Candidate Number 5224 Centre Number 57353

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I have looked at a variety of magazines for example Classical Music magazine, Cotswolds magazine, Fashion magazines and Gossip magazines. For the front cover I looked at Classic FM magazine to look at the layout of the fonts and the pictures. I also looked on the internet and different Music magazines such as NME and Q magazine to see how they have done the layout of the front cover of the music magazine. For the contents page I looked in a Classic FM magazine and also a selection of fashion and design magazines to find something a bit different. For the double page article I look at the Classical Music magazine, Cotswold Life magazine, Fashion magazines such as Vogue and Gossip magazines such as OK and Hello. I also looked on the internet to look at different designs and layouts of double page articles. As my magazine is aimed at a regional market I thought I would try something different by combining a central image of a chapel with inset images of the musicians instead of a close up of one artist. This is different to then usual convection for this type of magazine. The rest of the layout follows layouts found in many magazines including dividing contents in to three columns as well as the text on the double page article. I decided to place the main image of Tasmin Little across two pages in order to link the pages.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The magazine that I produced has an empathises on classical music in Gloucestershire. The type of people who will be interested include parents and students who attend music groups (mostly middle class or upper middle class) as it has content that is related to these activities. It will appeal to people who sing in choirs or maybe go to church as it has content related to these. It will appeal to a large number of people in Gloucestershire that buy magazines like Cotswold Life and go to concerts at venues like Cheltenham Town Hall and Pittville Pump Rooms.

Video Recording YouTube Link http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=EJPH__Y 0c9E&feature=g-upl

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

My magazine could be distributed by Archant which is the UKs largest independently owned regional media businesses. It distributes both newspapers and magazines. They produce over 80 titles such as Cotswolds Life which is aimed a residents of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Their combined circulation is 2.5 million copies every week. This type of publisher is geared up to produce local magazines but has the turnover (142 million) of a large publishing company. They support their publications through their website as well as marketing events and exhibitions. This will make them an excellent publishing company for this magazine. They also produce titles such as Clay shooter and Canal Boat. I think that a regional music magazine would therefore fit into their product range and because of their size would be produced to a high quality and be well promoted due to their contacts with major stores and supermarkets. I found it through Cotswolds Life magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience will be for teenagers and adults age 13 onwards because at that age people will have an interest in this genre of music and what is happening in Gloucestershire Music. The magazine could also feature the local pop scene by having a teenager section. The Music Magazine appeals to teenagers and adults who are involved in Gloucestershire Music. Groups, both adults and school age children and their parents. It is aimed at people who are involved in choirs or just enjoy music. Also it is for people who want to achieve and want to do something on their evenings or weekends. To make it have more appeal it also includes features on composers and the classical music charts. It also lists concerts taking place in the county and this information would encourage a wide range of people to buy it.

Video Recording YouTube Link http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=NzCHmP faUnM&feature=g-upl

How did you attract/address your audience?

On the front cover I used a picture of the chapel taken from a interesting angle with late afternoon winter sunshine against the blue sky that I think gave a strong, colourful, eye catching image that local people may be interested in. I picked clear simple fonts including a bold simple title at the top to catch attention and to be easy to read. I put two inserted pictures on the front cover to encourage people to look inside. The free CD offer should attract attention. The contents page has a same theme as the cover. I decided to overlay the writing instead of printing black on white as I thought it looked more colourful and eye catching. The inset pictures with page numbers quickly directs people to the main features. On the double page article I included large pictures and not too much writing in order to keep the interest of readers of different ages.

Audio Version Link on soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/michellewheeler-1994/slide-6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
1. Digital Photography

These are two of my outdoor shots. The winter sunlight gave really nice shadows and I was able to use the lefthand picture unedited. These are two pictures I took of one of the students. I had to make decisions on the best background for the article and so chose the lighter background to contrast with a black background on the picture it was going to overlay. This is an example of the problem I had with blurred pictures indoors when taking a moving person

I took some wide angle and some zoom shots. The zoom shots were taken on full 16X zoom by resting the camera on a rail to stop blurring.

