CLOSED BLOG NOTIFICATION

CENTER NAME: NORBURY MANOR BEC
CENTER NUMBER: 14343
CANDIDATE NAME: JANAAN JAN
CANDIDATE NUMBER: 0093
UNIT:G321

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?

Below is my voice over talking through my prelim task and how much I have learnt since first making it. I also mention how much this has taught me about magazines and the construction of them.


 

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the production of my magazine I have learnt a lot about different technologies and how
to use them.
When watching the video please ensure that your annotations option says 'on' as there are annotations in the video. You can find this under the settings icon in bottom right hand corner of the video.

Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

Above is my Prezi answering question 5 of the evaluation questions on how I attracted my audience.

You can see from the picture how well the colours stand out

Question 4: Who would your audience be for your media product?

Below is a Glogster containing information as to who my target audience would be and a reminder of my reader profile

should the link not open the website is: http://janaan123.edu.glogster.com/question-4/

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

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
IPC is owned by Time Inc and is a digital publisher of magazines

What magazines do they already own?

Chat magazine(gossip), nuts magazine (adult), teen now magazine(teen), Marie Claire (ladies fashion), shooting times (British shooting magazine), NME (rock magazine)

They do not as yet distribute a magazine like mine which is why I feel they would be a suitable distributor. They do not have a magazine with the same audience as mine either and so would be appealing to a new audience.

Why do I think they would want to distribute my magazine?

R magazine is a music magazine and they only currently have one music magazine, NME. Through distributing my magazine they would be opening themselves to a new audience giving them more claim over the market and therefore market power.

Another very well known distributor is HMV. Getting them to distribute my magazine would ensure that my magazine manages to hit one of the main high street distributors. As they are also well known for digital distribution I can be sure that my magazine will not only meet the customers eye on the high street but also online making information about it and where to purchase it more accessible.

It is also important not to exclude large supermarkets such as Tecso, ASDA, Morrisons and Sainsburys. Though they are not the first places you would think of for distribution people of all ages, backgrounds, classes and more will shop there. This could see a large increase in the amount of sales made. Also as they are all well established firms distributing my magazine there would ensure that it is in the hands of a firm that has loyal customers and a good reputation.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have put together a video on different social groups and how my magazine represents my social group

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Below is a video explaining how I have used, developed and challenged real magazine conventions.

Double page spread- link to front cover and contents page

Double page spread- link to front cover and contents page by Slidely Slideshow
Here is a little information on how I have linked each of my three pages and why I chose the colours, themes and layouts that I did

DPS layout

Above is my prezzi containing the reasons why I decided on my layout and how I made my decisions

Artist Interview

Below is the text I will be using for my double page spread, it begins with a brief introduction and then follows with the interview questions

 

She has hit the music industry with a bang. Shehlas’ fan base is building fast. ‘She’s one of few artists that I we feel a true connection with’- said by a fan from Shehlas’ latest appearance at Capital FMs’ jingle bell ball. Hitting the stage in hot pink she rocked the audience and all eyes were on her. Not only has she shown off her strong stage presence but her ability to sing songs from a number of different genres. A presentation of this was her cover of the song ‘summertime sadness’ by Lana Del Rey at the BBC live lounge.

 

We know you are very new to the music industry but you’ve managed to hit it with a BANG! How have you don’t it?

That’s very kind of you. I suppose it started at the Brit awards, I was given the amazing opportunity of attending and to dine with many big names. I was attending with my coach who has worked with Ed Sheeran in the past, so at the awards he introduced me to him and from that point on it was all a big bight blur. I went on to meet big producers. I suppose they must’ve like me.

 

What would you say has been the hardest thing you have experienced entering the music industry?

Keeping up with my private life away from the stage. There is always something to be done which means that I spend so much of my time moving all over the country and not enough time with my family. Things get a little hard with my boyfriend at times too. He’s very patient with me but I can’t lie, balancing a relationship whist working and travelling is hard work. He surprised me this year on our anniversary by turning up to the studio that day after I had to cancel our plans. I was just finishing up with my producer and he came through the door , obviously my producer was part of the plan as well and my boyfriend picked me up and carried me out of the studio, bless him. He’s so romantic like that, I couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend.

 

Who in the music industry have you become close to?

