media evaluation

1. My Media Evaluation
By Leo Baker

2. What conventions have I used, challenged or
developed?

3. Magazines that have influenced the production of my magazine are
Kerrang!, Q and NME. These magazines follow typical music magazine
conventions. These magazines are primarily rock, pop and R’n’B
orientated so I have tried to mix these genres together to make a
unique magazine. However, unlike these magazines my target
audiences are not mid 20 year olds but young teenagers to older
teens/early 20s (13 to 21).

4. I used the conventional big masthead so people will
look at it and remember it. I used black text(urban
jungle) because it stands out against the blue sky and
brown rooftop. I have used black because it is a
gender neutral colour which means that it the
magazine is targeted towards both male and female
audiences, which is what I was going for.

5. Another convention I used was the
cover lines on the cover. Magazines
normally use cover lines to explain
what stories are in the magazine. I
have used these to full effect. I have
also made the text look thinner and
made it a different colour so it
contrasts with the bigger bolder text
of the main cover lines, which makes
it stand out to the audience more.
Also by using the text ‘American
Captain’ I challenged the typical
convention because this text makes
my magazine look more modern and
intelligent which matches with some
aspects of my magazine e.g. Pop and
R’n’B.
Another convention I used is the puff. I
have used this to try to make my
magazine important in the market and
this make it my magazines unique
selling point. I have made the text thick
and red so it stands out against the
cream colour of the roof. The text
‘Longshot’ also makes the text stand
out and because it is an unconventional
text for a magazine, it makes this
magazine stand out amongst others.
This makes the reader enticed to the
magazine as it is different.

6. Another convention I have
continued is the use of pull
quotes. This convention
helps entice the reader
straight away as it gives a
little insight of what is to
come in the article. This
convention is normally
used in magazines because
the text makes reading the
article more fun to read.
Instead of using it in the
actual article I have put the
pull quote next to a picture
of ‘Kanye West’ so it is the
first thing the readers see
when they open the page,
this makes the reader see it
and makes them feel more
intrigued to read the
article.
Most magazines have lots of
variations when it comes to locations,
models, costumes and anything else
to do with mise-en-scene. This is so
the magazine can appeal to all kinds
of readers. In my magazine I have
tried to make most of the images
look urban so it creates a unique look
compared to other magazines by
having the photo-shoot in a wood
land area/alleyways and such, I would
say the best shot would be the
woodland shots as they bring a
natural look to the magazine. I have
challenged the convention by not
using studio shots and instead having
a theme with my magazine, whilst
having more divisive photos.

7. How does my media product represent
particular social groups?

8. Through my research some social groups were represented within
music magazines as trouble makers and lazy(teenagers), sophisticated
and glitzy(young adults/adults), unfashionable and ‘weird’(old people).
In contrast, in my magazine, I have portrayed young adults as normal,
everyday people with different characteristics and personalities that
define them instead of the dramatic portrayal that the media put out.
This means my magazine has challenged the representation of social
groups in a good way as I have portrayed them as normal people, as
celebrities are just normal like us. Hopefully this might make people
disbelieve the stereotype.

9. In my magazine, the social group that is shown the most is young
adults/adult. I have included many things to make this evident in the
magazine so I could target the audience of teenagers; as this is what
they requested via my market research.
I have presented teenagers as people who are mature and confident.
This represents the stereotypical ‘older teenager’ attitude shown in
media. This idea is reinforced in the use of black clothing as black is
shown as a mature colour and one that is also considered masculine as
darker colours are associated more with men in media. For example a
black jacket, black shirt and black jeans are worn in my magazine. This
social group are also represented as independent people who love to go
out and do things, which can be reflected from my interview with ‘Holly
Payne’. This means I have reinforced the idea of a teenager in a positive
way as it shows they are confident and mature

10. Most of my audience are teenagers,
which is quite a specific age range.
Because of this I have represented
their age group through the use of
my font, Broadway, in my double
page spread as it is easy to read
and entices the reader as it is a
unique font. I have used slang such
as ‘frontin’ in my article which
represents teenagers as people
who mostly use slang ,which can
help them relate to the article.
I have also represented age in my
magazine through the poses that I
have used. Theses photos portray
teenagers as independent people
who don’t want to fit into the
crowd. This can help the audience
relate to the magazine as their
age is portrayed this way and also
challenges what a teenager
should act like.
I have also portray teenagers as being
modern, This is shown through the clothing
of my models. An example of this is shown in
the image below with ‘Sia’ wearing
fashionable clothing and is presented
looking deep in thought in a woodland area.
This can represent in a way that teenagers
always seem to constantly think about their
future.

