AS Media Studies - Foundation Portfolio
Critical Evaluation
Question 1:
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine uses a wide variety of traditional conventions found in real media products. This was to make it look more professional meaning it looked more like a real magazine instead of someone’s amateur work that was just thrown together. A lot of time and effort was placed into making sure the magazine looked realistic. To make my work look realistic I based my ideas mainly around Kerrang! and their style of design.
One of these conventions was having a house style for font and colour. All throughout my magazine the only colours used are white, black and red. I was initially going to use yellow to fit in with Elliot Minor (my main cover line) and their album cover but I deemed it too bright when on the white background of the front cover so reverted to red. The reason I chose red is because of its colour associations as when most people think of rock music they imagine black, red and white. All of my text is in white apart from the black text on the front cover. The reason behind this is because it wouldn’t stand out enough from the background which is white.
Another convention I used was the rule of thirds. This rule states that if you split an image or front cover into thirds horizontally and vertically that the main points of focus lie on where the lines cross. On my front cover this is what I’ve done as the main coverline is just above that bottom third line and the faces of the two males that I’ve used are where the top line would intersect with the vertical lines. The images on the contents pages trail away from the rule of thirds as their main focus point is in the centre of the image but their faces are on the horizontal line. So they slightly follow the rule but I’ve sort of deterred away from it. The same applies for my double spread article as the image focal point is in the centre but their faces lies upon the top horizontal third.
A third convention I have used only on my cover, as this is the only place where it applies, is the left hand side. This is because when magazines are stacked on shop racks it is often only the left hand side of their cover that is shown. This makes it necessary for the front cover’s left hand side to be eye catching enough for browsers to be interested in it. This ties in with the Gutenberg diagram as for that it places the main focal point in the top left hand corner which would be on view when stacked in shops. For that purpose I have started my masthead at the top left. I have also listed the main parts of the magazine and its special article along the left hand side just enough to pique browser’s interest. The price is also listed on the left hand side so people looking would know straight away if it was in their cost limits. The Gutenberg diagram is also used on the front cover but not in a massively persuasive manner. This is because in the terminal area, bottom right, there is only a preview of one of the posters. Yet it is used as the list of contents on the right hand side of the cover sort of go towards the right in a diagonal path.
Question 2:
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product is intentionally aimed at teenagers between the ages 15 and 19 as I felt I’d be able to target them more efficiently as I lie between those ages. I also felt that the music my magazine would cover would suit people between those ages. I had no gender in mind when creating my magazine so chose gender neutral colours (black, white and red) so it would be noticeable to both genders.
The text I have used is quite colloquial and lacks technical language which is intentional as I wanted the readers to be able to understand the article without any difficulties. The text is simplistic to read and isn’t placed in massive chunks. It is broken down into smaller paragraphs so it wouldn’t be as hard on readers to read just a bit at a time and easily find their place again. Whilst an older reader wouldn’t mind reading it all at once, younger readers have more important matters and would prefer reading it in bits at a time.
The images I have used are easily recognizable and would be noticed before the text just like they should be. In the posed photos there is plenty of eye contact which would draw in the reader and make them interested in the page when flicking through the magazine. The images are quite bright which would appeal to readers as it contrasts the background. This would all appeal to a younger audience which was my desired aim.
Question 3:
What kind of Media Institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that the distributors of Kerrang! Gordan and Gotch would distribute my completed magazine because I have used Kerrang! As the main basis of my magazine creation. The information I would include is similar to that which Kerrang! Displays within its pages. This includes up and coming bands, gigs reviews and other reviews of similar sort. They also have similar front cover design as my magazine which is mainly because I have based my ideas off them. My colour scheme is similar to the Kerrang! Colour scheme and it targets a similar audience of young teens as Kerrang! Does. Due to these reasons I feel that Gordan and Gotch would be happy to publish my magazine UpAndComing.
I don’t think Arvato Services (distributors of NME) would be interested in distributing my magazine as NME tends to cover much heavier music then UpAndComing would cover plus they seem to focus at an older age range. I also believe the genre of music our two magazines cover are vastly different as my magazine focuses mainly on lighter rock whereas NME pinpoints the heavier metal and grange rock genres.
Question 4:
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I aimed for the audience to be similar to Kerrang magazine being a young teen to mid adult (young twenties) audience of any gender. My reasoning behind this is because I know that most adults in their thirties or above don’t have the time to read through an entire magazine whereas teenagers are more willing to read as long as it’s about something interesting. I also targeted teenagers as they are within my age range so I can understand what someone of that age would like in a magazine. The reason my magazine isn’t aimed at any particular gender is because I personally know of quite a few girls in my age range who listen vividly and keep up to date on the bands I will be focusing on in my magazine. There are no gender focused bands that are advertised in my magazine and the language of my articles is not packed with slang that only one gender would understand and generally uses phrases and words that does not require any gender to look up.
Usually with magazines the gender focus is easily distinguished by the colour scheme the magazine uses on its front cover and on its pages. Whilst my pages are darker using blacks and reds these are quite gender neutral colours in the shades I have used. The front cover background is white which is clearly a gender neutral colour so it would draw in both females and males which was my aim.
Question 5:
How did you attract/address your audience?
Grabbing the attention of onlookers is important as if your magazine isn’t noticed and brought there is no point it being on the shop racks. I needed to grab my readers’ attention from their first glance so the main focus was making the front cover memorable and easily recognizable against other similar genre magazines. Most magazine backgrounds are generally a contrasting colour to their main image so I decided to follow that idea but instead of use a different colour in its solidity I left my background white. This made the main image stand out greatly but it also made it so when it was racked up it would stand out against the darker backgrounds of other magazines.
Another rule I abided by was the left third. To do this I placed all the main information which was within the magazine on the left hand side so when my magazine was racked with other magazines it would be obvious as to what was in my magazine. This would mean that any browsers would know instantly if my magazine appealed to them so wouldn’t have to spend ages flicking through the pages to double check this. This would make it easy for them to know that they wanted to buy my magazine.
Question 6:
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout this product I have done a lot of designing on Adobe Photoshop CS3. More than I had initially planned actually as halfway through designing my front cover the first time I lost my USB Pendrive which I stored my work on. Luckily for me I took this in a good way as it helped me see in which ways I could improve on my work and I feel it helped me create a better project. So I’m thankful for my stupidity as it helped me realise what I’d done wrong/badly initially and allowed me a chance to improve.
In my time using CS3 I realised that having a white background is not always a boring and bland idea. If you position your image(s) correctly it will make the white space less empty and helps your image(s) stand out more. I also learnt how to create a shadowed text effect without using the initial blending options for CS3. I have since used this in other graphic creations that I have done out of personal preferences rather than educational.
Question 7:
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When I first did my preliminary task I felt like every background had to be coloured and that having fancy patterned backgrounds was to everyone’s liking. Since then I’ve discovered that even white backgrounds can look fancy and that not everything has to be extremely complicated. I have also learnt other ways of image manipulation even though at the beginning of the entire project I knew quite a lot to begin with.
Taken Photos
This is a print screen of the photos I have taken which MAY be included in my coursework.
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