Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In this coursework unit, I used a lot of products of technology. The first piece of technology that was used was the internet. I made an account on Blogger.com - a blogging storage service that allows users to posts private blogs with time-stamped entries. And the facility to upload images as well. I have never used blogging but I found its concept very easy to understand early on in the task. Although it is straight forward to use, I found a few problems with its inconsistent operation. For example there is a limited viewer when creating a blog. This is really poor when I was trying to arrange large images to the right place within text, it could be structured properly. Secondly, although Blogger supports shortcut it does not seem to work for me. This was a major problem. For examples of ‘Ctrl+V’ to paste text from Microsoft Word. The only way was to drag and drop the text. Also, the text formats were different. When trying to preview the blog than when it is being put together. Nonetheless, investing a bit of time into using Blogger, and I was able to overcome these limitations and put together a decent, if not eye pleasing, record of my work. I also learnt that Blogger only had limited access to accounts, the advantage being that unauthorised people could not view other student’s work to copy their ideas.
I also used the internet in my researching. Using Google.com as my search engine of choice, I found images of magazine front covers for my textual analysis in Google’s image browsing function, as well as using the web search to find relevant magazine publishing companies to write a case study about. I also used Wikipedia.org, an online worldwide encyclopaedia that can be edited by the public to get detailed information about topics such the publishing companies, and technologies such as the use of soft-boxes.
I used software on the computer such as Microsoft Word 2007, which is a standard word processor, to type up and store my work as well as create my audience research questionnaire. I made use of its spell-check ability to make sure that my work was grammatically correct.
I also used Adobe Photoshop CS3, an advanced graphics editing software to convert my print screens of my audience research graphs into a .JPEG image file that could be uploaded onto Blogger in a good resolution and small file size. Its main use however, was when I used it to edit my images. I knew how to use Adobe Photoshop, so I concentrated on trying to get the best out of my skills. I used Hue and Saturation adjustments on my pictures so that they would look right in my scenes that I created in Photoshop. An example would be changing the colour of the logo and laces of one of my model’s hoodie from a vibrant blue to a more subtle indigo to suit the colour scheme. Secondly, I used the Lasso tools, to remove the backgrounds from my subjects, so that they could be placed onto my custom backgrounds and scenes. I also used the Spot Healing and Patch Tools to remove spots on my model’s faces, and a variety of blur techniques to make my model’s faces seem smoother and shadow. I used Custom Shapes to create my text boxes, Brushes to create the centre division on my double-page spread, and used Blending Options and Opacity to texture the statue.
Although I did not develop any more knowledge about the application, I gained new skills by trying new ideas of manipulating images such as texturing the statue design on my double page spread.
Lastly I used a Canon EOS 400D 10.1 megapixel camera to take my pictures. This was my second time using the camera – the first being in the preliminary task; therefore I was learning new things about this piece of technology all the way through. The first thing that I learnt about using the camera correctly is the correct orientation when taking a picture. They are usually taken in a portrait orientation to fit in as much of the subject as possible, leaving out unnecessary background. When taking my pictures, this made me consider how the image was going to turn out rather than just taking a picture. I also kept in mind how I would frame my subject and the type of shot that I was going to use. I used long shots because once imported into Photoshop
Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I used the baseball hat on my model as a prop on the front cover to attract the audience as baseball hats can be associated with rnb and hip-hop. By having these props on show, not only do they tell the audience something about the group, who can play what instrument, but also each member can connect with actual musicians and their instruments.
The model is relatively attractive and well groomed – he has are a fresh haircuts and so would easily appeal to the female audience. who would take an interest to the model. However he would also appeal to males because they would be able to relate to the model as they are both males.
My magazine uses a sans-serif font to display its cover lines. This connotes the magazine and its contents being contemporary and is what the vast majority of my target audience wanted referring to my audience research, so this would attract my audience to my magazine. I also used a large bubble-writing font to be able to create a recognised brand logo so that it would clearly stand out on the front page, and for my audience to be attracted to it through its originality and positing which suggest that the magazine is proud of its brand, and so transfer this message to the reader and them being proud of reading the magazine also. Firstly this attracts the audience by giving a personal feeling to the reader as if they or someone else wrote on the magazine making it more informal and easier to connect with. Secondly the little smiley on the front page beside the word “TRADEMARKED”, is a device that I used to attract the audience through humour, and making them feel good through the smile. It also connotes that the magazine is happy that its brand is protected. Lastly, I chose a very bubble style font to act as the official font for my artist – Chris C. Secondly, I placed it behind the models head using Photoshop.
Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for my magazine would mainly be black British teenagers from the age of 16-23 years old. As the younger generation would be interested in the interviews, reviews and also the competitions. Ethnically the magazine will be targeted to the specific race, being the black ethnicity. There are two main genres that the magazine promotes, which is Rnb and Hip-hop. Both target the Black ethnicities because stereotypically most artists in these genres are black and this would attract other black audiences. The magazine also targets both male and females; moreover it targets all religions because music is meant for everyone to listen to.
The audience it targets is also in to rnb and hip-hop. The magazine targets people that are enthusiastic about music because of the detail in music the magazine holds. The target audience of the music magazine also has to have a social life for example people that got to concerts and people that social network. This would mean that the audience would have knowledge about different music genres, the latest song and it would mean that they are also into the latest, popular technologies. Such as IPods, Iphones, Blackberries and Dre beats headphones. The teenagers the magazine would target would also be in to TV and watch music videos. Moreover they would be in to game consoles such as Play station 3, Xbox and Nintendo Wii. They must also have an interest in music games such as `Michael Jackson Experience’.
If my target audience enjoys going to concerts or nightclubs, then the free concert ticket in my music magazine would appeal to them to great extent. In addition the magazine would target working class people so the price of the magazine would be an advantage to them. The target audience would also either be in full time education or have a part time job, which means these people would have a social life and have similar interests.
Evaluation Q3
I researched
many magazine publishers which i thought would be likely to distribute my
magazine. Bauer Media is a UK media group which consists of companies in the
magazine and radio division. It is a sub division of Bauer Media group, based
in Germany and is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group. They also
have 300 published magazines, TV and radio stations which broadcasts to 15
countries. Therefore i find this beneficial as this can help my magazine be
further distributed.
I thought this would be the best way to publish my magazine, because it does not have a magazine that is the same genre as mine, already. Their music magazines are MOJO, KERRANG and Q. Which are all widely known, and have given their audience a unique passion for music. However their magazines have a rock genre to them, where as mine focuses on Hip Hop and grime.
I thought this would be the best way to publish my magazine, because it does not have a magazine that is the same genre as mine, already. Their music magazines are MOJO, KERRANG and Q. Which are all widely known, and have given their audience a unique passion for music. However their magazines have a rock genre to them, where as mine focuses on Hip Hop and grime.
Moreover, I would like my magazine to be
distributed in general magazine retailers, such as WHSmith. As, this
way it will be accessible to many of my audiences, and as WHSmith holds a variety
of magazines, many who read other genres of magazines could still acquire my
magazine. I will also want it to be distributed in music stores, as they would have a focused music audience,
making it easy for my magazine to be distributed. Also perhaps performing arts schools and youth clubs, as my target audiences are youths, who are very
interested in music, study music and want to be in the industry.