Q7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt from the progression of it to the full product?

During the production of my preliminary task, I was definitely less comfortable as I was unsure of how to layout the pages and how to present it. My lack of knowledge and non frequent use of Photoshop also made me weary of creating a magazine. I felt that doing a preliminary task really helped me ease into the project rather than just jumping in at the deep end.

One thing I have learnt is the importance of taking a variety of Images so I have plently of back up images and that I have a very wide range of photos to choose from. For my preliminary take I only took a small hand full of photos, where as for my real magazine, I took a lot more photos.

I also found that planning out things such as layout and what my sell lines are going to be really help with producing my magazine smoothly. For both magazines, I drew sketches for each page, mind mapped different sell lines and decided what colour scheme would fit best.

When I made my preliminary task, I had some mental blocks as to what to include and what I wanted it to look like, but with the main magazine, I found that my similar product research and analysis helped a great deal and the amount of mental blocks decreased significantly.

My skills in certain software’s such as Photoshop and Sony Vegas certainly increased over time. My fluency and skills in removing backgrounds and editing photos definitely increased. This was useful as there were some accounts in which I had to move my models closer together, change their size, and mix and match models between different images.

The difference in available time to complete it was also a major factor in the quality of my work. I found that when I had more time, I could pace myself with each task and not have to rush it. 

Q6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Transcript
The main piece of technology that I have managed to gain more experience and knowledge in is definitely Adobe Photoshop. I found Photoshop to be an incredibly useful, professional and appropriate piece of software to make the magazine.  When I started the project, I remembered little about Photoshop, so I had to re-visit some tutorials on fronter in order to recap.  As I progressed through making my magazine, I began to use more effects and use tools to more of their potential. I also became swifter in my navigation of Photoshop, especially when simply resizing an image and cutting an image out of its background. In order to make my masthead unique, I searched the internet for various tutorials on editing text; I played around with various effects which helped me gain a greater understanding and knowledge of Photoshop.

One big advantage was having the ability to moderate some images. In some of my images, my models were too far apart or one of them wasn't posing accordingly with he others, however, with Photoshop, I was able to cut out individual people, move them closer together and even mix and match with other photos. This really helped with getting just the right look for my full band images. For the photo shoot I used a Canon 550D DSLR. 

To display all of my work, I used blogger, a site where you can upload things to the internet. I had never used blogger before so I had to get used to it at first, but I can now use it very fluently and easily. The website also allowed me to keep all my work organised. This was done through the use of labels and separate pages on the blog. The website also allowed my peers and teachers to view my work at any time and to access it easily, I was also able to view my peers work.

Over the course of the project, I got faster at some aspects of Photoshop. These include cutting out photos, adding certain effects such as drop shadow and stroke to images and texts and setting out the layout of the page. Having Photoshop was really helpful, as it is quick and moderately easy to use for the most part. One big advantage was having the ability to moderate some images.

I also used video software such as Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere. I used these programs to render out videos of my magazines growth. I also put voice over’s on some of my videos. To do this I used Audacity capture the audio and a Turtle Beach X11 headset for the mic.

To do screen captures, I used Camtasia studios. I initially found it a bit difficult to operate, but after watching a short tutorial by the manufacturers I found it very simple to use.

Q5 How did you attract and address your audience?

Transcript
In order to make my magazine sell, I have focused heavily on making my magazine's front cover eye catching and overall different from other magazines. In order to make it appeal to my audience I have chosen my colour scheme to be dark red, black and white as these colours are commonly associated with Rock and Heavy Metal. By using these colours, I believe that my target audience will automatically associate the dark colours with the heavy metal and rock genre as other magazines featuring the same genre also use similar colour schemes. These colours also link with the genre as most Metal band's logos and clothes feature dark colours. Metal music has a very 'I dont give a **** attitude', so my magazine must also convey this message which is what I am hoping to achieve.

My magazine covers a very large amount of bands and recent news; as demonstrated in the front cover and contents page. This allows readers to get more engrossed in the magazine and to maybe 'loose' themselves within the music world. I've also attempted to make it seem like my magazine has the most important news and the most exclusive interviews to give my magazine an advantage over the other magazines.

