2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I looked at a couple of popular magazines that are in market at the moment and selected one that
was most eye catching to me. The ‘NME’ magazine front cover attracted me as the layout of the
page looked professional, there was a lot of text on the cover but it was skilfully organised and
wasn’t overlapping and overcrowded unlike other magazines that were which made it look less
professional. Although the magazine attracted me, I did change some of the features to my liking
and to my target audience such as the colours. The colours on the ‘NME’ cover were more based on
rock musical magazines which was the theme of the cover (rock). It used three main dark colours,
black, red and white. I stuck to three main colours on mine but made them a more neutral, lighter
colour, light green/blue, white and some black to make some words, this represents an enjoyable
atmosphere at the school. I also changed the models on the cover to young girls who are students
at the school who seem happy which makes it more appealing, unlike the ‘NME’ who had two
middle-aged men with serious face expressions.
3. How does your media product represent particular social
groups?
The social groups represented in my magazine are regular, young students who are
studying their A-levels at chosen hill sixth form. The cover of my magazine shows
two girls who are studying their AS. They are dressed smartly in their uniform to
show good impressions of the school and have a cheerful expression on their face.
They come across as happy, friendly and social which most young aged students are
and represented to be so. However the content page doesn't show a particular
social group since the large photo used on the page are two students sat under a
tree, although it does show that they are learning and communicating at the same
time which fits into the same social group, regular, young AS students.
4. What kind of institution might distribute your media
product and why?
The magazine will be available in the school I have based it in, Chosen Hill school. I
created the magazine with sixth formers and the information in the magazine is
about sixth form, so it will be available in the library as it is the easiest access for
both of the sixth form common rooms as they are close to it. It will also be available
on the sixth form home page on the chosen hill website. It will be free and
accessible for everyone
5. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my magazine will be Sixth Formers, mostly for students that are
starting their first year (AS) since I have designed and made my product for that
age group. The magazine will provide Sixth Form students all the information they
will need to be familiar with to help them start the year. My magazine will be for
both genders, males and females. It may also be sold to the upper year students
as the magazine will provide information that includes both years such as school
plays and ice breakers.
6. How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience to my magazine by including important and interesting
information on the front cover of my product. This will make students want to
know more about the stories and read inside the magazine. The look of my
magazine will also attract people such as the colours, I used neutral colours that
are uplifting and bright which will appeal to my target market, this is also the
same as the image used on the cover which are two happy students that look like
they're enjoying sixth form, convincing students that sixth form is a satisfying
place to be.
7. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
In the making of my product, I have learnt to use more editing programmes on the
computer such as Indesign and Photoshot which I have never used before. They
are both useful programmes that helped to design my magazine and was simple
to use once I got the idea of using it. The programmes had a range of techniques
to use for designing. I have also learnt how to blog using the Edublog website.
This shows people the stages and processes I have used to design and finish my
product.
8. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel
you will do differently in the full product?
I will add more information and stickers on my front page as I felt that it seemed a
bit empty. Also changing the models to both genders because I only used female
models making it based more on females.
