Evaluation - (7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

During my preliminary task I was able to learn techniques and skills which helped me to produce my main media product which included; planning, organisation of time, photography skills, magazine conventions, post-production methods and a deeper consideration of target audience.

One of my main issues with completing work is planning and time keeping; by using these in my preliminary task I was able to set myself up for the main piece by allowing myself enough time for ideas (setting personal deadlines etc...) so that my work was to the best of my ability.

When using the DSLR cameras for my preliminary magazine front cover I found that I could experiment with ideas and methods of photography; thus setting myself up for the main task where I used the skills I had learnt and been taught previously - lighting in particular was an interest to me as well as costume and background, so I was able to experiment with the mise-en-scene.

Previously we had explored and researched current music magazines which allowed us to understand the different formats and target audiences - I think this was probably the most important factor of research; given that if we had never seen a music magazine we most likely would have ended up with something that was not in any way acceptable.

Amongst the many elements I discovered during my preliminary task the second most important was definitely post-production; here we learnt about Photoshop, Quark Express and publishing skills in general. From looking at other magazines for inspiration (and our own ideas) we considered target audiences in a much more detailed way; we didn't just go: "17, indie" it was more complicated than that (as I hope my target audience research shows).

Looking back on my work, I believe that the biggest factor I learnt about was probably photography skills; which I imagine is because it is something I have a further interest in as well as being a practical learning skill - I hope these skills shall help me with other projects, whether they be for photography or film.

Evaluation - (6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When I started creating my magazine I used three key technologies which I had used and learnt about from previous tasks (such as constructing a front page and contents for a magazine in groups or pairs). In order to create these we used Photoshop to edit the photos and our front page and Quark Express to develop our contents page; so naturally when it came to constructing our own magazine we had a relatively decent understanding of the technologies. We also used a DSLR camera for our photographs, which required learning about different settings and other such information.

Of course went it came to our own magazine despite the help we had had we were still some what left to fend for ourselves; we had to use our initiative and bite the bullet. Once I had set up the layout for my magazine I set out to take photos; this involved using a studio, taking on the wilderness and experimenting in an incredibly cluttered bedroom. By using a studio I was able to learn in more detail about lighting and shadows - whilst taking pictures of two musicians I also experimented by taking a bedside lamp and wrapping it in a orange plastic bag to ejected a warm glow onto my models (although these pictures where never used because they did not fit into the colour scheme). This new technology of which I have discovered has enabled me to complete a reasonable looking magazine and achieve my aims - to be honest, anyone could produce some decent material with the technology we have used and I hope my magazine shows this.


Blogspot was something I was previously familiar with before starting this course so the process of blogging was relatively simple although I still learnt tiny little things about it (such as displaying all your blogs on one page). However, Slideshare was a website of which I had no idea about; so I certainly learnt something there - although luckily it wasn't rocket science. I also used Youtube at several points in my blog (embedding links and such) I even uploaded my own video which I had edited on my laptop - these being elements I had learnt from past adventures and projects I had created in Film Studies. I believe that all these technologies have allowed me to display my Media work in a new, accessible and interesting way; as appose to producing endless essays.

Evaluation - (4) Who would be the audience for your media product? (5) How did you attract/address your audience?

The demographic for my magazine was always going to be young male and females (prodimantely male) around the age of 18-26, who enjoy themselves in an alternative style. When it came to physchographics I imagined they would consist of succeeders, radicals, underachievers, materialists and C1 down to E on the old jicnar scale.

In order to attract my target audience I needed to grab their attention with the front cover, of course it had to be specific to their tastes otherwise they would ignore it. To do this I used an entirley minimilistic layout with only what was neccessary to tell the audience - they needed to understand it was a serious magazine, yet enjoyable at the same time. So I used only two coverlines; "The sound of a decade: An investigation into modern music" this showed the audience the magazine's main intention and given the formality of the title they now know it shall be a serious look into music (as continued in the double page spread), but then you get; "Emily Heseltine: 'I tried my hand at music and failed miserably'" the audience can now see the media product also has a sense of humour and will not be all deadly straight faced (we also see this within the Contents). The picture of my cover star was also simplistic and not sexualised, instead it was taken in an artistic fashion - so the audience can see the attention to detail, they know it's not going to be full of paparazzi snaps and glamourous photoshoots (the fact the magazine is free also reinforces this idea of up young artists who don't care about money, just their trade).

To see if my magazine suited my intended audience I posted it onto facebook and wrote the following:

Media C/W: the front page for my magazine.

The target audience is that of an alternative nature who take music seriously but enjoy it at the same time.

If you could please answer the questions I'd be most grateful :)

1. Your initial thoughts and reactions.
2. What kind of audience would this appeal to?
3. Do you think it would suit the intended target audience?
4. Feedback; how could it be improved?

Here are some quotes of my feedback:

"Yes, it seems serious, like its just able to be, and not care about what the mainstream is doing. Something like that."

"Yes, I think it does. It wouldn't appeal to all but I think that's good as you've really narrowed down your market."

"The slightly bizarre intellectual breed who enjoys moving the furniture around in the middle of the night.The type that enjoys to pick up free music magazines knowing full well they will disagree with every review."

From the feedback I have recieve I believe my audience took the preferred reading of the text, because of this I believe my product has been a marvellous success. I believe this must have something to do with my mode of adress, the formality (e.g. "The sound of a decade: An investigation into modern music") and also informality (the use of quotes in the contents page, but this could also be seen as formal so there is a potential oppositinal reading here). There was only one example of aberrant reading; "maybe if there was more subtitles about music it'd be a bit clearer" but the majority understood the text and saw the true target audience. The main positive feedback I recieved was of the minimilistic layout and photograph; " The minimalistic layout and the photograph are intruiging. The use of only two main articles makes you want to read through and understand more about the magazine."

Evaluation - (3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation - (3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

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Evaluation - (2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Given the current stereotypical view of youth today (violent, sex mad and anti-social hoodies or middle class, clarinet playing and ‘Skins’ watching teens) I wanted to show the positive working class side of youth; people who are actually trying to make something of themselves – people who find relief through music.

Male or female?

I think my magazine would predominately appeal to males considering it includes quite a few masculine bands – although I photographed a strong female cover star in order to retain balance, so my magazine could appeal to a wider demographic.

Challenging of dominant ideologies

I believe my media product challenge ideologies by showing young people as hopeful and talented individuals with a future as appose to the Daily Mails ideal of “yobs” destroying Britain. This can be shown in the pictures which I took; for example a young man in a hoodie outside playing the trumpet – it’s an alternative representation. The individuals are darkly dressed yet they are surrounded by light which connotes enlightenment and hope.

My cover star is a young female artist who is not being sexualised – and for a magazine which is mainly for males this is breaking the status quo. I was trying to give a positive representation of women by showing a strong, alternative and intelligent lady on my front cover – she is in black and completely neutral, she is a better role model than mainstream music offers us nowadays.

Evaluation - (1) In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation - (1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

View more presentations from Alex Redmond.