For my front cover I tried to make my masthead as original as possible in order to attract the browsers of the shelves. I've tried to keep my cover easily identifiable with my magazines genre. My masthead has a destructive and destroyed theme to it which fits in well with the genre heavy metal, as Heavy Metal is often associated with destruction and rebellion. I’ve also used a paint brush tool that I downloaded off the internet, the brush is uses a variety of paint splotches which once again signifies rebellion. One key feature that attracts my audience is the ‘Plus’ bar at the bottom of my front page as it says which bands are featured in my magazine. Because my audience like Heavy Metal, I have used well known metal bands such as: Iron Maiden, Asking Alexandria and Avenged Sevenfold.

My contents page features the same colours hence it still carries the theme of Rock and Heavy Metal. My layout is loosely based on the style of Kerrangs Contents page. While the page does lack in the rebellion theme, it still attracts the audience with a eye catching image of my feature band on the top left of the page. Below it I have an extreme close up of Mike Portnoy’s signature sticks which automatically grab the attention of Dream Theatre, Portnoy and even Avenged Sevenfold fans. I believe that the extreme close up on the name ‘Mike Portnoy’ on the stick is especially effective.

I have also kept the same colours for my double page spread. My feature band is in active and almost aggressive poses as they play their instruments, they are also close together which really gives them a unified look and feel. This image attracts the reader and gives them an idea of the image and style of the band. I also have three vertical bars with a red to white gradient behind each member of the band, this puts emphasise on each member o and makes sure that none of the don’t go un-noticed.t the next issue will have.

Q4 Who would be your audience for your Music Magazine?

My target audience will be in the age group of 15 – 30 years old. I have chosen this particular age group because people of these ages tend to be the most passionate group about music and bands; this age group are also more likely to be in a band which makes them further interested in my MM. My audience will mainly be aimed at middle and working class as the type of linguistics used in my magazine will not be an incredibly high class way of writing but will be written in a well educated way.

The target gender will be both boys and girls and therefore will be more gender neutral; this is because the specific genre of my magazine doesn’t just appeal to just one gender. My target audience is people who live for music and are passionate about it. They would never leave their house without their ipod and would feel lost if they did. They would most likely play an instrument as well and would also spend a large amount of their time going to gigs.

They would typically wear dark clothes, jeans (skinny and baggy), metal accessories and band merchandise. They would also typically have long hair and live the rock and roll life style of partying all night, getting drunk and doing whatever they feel like. They won’t think of music just as music but will think of it as more of a life style. Tattoos will also be a very common trend amongst my target audience; these could be full sleeves, neck tattoos or just small simple designs. They will often use tattooing their body as a way of showing their love for music and specific bands. This will also mean that my audience is quite creative and sees themselves as individuals who are proud of who and what they are.

My average reader will spend most of their spare time goings to gigs, seeing local shows and bands, hanging out with friends, listening to music and in some cases playing instruments. The majority of my audience will still be doing some form of education, e.g. Sixth form and University. So my audience will also spend a large amount of time doing school work.     

Q3 What kind of Institution might distribute your magazine and why?

When choosing the institution to distribute my magazine, I did some research online about various well known magazine distributors in order to gain a wider range of knowledge of the institutional side of the project. While researching online, I found a list of the four main distributors of music magazines, these being: Conde Nast, National Magazine Company, IPC and Bauer Media.   

Initially I thought of the Bauer Media to distribute my magazine, this was because they already distribute many music magazines such as; Kerrang, Q and MOJO magazine. Kerrang appeals to a very similar demographic as my magazine, therefore my magazine and Kerrang would both be able to draw in the same demographic. Which would inevitably increase business and profit from the metal lovers. I also felt that they would successfully distribute the product across a large area due to the institution operating in 15 different countries.  However, because they already distribute Kerrang, a magazine which covers the same genre, I thought that it wouldn’t be ideal to be distributed by the same institution that already distributes a magazine that covers the same genre as my magazine. Also, since Kerrang already have an established fan base, this will cause my magazine to sell a significantly less amount of copies since most people will buy the magazine that they are most familiar.

I therefore believe that IPC would be the best choice of institution to distribute my magazine. One reason for this is that it is one of the main four magazine institutions and it already distributes many successful magazines such as; NME, Wallpaper*, TVTimes and Marie Claire, so it will no doubt give the magazine some public attention and hopefully some success within the general public. IPC’s leading and most popular magazine is NME, NME focuses mostly on the rock genre with bands such as Biffy Clyro, Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon. I think IPC will therefore be interested in my magazine as it covers the genre Heavy Metal which is only lightly covered in their magazines, hence my magazine will appeal to a certain demographic that NME can’t appeal to. This will bring in a significant amount of new consumers to IPC products and will hopefully benefit the company greatly. I also believe that my magazine is unlike their other magazines so it would bring in the metal crowd, which is an audience which isn’t usually interested IPC publications.