11. What kind of institution may distribute your
media product and why?

12. When I was researching magazines that already existed, I found NME
was being published by Time Inc. UK who sell about 350 million
magazine copies each year. They hope to adapt and innovate their
magazines, making sure their products are relevant and appealing to
anyone who needs to know what’s going on in the world. Because of
these aims I would like to publish my magazine with a publisher like
this. Another reason I would publish with this publisher would be that
NME readers may like to read my magazine as our magazines are
similar but it might also dissuade them because of this reason as well.

13. Time Inc. UK is quite a big institution by their own as they own over 60
over brands from NME to Instyle magazine so this will help my
magazine become well known. Because Time Inc. UK is a owned
subsidiary of Time Inc and they have many websites this means that
the company has quite a bit of variation of media which can also attract
a more varied audience.

14. Who would be the audience for my
magazine?

15. In my magazine my audience are
teenagers/early adults of both
genders and this is shown through
the writing as it is not formal but is
interesting to read. This means
that I have a young audience as the
content of my magazine is written
so they wouldn’t get bored reading
it. Because of this, the reader feels
as if they are on the same
wavelength as the writer as they
might share the same opinions.
The colour scheme and the font
make it easy for younger audiences
to read through the magazine and
orange appeals to both male and
female audiences as it is a bright
and noticeable colour.

16. I have used bright, stand out colours like pink and orange to give the magazine an
exciting feel which would attract younger audiences and both genders as pink is
stereotypically feminine while orange can be view more as a masculine colour.
The costumes that are worn by the models are shown to be quite different to one
another. This may reflect a larger audience that like the magazine and may also
enlarge the target audience of just teenagers. It also shows how unique the
magazine is which might widen audiences as they might like the style. The photos
that I have taken were taken in a woodland area. This can suggest that the
audience are artistic and that they can relate to the models as the social group in
this magazine are represented this way too.

17. When I was preparing my
magazine I decided the audience
for my project and I stuck with it
throughout the process of making
the magazine. When I was doing
my research, I found most of the
people who took my survey were
young people which I took into
account when making my
magazine.

18. The primary target for my magazine would be any teenager who has a
interest in rock, pop or R’n’B. These people would definitely keep up
with the latest music, love being with their friends and love wearing
the latest fashion. These people are normally working class/middle
class and this can be reflected in the writing and the photos taken in
the magazine. The photos show the age of the audience because they
are shown looking mature. This audience doesn’t really have a dress
code or any brand that they like, they just like keeping up with the
latest fashion trends.

19. How did you attract/address your Audience?

20. First of all, I attracted my audience in
my magazine by the photography. In
the production, I aimed for my
photos to look mysterious and eye
catching. I used Photoshop to edit
the photos so I could create a unique
image for each celebrity. By making
them look this way, it might make the
reader inspired to dress like the
celebs and maybe behave like them
as well.
To the left there is an example of a
edited photo I created. This attracts
the audience as the celeb in the
model is directly looking at the
camera. This makes the audience feel
addressed to and targeted by the
magazine, so they might feel
attracted because of this.

21. Another way I attracted the audience was by advertising
that they could win a ps4 or a Xbox on the front cover in
the middle right. The text is in green and in capitals so it
catches the audience’s eye. It would also catch the
audience’s eye because they could have the chance to
have the latest technology without paying for it.
When I did my research I found out
people would pay about £2-£2.99 for a
magazine which shows that a lot of
people like to buy magazines cheaply. I
have made my magazine cheap so it can
appeal to more people and because it is
a weekly magazine; it will be affordable
for everyone so more people will buy
this and I would attract more people as
well.
Also my research showed that
people are mostly interested in
eye catching images on the cover.
I made sure to do this on the front
cover of my magazine with the
models doing poses. I also used
the weather to my advantage as
the brightness of the day made
the cover stand out. I also used
Big text on the cover so it can be
clearly read by anyone.

