Tuesday 12 January 2016

Question 1 Evaluation


Front Cover

In my music magazine I have adhered to certain conventions to make it very clear that it is a Vintage Rock magazine. For example my masthead is covering 1/5th of the page, it is written in a very scratchy, blocky and bold font this is very stereotypical of a rock magazine.

My model is looking directly into the camera and is the biggest feature on the front cover so the most attention is drawn to her. She holds her head up with her hand and had a cheeky look because of her smile, this supports Laura Mulvey's theory about male gaze. The look she gives also supports Dyer because she was told to look like this showing that 'A star is an image, not a real person'. The model is wearing dark clothes which is very stereotypical, however the colours are also slightly faded which strikes as a more vintage look.

As my model is of a younger age that will attract a younger audience, however in order to reach my double target audience age range I have also included the name of an older famous band. This ensures there will be something for my older target audience to read and make them want to buy my magazine. This supports Hodge and Kress theory as there are thing added to the magazine by the producer to make the reader want to buy the magazine. At the top of my magazine there is a opaque banner contain social media links which again targets a younger audience as young adults are stereotyped to always be on social media. They include names for Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.


Most of the colours on the magazine are very dark and some are faded this makes the magazine very clearly a vintage rock magazine. However I have added a bright yellow colour to magazine to make certain parts stand out.

I have also manipulated some of the conventions on my music magazine for example my models make up was not as heavy as what you may see on other rock magazines, however I feel having the make up slightly less heavy helps keep a more of a vintage feel to my model. The hair on my model is very different to what you may see on a rock artist however it had a very classic feel which again brings a vintage feel to the model. This again supports Dyers theory because her make up and hair was done this way to make it less rock like and more vintage and she would not always have her hair and make up this way on a daily basis.

The puff on my magazine does not contain the conventional inside feature but advertises a free download. My puff is also opaque which creates synergy with the banner at the top of the front cover.

Another convention which I challenged was the positioning of my pug usually they are at the top of the front cover however on mine it is at the bottom. It does still contain the price and the date which typical of a pug.


Contents Page


My contents page has also adhered to many conventions, these conventions i have adhered to make it evident that my magazine is a vintage rock magazine. There are 3 columns on my contents page and it is very typical of a music magazine to have columns on it, I also have 15 stories on the contents page.

Adding an editors section for my readers is also very commonly seen on music magazines so this also adheres to conventions of a music magazine to clarify the meaning of the magazine.



The colours and fonts have a very clear synergy with the front cover as the 2 banners at the top and bottom are in the same deep red on the front cover and the page numbers of each story are also in the same deep red colours. The same scratchy font which is used on my masthead is used for the heading of my contents page creating very clear synergy.

The model in the bottom right of my contents page has he neck very on show which could support Mulvey's theory of male gaze as she is showing a lot of skin and holding her neck seductively. However it also disproves Mulvey's as a tattoo is not a stereotypical part of an attractive woman. However the use of the tattoos is very stereotypical of a rock artist ask they are always pictured with tattoos or piercing but 'stereotypes are not simple' as Perkins said.

I have also manipulated some of these conventions for example my contents page isn't as busy as an average rock magazine I have done this to ensure that the rock theme does not drown out the vintage element of the magazine too much.

Advertising a gig and festival into my magazine keeps a younger theme running throughout as festivals are aims for younger people. How ever in my gig guide in my bottom banner I have included older bands such as Fleetwood Mac and The Rolling Stones. I have found it difficult to meet the demands of both of my target audience and I believe that the difficulty I've had supports Julian McDougall's theory that 'In the online age it is getting harder to identify a stable media audience.

The use of add social media in my top banner incorporates an area for something a younger target audience may be interested in.




The use of the splatters on the edges and coming off the title also keeps the young theme going but also adds a rock element at the same time as they are black.



Double Page Spread



On my DPS I have also adhered to many conventions to make it clear that it is a vintage rock magazine. I have kept 3 column of text which is usual of any DPS. There is a total of 4 different pull quotes 3 of them on a deep red background which is very synergetic with the colours on my front cover and contents page. The scratchy edges on the sides of the puff add a rock look and the deep red adds a vintage feel. 

The drop capital at the beginning of my article covers three lines and follows the convention of a usual magazine.  

