AS Media Coursework Evaluation

AS Media Coursework Evaluation. on Prezi

This is my evaluation for my final product. I did the presentation on the website Prezi  because it is a creative way to make presentations you can choose the pattern in which your slides appear and it is much easier to upload it to my blog. I inserted images and videos alongside my text.

Double Page Spread (Final Product)

This is my double page spread which was also made on photoshop I enjoyed making this double page spread because I was able to effectivly show my photoshop skills. It was hard to produce but not as hard as the front cover or contents page was becuase by this time my skills have developed from the basics.

Contents Page (Final Product)

This is my contents page that I also made on photoshop it was easier to make then the front cover because I learnt the skills needed while making the front cover. I kept the red, black and white colour scheme because they are three colours that compliment each other well also the front cover colour scheme was red, black and white. If the contents page wasn't then it doesn't look professional.

Front Cover (Final Product)

This is my front cover, I used photoshop to manipulate the image and text. I used a range of different tools in order to crate that image. I looked at VIBE covers and then constructed my own, the reason I used VIBE because they are a established magazine within the music industry and especially R&B which was the genre I was making my magazine on.

At first making the front cover was hard becuase I didn't know how to use photoshop it was complicated and I had never used it before. I got help from my teachers and from YouTube clips and my skills developed so I was able to make this. Compared to the Prelim I did at the start of the year this is much better.

First attempt at front cover.

I kept the basic ideas of this contents page and used it as my draft. After recieving constructive critisism from my teachers and peers I changed some of it and added new things in order to make it look more professional.

Cover Inspiration.

This is the cover is what inspired me to have red in my colour scheme after looking at how effective it was on this cover. the mast head is over the image I want to put that in my magazine becuase it indicates tha the magazine is more important thean the artist it's the magazine that makes the artist famous not the other way around. The image is effective too becuase it is black and white that compliments the colour scheme very well and the text is given some attention too.

Photoshoot

I took photos of Safwan for my magazine. My magazine is a R&B magazine with aspects of Hip hop he wss my model we tested with typical poses at first then took close ups and mid shots.

In this photo I was instrusting him how to pose for the front cover I tried a typical 'bad boy' shot looking away fron the camera I made these shots as sterotypical as possible so I can see the difference between a typical cover and my own cover which is suppose to be original.

This is what I consider a typical 'bad boy' shot because he is leaning against a wall and looking away from the camera as if he doesnt really care and doesnt want to get the reader attention, it's a very casual shot and simple I'm using the white wall as the background because it gives the image a natural shadow and it compliments his shirt better than a color wall would have.



Front cover

I'm choosing the images for my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I'm going to use Safwan as my front cover it will be a mid shot with him looking at the camera with sunglasses on. The reason I'm going to do a unconventional pose becuase after looking at established R&B magazines I identified the conventions and I want my magazine to be unconventionl to keep it original I am going to incoperate some convetion features so it can be recogonised as a R&B magazine.

Contents page

I couldn't decide on what to do for my contents page I looked at examples done in previous years and I looked at existing R&B magazines they were all different to my ideas so I took some ideas from XXL and VIBE then mixed them with my own ideas so that I would have conventional and unconventional features so that it would appeal to the target audience. I finally decided on a basic layout with one image.

My photos

This is the photo I'm using for my front cover.

This was taken outside against a white wall the lighting was really good on that day and there was a natural shadow.

Taking photos...

We took the shots that were on my shot list and picked the bet ones for my magazine  I dedicated two days to photo taking in order to get the best shot.

This is a photo of me instructing him how to pose even though the actual photo taking didn't take that long the preparation took longer for the right pose, lighting etc. 

Presentation

I presented all my research to the teachers and class and recived feedback from my peers about how I present I need to speak more clearly and give more detain in how I collected my research.

Reseach/Questionnaire

This is my research I did for my magazine at that time I had the idea to do a pop magazine but as I research into it I realised that a R&B magazine would be better for my target audience.

This is my contents page the image is the main focus however the article names and pages are right next to it in bold and reason I decided to do my contents page like that is because after looking at XXL, Rolling Stone and Vibe I can see that there is a lot of meaning behind the images used on the front cover I know what the conventions are of a contents page. There is bold headings, page numbers and most magazines have unique layouts so my layout isn't going to be standard.

My double page spread is a question and answer I looked at examples and found that the successful magazines all had their double page spreads with a studio taken photo that took up at least a third of the page or a whole page. I understood what the conventions are and decided to have the artist either casually leaning on a wall or sitting on the floor looking away from the camera. I believe those kinds of shots are the most effective.

I have decided a black, red and white colour scheme because in my survey I listed three colour schemes that would appeal to a teenager which is my target audience and this one was the most popular one. I have looked at successful magazines like XXL and Vibe that showed my the conventions there are some similarities but more differences because I have put in mostly my own ideas.

