Evaluation 7 - LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

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Evaluation 6 - WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

When looking at the process of constructing the magazine. The process contains various usages of technologies which has a large impact on my final piece of the product I have created . This includes using variety of editing and performing several skills. However, throughout this process I had also gained more knowledge from practising these skills, which has increased my ability to perform them. Those technologies have helped to develop my skills even further due to this course.  

To begin the production process after doing my research, I have started by taking photographs. The camera used during this process was DLSR camera (Nikon).  The camera was set on an automation setting, which helps me to run the photoshoot more smoothly. By doing the research before hand it allows me to be able to achieve the composition I would like to have. Due to the room being well equipped I was able to use the lights within the room as well as the curtains, which were used as my background. Additional equipment I have used is extra lights lamp to really make the photographs meet the high standards. By using the lights I am then able to change the light intensity and the light direction to gain the best possible images for my magazine. From my basic knowledge of photography, I was able to set up some equipment as such the extra lights. However In contrast, I don’t know about the settings very well as I have not been working on the product for long enough.  In this process, I would say I find the most difficult thing was trying new different settings on the camera. It was the best and ideal to stick with using the automation mode. 

Photoshop is an image manipulation software which allows users to create, edit, manipulate and construct various images that can be used for anything from professional website designs to posters. In my opinion my main noticeable strength is using Photoshop. Personally, I am quite familiar with the basic structures as I have been using Photoshop for around three to four years. By having this knowledge it allows me to produce the task in higher standards. This has created effects to my work by being able to edit the picture as how I planned it. This suggests that I have a better understanding of how to use the software. The advancement level of Photoshop is quite complex. This would be because Photoshop has different tools for different purposes. Therefore this is a huge advantage for me. While editing I was aware of how to use those tools and how it would suit my purpose. This would be available to see through my final pieces where I made them look presentable and professional. Those tools have helped me reach the high standard presentation of the three pieces. Those following methods are some examples of what I did to produce the three pieces; in terms of filters I was able to make changes of the photographs by adjusting the level of brightness. This is done to make sure that the pictures look even more professional. In order to meet my aim, I also had an experiment with changing the exposure as well as the colour gradient.  The colour gradient tool’s job is to change one colour to another. Another significant change I have made is luminosity to make the photograph black and white. On the other hand, even though I am aware of the instructions for most of the tools, there were some challenges I faced when using Photoshop. For example, a corruption has occurred during process of editing, as a consequence I was unable to edit some part of the texts. 

I had then used Adobe InDesign, This is a construction software, which allows professional material to be made using features such as guidelines and default publishing pre sets such as a pre made. This particular process has benefitted me greatly when making the magazine as I was easily able to construct a music magazine with features such as the ruler tool, this tool allowed me to structure the page correctly an make my magazine fit the requirements of existing music magazines. Adobe InDesign is a great software for implementing graphical content in which I have created prior to placing the image in Photoshop. With both software’s being Adobe products this has made it much easier to access and move the files from software to software. Overall these two adobe products are very easy to use and also made my final outcome look more professional.  

When presenting my work I have used multiple different software’s, firstly i have used Prezi, Prezi is an online presentation software that allows the user to create imaginative and unique presentations that can the be viewed by any one on the website. This website is extremely good for making presentations that are effective in demonstrating information. I was able to input images, text and animations to make my presentations both interesting and professional. The website its self is free to use and is easy to access from any computer. Another software I used to present work is slideshare this, like Prezi, is a presentation software that allows the user to present information in the form of a slide show. This software like prezi makes it easy for users to make professional looking presentations, I have used slideshare to show my final images I have selected for my first front cover, contents page and double page spread. 

Another piece of technology that I have used is a questionnaire making software called Survey monkey, this survey was conducted three times by me as I needed to find information upon my specific target audience. Although I have used it three times I was able to create a professional looking questionnaire on every attempt. The software gives the user different question choices and different possible ways for the consumers to  answer the question. This gives the best answers as the questions could be a variety of multiple choice or yes or no questions. Overall I will say that survey monkey is a extremely good software to gain results from as it is made easy by the templates that can be used for an additional helping hand.  

Pros & Cons of Technology –

When making my magazine I have been creating the process of making, research and finally the evaluation on a blogging website called blogger, this website is very good for regularly updating and maintaining order of my research, construction and evaluations. The website also give me up to date analytics and statistics as to where my blog is being seen all over the world, this is useful as I can keep up to date with which areas my work has been targeting. However although this is really good and makes my job easier to blog there is some down sides to this, It means that I will always need internet connection to produce my work without this internet access I will be unable to update my blog regularly and therefore fall behind on the coursework.  This could also be a benefit as having the blog on the Internet allows me to access the blog from anywhere at anytime. This was crucial in the making of my blog as I was able to spend as long as I like to make the 

blog as good as it could be late at night when I work most efficiently. 

