Task Brief

For our AS Media Studies coursework, we were asked to produce a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine aimed at our chosen audience. As well as create, we were asked to research and plan for our music magazine to ensure that it suited our chosen genre and audience well.

Completed Front Cover

Completed Contents Page

Completed Double Page Spread

Ongoing Production log - Entry 22

Today I checked through all my coursework to ensure I had everything on my blog and also, I wanted to make sure all my work was to a high standard and was in chronological order. I made any amendments and I then decided to upload my rejected photos so that my examiner knew why I chose the photos I did and why I didn't choose others. This I feel was a successful part of my project because I was able to make a decision as to which photos suited my audience and genre and which did not. However to improve I will take more photos with different backgrounds as one problem I found with my current photos is that they all had quite similar backgrounds hence showing how I would improve my images.

Ongoing Production log - Entry 21

Today I managed to complete all my evaluation. Looking back at my process, I feel that I chose suitable formats because they are all creative and different hence they make my blog look really interesting and individual. They also all use different ICT skills and they all use different software; some of this software was new to me thus again showing how they were suitable formats for me to use because I managed to learn new things and gain new skills which I can use in the future. As well as this, some of the questions were easier to do and others I found rather challenging and difficult because it required further research and effort. Overall however I feel that my evaluation was a successful part of my process because I managed my time effectively and I created a creative and interesting evaluation which I can now publish on my blog.

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

Ongoing Production log - Entry 20

Today I filmed and finished my video and I also finished my Prezi. I found the video really fun to film and it was my favourite part of my evaluation because it was creative and was different to the others. Today I will also go through my blog and my magazine and correct any mistakes and I will make sure everything is in chronological order.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

 

 

Transcript:

 

Jamie: For my music magazine, EMBER, I am considering the media institution: Bauer Media. This is because I feel that this media institution is a suitable institution which could distribute my media product because it focuses on individuality and uniqueness. Because my media product is rather alternative, the fact that they distribute other creative magazines which have their own individual styles makes this institution more appropriate and suitable for my needs. Here we have the CEO of Bauer Media who’s here today to talk about why they think that their institution would be the most suitable for distributing my media product.

CEO: Well we deal with magazines which have a similar genre to yours therefore we know quite a lot about how to target your target audience. We therefore feel that our institution is very appropriate because we already distribute magazines such as Q and The Hits hence we know quite a bit about what your audience want and how we can sell your magazine to them; we find that we are strong in this targeting and advertising to specific audiences.

Jamie: After research, I also found that you work with a variety of magazines which all have different audiences. You distribute gardening magazines, automobile magazines and music magazines and so many more; I’m impressed!

CEO: We pride ourselves in the way we successfully appeal to a variety of target audiences. We try and make every magazine modern and creative yet suitable for our audience because the audience matters most to us. We ensure pride and warmth in our magazines and we want to ensure that neither our advertisements nor our magazines are intimidating because it is our aim to create informing and entertaining magazines which are fresh and surprising. We want to inspire and connect with our audiences so that we stand out from the competition so we are consistently better. That’s why we feel that our institution would be appropriate for your magazine because we always keep in mind the audience and how we as an institution can appeal to them most.

Jamie: How will you advertise my media product then?

CEO: Because everything is done online nowadays, we have started going digital with our magazines. Therefore we like to think that we are keeping in line with current trends and progressions in society because we want to appeal to a wider audience and because most media viewing is done online now, for example: reading books or reading a newspaper, digital magazines are the way forward. As a company, we also ensure that we create effective and creative advertisements so that we successfully and strongly appeal to our audiences. This is why our institution would be suitable for your magazine because we connect with our audiences on a variety of platforms and this is especially good considering we work with a variety of cultures and audiences and so the variety of platforms ensures that we appeal to them all. This is why we pride ourselves in the fact that we are a unique, diverse and vibrant business hence why you work with us.

Jamie: I agree, as a society we are glued to our devices and so by going digital, as well as paper, with our magazines, it will not only reduce the price as we will need to manufacture less products but also, it will appeal and target a much wider variety of audience.

CEO: As a company we like to put the reader in the room with their favourite artists and show how their own journeys have shaped their music. After reading your latest issue of EMBER, I feel that our company would again, be very appropriate and suitable because your artist’s article does exactly that – it shows how her journey has shaped her music. We also like to give money to the ‘Cash for Kids’ charity because we like to give back to the community, especially because the community does so much for us.

Jamie: That is fantastic! Giving back to charity should be a part of every business I believe and I think that EMBER’s artists would agree! I would also like to distribute my magazine in retail shops like Waitrose, Tesco and WHSmiths because they are all well established brands which already sell similar magazines to mine and because of their popularity, I think that this would be very suitable for my magazine and will allow my company to prosper.

