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

 

During my whole process I feel that I have learnt a lot and also developed my skills as a media producer and also on certain software. In the preliminary task I did not think enough about the different colours and fonts used and what they denote to the reader. Instead I was trying to make the magazine look nice instead of trying to attract people to buy and read it. I also learnt about the use of language and what it implies to the reader. For example using direct questions makes the reader think more and makes it more personal, encouraging the reader to buy it and entice them to read the articles.

On my preliminary task magazine cover I feel that it was very simple. I only have two cover lines and their was no anchor for the cover model. Whilst working towards my final pieces I learnt how to use many different pieces of software and had more time to explore what they could do. For example, Draw Plus to make the gold pieces on my final front cover.

Other interesting stuff I learnt was about how the magazine industry works, including readership, distribution and target audience. This heavily influenced my work as it made me choose things more carefully such as colour that would attract my target audience, price and where my magazine is going to be distributed. Analysing other music magazine front covers and double page spreads helped me to be inspired and also learn what works well and what doesn't.

Overall I feel that I have progressed a long way from the start to the finish and am proud of the work I have done to achieve this. 

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

Whilst going this project one of the first bits of technology I discovered how to use was google blogger. 

This is the site that i used to upload and update all of my coursework throughout the months I have been working on the magazine. I enjoyed uploading things and trying to make my blog look interesting for the people reading it as a media producer. I used different media platforms to upload so that it was more fun to read. I uploaded images as well as prezis onto my blog.

For the creative parts of my coursework i use serif page plus. This was an important part of making my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread.

This software allowed me to easily move my images and offered me a wide variety of fonts so that i could make the magazine as I envisioned it. I learnt how to use colours and move objects as well as use the crop and shape tools which are different than using it on Word. I could also use the tool cutout studio to get rid of the background image precisely. This was a time consuming process. However, the results were very effective and were a lot more cleaner than if you were to use the remove background tool on software such as publisher and word.

I also used Serif Draw Plus to create the gold around the masthead and in the corner of the front page. This was more challenging to use and i learnt how to make my own drawings and shapes as well as colour them and also how to make them look like a gradient effect. I also discovered how to export the images as jpegs so I could use them in my magazine and easily manipulate them on page Plus. tThis process proved to be quite lengthly at first, however, after using it once i could easily navigate around the software making the next time I used it less time consuming.

I also used prezi a number of times to make my blog more interesting for the reader.

Prezi lets you make slideshows that can hold information and pictures that allow the reader to go forward and back as they please. I enjoyed making prezis as they were extremely simple to make but the end result looked professional. I now have an account with Prezi that I can use and apply to other aspects of my A level to help with revision ect.

In addition to these softwares i also used my Nikon DSLR camera. Prior to this course I did not know how to use its full functions and had it on Auto mode for most of the time. After getting the opportunity to experiment with my camera I found many other useful features such the portrait mode which was really helpful in capturing some of the pictures for my magazine. I also used various different computers to blog from, including mac laptops, mac computers and also dell computers. It was interesting to work on different computer softwares and use them for different things to get the most out of my work.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I think that my audience for my magazine would be mainly males between the ages of twenty to the latest thirties. This is quite a wide range of ages, however, I think that this is okay because I think my magazine caters for all of these ages as the content does not make the magazine exclusive to one age group. I think that it is mainly older people who listen to jazz music and not many teenagers do hence why they are not my audience. I think that my audience are these people because they are also legally allowed to drink alcohol and the content of the magazine involves things such as bars, clubs and festivals. 

I do however think that some women will read it because it can also appeal to them with the use of black and gold being related to elegance, wealth and exclusiveness. As well as this i think some girls might be attracted by the 1920's theme because many women are intrigued by the allure of the speakeasy's as well as the men who make a lot of money such as, Gatsby. I don't feel that my magazine looks as though it should be for one gender as the colours used are very neutral, instead of them being typical 'boys' colours.

The audience for my magazine would most defiantly be interested in either jazz music or the 1920s as this is what the magazine is mostly about. This music is again more popular in people older that teenagers. However, i think that teenagers who have an interest in jazz music would also enjoy and benefit from the content in the magazine. Although there are other jazz magazines it is clearly a niche market and one that i feel does not cater to a wide variety of people.

For the most part I do think that my audience will be working males in their early twenties up top their late thirties who have busy schedules but want to take a spare time they have to indulge in a magazine that is rich with jazz, booze and fun.

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my media product I represented social groups differently.

On the front cover of my magazine I have a young man dressed in edgy clothing holding a saxophone. I think that this represents young men as being creative and hard working. The articles on my front cover are mainly about going out. For example, articles about Mardi Gras and the top ten bars and clubs. Although I think I depict young men as being creative and hardworking I also think I portray them as being fun and enjoy going out. I don't think that this is a negative view on you men as it highlights that they can both work and play.

I think that I definitely portray men as loving to party as my tagline is 'the magazine that starts the party'. I think that this is a typical representation of young men. However, because of the name 'Gatsby' I think that it portrays them as liking parties that are elegant and up market. This is different from the representation of some young men in the media on television shows such as 'The Ibiza Weekender'. These shows portray young men as being irresponsible drinkers.

I think in my Mardi Gras article I portray young girls and women as loving to party. This is because I included a picture which showed loads of girls having a good time and partying. Again, however, I do not feel that this representation is a negative one because they are all dressed modestly and none of them look as though they are being reckless or drinking irresponsibly. It shows them all having a good time with other girls and is very different to the way some young girls are portrayed on television shows like skins.

As well as this I also included a picture of an old man in the article. Again representing them as liking to get involved and have fun rather than them being tired and miserable.

Overall I think I represented a good amount of social groups in the most positive way possible so that the magazine would appeal to a wide variety of people even though I have a specific target audience. 



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

I followed many conventions of a magazine when I created my own as well as developed and challenged them. 

On my front cover I used a masthead. This is a convention I feel was essential to put on my cover as it tells the reader what the magazine is called and also gives the reader a clear identity for your magazine. I placed my masthead in the middle and the top of the page in large white font that contrasts the black background. I defined conventions by keeping to a very monochromatic colour scheme with just hints of occasional colour. I did this as i think it kept in with the dark, mysterious, speakeasy feel of the magazine and makes it feel more exclusive which will attract many people. i included many other conventions also including barcodes, issue number, price cover images, tagline and stories. I think that these are all essential in making sure that people know what they are buying and also intrigue people into buying it.

My double page spread follows a lot of conventions of a magazine by having the writing in columns. my writing is also justified which is what you would find in many magazines as i feel that it made the article neater and easier on the eye for the reader. As well as that i also followed conventions by making some quotes larger and in a different colour so that at first glance the reader can get a feel for the article and it draws their attention. Like many magazines I used a a large central image which covers one side of the page. However, i defied conventions by using a black background as I feel that it denotes elegance and strength and also contrast what the model is wearing as she is wearing an array of colours. I also challenged forms and conventions by adding in extra photos throughout the article to give the reader something to associate the writing too and i think this works well.

For my contents page I followed forms and conventions by having regulars and features which is what you would usually find inside a magazine. I also included three images which is another convention of a contents page. However, i kept with my very elegant colour scheme which is also mysterious and denotes wealth. Another thing i did that challenges forms and conventions is that all the images are in black and white. I think that this works well as it makes the reader want to go to the article to see the full size coloured images. I followed simple conventions such as making the words 'contents', 'regulars' and 'features' all in a larger and different font. Other conventions i followed included adding page numbers and numbering images too associate them with the article.