Issues of technology used –

Overall I have experienced little to none technological problems the process of using these software’s was very smooth and did not take much effort to use,  the presentation software’s are extremely easy to use and  get started along with the available free accounts I did no take long to set up either. `However there is one problem I have encountered which is the lack of knowledge I posses in regards to the software Adobe InDesign. I was unaware at the lack of fonts and the lack of manipulation tools that I recognised and previously used. To ensure I was not stuck with this problem for to long I decided to watch a video clip on YouTube that explains how to use Adobe InDesign.  The link to the full video is below

Evaluation 5 - HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE

Evaluation 4 - WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

When looking back at my questionnaire I am abele to see that I have targeted an age that is the region of 15-20 year olds, Due to my questionnaire being aimed at mostly students from a sixth form, I would like to increase the age for my target audience as I believe that is too young and the questionnaire did not reach the required amount of people. However this is the age my questionnaire has provided me with. With the age range being quite varied I still believe that the product I have made meets all of the target audiences needs and what they would like to see in a magazine. My target audience then used the questionnaire to shows that the genre of music they are most interested in will be rap/hip-hop. However this does not mean I did not take other genres into consideration. However I ultimately decided to make a music magazine that is entirely focused upon supplying great content and latest news and information to my consumers.  

Demographic	My magazine is currently aimed at the age group 16-25. My audience will most likely be be students that are of the middle and lower class standards this would be due to the fact my audience must have the disposable income to afford my magazine which at the price of £1.50 would be very affordable to my target audience who will not need to save up for the magazine. when looking at the general registrar scale, my target audience will most likely be in the region of the audience BCD bracket of the general register scale. I believe my audience will have jobs that are not to highly paid and would have basic low paid jobs such in retail and low positions in businesses. This work would also be at the same time the audience will be in education or the jobs may be part time.My readers would also need to have a interest in the magazine, especially who is featured. In this instance my audience must be a fan of J. Cole, Drake or Bryson Tiller this would be due the the fact all of these artists are presented in the front cover of my magazine. The house style of the magazine will mostly attract young males with colours such as red, black and white being used consistently throughout the magazine. In the future I would probably change some of the colours to attract a more diverse audience when considering gender.
Geographic	My audience would be targeted in the western parts of the world, however will predominantly be targets for people living in the U.K and more specifically urban areas such as London, Manchester and Liverpool, This would be due to the artists that i have chosen to be on the front of the magazine will be a mainstream artist in both Britain and North America., This would mean allot of people would know the artists and be familiar with the music they create which is the main genre of music in my magazine, Artists such as Drake and Kendrick Lamar will have a large fan base in North America therefore this would gain me allot more money and profit maximisation, The tour I have included would be J. Cole's this is a tour that is worldwide and therefore would cover all areas that I have stated which would be my demographic.
Psychographic	When looking at my audiences Psychographic, They are more than likely going to be a mixture of succeeders and mainstreamers. As they will have enough disposable income to buy the magazine on a monthly basis. My price is only £1.50 which is extremely close to Vibe's price of £1.60 which means that some of Vibe's audience psychographic to be similar to my own brands, for instance the consumers could be aspirers, as both Vibe and my magazine show affluent lifestyles that the consumers will be wanting and therefore aspiring to be like. I think my audience will generally enjoy the genre of music my magazine represents and will attend any music occasion they can such as concerts or festivals as my audience are younger and more open minded.

Price	£1.50 – My magazine will be made monthly to allow new content to be published providing new content for my audience.
Content	My magazine contains content such as reviews, interviews and free gifts. This would attract my target audience significantly as in my questionnaire I asked my target audience what they would like to see contents wise in my magazine with plenty of the consumers choices now being used in the again such as reviews, articles and competitions for free gifts.  My questionnaire would also show me that my target audience would like to see the Rap/Hip-Hop music genre shows interest into new up and coming artists. Therefore this will be a feature that is displayed on the Contents page of the final product. With this in mind i then made sure that I implemented these features into my magazine as a main selling point which would make my audience be more interested in my product.
Advertisements	My advertisements would be based around the age of my consumers, average daily advertisements that would appeal to my target audience would be products such as new music, Fun nights out, rebellious natures and clothes. All these would make my magazine more attractable and would appeal well as advertisements.
Reader interactions	My magazine may have various puzzles and a variety of prizes that can be one, this would allow me to interact with the consumers and get them actively involved with the magazine. my magazine would also have ways that the consumers will be able to win a free tickets of the main cover artist, this advertisement will be located on the bottom left hand corner of the front cover.  through these competitions which would give the reader more of an incentive to read the magazine and participate in the games and puzzles.
Promotions and competitions	My magazine will give a variety of ways that the consumers can subscribe to the magazine, some of these would be to subscribe online or by phone. All of these would be stated on the magazine which would make my consumers aware they can subscribe.

Brand Eye for my own magazine

Audience Profile

Evaluation 3 - WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

Evaluation 2 - HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

 When making my media product I have implemented various different techniques in order to ensure that I have represented my audience and particular social group. The specific target audience that I have aimed to target my magazine at is young adults mostly aged between 16 and 25. These people will mostly like having a vivid interest in music and more specifically people who are interested in rap/hip-hop music. I have extracted this research from my constructed questionnaire. 