 There are many dark colour on my DPS, all the font is black, the deep red puffs are dark and the models clothing is also very dark, this makes it very obvious that there the magazine is a vintage rock magazine. 
My model gives a slightly seductive look in the smaller photo as she looks over her shoulder towards the camera. This supports Mulvey's theory of male gaze as it look like she does this to grab male attention. 

Some conventions I have manipulated are the fact that the contents page isn't as busy as a typical rock magazine, the reason I have done this is to ensure that the vintage look of this magazine doesn't get lost in all of the rock looks that are featured. 

I have only put text on one side of my DPS because my target audience research told me that my target audience did not want too much text so I have tried to keep the amount of text to a minimum. 

A convention that I have challenged is that I have included an image in the centre line of the magazine so it will be were the fold is and this breaks conventions as it os rarely see on any magazine .

Monday 11 January 2016

Question 2 Evaluation




Question 3 Evaluation

Question 4 and 5 Evaluation


Question 6 Evaluation

During the course of researching, planning, creating and evaluating my music
magazine, I have had to become comfortable with using many new aspects of technology which I was not aware of prior to the making of my magazine. First of all I had to learn how to navigate a macon of the most useful things being how to do a screen grab I then created my own media blog and learnt how to post on my blog and upload images on to my blog. 

During researching planning and evaluating I have learnt to use the following websites for various reasons.
Prezi- I have learnt how to create a prezi, including adding images and how to embed the prezi on to my blog. I particularly enjoyed using prezi as it was very new to me and a very exciting way to present my work.
Slideshare- I have learnt how to upload my slideshow on to slideshare, from there I have learnt how to embed my slideshare on to my blog. 
Thinglink- On thinglink i have learnt how to create thinglink by uploading a photo and adding links with information about that area of the photo, and from there I have learnt how to add the thinglink to my blog.
Wordle- I have learnt how to create a wordle and add it into my blog. This was fun to add into my blog and added a little extra details, it was easy to use too.


During the creating of my music magazine I have also used many new technologies I was not aware of prior to creating it.
Camera- I did not have experience with using the professional camera's I had use in order to shoot pictures of my models.
Tripod- I have also learnt how to attach a camera to a tripod and change the height and where the camera is facing using a tripod. This was very useful for me when taking photos and it help the camera much steadier to gain better images.
Flickr- In order to gain insight into what my target audience thought, I used Flickr, I uploaded what in my opinion were my best 3 images and got advice from my target audience of which image i should use for my; front cover, contents page and double page spread. I found this very helpful in finding out what would work best and keep my target audience happy.
Adobe elements 11- Adobe elements 11 is the programme I used in order to create my magazine, this was the most challenging part of creating my magazine, but it was definitely one of the most fun aspects of creating it. Learning how to cut an image out and add it to the background I wanted, picking up colours to create synergy across my pages and learning how to add effects to photos to really bring out the models look, this has been a very difficult yet fun experience.


Question 7 Evaluation

Prelim.
Final Magazine.



During my media journey I have learnt many things and come along way from where I started, being my prelim task compared to what my final

music magazine looked like.

  


The first thing I have learnt during my journey is how the technology 
worked. I have learnt how to edit a photo on to the background
I want it on for example in my prelim photo the background is 
a school canteen which is very unprofessional. However in my final
magazine the background is a gradient which looks a 
great deal more professional.


Another thing I have learnt on my media journey is about photography, 
I have learnt many things such as about different shot types, 
lighting, location and how to work a camera. I have also learnt 
how to plan a photo shoot to get the best outcome.


The main thing I have learnt on my media journey is about convention 
and terminology. I have learnt that most magazine have the
masthead at the top of the page and it covers 1/6th of the page, that
pugs tend to be at the top of the page and puffs contain words 
such as 'exclusive' and 'free'. These are all features I have 
included in my final magazine. 


I have also learnt about different media theorist and their theories. 
For example I have learnt that Laura Mulvey suggested the theory about
male gaze, if a female shows skin and looks into camera she is trying to 
grab the attention of a man. I also learnt about Dyer and his theory
of a star being an image and not a person, this is true as my
model wouldn't usually have such heavily make up
or wear such dark clothes.