Evaluation

In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?

I have made a magazine called DELERIUM which will be sold monthly. It is aimed at 16-25 year olds who listen to the Hard House genre of music. It is also aimed at both genders. I chose this because I myself listen to Hard House and when I looked at the other magazines on the market I could not find one aimed at this genre of music.

My media product challenges the conventions of real media products in that my magazine is the music genre hard house. There is only one other magazine of a similar genre on the market, this is MixMag. On my front cover I have used a young attractive female model, which is a typical convention of magazines. Theses are some examples of music magazines, which use a female model.

All of the magazines I have analysed have a large, catchy title. I chose the title DELERIUM because my target audience thought this was the best title to have. Delerium has connotations of euphoria and trance, which links in with the target audience as the music, hard house is euphoric. This helps to attract my target audience. These magazines have a large title for the most important story in the magazine, as does mine. This will help to promote the mag as any fans of the DJ my story is based on will want to read it. All of these magazines have bar codes, dates, issue number and catchy hooks for stories. The MixMag magazine has a free gift when you buy the magazine; I also have this on my magazine. I have used a medium shot on my front cover because it immediately draws the reader in and is conventional of most magazines. These have colour schemes, which they use throughout; I have the colour scheme black, blue and white.

On my contents page I have used justified text and my hooks for stories have been placed under a specific title, which is typical of magazines, such as MixMag, Q and NME.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents working class people aged 16-25 who enjoy listening to hard house music. It is inspirational in that the main story on the front cover is about a young female DJ called Lexi Gage who has had trouble making it in the music industry, which is dominated by males. However after a long time she has finally made it and she has went on to be one of the best up and coming DJs on the scene. This inspires young people who want to pursue their dreams because it is showing them that if Lexi can do it then so can they. This portrays females in a positive light.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

I think that the best distributor for my music magazine would be the distributors of MixMag, Development Hell Ltd. I chose this because my product DELERIUM is already similar to MixMag therefore I feel that I would be increasing their profit by broadening their audience. My product is aimed at both genders so this will help in promoting their products, it will also help to promote my magazine as anyone interested in MixMag will see mine as being similar. One of my target audience called my magazine ‘ the twin brother of MixMag’.
http://www.mixmag.net/

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine is aimed at people 16-25 who enjoy listening to hard house. It is aimed at both genders and any class as this broadens the audience. My ideal audience is someone who enjoys listening to hard house music and spends money on going out to hard house nights at least twice a month, who earns enough money to buy downloads and goes out, and can buy my magazine every month. Jennifer Slack is 20 years old; she works in a restaurant and earns an average wage. She enjoys Hard house and Trance. She goes out to various nights including Vice and Gatecrasher roughly twice a month. This is my ideal audience.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

I researched successful magazines so I could learn about their conventions. To attract my audience I gave out a questionnaire to find out what kind of things my audience were looking for in a magazine. After receiving the results I then applied this to my magazine. I based my hooks for stories on the findings of my research and analysis. On my front cover I have used an attractive female model this links to the theory of Marjorie Ferguson (1980’s). She identified four types of facial expression on the front of British women’s magazines. My magazine fits into the invitational category.

· Invitational- Emphasis on the eyes- Mouth shut with hint of smile- Head to one side or looking back to the camera

Effects- suggestive of mischief or mystery.

Also this has connotations of inviting the audience to buy and read the magazine.

The females in my audience will identify with the lifestyle my magazine promotes. They will aspire to be the model on the front cover not only for beauty but also for success. The males in my audience will be drawn in to buy my magazine, as they will see the beautiful model on the front cover and immediately think of the sex appeal. I have also used a model of a similar age to my target audience in order to add to this appeal. Here I am looking at uses and gratifications.

The price of £2.00 represents the social group and how much they can afford to spend each month on my magazine. Also I found on my questionnaire that this was how much people were willing to spend. I added a free gift which would appeal to my target audience to help attract the reader.

After completing my cover, contents page and article I handed them out to the public to get some feedback. These are some of the comments I got back.

'Your magazine looks professional and could definitely sit on the shelf next to MixMag'

'I really like the story because it is inspirational'

'This magazine could easily compete with existing products. I might actually buy this now instead of my current monthly magazine'

'I love the colour scheme, it is very eye catching'

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt a lot more on Adobe Photoshop. I have also learnt how to use digital photography and tripod properly. I have learnt how to add effects to titles or to particular words in order to make them stand out. For example on the first word magazine I have left it untouched with the font Ariel. The second word is also Ariel however I have used Drop Shadow and Bevel and Emboss to make it stand out.

I have also learnt how to use a digital camera properly and my general skills on Photoshop such as cutting and adjusting colours have improved too. I have developed my photography skills and image manipulation and I have become more confident. I am also more confident with technical aspects of image manipulation.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back on my preliminary task I have instantly identified things, which could be improved. My images were blurred because I didn’t know how to correctly use the camera and the cutting out of my images isn’t accurate. I have taken all of the things I have learnt and applied this to my media product. I have researched my audience to see what the public really want to see in a magazine. I have analysed existing magazines to see what they had used to make a successful product. Because I am reaching out to a larger niche audience than before, I have carried out detailed research and analysis in an attempt to make my magazine a success.