Since joining the music industry I have met a number of truly amazing people in the music industry. One of the first people I met was Ed Sheeran. He was so friendly and open to give all the advice I needed to survive in the music industry. I’ve recently become close friends with Jessie J, she has a wonderful personality and is so easy to get along with. You never know, we might end up doing a collaboration in the near future. There have been a few others like Lana Del Rey and Bruno Mars. I have to say that so far everyone has been so welcoming and I really feel like a part of a huge team of truly amazing people.

 

 

Which artist would you say you are most influenced by?

I would say that I have been most influenced by two main pop stars. The first is Lana Del Rey. I love how different her music is from others and the fact that she experiments with so many different music types.

The other is Sia, I love how quirky her music is and how each piece is like a work of art. No detail is spared and as a result all her music is an incredible sensation. Her music videos always spark peoples interest and I suppose that is what makes them so good. They stand out so much in their own original and weird way that they just have to be spoken about all over the world, it’s beautiful and I love the effect she has on people listening to her music.

 

What are your plans for the future?

I’m hoping to go on tour sometime in the near future. I’ve seen so many of other artists on tour and I think it’s time I gave it a shot. I’ve just released my new album called ‘CHANGE’ and so far it’s selling well, and I owe it all to my fans. Everyday my fan base gets stronger and stronger and it gives me the motivation I need to go on and make my fans proud of me.

Research: Interview Writting

Above are my findings on interview questions from my research. It presents a list of things to do and consider when writing a successful piece. Many magazines will use this to ensure that their interviews are of a high quality.

Double Page Spread Image Decisions

Double Page Spread Test Shots and FInal Shot by Slidely Slideshow
Here are all of my test shots for my double page spread. Below is the image I have chosen. I chose this picture in particular as the models facial expression is strong and her angle of gaze is directly at the camera as if she were looking to the reader.

Double Page Spread Market Research

Double Page Spread Market Research by Slidely Slideshow
Above is my slidely presentation of my double page spread market research. Below I have placed a picture from the presentation which holds my annotations

Contents page feedback

Below is my audience feedback. I have taken note of what my audience have said and turned them into tasks I can experiment with

- More boxes

I could add more boxes behind my text to make it stand out a little more and experiment with the opacity of them

With the artist special box the opacity of the box needs to be made lighter to make it less harsh on the white background

-Add quotes and page numbers

I could place a quote on the main picture of the contents page to see how it might look and to link it more to one of the articles. Placing page numbers on the pictures is something that is conventional to pop music magazines so I can try it and see how it looks.

-Add social  media icons

From my research I know that this helps magazines gain better publicity and I should therefore include it in my contents page. It would also help add a little more colour to the page.

Contents page colour choices

Above is a board explaining how and why I chose certain colours on my contents page

contents page text and features

Above is my glog presenting my text and feature choices for my contents page

contents page layout

Above is my prezzi presenting the main features found on magazine contents pages when looking at its layout

Contents page shots

Here are some of my test shots for my contents page. I have not decided which ones I will use and I may take some more based on what my target audience say about the shots.

contents page deconstruction

Front cover audience feedback

Though my magazine is finished there are a few things that I could change to make it of a better quality.

From my audience feedback I realised that the price is a little to big and should be made smaller. A few of the features on the magazine could do with more text so that all the space is being used. Apart from this my magazine appeared to be of a good standard.  

Link to research (front cover)

My research into pop magazines showed me that red, black and white stood out the most on a magazine front cover and so I decided to follow convention and according to my audience feedback it worked well.

When looking at my survey research most people said they would pay £0-£2 for a magazine and so I decided to charge £1.99 for my magazine.

In my focus group one participant highlighted the fact that the models makeup matched the features on the magazine, so I decided to give my model red nail varnish to wear so that the features on the magazine could match the makeup.

Most people say that the image on the front is what draws them to the magazine and therefore I decided to make sure the models angle of gaze was towards the camera and therefore looking straight at the buyer.

Front cover text

There are 3 main types of text used on my front cover (highlighted above). The reason I have only used 3 types of text is because this is conventional to my music genre. This ensures that the magazine does not look to chaotic and doesn't take the attention away from the artist/model on the front cover. The 'special addition' sign uses serifs to make them stand out a little more as it contains important information to read.

The text is placed around the model and no text flows onto the models face. This is so that the angle of gaze is not covered and no attention is taken away from the image.
I chose this content as it was suited to the genre of pop as shown by my research into different magazine covers.

Cover layout

To the left is my flat plan and to the right my final cover. I have changed a few things from the flat plan to the final piece, however the general layout has remained the same. The picture is positioned in the same place however the text has been moved around a little more. The '2015' text could not be placed lower in the picture as there was a problem with the black blending in with the models hair. To fix this problem I raised the text which meant I also have to raise the circle advertising the new column so that not too much of the models face was covered. When looking a little more at pop magazines I noticed one in particular had the barcode under the masthead and thought that it worked quite well so I experimented with positioning the barcode at the bottom of the page and then at the top. It looked nice under the masthead and managed to stand out a little more as at the bottom of the page the black bar code was becoming merged into the models hair.

Photo Manipulation

Cropped image

Adjusted lights and tones of picture

Drop shadow with bevel and emboss to make text stand out

Highlighting text

Magic wand tool

Blemish tool/ skin corrector 

Final Shot

I chose this shot because I believe it is a strong shot that shows off the models features. Her angle of gaze is towards the camera tempting them to pick up the magazine. I had to crop some of the photo so that her hair band was not in the shot. The red nail varnish stands out and makes the picture pop a little more. This enabled me to use red as one of my conventional colours,

Magazine masthead decisions

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/1184606/Masthead 

Above is the link to my slideshow on the decisions behind my masthead, how I came to choosing it and what changes I had to make along the way.

Test Shots

Here is a short video of all the test shots I have taken so far. Some I have decided to use in the magazine however I may need to retake some.

Taking test shots has taught me a lot about the kind of pictures I need and how to take them. The contents page pictures from the lift is an example of this. I experimented with the lift as a back ground however even after I cropped the white frames out of the picture I realised that it wasn't going to work, therefore I won't be using those test shots in my magazine

Shot List

These are some of the shots that I am thinking about when doing my test shots.

Magazine Flat Plans

Front Cover

The feedback I received from others from the same age range was mostly positive and they thought that the use of space was good.

 

Contents Page

 

 

Feedback on the contents page was positive and people liked the way it was spaced out. One person commented on the fact that it was very clear and though there is no information on it yet they could tell that it would be easy to read.

 

Double Page Spread

 

 

My feedback group admitted that it was hard to picture the page at the moment but could see where I was going with the layout. They said that I may have to have more text on the page and the picture should be a little bigger so that the model is covering at least 1/3 of the page. They also mentioned the possibility of having a strip of pictures across the top of bottom of the page so that the page makes readers want to read the text as well as appreciating the main picture.





 

Visual Mood Board

Here are some keywords that work as a mind map for the magazine I will be creating in the next few weeks. These words give a small taste for what my magazine will contain. Words such as 'current' feature in the mood board to hint that the magazine will contain current and up to date music and news. Other words such as 'fashion' highlight that the magazine is a special and will contain a flavour of fashion.

Artist Profile

Survey Analysis

I gave my survey to a range of people aging from 16-18 as this is my target age range.

From the results above I can see that the majority of people who took the survey preferred the Pop genre to the others. When talking to friends about why this maybe the case they admitted that pop music embeds a range of genres into its music making it appeal to a wider audience. These results backed up my reasoning behind picking pop as my magazine genre.

Because of my target audience not being of a working age this question helped me understand how much they are willing to pay. From this I can see that people are more willing to pay for a magazine that is between £0-£2. Therefore I will be choosing my price around this option.

Though initially it is the front cover of a magazine that brings your attention to it, it is the content that makes you buy it. Therefore it is important to get this aspect of the magazine right. I must understand fully what my target audience would like to read about in a magazine. From these results I know that I will be focusing most attention on gossip in the music industry as well as fashion in the music industry as mentioned in the comments section of the survey.

 

 

The front cover holds a lot of importance in whether a person will pick up a magazine or not, therefore I need to focus most of my attention on the aspect that drags the customers attention the most. In this case it is the picture on the front that draws them in the most, because of this I will be focusing a lot on the picture quality, mise-en-scence and the model in the picture.

 

 

For real magazine companies this information is vital as they need to know when it is right to bring out a magazine. Should they produce magazines too often consumers may get bored of the magazine and the company could therefore lose a lot of money. On the other hand under producing could mean that they are missing out on sales should consumers want more magazines. From this information I can see that most people in my audience would buy a magazine once every month. This could be linked to their age range and income.