2. Photoshop

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

I had never used Photoshop before and it took it little while to get used to the features I needed to use such as layers, resizing images and text, changing text colour and text spacing.

I used the character settings to change colour, size and text spacing

I used the transparency feature to make the writing stand out by creating a solid block of white and then changing the opacity. This looked a lot nicer than a solid block of white. Although not great this was the best picture I had of Tasmin Little at rehearsals and so I had to use crop and brightness settings to get the image I wanted.

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

I havent used this programme before but I have used Publisher. This programme has a lot more features. I used it to try out different layouts by dragging text boxes and images to different parts of the screen. I was able to easily change the images and fonts. I used the crop tool to resize images.

Video Recording YouTube Link http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=NzCHmPfaUnM&feature=g -upl

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

Audio Version Link to the soundcloud recording http://soundcloud.com/michellewheeler-1994/slide-10

School Magazine

Music Magazine

What have I learnt? I have learnt how to use different technologies by using InDesign and Photoshop and I have learnt how to use different graphic styles by using a range of tools and techniques. Doing the double page article made me think more about page layout and just how many decisions need to be made during magazine production. It made me think about how to make things stand out and eye catching. I had to plan the kind of photographs I wanted in advance and then edit them to make it fit the space available.

Analysing the front cover

I have chosen the font Vijaya because it is easy to read and it seems to match with the theme of the music magazine. I have taken this picture of the chapel at a private school because there are concerts that take place in the chapel for example the Wycliffe Choral Society. I know one of the members of the Wycliffe Choral Society and someone who works there and I was allowed to take pictures of the chapel and the orchestra rehearsing. The background of the chapel is good for the theme of the music magazine and it will clearly stand out to the target audience. Also it was taken when the weather was good as well !!!! This picture is of the Wycliffe Choral Society orchestra and choir. I have picked this picture because it shows the whole of the orchestra and choir and also I think it shows a good example for people who are younger getting involved in music and to watch the Wycliffe Choral Society in their concerts. I have added an effect for this advertisement because it is one of the main advertisements for this music magazine. I have chosen a transparent effect because I wanted to keep the grass visible, giving a softer effect. I have placed the barcode at the bottom left and small because it doesnt need to be too big or in the way of the advertisement of Gloucestershire Music. For the title I have chosen Musicality because it stands out the most from all the other titles I have put in to the poll and also this title received the most votes as people seemed to like it the most. I put it at the top in the middle of the page because it seems to be the first thing people will like to see and it will also give them an idea on what it is about. and show up on the shop shelf.

I have put the date and price in the top left of the page because from all the magazines I have looked at the date and price seem to be in the top left where it can be easily noticeable to the target audience. I have done a poll with a range of different prince and the price 3.00 had the most votes; as it is a relatively decent price for a music magazine.

The font is It is clear and bold to read and it also stands out to the target audience to help convince them to read the music magazine and to read the main story headlines.

I have mentioned the free CD on my front cover because this should be a major selling point for the magazine; the target audience will receive a free CD with a range of classical music from different Gloucestershire Music groups from all over Gloucestershire.

Analysing the contents page

The three pictures on the left hand side are from Gloucestershire Music. The picture that is on page 8 is the whole orchestra and choir of Wycliffe Choral Society. The pictures on page 10 and are of Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra with Tasmin Little. The font I have used is Castellar because it is easy to read and it goes well with the theme of the Music Magazine. It gives a classic but old kind of look for the music magazine.

I have chosen the picture of the chapel because I wanted it to link with the front cover. It also goes well with the theme of the music magazine which is Classical Music. I wanted a background that looks more modern instead of old or something from the present years. It was taken when the weather was good and also there are good angles used and also the target audience can see the whole of the background of the chapel.

I have done this picture on my Contents Page because in my music magazine there are going to be articles about music from a lot of years and I have found this picture of a music composer.