CEO: We could definitely do that because again that will show the magazine off to a variety of audiences!

Jamie: Well I think your institution would be greatly suitable and appropriate for our magazine as I feel that your institution could distribution our magazine well so that it appeals to a wide variety of audiences both physically and digitally. Thank you for your time. 



Ongoing Production log - Entry 19

As part of question 3, this was the research I did prior to the video. I wanted to get some background knowledge on the business to ensure that the business I chose was suitable for my magazine. I wrote down a few bullet points on things I found interesting and useful; I could then incorporate this into my script. I felt that this was a successful part of my evaluation process because I planned each section well so I knew what I was doing.

Ongoing Production log - Entry 18

In today's lesson, I finished question 4 and started both question 2 and 3. I did my necessary research for question 3 and began writing my video script. I also chose my Prezi layout and quickly wrote down everything I wanted to discuss in this question - I wrote down the key points and what order I wanted them in. This I feel was successful because I used a software that I had not used before thus I learnt something new and have gained a new skill which I can use in the future; it makes my presentations look a lot more fun and creative. Also, once all my evaluation is complete, I will return to question 4 and change the layout of it on my blog because I don't really like it.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Ongoing Production log - Entry 17

Today I managed to finish question 5 and start question 4. I wrote out a questionnaire quickly and interviewed 10 people from my target audience to get their opinions on my magazine. I then put my results onto Excel and created individual pie charts. Again, this shows my ICT skills because I was able to use a different software, Excel. In this lesson I also made further improvements to my magazine, for example: I changed the layout of my contents page so all the text was in line because I felt this would make my magazine look more professional and neat.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 1: Would you buy the magazine? - This was my audience's response. From looking at these results, I can infer that my magazine is successful in the way that it grabs my audience's attention because only one out of the ten questioned, wouldn't buy my magazine thus showing how my magazine does appeal to my audience and in this sense I have successfully created a magazine that suits my genre as well as my audience. This also means that they are more likely to buy the magazine because it is something they like and find aesthetically pleasing.

Question 2: Is the price reasonable? - This was my audience's response. Although the majority of those questioned thought the price was reasonable, some thought it was too expensive. Therefore if I was to repeat this project again, I would lower the price to perhaps £2.99 as this will be more suitable for my audience because students/teenagers don't have a lot of money to spend on magazines. Hence if I was to lower the price, it would increase sales and appeal more to my audience which is something I want to ensure.

 Question 3: Does the image appeal to you? - This was my audience's response. I can infer that every single person who I interviewed thought that the image appealed to them thus I feel I have successfully appealed and thought about my audience because by looking at this response, I can tell that my audience like the images presented to them; the images are suited to what they like. However my own personal opinion is that to improve, I would use other artists and take pictures of numerous artists, not just one, because then I am able to open my magazine to a bigger audience and it also makes the contents page look a lot more interesting and exciting. Other than this, I feel I have successfully addressed my audience.

Question 4: Is the music genre clear? - This was my audience's response. I can infer from this response that the majority of people I asked thought the genre was clear; this was indie pop. However a small group of people thought that the music genre wasn't clear therefore to improve I will make the genre more apparent within the photos and text. I will do this by perhaps making my artist look more individual and alternative and I would also use an acoustic guitar as this is something that would make my image look more indie thus attracting my audience more. Despite this, I think the majority of the magazine looks indie pop due to the black and white, the hints of oranges and reds and the natural background however I think that I chose quite a difficult genre as it is very specific. This is why next time I will choose a more open and easy genre.

Question 5: Do you think the layout is neat and clear? - This was my audience's response. By looking at this response I can infer that everyone I interviewed thought that the layout was neat and clear. This, in my opinion, was a successful part of my magazine because I wanted to ensure that my magazine was clear and presented well and this is what I did. I ensured my text was in line and of a similar size and font throughout as this makes my magazine look more professional and high standard. This is why I feel I have created a successful magazine and have addressed my audience successfully because I ensured that the layout was simple and clear. However if I was to improve, I would perhaps to a more creative and unique layout as my layout is quite similar to all magazines. Other than this, I am happy with my layout.