My ideas for my front cover, contents page, double page spread and my shot list for my magazine we need four images at the least

Reader Profile:

Reader Profile:

Aisha is a seventeen year old student currently attending her local college and is studying psychology, 3D design, business and ICT she is considered a typical teenager because of her lifestyle as she is hardworking when it comes to school work but occasionally likes to kick back and relax.  Aisha is very creative in her way of thinking she is first to come up with new ideas to make her work better and to help the people around her. Aisha loves music she listens to mostly R&B/Hip hop, Rap and Bashment she feels that she can relate better to R&B/Hip hop artists because of the way they express certain emotions. Aisha also enjoys listening artists like Jay Sean, Bilal, Lomaticc, Arjun and Culture Shock as they all have similar music styles and the occasional Country artists such as Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts but listens to this genre rarely in her spare time.  She grew up with her parents and sisters listening to 80’s/90 are her favourite artist being Michael Jackson she considers him the greatest artist of all time.

Aisha prefers magazines with the content consisting more of interviews with established or upcoming artists she feels music magazines in this day and age are lacking that. Music is now revolving around an artist’s image and not his/her actual music their image dictates what music they produce. Looking at her personal preference the magazine she would approve of would have to be fun, full of interviews, upcoming events and it just has to be the reader feel good about themselves and be able to relate to the music and artists featured within the magazine. She would be more persuaded to buy a magazine if there was a freebie in it in the past she has bought magazines and been disappointed with the actual content so

In the future, she would like be either a psychology teacher or a product design teacher however; she feels that she is unable to speak in front of people as she is not an open person she never speaks to anyone other than family and friends and sees herself as anti-social compared to her peers.

In order to please people like Aisha my magazine must keep the reader updated on what’s going on in the music industry. The music featured has to be age related to the audience can feel connected to the artist in some way or another.

Magazine name

The name of my magazine will be ‘Rising’ reason being its main focus are upcoming artists who have made themselves known without being signed to a record label straight away. Using the word ‘Rising’ because when you are an artist no matter how much money you make, records you sell, how many performances or appearances you have there is no fixed place for you within the music industry. Everyday a new artist is coming into music and they have the same dreams as everyone else in there so it’s really competitive and those who rise above others within that industry are the artists who society and the media consider established.
Rising is a magazine that does covers on a mixture of both established and upcoming artists. From my research I can see that although people don't mind who is on the cover but they want a interesting stories in it. Readers want the content to be a reflection of what they spent my target audience is 13-19 year olds so they are not the most generous of people when it comes to expensive items magazines in this day and age cost a lot from a teenager perspective.  

Cher Lloyd


This is a double page spread in a magazine it covers an artist the same age as their target audience so they can relate to her on a personal level. Cher Lloyds is a teenager and this magazine is made for them so this is a way a magazine can keep their audience entertained.
This double page spread has all the conventions
Heading stands out and is eye catching.

• There is a main image that links to the article written about the artist.

• There are different types of text; The main text is different compared to the title so is the drop capital.

• The colour scheme is simple but effective because all the colours compliment each other.

• A quote is used at the top and it stands out from the other text on the page.

• It's laid out in columns so it's easier to read.

• Strap line used at the top of the article to introduce what the article is about.

Market Research 

My questionnaire is a self completion questionnaire so the participants choose their answers. I had 8 multiple choice questions so the participant had the choice of a certain amount of answers to choose the were also free to skip the questions if they didn't want to answer them.
Questionnaires have their advantages and disadvantages there are two types of data quantitative and qualitative. Qualitative data deals with descriptions it is data that can be observed but not measured. Quantitative data deals with numbers and data that can be measured.
Advantages: Easy to create, administer, and record.
Disadvantages: Can't get very in-depth information. Limited in functionality.

My Questionnaire

1. What kind of music do you listen to?

Hip hop R&B and Soul Pop Country Rap Jazz Rock Classical Other 2. What price would you be prepared to pay for a music magazine? £2.50-£2.99, £3.00-£3.99 £4.00-£4.99 3. What would you like the content to consist more? Interviews Reviews 4. What kind of colour scheme would appeal to you? Traditional red/black/white Purple/black/white Light blue/black/white 5. What type of artists would appeal to you on the front cover? Established artists Upcoming artists A mixture of both 6. Which magazine do you prefer overall? Vibe XXL Q Magazine NME Magazine Popstar! 7. If there was a free gift included with the magazine, would you be more likely to buy it? Yes No 8. Do you prefer weekly or monthly magazines ? Weekly Monthly I don't mind either

This is a wordle I made after putting in the URL of another blog.

VIBE

Lil Wayne on the cover of Vibe:

This is an R&B music magazine it keeps an individual updated on what’s new with R&B itself and keep up with the artists. Lil Wayne is the artist on the front cover it is a head and shoulder shot, his expression is very aggressive and scary looking that indicated that the content is not for younger readers. The colour scheme consists of red, black, white, yellow, and purple there are only four colours it is consistent and by using those colours and it helps the image of Lil Wayne stand out and it is overlapping the masthead (VIBE).
The pull quote is "I'm more afraid of life than death" from the interview with Lil Wayne that might interest the reader into finding out what he was talking about.
The masthead is blue and bright compared to the other text on the cover it is also a different font from the pull quotes and other headings.
The font used for the pull quote is much bigger than the other fonts and its red and black alongside being slightly slanted so it is more noticeable on the page it also has drop shadow. The only thing that is written in bright red and is big is VIBE and LIL WAYNE which show that they are the two most important things on the page.
On the right hand side of the magazine the text is more yellow and black but on the left hand side it is black and red, the colours are equally balanced. Lil Wayne’s hand gesture can be interpreted in a bad way and considered a gang gun sign that links back to R&B in this day and age revolving around sex and drugs.

