Final Post

I hope you enjoy reading through my blog and all the work I have completed over the past few months. All the posts on my blog are clearly labelled and can be found in the blog archive or label cloud on the right hand side. I have really enjoyed the AS Media course and have put a lot of hard work and effort into producing my final magazine.
Thanks 

Chloe :) 

Evaluation Question Seven

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

mise en scene and camera work:

Looking back at the prelim cover that i produced i can see a massive improvement, in terms of photos and layouts. It was noticeable the improvement of my photos as they are clearer and the poses are better, this was due to the improvement of my organisational skill of preparing the lighting and looking at other covers for poses. I didn't do this for my preliminary task. For the background i wanted it to be plain, this way the main focus would only be the model i have used. 

The knowledge of my camera work has improved alot as i got to experiment with lighting and different modes in the camera. This will also help me take photos on my camera at home and a skill i can take on later. 

Clothing:

The first time i took photos i took my time into looking into the clothes that my audience would be interested in. In my preliminary task the shirt my model wore was striking, yet took the focus away from the actual artist its self. So when it came to taking the actual photos i knew the model had to wear a plainer outfit, but yet one that was still in the chosen genre. The photographs turned out better as the focus was more on the artist and not the model. I also chose to do this as there is a fashion section in my magazine that meant that would be a focus more on the artists extravagant leading edge fashion. 

Text arrangement and editing: 

I feel that the arrangement of my final product has improved greatly since my prelim as i have took more time into creating the final product and learnt more skills. Also i had conducted more research of magazines already out there and knew what worked more. When it came to doing my preliminary task i only used one font on the front of my magazine, this makes it look uninteresting. However the use of colours does help catch your eye. On the other hand on my final product it uses two fonts that makes the cover striking and would stand out on a shelf. By looking at Q magazine i got a idea of what already worked and what i could change. 

The title of the magazine changed as my feedback indicated that the title wouldnt work for my chosen genre, therefore i chose octave which was unique and linked to music. The prelim and final product used the same font, however they are of different color, this is because Red is more striking and eye catching, i know this as Q magazine use a red box. 

When it came to creating tag lines for my magazine, i reevaluated the prelim magazine. The prelim magazine didnt give much information about what was inside, this meant people wouldnt be interested as they dont know what is inside. Also by using different fonts this made the cover more interesting for the reader. The use of three colours on my magazine cover made it more striking and interesting too,whereas on my cover i only used two. 

Looking back at my prelim magazine contents i can see alot of improvements. my prelim contents is boring and plain. where as my final product is more exciting as it uses different colours and a layout that i know already works. The colours on my prelim contents match the colours on the front, this is also used on my final magazine too. The main difference between the two is the use of double page for my prelim, i chose not to do this on my final product as the text would look too spaced out and therefore creating a boring contents page. The final magazine contents looks full of pages and things to read which will keep the reader interested.  

Evaluation Question six

Evaluation Question Five

For my Evaluation Question 5 i made a website containing the questions answer

http://chloehorneasmedia.wix.com/question5

Evaluation Question four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Question Three

Evaluation Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups? from chloehorneasmedia

Evaluation Question One

1. In what way does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product...

Draft evaluation-Q7

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

mise en scene and camera work:

Looking back at the prelim cover that i produced i can see a massive improvement, in terms of photos and layouts. It was noticeable the improvement of my photos as they are clearer and the poses are better, this was due to the improvement of my organisational skill of preparing the lighting and looking at other covers for poses. I didn't do this for my preliminary task. For the background i wanted it to be plain, this way the main focus would only be the model i have used. 

The knowledge of my camera work has improved alot as i got to experiment with lighting and different modes in the camera. This will also help me take photos on my camera at home and a skill i can take on later. 

Clothing:

The first time i took photos i took my time into looking into the clothes that my audience would be interested in. In my preliminary task the shirt my model wore was striking, yet took the focus away from the actual artist its self. So when it came to taking the actual photos i knew the model had to wear a plainer outfit, but yet one that was still in the chosen genre. The photographs turned out better as the focus was more on the artist and not the model. I also chose to do this as there is a fashion section in my magazine that meant that would be a focus more on the artists extravagant leading edge fashion. 