Question 6: Do you think the images and colours are suitable for the genre? - This was my audience's response. According to the response, I can infer that the majority of people thought that all the images and colours were suitable for the genre. This is because I tried to keep the colours and images minimal because this was what appealed to my audience. They wanted images which were natural and relaxed and also they liked basic colours like black and white. As well as this, I wanted to use colours which made the theme of individuality more apparent in my magazine hence I used oranges and golds. Despite this, a few thought they weren't. Therefore to improve I will do further research into what specific colours my audience want so I can include this within my magazine to suit my genre more. Also I will make the images more individual and indie by, as aforementioned, adding an acoustic guitar as this will make my magazine suit my genre more as an acoustic guitar is what you normally think about when you think of indie. Other than this I feel like the use of colour and images was rather successful within my magazine.

Question 7: Does the text sound interesting/appealing? - This was my audience's response. I can infer that everyone I interviewed thought that the text sounded interesting and appealing. This is why I feel I have successfully addressed my audience because I analysed current indie pop magazines and looked at what sort of articles they used and I found that the articles were quite emotive and real; they weren't cliché or boring. This is why I ensured that my article was interesting and unedited because I wanted to make the article real and true because this is what my audience wanted. Therefore I feel I have successfully attracted my audience because the use of a creative and appealing article ensured that they found it interesting; I wanted them to want to read more of the magazine.

Question 8: Do you think the theme throughout is clear? - This was my audience's response. I can infer that the majority of people thought that the theme was apparent throughout however there were a few people who did not. They thought that the theme was apparent within the headers on the front cover and contents page but not so much on the double page spread. Therefore to improve I will make my theme, the theme of fire and flames, more obvious and clear on my double page spread by perhaps adding fire streaks into the large quote on the left page because this would have made the theme more clear on these pages. Despite this, I did try and keep the theme apparent by adding the fire effect into the page number boxes however because this is quite small it was probably not as apparent as it should have been. Therefore to improve I will add the theme into the double page spread so that my magazine looks more professional; it will make the pages look more like they are part of one magazine as opposed to different magazines.

My Questionnaire

Ongoing Production log - Entry 16

Today I finished my PowerPoint and added photos to both my Poster and PowerPoint to make them both a little more interesting and a little less dull. I carried on with my Poster yet have not finished it because half way through the lesson I decided to change question 3's format. Instead of an essay which is rather boring and unoriginal, I decided to create an interview style video because not only will it make the question more interesting but it will also show off my ICT skills as I am doing something different and using ICT in a different way. Also I felt that most of my blog was typed therefore I wanted to do something a bit more fun and exciting so I decided to plan a video.

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

What have you learnt about technologies 6 from jamiedear

Ongoing Production log - Entry 15

In today's lesson, I started question 5 and 6. In the first lesson I started my presentation. I quickly wrote down all the technologies I had used and learnt about in my process and this it made my easier to manage this question because I knew what technologies I had to analyse. This made the process a lot quicker and smoother because I knew what I had to write and so I didn't waste time throughout thinking about what I had to write next. In the following lesson, I started my Poster as we didn't have computers or laptops. Therefore, I decided to start question 5 so I didn't waste time doing nothing. I decided to get my target audience and take a picture of them together so that I could use this in my Poster to show who my target audience was and how I have addressed them.

Ongoing Production log - Entry 14

After school, I was able to finish question 7. I uploaded it onto soundcloud, a piece of software I had not used before, and then uploaded it onto blogger. I have learnt a lot from this stage because I now know how to use soundcloud and so I can use this skill for future projects. Next lesson I want to start my PowerPoint presentation and I want to get my image for my Poster as I want an image of my target audience in the middle of the page - this is my next step.

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

Ongoing Production log - Entry 13

In my double lesson I started my evaluation. I started with question 1 and gathered all of the relevant images that I wanted to use and put them into my document. However I decided to move onto question 7 because I wanted to do something which was a little more creative and interesting therefore I planned my voice recording and wrote a script ready to read. I also felt that the first question was quite time consuming hence I decided to leave question 1 to last because then I can solely focus on that question without worrying about every other question. This I feel was a strength in my process because I was able to work thoroughly and was able to divide my time out and order my questions correctly in a way that I found helpful and easiest.

Ongoing Production log - Entry 12

In this lesson we began our evaluation. I made a table and I wrote what sort of format I wanted each question in. I then highlighted all the questions in red to show that I hadn't started any. Further on in the process I then began to highlight the questions yellow and green to show that I had either completely finished that particular question or I had done half of the question, e.g.: I could have written the script but not actually have filmed it yet. This I feel was a strength of my process because it ensured I constantly knew what had to be done and what had been done thus my time management in this section was successful because I was aware of everything that had to be done and I constantly stayed on track and spent equal time on each of the sections because I wanted all my sections to be of a high standard. This is why I found it easy to stick to my deadline thus colour coding was a strength of this process.

Peer Feedback

I asked my peers what they thought of my magazine and these are their responses: