Magazine work: April 2013

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

Every music magazine had a house style and I have created continuity by establishing a House Style throughout my magazine which consists of light, dull and darker colour scheme and variations of the Calibri (body) font type. Also, I have created continuity by utilising my main cover image in my contents page.

A way in which I have challenged conventions is through my font covers main image. It is a medium close-up of an artist featured in one of the double-page spread articles, conventional of front cover main images however it doesn’t feature the artists head. This is because I wanted to create a connotation of mystery as the artist has not been interviewed before and so he is unknown to the public. By doing this I also create curiosity as the audience will wish to know who this artist is, especially since there are three artists said to be exclusively interviewed and so the audience is allowed to engage with the image to a small extent and since they have engaged with the image they are more likely to buy the magazine.

I have also challenged the convention of wrapping text around the body of the artist in the front cover image. I have chosen to do this as I believe that it demonstrates how film soundtrack is incorporated into images i.e. Cinema and so better represents my magazines content to its audience, film enthusiast.

How does my media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents social groups by via the use of props in its images. In the front cover image a piano is featured, in my contents page, an image of a music mixer was utilised as well as images of both artists interviewed in my magazine’s double page spreads, each using one of the devices motioned before. This is representative of my magazines’ particular target audience, a film enthusiast with a specific or general interest in film soundtrack, as a member of this social group will most likely be of a creative persuasion and so featuring musical instruments and editing equipment which require creativity in order to be used to their greatest potential, inertly representing creativity and so creative people. Another way in which my magazine represents particular social groups is through the use of the use featured articles. The particular social group of soundtrack composers is represent by my magazines content page, which features several articles on how one might enter a particular occupation such as conductor. This is representative of the soundtrack composer social group as it is in accordance with their methodical process on writing a soundtrack, with the articles instructionally stating how another process is methodically achieved.

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

I believe that arts institutions such as the BBC and the British Arts Council or supports of arts such as the National Lottery. This is because my magazine is heavily based raising awareness of film soundtracks, in particular high quality soundtracks, encouraging the audience to create and publish soundtracks, whilst also giving advice/instructions on how to do this. The institutions will want to distribute my magazine, as the institutes that I have mentioned have the goal of caring my magazines functions but a less specific focus and so by utilising my magazine they could achieve their goals with far more precision and allowing for the opportunity to expand their reach. In particular I would wish for more academic institutions such as the British Arts Council, who on a yearly basis, regularly find arts schemes across the country. I wish for an institution such as the British Arts Council to distribute my product as opposed to an institution with previous and/or current capability such as the BBC as then my magazine would not have to compete with rival magazines and also it would help to remove the misconception that film soundtrack is similar to classical music.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine is targeted for the specific audience of adult males who are passionate film enthusiasts, dedicating the large percentage of their free time to watching and appreciating well made films i.e. arts films such as ‘The Artist’.

I have chosen to focus on males as they make up the majority of the film enthusiast community, and an adult audience is important as the audience must be objective enough to appreciate the music on its own accord rather than being determined that films and its music must go together and are inseparable.

The target audience, by nature will have a creative disposition shaped by function and realism. This is because the magazine is focused heavily on the creation process of soundtracks as well as reviewing them and by targeting an audience which is both experienced enough and functional enough to comprehend the limitations and restriction of creating a piece of music, the articles can feature more detail on the . This would make the content of my magazine more appropriate for a mind that analyses the technical features of a film.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I have attracted my audience by incorporating aspects of film and music together. For instance the title Reel Music plays on the word reel which my audience will associate with a film reel. I have also used images that denotate and conotate to Cinema. The image of a blank film reel behind the title of my magazine, demonstrates this. Also by using images of and referencing film reel, I also relate specifically with Cinema instead of digital film and as digital cinema is a format that my audience, as film enthusiasts, are less likely to be enjoy, by not referencing this format, this attracts my audience.

My audience are likely to feel like they are involved with this magazine as it directly addresses their interests and hobbies which will allow for this magazine to be incorporated into their interests.

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

Through the process of constructing this product, I have learnt both the importance of photo editing software i.e. Photoshop and how to use Photoshop more efficiently in order to increase productivity and the quality of my work. For example as I began to become more comfortable with Photoshop’s layer system, I was able to add more content to my work as I became more confident with editing photos/images across all layers, quickly alternating between them and so increasing my work rate.

Due to the extensive time that I have worked with Photoshop, not only have I learned how to quickly access tools but also how to use these tools more effectively by knowing what tool is appropriate/effective for a certain task and/or effect. An example of this is when I wished to cover up the main cover image keyboard’s unconnected plugs sockets which would break realism and so make the image unusable. However by using the clone stamp tool I was able to copy the texture of the pianos casing and apply this over the exposed empty keyboard plug sockets, hiding this error and so making this image usable. Without the knowledge of the clone stamp tool, I would have to reshoot to the picture in order to recreate a usable picture with the same quality as before, which would have taken time as I would have to set up the backdrop and lighting again, wasting time that I could spend on creating/improving other magazine work.

If I had not had the experience of working with Photoshop: I would not have been able to edit this photo so that I could use it and so the effect I wanted to create would have taken longer to achieve.

I have also learned how it is important to when taking a picture with a camera: to take as high a quality image as possible and to take many images in session, including a wide range of angles, distances, focus and composition in that range. This because Photoshop requires this in order to produce a quality product as while Photoshop can improve/enhance a photo, it takes time to achieve this without leaving noticeable traces of such editing. This photo is blurred and out of focused, meaning that it would not be fit to be used my in product. By making sure to take a quality picture first time around, I am able to be more time efficient (as I am not wasting time re-shooting or editing the photo) and by taking a variety of images, I am able to have more freedom when creating the magazine’s products.

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

I believe that I have become much more relaxed about using conventions and am now able to follow conventions better when creating/improving my magazine’s products. In my preliminary product I took photos of an inanimate object as the front covers main image. This broke conventions of using an artist for the front, one of the most important of all conventions as the image is more attractive to an audience if it has a person in it. At the time I was under the assumption that as the image was related to the main article it was a suitable cover image. However I know realise that by not including a person in the image, I was decrease the appeal that it had to my audience.

I have also learned how to effectively use Photoshop, by spending many hours using the program, I have learned where the majority of useful tools are located and also how to use them effectively e.g. I have learned how to use the select tool in order to quickly copy an image, delete unwanted elements of an image in order to create an effect and also make the image suitable.

By working with Photoshop for an extend period I have learnt to trust more in its ability’s and become less dependent on other software.