n what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
The media product I have created uses the forms and conventions of magazines as it includes all the features commonly associated with magazine front covers, double page spreads and content pages. The front cover I have created conforms to the codes and conventions of magazine front covers as it contains a main image, a title, coverlines, release date, price and a barcode. The front cover challenges the forms and conventions of a front cover as it features a main image that has been taken at an angle. The main coverlines of the page have been formatted so that they are at the same angle as the photo. This challenges the codes and conventions of a magazine front cover as the main coverlines have been put at an angle but the other sets of coverlines have not.
The contents page I have created uses forms and conventions of magazine contents pages as it features many different images and has information on key features of the magazine. Each photo on the page has been labelled so that the audience can easily identify what the photo represents and what page it is on. The contents page I have created challenges forms and conventions of a magazine contents page as it does not contain information on every page of the magazine and not all features have been covered. This has been done mainly due to the design that I wanted to achieve and there was not enough space to add information on all features in the magazine.
The double page spread I have created uses forms and conventions of real double spreads as it features a large main image, highlighted quotes, columnated text and well placed photos. The use of white text against the blue background makes the writing stand out and adds contrast to the page. The spread challenges forms and conventions of real media products as it uses a photo that has been taking using a fish eye lens, this can often distort the perspective in which the audience view the photo. The spread also challenges the form and conventions as opposed to a title for the spread I have used a short description of the interviewee. The name of the interviewee has been made bold to make the name stand out. This allows the audience to easily identify what is contained within this double page spread.
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The media product I have created represents particular social groups as it relates directly to teenagers and young adults by containing info on new music and nightclubs across the UK. This is particular popular with the aforementioned age groups and the way in which the media product has been designed and written to relate directly to the particular social group. The mise-en-scene of photos taken for the magazine also shows a direct relationship between the photo and the aforementioned social groups.
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
An independent media institution might distribute the media I product I have created due to many reasons. The main reason is that the magazine targets a niche audience and bigger media institutions may not be willing to distribute the media product due to the small target audience. A media institution that deals solely with music magazines or even DJ magazines may be willing to distribute the product as it relates to the media institution and their other products. The target audience of the media product may not be appealing the larger media institutions as they may not want teenagers and young adults to be representing their key audience.
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would be anyone that is interested in dance music, new DJs, the nightclub scene in the UK or breakbeat and electro music. Ideally this audience would be constructed of people who are interested in more than of these factors and who are either teenagers aged 16 and above or young adults. This is because the way that I have designed and written my media product is aimed primarily at people from this age range and who are interested in the particular topics within the media product. The magazine would be distributed primarily through newsagents but could also be distributed at club events at nightclubs throughout the UK as this is where people who would be interested in the magazine would be. Adverts on music blogs and other music websites would attract further audiences as the advertisements would relate to the content that they are viewing on the particular music websites.
• How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my audience I used a combination of design and writing techniques. On the front cover the use of white to contrast against the background, the use of bright yellow for the main font and the use of magenta lines to highlight the text has been used to attract the audience. The bright colours and contrasting colours are effective as they attract the audiences attention automatically. The main image attracts the audience further more as the levels have been edited to highlight the featured DJ and also the fame of the DJ is a further attraction for the audience. On the contents page a combination of the bright background colour, colourful text boxes and contrasting text colours all make the page as a whole stand out and make it attractive for the audience. The photos of famous DJs also add further attraction as their fame is another attraction for the audience. On the double page spread the contrasting text and good main photo are they key features that attract the audience. The way in which the article has been written also relates to the audience as it has been written informally and features a famous DJ being interviewed. The placement of the smaller photo has been formatted to have a drop shadow and a thick white border, this adds the effect of the photo being from a polaroid instant camera.
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In the process of constructing my product I have learnt how to create a streamlined workflow using the latest in professional software from Adobe. Throughout the construction of the product I used a combination of Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop from the Adobe Creative Suite 4. At the beginning of the construction of the product I was not completely literate in the use of all 3 pieces of software, upon completing the product my knowledge on the usage of the software is still not 100% but it is a lot greater than it was prior to the task. The software has allowed me to successfully manipulate and edit photos to a professional standard and has allowed me to lay up professional magazine pages with ease. For all of the photos taken for the product I used a Canon 400D SLR. This professional camera allowed me to take professional looking photos in all situations, an external strobe flash provided great lighting in darkened nightclubs as well us outdoors on well lit days, the ability to change exposures and ISO speed as well as manual focus all contributed to successfully taking professional looking photos. The use of such settings required research into how they can be changed to aid in taking good photos.
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The most noticeable progression from the preliminary task is the way in which I know format and lay up magazine pages. This has improved noticeably from the preliminary task as the quality of photos in the full product is much higher and the use of colour, text styles and other effects is too a much higher standard. The photos used for the full product have had a lot more thought put into them whilst taking them to ensure that when put on a magazine page they will match the style that I want to achieve. The use of colours and edited photos has increased in order to create a much more attractive product that stands out within the magazine and attracts the audience. I have also learnt how to go about create a good workflow in order to complete the task efficiently and to a high standard.