Q2 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Transcript

My magazine represents the social group of people who like metal or ‘Metal heads’ as they're often referred to. This is done through the colour scheme, the front cover and the images of my feature band.

My front cover image is of the band from a low angle shot which gives the band the feel of dominance over the audience. It also represents how metal heads and metal bands wish to be viewed which are to be seen as rebellious, care free rockers who don’t care what anyone thinks. The band all wear black which is conventional for metal bands, the black gives the audience the feel of rebellion which is one of the key themes in metal. The band also has long hair which also signifies that they are in the metal genre. The images include them holding their instruments which are seen as their ‘instruments of war’. Metal is all about the music and the image, this includes things such as; black clothing, long hair and occasionally leather and gives metal a unique and recognizable look.

In the images in which the band is playing their instruments, their facial expressions are serious and deep in concentration which reinforces the idea that they are happy with whom and what they are. There is also a hint of aggression which is a recurring theme in metal as the genre speaks out and sends a strongly believed message to their fans. This represents the magazines social group as a strong and powerful force. The aggression is also conveyed in lyrics in metal music as well as the vocal style, e.g. screaming, growling etc. The article is all about how they want to reward their fans and their struggle with recently losing a band member, this represents the amount of emotion that is put into the genre and how fans are a like a family to a band and vice versa. The colour scheme is black and dark red, dark colours are a recurring theme in attire and logos. Since my magazine is about the metal genre I felt that these colours would be the most suitable choice. They are colours that naturally challenge the conventional colours of other genres such as pop which demonstrates how metal heads want to stand out and be different.

'Metal heads' like to feel that they are different from 'all the rest' and that their music really means something and isn’t just a few pretty boys playing three chords repeatedly. Their music always has a strong argument or statement behind it, therefore it isnt just about the music but what it represents.

Q1 In what way does your media product use, develope or challenge forms and convenions of real media products?

My magazine is a Metal magazine so I naturally conformed to a large amount of conventions for Metal Magazines. To do this, I referred back to my similar product research, I re-examined some earlier issues of Kerrang and other metal magazines. I found that a recurring feature of metal magazines was the dark colour scheme which complements the genre. From this information I decided to make my magazine consist mostly of dark red and black with some white. I kept the same colour scheme throughout my front page, contents and double page spread. I also took colours into account when thinking about my photos. The feature band is wearing mostly black T-shirts which I find is quite common amongst the majority of metal bands.

Magazines rely a great deal on their mast head to make their magazine eye catching. The mast head is what makes the magazine recognizable to potential audiences, so I felt that I really need to make my mast head original and unique. Metal magazine’s mast heads also tend to have a destructive and rebellious theme and image. In order to create the best possible mast head I went online and found some tutorials for creating different text styles. I managed to create a mast head with a ‘broken down’ kind of feel to it, which I find is quite suiting for the genre of music and my target audience. I also hope this will help grab the attention of buyers. In the top banner of my front cover I have included a small list of things my magazine will cover such as: “news”, “reviews” etc. In the bottom banner on my front page, I have included a list of Band names that are going to be featured in my magazine. All the band names are of the metal genre or a sub genre of metal, bands such as: ‘Lamb of God’, ‘Asking Alexandria’, ‘Iron Maiden’, etc.

I have modelled my contents page loosely on the layout of the contents pages of ‘Kerrang’ magazine. The different categories are written in dark red and are emphasized with a black border. The page numbers are also in dark red but aren’t highlighted with a black box. My images however do not mirror the layout of the images on the contents page of Kerrang. I have my main feature image at the top and the other images are below it. I noticed that a most issues of magazines have an ‘editor’s note’ column on their contents page so I too have included one to tell the audience what they can expect to find in the magazine.

My double page still stays with the current colour scheme with black headers and red text. I have followed the typical conventions of magazine double page spreads as I have made the introductory text bold and separated the questions and answers by changing their colours, the questions being in red and the answers in black. In the header and footer I have included page numbers, the website, the date, and the band name and article.