I have added the date and name of the music magazine at the bottom right.

I have done a faded effect for the advert because I wanted it to stand out to the target audience.

I have done a red line behind the text because The font I used is Hobo I wanted to STD because it is easy to stand for read and also it goes well example where it says Cover with the theme of the Story and music magazine. I also Winning Tickets wanted the music magazine to look more I wanted the target audience exciting instead of to have interest making it look boring. in reading the articles and trying to win With this font I want it to tickets to see be small and exciting concerts ; to see because I wanted it to and meet the stand out to make sure music artist. the target knows they will get a free CD and a small gift as a giveaway.

Analysing the double page spread

Name of the music feature. I have put the text in to columns with a dotted line in between the text to separate the writing. I then continued the writing next to the picture of the year 10 student and there is a quote next to the article. This picture is of Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra rehearsing. I managed to get a picture of most of the orchestra working with Tasmin Little. Indoor photos were difficult on the digital camera as it was hard to get it to focus. The font I have used for the Gloucestershire Music title is Vijay because it is easy to read and it fits well with the theme. it also is a simple and classic kind of text. The phrase Guiding Star shows the violinist is an internationally re-owned violinist working with teenagers. I have chosen white writing because it is against a dark background and white writing will show up the best.

This text is basically saying who the person is and what she has done recently in Gloucestershire Music. This is a year 10 student who was involved with the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra. He was playing the violin and was 1st violin in Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra. This adds to the theme of the story.

I have included the page number, name of the music magazine and date. This make the page easy to find and references it .

This is a quote from a student about the his Tasmin Little experience.

The website where people can find the music magazine and if they will like to purchase a subscription to the music magazine of the internet.

Third party feedback

What are your first impressions of the music magazine? What do you think of the colours, text, pictures and the theme of the music magazine? What do you like the most about the music magazine and why? What do you think can be improved with the music magazine? Would you buy the music magazine based on what you see? What would you rate it for example what score would you get it as 1 for being the worst and 5 being the best?
3rd party feedback 1 Audio Version Link on soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/ michelle-wheeler1994/third-partyfeedback-2 3rd party feedback 2 Audio Version Link on soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/ michelle-wheeler1994/third-partyfeedback

Third Party Feedback

Feedback from a school student 1. What are you first impressions of the music magazine? It definitely looks like it is a classical music magazine and I think it is very well presented and quite a formal layout. 2. What do you think of the colours, text, pictures and theme of the music magazine? I think the pictures work really well; of the picture of the church; I think it dominates the cover. I think it will give the impression straight away that it is a classical music magazine and it is quite good looking on the way it is formed. I think the text is quite simplistic and it's not like over complicating anything or going over the top with it. I think the improvements for it is to make the smaller texts a bit more clear against the background because it is quite a busy background and to have a bit of a bolder text with it. I like the fact with the Contents page it carries on with the theme of the church and the layout of the text is quite interesting and the pictures. I really like that as well. I like the big picture of the double page article as it has a dominating large image and it is a powerful image as well and I think it works well. 3. What do you like the most of the music magazine on what you see? I think the theme you have used of the church is really pretty. 4. What do you think could be improved and why? It's just the text really, I think it can be clearer against the background because it can get lost. 5. Would you buy the music magazine? I don't really listen to classical music but yes, sure I would. 6. What would you rate the music magazine? 8 or 9/10

Using sound & video technology

I used soundcloud and scribd for my presentation. I video recorded myself to answer some of the questions and I also voice recorded myself. I uploaded my soundtracks on to soundcloud for some of the questions and also it was an easier way to upload on to the blog. I put some of video recordings on my mobile phone and some straight on to soundcloud. For the videos I had to upload it on to YouTube in order to be able to put it on the blog. I put the video and voice recordings under the text for the questions.

Conclusion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS47W2xn eNY&feature=g-upl

Feedback http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljBpbZmH4Ro &feature=g-upl