often and for how long do you practice?

I practice every day and all day, I pretty much always have a guitar in my hand and it’s my passion otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today would I? But I do love just getting my guitar sitting on my own anywhere and having a strum playing anything at all and sit there in peace.  There’s just nothing like sitting on your own on a dark silent night and just playing a guitar.

Do you perform in public?

Yes I do, I do love coming out randomly and setting up a busking session for an hour or two, not for the extra money but just to make people smile and happy. It gives me joy to do that and I hope it gives other people joy too even if they do just walk past and only get a short listen to my music I still just love to put my sound out there, even if it is doing a few covers here and there so I don’t release new songs for free on the street.