Evaluation Jade Burton

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge codes and conventions of real media products? Throughout my media product I have tried to include as many codes and conventions as possible. I didn’t really change or adapt many that I have come across on real media products because I want it to look as professional as possible and I also want things to be familiar to the audience in the way they recognize it to be a music magazine. As my music magazine is based on a pop/dance genre I have mainly included codes and conventions that are associated with that genre. On the front page, this includes things such as the heading to make it clear what the magazine is called. I also used a background image instead of a plain solid colour because this is very familiar on music magazines and just makes it look more interesting and eye catching. It’s also good to show off the new artist and attract attention. A final main convention I included was cover lines. These are simply used to advertise the popular features in my magazine and make the audience want to read it. In the contents page I also used more conventions. This includes page numbers, boxes to chunk the writing and images which advertise certain pages. On the double page spread, the main obvious convention I used is the interview. This is very popular and is good because it fills up the space and also gives and insight into the artist. I also made the writing in the layout of columns and this is again a very well-known way of presenting the writing. I also used many codes throughout. One of these is the colours that I used. On music/dance genre magazines it’s popular to use bright colours because they can be associated with bright lights that are often used in night clubs. They are also very eye catching and attracts the audience to the magazine. On the front page I also included a few, this includes a barcode, price and date of its release. These are just simple, basic codes but I used them to make my product look organised and professional. Overall I feel I have used codes and conventions associated with pop/dance genre magazines well and it looks professional and organised.

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups? My magazine is aimed at the older teens to younger adults target group. I dressed my model in the way she would look if she going somewhere where she had to dress smart/casual. I didn’t want her to have too much flesh showing because I don’t want my magazine to come across more for the older generation of adults. I felt the leopard print fluffy coat looked smart but yet still glamorous to make her stand out slightly from the rest of people her age but not by too much. As she is a new artist I wanted to create the idea that she can be related to and maybe even inspire other people to become an artist one day. I also used quite a young model because she is within the target audience I want to aim my magazine at. I feel it also represents that social group through the price being only £2.75 which is a reasonably cheap price for a good music magazine and also through the informal language. I used informal language because it’s easier for them to read so they might be more intrigued to want to open it up and carry on.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? I think media institutions such as small, well known shops would distribute my magazine. This includes shops such as WHSmith, supermarkets like Tesco or Asda, also general newsagents and maybe music shops such as HMV. The reason I think they will distribute my magazine is because it’s quite cheap and is aimed at a fairly mass target audience. I also believe that these types of shops attract the age range and audience I am aiming for therefore it would be appropriate for them to be sold here.

4) Who would be the audience for your media production? My target audience for my media production would be both males and females but mainly aimed at the females aged from about 16-early 20’s. The reason for this is because I chose a slight opportunity audience in the way that I am also in this age range. This means it allows me to get a lot of feedback to make my magazine most appropriate and intriguing for them. The reason I feel it is more so aimed at females is because males tend to read less music magazine than females and also because the new artist on the front is female. Also the font and colour choice is quite feminine rather than masculine.

5) How did you attract/address your audience? I attracted my audience using many codes and convention I have picked up from analysing other media products of the same genre and target audience. One of the codes is using bright colours. The reason bright colours are used for this genre of magazine is because it can be associated with bright lights that are often used in night clubs which are therefore associated with dancing and fun. In this case, the two main colours I used were red and orange. Orange is a colour that represents sunshine, and fun. Red is a sexy, loveable colour which well represents the artist on my double page spread. Another way that I attracted the audience was using things such as cover lines and images that give them an insight into the magazine. For this genre, I couldn’t just use writing or else it wouldn’t be very attractive or grab the attention of the audience. I also used informal language because this is used more for those in that age range and if it was too formal they may be put off and not interested in reading more. A final convention I used was an image for the main background. This is very popular on existing magazines and makes it look more professional and eye grabbing. It allows the audience to feel more engaged with the magazine when there is a large image of an artist looking directly into the camera looking at the audiences eyes.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? The main technology I have learnt when constructing my product is how to use Photoshop. This is a very up to date version and is a professional programme to use. At first I found it complicated to use, however now I can use it to add high tech effects and make features look more 3D and professional. I have also learnt the best ways to layout out pages which enhance my images to look their best and ways to add features to texts to enable them to stand out more and not look like the same old typical fonts. Another technology I have learnt is the codes and convention which are best appropriate for my genre and target audience. I feel these are important because it means I can make my magazine accordingly to attract the right people.

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I feel like I have learnt a lot more about the importance of codes and conventions and the best ways to gain appropriate information from the same genre and target audience I need to aim my magazine towards. I have also learnt better ways to use colours and effects to enhance features and use more skills to make them look more professional, rather than sticking with the easy features. I also feel I have become better at analysing and evaluation my progression and explaining why I did or did not do certain changes.