22. To attract the audience, I used many different
colour schemes. I mainly used stand out colours
such as black, pink, orange. This attracted the
fashionable teenage audience as these would be
the kind of colours they would like in their
teenage years. I have made the structure look
appealing so the audience would be interested
in reading it. The text is black so it contrasts with
the orange background, which makes it easier to
read. They are also gaps in-between so it breaks
down the amount the audience have to read
and makes it easier for a audience that are really
in to reading a lot of text at once as they might
get bored easily.
I also used pull quotes to attract the audience.
On the double page spread, I used the quote “I
am the best rapper in existence” which attracts
the audience as it sounds really opinionated and
as the teenage audience like gossip this catches
their eye, which may interest them to read the
article.

23. What did you learn about technology?

24. When I was making/planning my magazine, I used software that I was
familiar with such as Microsoft word and PowerPoint. These were
useful when planning as it was easy to organise and structure my work
in a way that is understandable. I have also used micro technology such
as Survey monkey to use for research purposes. I have also used
software that I wasn’t familiar with such as Photoshop and Indesign,
both of which was used making my cover, contents page and double
page spread.

25. I used technology through using the
website ‘Survey Monkey’ for my
research. I have never used this
before. I found out that it was easy to
use and a good way to find responses
from people.
I also learnt how to upload videos on
YouTube and how to post a link to my
blog.
I used a questionnaire to get my
information. I presented mine as
multi choice and written answers.
Alongside survey monkey, I used
the website blogger to create my
blog and post my blogs.

26. Photoshop
On Photoshop I also learnt how to
create different layers so It would be
easier to organise my work. I did this
by right clicking on new layer.
Before I started to create my pages, I didn’t know how
to use Photoshop but in the process of making the
pages, I learnt many things like using the quick
selection tool; which I used to select a part of a image
to go onto another image.
Also I learnt how to use the gradient tool to
change the colour of the background(e.g.
black to white, here is an
example(unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use
this in my final product)
I also used the eye dropper tool to get a
previous colour from past work and put
on current work. This has helped me as I
didn’t have to make a blended colour
when I started again.

27. When I was drawing my plans for the magazine I found out that if I
didn’t use technology to create my magazine, it would’ve been more
difficult then with technology. If I had to do without a software, I
wouldn’t have used Microsoft word and instead would have hand
written most of the draft. The technology approach is better though as
it is easier to use and more organised.
Also, I would of found that making my magazine without using
Photoshop or InDesign as I could do many tasks at once on both
software(although I found Photoshop easier to use as the editing
options are easier to understand than InDesign) and I could edit them
at any time to make it look professional/like an actual magazine.

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

29. Here are 2 images from my preliminary task to create a college magazine for
students to read. Both of these images look really basic and have no creativity
whatsoever. This was from around the time that I had no experience with
Photoshop or InDesign. This really contrasts with the current images that I have
created.

30. I have learnt to be organised when
making a magazine e.g. In my college
magazine, the clothing didn’t really
suit the magazine which mad it look
amateurish whereas in my music
magazine, I made sure to organise my
actors in what they should wear and
how they should pose so it would fit
the genre of my magazine.
For my photography plans; I didn’t
really stick to it as it didn’t really fit
the look I wanted for the magazine
but it gave me a platform to work
from to improve my ideas.
Another area I improved was the
research process. At the beginning, I
didn’t really know about the different
publishers there are or what the different
institutions of media were. I didn’t do
any research for the college magazine
task on who would read my magazine
while for my final product I used Survey
monkey to find out who my audience
was, which made it easier to figure out
how to design my magazine for my
audience. I also analysed current
magazines so I would know what kind of
conventions they use.
I also wrote a draft of my
article/interview so I would know the
basis of what I would be writing and
then improve on it from time to time. I
also researched how Kanye West would
talk so I would the kind of things he
would say and how he would say them.

31. I also improved the look of my
magazine by improving the way
my photographs look. I learnt how
to use different angles and
composition so it made them look
more unique than other
magazines(it also shows variety of
shots that I used as well). When I
took my first photographs for the
college magazine, I didn’t look up
how the composition and angles
of the shots I was taking affected
the photo, which made the photo
look too bright. However, I made
sure to take my next photo partly
in the shade so it would be clear
who was in the photo and made
sure my background didn’t look
blurred. I decided to take my shot
in a alleyway so it would fit the
theme of my magazine and it
made my image look cleaner than
the image before, which makes it
look more presentable to
audiences..