Hannah Sweeney

Media Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Codes & Conventions• I have ensured I have the basic codes and conventions of a magazine on my magazine. I learnt the codes and

conventions by analysing different music magazines, for example: http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/i-analysed-blender-magazine-cover-as.html In general I have subscribed to the codes and conventions as it is a pop magazine and my research this genre of magazine do not tend to challenge the conventions by being a bit edgy unlike other magazine such as Kerrang! This may be because the target audience of these two magazines would be different

Front cover On the bottom left hand corner I have put the barcode with the web address just above it, this is following the conventions as the these are usually fairly small and away from the main features of the front cover. The dateline is another convention I have also followed. I would say I have stayed with a very conventional layout for a magazine, with the main cover star dominating the page and the cover lines surrounding her, this is an example of one of the conventional covers I analysed to help me create my cover. http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/lily-allen-cover-analyasis.htmlI decided to do this as when I researched Pop magazines I noticed most also stayed with the this set layout.My main image follows the conventions as it uses direct eye contact and covers some of the masthead like the cover I analysed above.

Contents I was influenced mostly by Billboard when making my contents page, this is a typical Billboard contents page: Billboard often have the

cover star also featuring on the contents page, I had originally planned to also do this. However when I was creating the page I realised including a picture of the cover star would mean there was little room for articles. I knew the main point of contents pages is to inform the reader of articles in the magazine so I decided the articles were more important.The UK top 20 was also influenced by Billboardhttp://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/uk-top-40-idea.htmlIt is unusual to have the UK top 20 on the contents page of a magazine but I wanted to have something that is unique to my magazine as if it was too much like other pop magazines people would not buy it.

I stayed with the house style of the magazine by using the colour red, black and gold as after doing some research it was clear that magazines try to create a strong house style so this suggests it was important for me to ensure I also create a consistent and recognisable house style.

Double page spreadI have subscribed to the conventions of a double page spread by having one page mainly photos and the having the interview on the other page. I was influenced by two different things for my double page spread: http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/double-page-spread-idea-2.htmlI continued the house style onto the double page spread which also follows the codes and conventions.

The interview is very casual and chatty as this is what I feel would best suit my target audience. I looked at various interviews in pop magazines to help me when writing mine, such as “We Heart Pop” and “Billboard”, so there was not one specific influence for this magazine Also the B big at the start is a convention of magazine interviews, this is why I decided to include it in mine.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

RepresentationAs my cover star is a women, my magazine is focused on gender representation. I have represented women, especially younger women as my cover star is young, as feisty and independent through pictures and my interview.

My cover star image in particular represents women as being feisty. This picture has a lot of attitude to it as she is looking directly at the camera with a slight smirk on her face which suggests she is confident and is able to hold her own. The hands on the hips also adds to this representation as this body language is usually linked to someone with attitude. Also the interview is based on Selena explaining how she doesn’t follow the crowd and wont be told by her record label how to behave. This shows that she is an independent women and it suggests is able to express her point of view, when she doesn’t agree with some thing.

Beat represents women un-stereotypically for a pop magazine. Pop magazines usually have pictures of women smiling, they represent women in a very stereotypical girly way. I decided to go against this convention as I think the views of women are changing and more women are becoming strong and independent and I wanted to convey this through my magazine. As my target audience are slightly older I believe they will understand and appreciate this.

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

Bauer Media http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/

One of the first things I did when starting my project was research two major distributers: http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/music-magazine-distribution-analysis.htmlI realised my distributer has to be a major distributer as it will be a mass market magazine as pop music has a mass target audience.

I decided to choose Bauer because not only do they distribute magazines they also broadcast radio stations. The radio stations they broadcast would appeal to a similar demographic I am appealing to, for example “Kiss and “Smash hits” play mainly pop songs.

Although the music magazine they distribute may not be to similar to mine as “Kerrang!” and “Q” appeal to a different target audience to me, they do have magazines such as “Heat”, “Closer” and “More”. These magazines would be the type of magazines my target audience would buy.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Target audienceThe target audience for my magazine is both genders between the age of 16-25. My readers will listen to pop music and will enjoy most of the songs that are currently in the UK top 40. This link gives a detailed target audience profile: http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ideas-of-target-audience-profile-for-my.html

I have tried to appeal to this target audience by following the answers given from my target audience questionnaire, as these were suggestions given by the typical people who would buy my magazine.

