James Ellis Media Blog

Monday 29 March 2010

question 7

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

Looking back even though i enjoyed my final result of my school magazine, i much more preffered making the music magazine because the style of the magazines were different and after making the school magazine, i knew how to work photoshop better making me be able to do better effects.






The difference between the two task was i rushed the preliminary task , i mainly just added text and took photos.This was wrong because to make a succesful magazine you have to take care and time to get it perfect for consumer, so when making Faze i took more time with my photoshoots ,which took me three different Shoots to get the right images.For my music magazine i had to look at existing products to see what works in the publication industry.


Sunday 28 March 2010

question 6

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












To take my photos for my magazine at first i used a normal samsung digital camera to take the photos, what i found were the images were not crisp where the camera was hand held , so my handy must have been shaking.I then used my friends sony digital S.L.R camera using his tripod aswell the result of this was the images were much better and the camera had smart technology to adjust focus just before the picture gets taken.









Adobe Photoshop is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception(in contrast to mere enhancement or correction).To create my magazine i used this software.

At first when i was doing my preliminary task i found it hard to use photoshop, but after a period of time i learnt how to manipulate images and use the layers.To learn how to do this i used videos on youtube , where people posted all different effects to do. It allowed me to input text to my magazine ,giving me the choice to use certain effects like drop shadow which you will see in my contents page .The best manipulation i did for my magazine was putting the hand over the models eye, to do this i used the clone stamp, first cloning the eye then painting it over on to the models hand.

Below is an example of photoshop manipulation with me using the clone stamp.












This website gave me access to a database of fonts , which i would then use for my magazine .I found it easy to use and download because the website catergorised their fonts in to style , making it easy for me to search for the right font.





I also used this interactive service to display all my work.It has been used to show how i have created my end product and to look at other magazines for research.








question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?



As my magazine is indie rock , its main competition would be NME which is a well established magazine in the market already.However i have two things that the magazine wont be able to compete with.

My magazine is aimed at both sexes giving NME readers a choice to pick my magazine instead.NME mainly targets men so because my magazine equally targets both genders , Faze would provide more reading material for girls then what they would get in NME.

Another advantage i could have to attract my audience is the fact my magazine will be brand new compared to NME which first issue was published 7th March 1952, my audience might pick my magazine over NME , because they are ready for a new brand, they could be getting bored of the style brand of NME.
The double page spread attracts the reader with the quote "it's important to choose what makes you happy" . It allows the audience to see what the article is about before reading it. If they enjoy the quote, it will encourage them to read the rest of the article.The photo sets the mode of address which is serious , the artist is focused on reader with serious facial expression drawing them in to the article and showing them a glimpse of the content.

question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience of my magazine are males and females aged 16-25.I want a unisex audience , to get this my magazine would have both male and female artists featured in the magazine and i would make the magazine more versatile by including articles, which both genders would like.I also used a basic colour scheme , and chose to not use stereotypical colours for a specific gender e.g pink for females.The audience for my magazine are indie style and to make my product fit them ,i have included gigs, style and live music references.I mainly listen to this style of music and because i am in the age group of my taget audience i feel i would be able to relate the magazine to the consumer.

In popular music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, do it yourself approach to recording and publishing.



This is the style my audience will wear and like to see in the magazine.Smart casual look with the blazer ,tie and skinny jeans or the check shirt and ray bans retro glasses.

Socio economic groups




The typical Faze reader would be;

A male or female who like to dress indie,even though they havent got a lot of money , they would care about their appearance potraying a smart look.They are socially aware of the top bands (using magazine to check this ) liking to keep uptodate with the latest trends.They would purchase their clothes from vintage shops, always in search for a bargain, however appreciate high street clothes from Urban Outfitters , zara and Topshop.Their main hobby would be going to gigs or festivals enjoying them with groups of friends.