Text arrangement and editing: 

I feel that the arrangement of my final product has improved greatly since my prelim as i have took more time into creating the final product and learnt more skills. Also i had conducted more research of magazines already out there and knew what worked more. When it came to doing my preliminary task i only used one font on the front of my magazine, this makes it look uninteresting. However the use of colours does help catch your eye. On the other hand on my final product it uses two fonts that makes the cover striking and would stand out on a shelf. By looking at Q magazine i got a idea of what already worked and what i could change. 

The title of the magazine changed as my feedback indicated that the title wouldnt work for my chosen genre, therefore i chose octave which was unique and linked to music. The prelim and final product used the same font, however they are of different color, this is because Red is more striking and eye catching, i know this as Q magazine use a red box. 

When it came to creating tag lines for my magazine, i reevaluated the prelim magazine. The prelim magazine didnt give much information about what was inside, this meant people wouldnt be interested as they dont know what is inside. Also by using different fonts this made the cover more interesting for the reader. The use of three colours on my magazine cover made it more striking and interesting too,whereas on my cover i only used two. 

Looking back at my prelim magazine contents i can see alot of improvements. my prelim contents is boring and plain. where as my final product is more exciting as it uses different colours and a layout that i know already works. The colours on my prelim contents match the colours on the front, this is also used on my final magazine too. The main difference between the two is the use of double page for my prelim, i chose not to do this on my final product as the text would look too spaced out and therefore creating a boring contents page. The final magazine contents looks full of pages and things to read which will keep the reader interested.  

Draft Evaluation- Q6

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

Cameras: When doing my photo-shoot i used a Nikon D3000 camera. When i first used it in my first photo-shoot i found that it was a complex camera to use but offered me a wide range of modes to get high quality photos. When using the camera and taking the photos i noted the positioning and background of the model. I looked at previous photos used in magazines to get a feel for what worked and what didn't. One thing that worked was when the model was facing forward, this engaged the reader with the artist making her more inviting. I also used some artificial lighting and a white back drop to enhance the look of my photos further. The lighting made the images a higher quality and the white back drop helped focus on the model more. 

                                        

Macs and Windows: The college provided iMacs throughout the course, for both practical and coursework lessons and tasks. At home i used my Toshiba laptop with windows. Comparing the two i prefer the toshiba laptop as it is less complex but still uses all the programmes as an iMac. A problem that i encountered when doing my work is when i had finished on the iMac i couldn't then go and do the same piece of work on the computers in the library as it saved on the actual computer itself instead of my area. This made it hard when i came to some tasks. With these pieces of equipment i have been able to complete my media work as it is mostly online and requires to use certain programmes such as Blogger, Microsoft word and photoshop. 

Photoshop: I used photoshop on both the college macs
and my toshiba laptop to create the majority of my magazine practical coursework. When i first came i wasn't certain on how to use the programme but with tasks set such as the prelim magazine cover and contents it helped me expand on the skills that i needed to learn which led me to creating the draft and proper magazine. I have learnt how to edit and manipulate photos in a certain way like using the lasso tool to cut images out. When it came to editing the model for blemishes this is where i needed to use another programme such as Befunky.com and Ribbet.com as i felt more confidence in using these programmes to making the model more photogenic. All of the magazine pages were created using Photoshop CS6, using multiple layers to add each element of the pages. I feel that after creating my magazine i have some confidence when coming to use photoshop and a greater understanding of the programme.

 Online sites and programmes: i used a series of different online programmes to aid me into creating my magazine practical and coursework. I chose to use blogger to create my coursework blog, this enabled me to post my research. This was good as it kept everything in the same place and was easy to track my progress. I also used Befunky.com and ribbed.com to edit photos of my model. I felt i needed to use these instead of photoshop as i felt more confident doing so. To add some detail and interest in my posts i used animo to to present my pitch for y magazine. When creating word documents of my research i then uploaded the document onto scribed.com and use the embed code on my blog.

Draft evaluation- Q5

How did you attract/address you target audience?

Cover:

Masthead: The first thing people look for on a magazine is the mast head, as my genre was indie i wanted to create something unique and related to music as this was the main aspect of my magazine. When i constructed my draft cover i used the name "awkward" as it  fitted in with teenage life of choosing a group to be with. However after feedback i chose to use another name. After research i came across the musical term Octave, which i loved and it was related to music. So i used this instead. i feel the name attracts my genre as it is unique and no other magazine uses this. When designing the mast head i wanted to use a similar colour scheme to Q magazine however i didn't want to use the square they had used as i felt this wouldn't be unique enough for my genre. So i took the idea of the red as i felt this was eye catching to the audience. Seeing it put into practice by Q magazine i knew it would work.

