Georgia Everitt

Year 12

Media

Before starting my coursework I carried out a preliminary task, producing a magazine front cover and contents page. Although it seems an easy assignment to complete there is a lot of planning to be done before anything can even begin to come together. For example, you don’t just take any picture; you have to think about the target audience and what image would be most appropriate. Once that has been decided I then had to choose the right camera angle, close up, mid shot or long shot?

Personally I feel that whilst carrying out this task my greatest achievement was learning the different skills and techniques you can achieve whilst using the program ‘Photo Shop.’ Although at first I found it tricky to understand and get my head around all the different icons, I believe that with a bit of help I managed to learn a great deal and I also feel that I picked up the skills rather quickly. In doing this I can then use this program in later life and for future coursework which is something that will help a great deal.

As I was aiming my magazine at secondary school children, I photographed my model in a school environment with school uniform on. By using these costumes and the setting it has created the code of school, and I hope that it appeals to my target audience.

In order to grab the ‘gap in the market’ I wanted to appeal to the widest target audience as possible as well as using a genre not as popular in the music industry as others. In order to achieve this I carried out a survey asking people of my age, in which I decided to aim my magazine at, which genre they feel would be best to dominate; which was decided at ‘indie pop.’ Once this was decided I then researched into current magazines of this genre such as ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Rolling Stones’ to see what codes and conventions of the genre are present and what can be achieved. To capture ‘indie pop’ in action I went along to a gig at the Standard in Walthamstow, in which my friends band was playing in. They wore checkered shirts and converses-typical codes of the indie genre. I feel that these pictures will make the viewer feel part of the action as I were.To edit my images and put my magazine together I again used the program photoshop. This time finding it easier due to my previous experience.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?When designing my magazine I decided to follow the traditional codes usually found in a

music magazine based on the genre of ‘indie pop.’ However, like a real magazine, I believe that it is still important that the my products challenge these forms and conventions to make

my magazine unique and popular.

Codes:A code is something that is incorporated into a product to convey certain attitudes and view points across to the specific target audience, and this is what I had to achieve in order to get people to buy. With the pictures I took I used different camera angles, costumes and settings to create a look that would relate to my audience. I chose my friends band called ‘Kickstarter’ to feature on the front of my magazine carrying instruments and wearing checkered shirts, and converse’s which is code for the indie genre and should also appeal to my audience.

Conventions:Whilst carrying out my research I looked at the different conventions that are present in ‘Indie Pop’ music magazines of today. I studied the different parts to a magazine and cooropated these intom mine. For example I studied the use of camera angles, fonts, graphology, headings etc. I also used the smaller details such as page numbers, pricing and bar codes. I personally feel that one of the most important convention of a music magazine is its title. Firstly I looked at what other magazine were called and noticed a trend. A lot of them were named after some sort of band or noise and therefore I did the same with mine. Once this was chosen I then investigated into what font I thought was suitable for my name.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As my magazine is a music magazine I obviously had to target the group of people that are into music. I then narrowed this social group

down into ‘indie pop’ lovers. While researching current music magazines with the genre ‘indie’ it came to me that most of the front

covers consisted of male artists or male dominant bands, and therefore I feel that mine is more of a boys magazine then a girls, not to say that girls wouldn’t be interested in it. I represented my

particular chosen social group as quite laid back. Their costume was checkered shirts, jeans and converses, so they are seen as quite

chilled, not smart, but not scruffy either.

What kind of institution might distribute your media products?

Where to sell your magazine is a key part to producing a popular music magazine. As mine is not rude or offensive and

could appeal to a whole variety of age groups I can not see why any particular institute would go against displaying it in

their shop/store. Below are some popular institutions that could distribute my media product.

Who would be your audience for you media project?

When producing any sort of media product, especially a music magazine it is crucially important to know who would be your main target audience. Obviously it doesn’t stop people outside your chosen audience to buy and read it, but it helps construct a more realistic magazine when aiming it a a certain social group of people.

When it came to choosing my target audience I investigated thoroughly in what people of today want. In order to do this I constructed a servey consisting of questions related to music and magazines. I asked questions such as how often do you buy magazines? What’s your preferred genre of music and why? Etc. I then asked 20 people (10 boys and 10 girls) at random and found the data that I collected very useful and was then able to pick my genre and target audience from this.

Therefore i decided to aim my magazine at teenagers/young adults, probably around the ages of 15-20, who are interested in indie pop music.

How did you attract / address your audience?

The first thing you look at on a magazine is who’s on the front page. I took this into consideration and felt that if I produced a magazine with an old person on the front, this wouldn’t attract or address my audience; therefore I went along to a gig that my friends band Kickstarter was playing in and took photos. Kickstarter is an indie pop group that consists of four boys of the age 18. I felt that this would be an excellent choice to use as they are around the same age of my target audience and should aspire them to take part in the music industry.

I also tried to attract my audience by advertising what would be inside the magazine, making them want to buy it and read more. I included subheadings of things that I would want to read about, such as new artists and upcoming gigs and events.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this

product?

Through the process of constructing this project I feel that I have learnt a great deal about technologies. Firstly I learnt that by using different angles on a camera, such as high angle or low angle shots you can create a whole different perspective of the image you are capturing.

Secondly, and what I feel is my greatest achievement, is that of Photoshop. I feel that I can work well with the software and have learnt a great deal about it. This was my first time in using the programme and I feel that I have picked up the skills and techniques needed for it quickly and this has shown through my project.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

from it to the full project?

From starting my preliminary task to completing my main coursework I feel that I have learnt a great deal. I realised that to create a realistic looking magazine a lot more thought and detail has to go into it then what I originally planned. I also realised that I needed to do a lot more research than that I had in my preliminary to create an authentic looking music magazine. I put a lot more effort, detail and investigation into my full project then that of my preliminary and believe that it has paid of in the end.

Overall I am pleased with my final outcomes and believe that it wouldn’t look that out of place next to a real magazine.

Georgia Everitt