For an example of how I targeted my specific audience I have firstly chosen a model that is of a similar age group. I have chosen a total of five actors all of which having the common factor of being roughly the same age, this age is between 17 and 18.  By having the models similar ages to my target audience I can say that it will make the magazine more personal and relatable. This will really make a difference in our readership as more consumers will be interested in the magazine if they see someone who is relatable on the front cover, the will feel they can read the article and compare lifestyles more easily as well as my audience being aspirers therefore will gain benefits from reading the magazine. I can relate this to a theory I have been learning made by Jacques Lacan and Carl Rogers, which is the ideal-I, and ideal lifestyle/partnership, which my magazine presents through the affluent style of clothing. also another way that I have made my magazine represent my audience through my model is that they are even more relatable as they will have similar tastes in music, this will make the reader connect more with the magazine and actor. The readers will aspire to be my actor due to the same personal interests as well as the powerful way he is presented in my magazine. I believe that my actor will be looked to as an inspiration as the character goes against the stereotypically normal representation of a young adult being a delinquent as said in the theory stated by Dick Hebdige that young adults are either fun or delinquents. This makes the reader more attached to the article and supports the fact that the actor has an inspirational lifestyle. Another way that I have targeted my audience would be through mis-en-scene.

My actor has a various amount of clothes on display on all of the individual pages of my magazine, Firstly on the front cover of my magazine my actor has a very serious facial expression, this again goes with Dick Hebdiges theory of some young people are delinquents as the actor in my magazines facial expression does not portray my actor to be having fun, It shows my actor to have a attitude and a more serious approach on life. This may target my social group, as the minority of people will have the same mentality of my actor, which suggests that my audience is represented as. The posture of my actor also represents my audience to being very serious and to not be scared to say what they are thinking, this makes the audience feel like they can relate to my actor as they may feel they can relate to what he represents and what he is showing by both his facial expressions and boy language.

My actor will also use similar poses on the contents page; I made the actor look directly into the camera. By having my actor do this it makes the whole magazine look much more intimidating and also more intimate between the actor and my consumer, The eye contact will give my consumers more of a personal feeling when reading the magazine as they will be able to relate to the actor much more easily as they could believe what he is saying due to his serious nature portrayed in the image.  

In the double page spread I am able to show my actors affluent lifestyle. This is due to the fact the image shows the entirety of the actor, this shows the whole actor with all of his clothing, I have chosen to represent my social group by clothing, clothes such as the bright Nike trainers are common in my specific social group as they are made by a famous and well established company such as Nike and also they are sporting wear, as my social group are of a younger age they will be more familiar and associated with good health and a healthier way of living. I have used a bomber jacket as this is also frequently used in the rap/hip-hop scene.

Another way that my magazine represents my target audience is through the language used in my double page spread, the language I used has contained some colloquial language, this will represent my audience as it is the younger generation and this means they will be able t understand words that an older consumer will not. I have used this as it makes my actor once again more relatable, if the younger consumer can see that my actor is not using correct or proper English they may see this as being more relatable and can create a bond between the actor and my represented social group. I have also used literary devices such as hyperbole's and power of three, I have implemented these into my double page spread as it will grab my target readers attention, it makes the article much more dramatic and this will draw the attention of the young readers as they will be interested in drama. I have then used a pull out quote which will allow me target my social group as they will be more interested into a motivational quote which can both explain the article and give the consumer a sense of idea what the article is about, This will attract them as they are able to relate to the quote and my social group being aspirer’s will take the quote and try to implement this into there own personal life.

When comparing the two different actors from both my magazine and from these issues of vibe i can see that my magazine front cover would not be to dissimilar from each other, I have decided to compare my magazine with Vibe magazine as this allow me to see the similarities as to how they have attracted their specific social group. I can see that i have used similar colours to the magazine covers as i have chosen a white background, This white background is seen to be on one of the vibe front covers. Vibe has used this colour as it could represent that the younger audience are pure and have a more opened mind. I have implemented this into my own magazine as the background of my magazine is also white. I can also see from the last picture that my choice of prop may also target the social group as it has been used on the front cover of another issue of vibe magazine. I have chosen to use the hat as a selected prop as this makes my actor more mysterious as the consumer cannot see the whole face. I believe that the more mysterious the actor is the more my social group will be interested in reading the article. I have also chosen the correct colours for the prop as both my magazine and also the existing magazines have the same  navy coloured hat. Having a base colour such as navy may suggest that my social group prefer natural colours rather than bright and eyecathching colours such as pink and yellow. This will be due to the fact I am mostly targeting males and those colours may be too stereotypically female.

Overall I would state that i am using a variety of different techniques that will attract my social group such as the images i have taken, The props I have used, the language in my double page spread and also the colours i have used for my front cover to gain attraction. I sway that these techniques have all had an influence on my final production in an attempt to target my specific social group.   

Vibe Music magazine and audience analysis. 

Vibe Magazine and audience analysis from Jack Baxter

Evaluation 1 - IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

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