XXL Cover

This is Rick Ross on the cover of XXL he is smoking marijuana which indicated that the magazine isn't going to be just about his music but his lifestyle and influences. There were two covers for this issue one of them being Rick Ross alone the other of him with a group. The colour scheme is black and yellow it is consistent and there isn't more than four colours which makes it look attractive.

*This magazine looks aimed at older people due to the fact he is smoking marijuana and the group have aggressive expressions which look intimidating it would not be appropriate for a young person.

*The imagery behind XXL is to show the size of their market and what they are capable of within their organisation  

Contents Page (VIBE)

Contents page of Vibe

*This is a contents page from an issue of Vibe, Vibe contains all the latest music and news the reader of Vibe is updated on what is going on within R&B it also includes exclusive interviews and photos. The image is of two women that are dressed to emphasise their femininity and sexual assets it is a long shot and by women dressing in this way it can be interpreted that R&B music is different compared to other music genres and old R&B. The page itself isn't bright and colourful it is a pale colour therefore making the image the centre of attention it stands out not only is it big and bold but the text is written around it. This contents page is unique because "Contents" isn't written in a whole word it is written as "Co nten ts,," considering the fact that Vibe is one of the most successful their contents pages are very effective in influencing the reader.





XXL contents page

• Instead of labelling the page ‘contents’ they chose to put ‘the A-Side’ in very dark bold writing.
• The contents are very simple and easy to read, they have a lot of detail compared to other magazines like VIBE.
• Different fonts: Bold and normal.
• You can tell from the main image that this is an R&B magazine straight away.
• The XXL logo is also on the contents page and it stands out because of it is bold and red.
• The website is also at the bottom of the page.
• The contents page has professional mid shot image of 50Cent and Souljaboy.

Conventions of a front cover

The conventions of a front cover:
Short memorable magazine title
Large dominant icon
Subject's face can be clearly seen and eye contact
Pull quotes
Language techniques used to anchor articles
Price
Teasing contents

Demi Lovato-Double page spread example

This is part of a double page spread in a magazine:




From looking at other examples of double page spreads I can see that most of them have an picture of the artist and it covers most of a page at least a third! Looking at Demi's picture we can tell this is an article telling us about her lifestyle and her music.
Conventions of a double page spread are drop capitals to show the reader where the article begins, quotes are taken out from the article and enlarged somewhere on the page and usually in a different colour so that it catches the readers eye, the photo is usually a studio photo, laid out in columns and there is usually a sentence that introduces what the article is about.

Looking at a music magazine

The main features of a music magazine are:
Price
Articles
Regular features
Colour schemes
Placement/layout
Distribution
Website




So when doing research for my music magazine these are the features I must include to my magazine because they are the conventions of a successful music magazine. These main features are familiar to the target population and it might attract the reader.

Coursework Research

For my magazine coursework which should be a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. all images and text must be original and produced by candidates.  I plan to do a RnB magazine because that is the music genre I personally prefer above others however I enjoy some artists and songs within the pop genre.

This is a RnB/Hip hop magazine on the cover is Trey Songz he is seen as a male icon from a teenage perspective.
*The colour scheme consists of red, black and white it matches the colour scheme of the issue within the front cover.

*Trey Songz isn't wearing a shirt and from this picture which may be attractive to young girls and guys as well due to his 6 packs.
*The front covers colour scheme is a typical VIBE because the issue with TI on the cover has the same black, white and red scheme but used in a different way.




This a Pop magazine that is focusing on teen stars like Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, Dylan and Cole Sprouse. They are seen as teen idols and role models for other teenagers from the ages of about 12-19 they star in Disney shows.



*This magazine front cover is full of bright colours and packed out with little bubbles of information, lots of pictures all different shapes and sizes.



*The colour scheme is consistent and is pink,green,yellow and blue is is only 4 colours besides the pictures of the stars.



*There is a section for all the stars e.g. Twilight have their own bubble in the top and Miley Cyrus has her own section in the middle.



* It seems aimed at young people in their teenage years because it is colourful and bright which attracts children and young teens.

Media Lesson

Today in my media lesson I found how to deconstruct (pull apart) a magazine front cover I saw a picture of a issue of rave with Fergie on it.
The masthead is blue and bright compared to the other text on the cover it is also a different font from the pull quotes and other headings.

*The front covers colour scheme consists of four colours which makes it consistent within and it also has drop shadows to make the text stand out.

*The text below Fergie is massive compared to the text of the pull quotes.

*Fergie matches the mastheads she is wearing a blue outfit the same colour of the masthead which shows the consistency of the colour scheme within the front cover.

*The target population may be people who like to go to parties because of the text above the masthead.