Main image/ model: The model i used on my front cover are of similar style to the genre i have selected to create my magazine for. My target audience would be interested straight away in regards to her style  and type of genre of music. This would add a unique selling point as 'Leading Edge' genre would be interested in as they can read fashion trends for their style. When i came to taking the photos i printed out a series of poses used on Q magazines front cover and asked my model to pose in this way. I wanted to use a similar pose to what Robbies edition used. The model is seen facing forward making eye contact with the reader. This invites the audience in to read the magazine and is also aesthetically pleasing. I used a plain background behind the model as this would make her the main focus on the cover and not the background. 

  

Cover Lines: I kept the idea of using the Q magazine colour scheme for my cover lines. I did this as i knew it already worked and the colours selected would catch peoples eyes when walking past the magazine stand. I looked at magazines already out there to get an idea where to place them and what to actually write. I chose to use the Exclusive cover line and this would intrigue the reader, as it is exclusive to Octave magazine. I chose to feature a cover line of my band/ artist 'Artificial Paradise' 'Naomi Edmonds' in red and white. The red contrasts to the black jacket, as does the white. Therefore bringing the readers eyes to this focal point. By putting the band name in a bigger font then the rest of the cover lines this will drew the reader in as the genre is indie and they want to look for new artists and bands all the time. 

Contents: For my contents page i chose to use the same model as i want the band to be the main focus of the magazine as they are new and upcoming. Again i chose to use Q magazines layout but change it by using different fonts for the main page title and then information about whats on the page underneath. This helps establish to the reader what they exactly are going to read. On the feature of my band i chose to use a white box that will stand out the writing therefore bringing the readers eyes to this point. 

DPS: Through the introductory paragraph on my double page spread i gave my readers a quick insight on what to expect when reading the article. I included a foot header at the top of the page in two different fonts which i used throughout the magazine, this makes it look interesting and adds some depth to the page. This idea came from Q magazine again. Other elements that i included from this magazine were the faded letter behind the text. This looks effective. When coming to put a photo on my double page i wanted to convey the artist as fun and loving life. I feel i achieved this through the picture i have used. 

Draft Evaluation- Q4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My primary target audience would be both male and female 16years to 25 years old with an active interest in indie/ alternative music, fashion & British Culture. These were known as 'Leading Edge' taken from the research i conducted using the website 'UKTribes' as they want to be seen as unique and different to the rest. The listen to artists such as The Smiths, Vance Joy & Arctic Monkeys etc. They also love going to live gigs to spot the newest talent that they can share in their select group of other 'Leading Edge' people. I chose this age range as these are the people that love to go spot new artists and share them with their friends. Also the contents i have selected inside would be more suited to my chosen audience. The 'Leading Edge' Tribe love to shop in charity and vintage shops to get a look that is different yet sophisticated to their friends and peers around them. As they shop in charity shops and vintage shops this gigs them more money to buy the physical hard copies of the artists CD and to attend more live gigs as possible, so including this in my magazine was vital.

I reflected my target audience through the design I had chosen to use for my magazine. I used a similar colour scheme as Q magazine as i knew this had already worked. So recreating this meant my magazine could possible work with a professional feel to it. However, my magazine will not ignore the other age ranges as i know numerous people outside the age range that buy magazines such as Q magazine and NME

Other reading habits include Loud and Quiet, Q magazine, Worn, Document and V Magazine.

Draft evaluation-Q3

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

 The type of media institution that would be a likely candidate to publish Octave Magazine would be a company such as IPC media. The institution was founded in the UK in 1958 and has a large portfolio, selling over 350 million copies each year of magazines such as NME & Marie Claire. I feel that my magazine 'Octave' an indie music magazine including sub divisions of fashion and British Culture would fit great into this publishing company as it is yet to create a magazine like mine. As IPC is based in London this would be great for my magazine to be produced there as London is forefront of British music. In some aspects i can see my magazine fitting into the Southbank as it is an upmarket women's division of the brand including luxury fashion magazine Marie Claire. So this could help set my target market to women. However i do think they could work in hand with the division of IPC inspire's lifestyle brand as they already produce music magazine NME and could be a great source of inspiration for the magazine i am going to produce.