After doing some research I noticed in the UK there is not a pop magazine aimed at an older age group, this told me there was a gap in the market for this genre. However Billboard magazine is an American Magazine which you can subscribe to, my target audience is similar to Billboard so therefor my readers may subscribe to Billboard magazine.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I created a questionnaire which helped me know how to attract my target audience: http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/target-audience-questionnaire.html

ColourI choose red, black and Gold to be main colour scheme because my target audience said they like sophisticated colours, which are not too bright. As my magazine is aimed at both genders these colours are neutral and do not favour one gender. Also gold has connotations of being of good quality and award winning which would suggest my magazine is an award winning magazine.

ArticlesI split my articles up into 4 sections so I could have a range of articles. One section is “every month”, this features articles that appear on the magazine monthly. This will attract my target audience as it is something they know will always be there. For example one of the articles is “events this month”, the reader will know my magazine will always inform them of all the pop related events they could attend this month, this will persuade them to buy magazine to find the information out. My questionnaire tells me that my target audience are mostly interested in interviews, especially those with popular artists. I therefore created a section just for interviews as I know this is the type of article that my readers want.

PicturesI have a range of pictures in my magazine to try and appeal to a mass market. My cover image has a lot of attitude, however the pictures of my cover star on the double page spread show different sides of her personality. In some of the pictures she looks happy and fun to be around, like the one on the right. Showing all the different sides of her personality means I can appeal to a large target audience.Also the picture of the male singing on my contents page will appear to my female audience as he is a young good looking singer who my female readers will want to read about.

Language/toneMy magazine on a whole is informal and chatty, my interview especially shows this. I wanted to use language that is informal to create a fun and laid back tone to my magazine. One of the questions on my questionnaire was “What words come to mind when you think of Pop?” and one of the frequent answers was fun, these therefore suggests my target audience want a magazine that is easy to read and entertaining. I feel that my laid back and chatty tone makes my magazine fun.

MastheadMy magazine is called ‘Beat’ which is short and catchy. pop songs have a strong beat so it links to the pop genre. The beat is an important part of a song and can completely change how a song sounds. My target audience will are pop fans so they will appreciate the link to pop.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing the product?

Technology The main piece of software I used to create my magazine was Paint.Net, I also used Publisher to create the interview page.

Paint.NetAdvantages: The main advantage of paint.net is the wide range of effects you can use to edit your photos. This is a screen shot of my using Paint.Net to edit my front cover image.

Another advantage is the fact you can remove the background of a picture, this was extremely useful for me. Also it is fairly easy to understand.Disadvantages: The main issue with this programme is that it is time consuming! An issue I had trouble with is that it uses a lot of memory, which can often make computers freeze.

Publisher

Advantages: This programme is really easy to use, pretty much anyone could work with it.It is also easier to edit text then paint.net, on a whole it works well with text. You can also preview your work which enables you to see how it will look.Disadvantages: doesn’t work that well with pictures as there aren't many editing techniques

7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking at the two together I can see I have learnt a lot and have developed my skills. I think from my preliminary task I realised I need a stronger masthead that differs from my cover lines. As you can see the mast head on my preliminary task is the same font as my other cover lines which means it isn't as strong and blends in. However my masthead on my final piece is a lot stronger and unique, it creates a brand identity.Also the editing and taking of pictures seems to be something I have learnt. My picture on my final piece is a lot stronger. I think the body language is a main part of this but also the editing as darkening the photo means she is the main focus of the page.

There are some difference between the preliminary task and the final piece. My final piece is a lot more structured and is more realistic then my preliminary task, I learnt that a contents page need a clear structure that can be used for every issue. Also I made more use of colour in my final piece as I realised that my preliminary task was too basic. I also learnt the need for consistency, so I therefor used the masthead on the contents page and kept the colour scheme similar. However one thing I did keep the same was the use of headings as I believe this is something a lot of magazines do as it helps structure the page.

How successful do you feel your end product is in fulfilling the task? How well does it fit the brief?

Over all I think My magazine fits the task well as I have created a new magazine that fits the codes and conventions of a magazine. I think it has a strong house style that could hold its own against other pop magazines. I researched into all the areas I needed to create my magazine. I think the research I did was extremely helpful when creating my magazine and without detailed research I would have found it hard to create the magazine, the double page spread especially. One of the things that helped me the most was target audience research and Billboard magazine as they gave me inspiration.I think the strongest part of my project is my double page spread, as I think it is a strong idea and I like how the photos show different sides of her personality. For me the weakest part of my

project is my contents page as compared to the other pages I think it is the least authentic looking when compared to a real magazine. If I were to re do the project I would maybe spend more time selecting fonts for my contents page as I feel that’s what let me down.

On a whole my time management was good and I think my blog will reflect that. I have defiantly developed my skills which you can tell from my preliminary task.