 When looking at NME  I decided that my magazine would be a similar price. My magazine would be displayed on shop shelves  and apeal to both male and female audience ranging from 16years to 25 years old. As there is is interest in NME  this means there would be possible interest for ym magazine meaning if the company were to invest into the magazine and start publishing they wouldn't be loosing profit on the magazine.

Draft Evaluation plan- Q2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Comparing Naomi Edmonds (Left) to Hannah Reid from London Grammar

 My cover artist is shown through a close up on my magazine cover, Her hands are over her ears as this links into music and hearing. This pose was taken from an edition of Q magazine with Robbie on the front. The pose shows a silly , friendly side to my artist. These two characteristics are what i wanted to achieve from my artist. The indie genre are very conscious of their fashion sense, so by taking an outfit already worn by an indie artist this would be safe. I looked at pictures of Hannah Reid on Google and found the picture (Right) and liked the style of the leather jacket. I found out that my model/ artist had a similar one so i styled her in that. By using Hannah Reid as inspiration this meant i aimed the magazine at a younger teenage audience (16-20 year old) and could be both male and female as she is in a band with two males. 

 The artist I am comparing my artist too is also female, and in a band with two other males as opposed to being an individual artist. Both artists are lead singers in their bands. Even though I have used a female this does not mean i am aiming my magazine at just a female audience. By using a female artist this could also use the technique of a male gaze, and also as the artist is in a band with two other males creates an audience of both female and male. 

 Through my research of the artist, i have styled my costume around what they would wear. I have then combined this with my chosen photographer, Terry Richardson, and felt this has worked well into creating a professional shot. I selected a range of close ups, mid shots and long shots on a plain background similar to Terry Richardson. This helps the reader focus just on the artist and not the background of the magazine cover. 

Draft Evaluation- Q1

1. In what way does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?(I.e music magazines)

 For the title of my magazine I wanted to create something unique and linked to music, after doing research I came across Octave which is a musical term meaning a series of eight notes occupying the interval between two notes, one having twice of half the frequency of vibration of the other. I believe this matches the genre of my magazine because of the uniqueness, which is the main idea of being Indie.
 Conducting an audience research on UK tribes it gave me ideas for the clothing in which i needed my model to wear on the shoot and cover of the magazine. As the genre was indie and this is quite simplistic I felt that i didn't need to use any props, however i chose for my model to wear a leather jacket, this is in my genres everyday clothes.
 As part of my research i looked at different photographers that I could mimic their work. After the research I looked at which one would be more suited, Terry Richardson's work used an over exposure and silly, fun poses. I wanted to convey this idea in my final product, Terry used mid shots of the people he is using, most magazines use the mid shot to get a clear image of the artist. I took this into consideration and did the same as I felt this would be best.
 After looking at magazines that i liked, i came across Q magazine that used quite a simple layout and colour scheme. The red square with the 'Q' was eye catching, however i didn't want to copy another magazine out there, so instead i chose to use the whole of my title name in red. I feel like this was the best option as its simple but the red would catch peoples eyes on the shelf. The font i used for the title was penelope anne. This was different to the research i had conducted, this was because i found a internet site called dafont and realised you could download fonts from there.

 My model used a similar pose to Robbie's edition on 'Q' magazine. The pose was silly and unique and this is what i wanted my magazine to be like. I chose to use the bar at the top of my magazine as many magazines done do this. Other elements i used from this addition are the red, grey and black colour scheme. However, i chose to do only one side of the contents of the edition as this is where most people would look first when the magazine is picked up. 

My double page spread also uses the same context as Q magazine with the letter behind the text. I chose to use this as i already knew it worked this would create a successful magazine. 

My final Magazine

Possible Pictures for my Cover

I feel that my second photo shoot went more successful, this is because i have got feedback on my other photographs and know what i needed to improve on. This made it easier for me to produce something that people liked. 

 I have chose this as potential photos for my front cover as they are exposing the artist to the camera, this was due to my feedback asking for the artist to be facing forward. After putting the feedback into action i now prefer a forward pose, because the artist is new so you will want to show the audience of the magazine what they look like.