FINAL PRODUCTS

How My Media Product Uses, Develops or Challenges Forms and Conventionsof Real Media Products

"The similarity in the masthead may attract my audience because they may associate the indie genre of the NME with my magazine this means that the conventions I the NME show through my magazine through the black, yellow and red colour scheme and the use of font such as arial and franklin gothic bold. 

The image represents a mellow indie artist because of the use of the guitar prop and because of the clothing, as explained in my post about how my product represents social groups. Also the area surrounding the double page spread picture of the abandoned factory is shown similarly in a lot of indie photo-shoots.

What Media Institution Would Distribute My Product

These are some of the brands that the Baeur media group cover distribute. This appeals to me as they cover several existing products which I used as influences for my own magazine such as Q. As magazines such as Q and Kerrang are very popular magazines worldwide, this shows that Bauer are a successful institution.

With more than 60 iconic media brands, IPC creates content for multiple platforms, across print, online, mobile, tablets and events. As the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher they engage with 26 million UK adults - almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of men. They also have an award winning portfolio of websites which reach over 25 millions users globally every month. They are committed to working in partnership with its consumers, advertisers, business partners and employees to deliver exceptional value,                                                                                         service, innovation and creativity. 

I think that IPC Media would be a good institution to distribute my magazine because they have a huge fan base and reach their target audience in many different formats. Therefore my magazine would be accessible across the globe and a widespread of individuals. 

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

What I Have Learned About Technologies

My knowledge of how to produce this magazine was gained by various YouTube sources, such as:

I used this source to learn how to cut out my image as shown below. 

I started by using the quick selection tool to cut the model out, after I zoomed in and used the rubber to make the edges smoother.

This is the image before I manipulated it. there were dark shadows below and around the eyes.

I altered the colour of this image so that the model's skin is lighter and the uneven darkness on her skin is manipulated so that it appears more smooth. I used the clone stamp tool to achieve this. I also used the spot healing brush to remove the blemishes.

I used a wordcloud website in the production of this logo, along with the use of the rasterising tool so the text curves around the logo. I learned how to use this website from a peer.

I used this image as a secondary image on the front cover. I thought the strap at the upper side of the image looked strange on the cover. so I used the clone stamp tool to remove it.

This is the image after the editing. I used this YouTube source to learn how to do this:

When I first used this secondary photo on my front cover it didn't have a black stroke around the outside so it looked like this...

The reason I used the stroke is because I didn't like the harsh edges. I experimented with different shadows around the edge and I found, through trial and error, that the stroke tool was the most appropriate for the image.

To achieve the look of this logo I used the rasterise tool to lift the edges with a script font. 

I decided to use this because it would stand out as a logo among the standard, bold text. 

Before the creation of this media product I didn't know how to use the rasterise tool. I found out via different web based sources such as a youtube tutorial and various websites.

For the masthead I used the text tool to arrange the text closer together. I did this so it looked more conventional and I liked how the R joins with the A.

I chose the positioning of the text behind the model’s head because this is conventional for magazines such as NME and KERRANG of which I used ideas from.
I learned how to do this by trial and error, and I found that if i put the image of my model on top of the layer of the masthead it would have this overlapping effect.

I used the polygonal lasso tool to draw the outline of the triangle. i then used the fill tool to fill in the colour. I thought it was effective how it connects to the skyline corner. I used this tool for accuracy so that the triangle wouldn't have any jagged edges.

Go Animate

I used Go Animate to broaden my use of media for this evaluation. I used this online source to create a strong visual/audio response.  This was also effective because it meant that I could edit the response of the characters in the video to sum up the points in thirty seconds as apposed to a real interview which may have taken much longer. This clip is also more interesting and interactive than if I was to Write an essay or use a survey.

How I Attracted My Audience

Firstly, I reseached norms and values that an "indie person" may posses. I found and an extract from an article that sums up indie culture:
"It’s not about what you listen to or what you wear, but instead why you do. Basically, an indie person does not need to listen to mainstream music or wear name brand close to be content. They alternatively care more why they do whatever it is they do. They care why they buy something beyond its materialistic value. They care about why they are drawn to a particular song on a deeper level. Again, this is not to say indie people do not wear brands or do not listen to mainstream music. Rather, indie people don’t really care if something they like is mainstream or branded. They like it simply for what it is without the added societal value." 

The parts of this extract I used for my magazine were the values of the Artist on the page himself, such as the quotations which would appeal to my audience, such as the quote: "I've always been better off by myself, so I'm leaving the band" this links to the part of the extract: "an indie person does not need to listen to mainstream music or wear name brand close to be content. They alternatively care more why they do whatever it is they do". The word indie is derived from the word "independent". this means that indie people don't follow the crowd or conform to social norms. this quote from my magazine front cover expresses this which may attract my audience. 

Furthermore, Indie people are usually against popular culture and prefer to 'do their own thing' and are usually portrayed as stubborn, however down to earth and well mannered. This clip on youtube portrays indie people accurately in my opinion.

http://youtu.be/keJfC3PJQzw

Who would be the audience for your media product?

A4 information that profiles your audience Post a video interview with a typical member of your audience.

My Indie-Folk Magazine

Consumer                                          Percentage

 

Male                                       54%   

Female                                   46%

 

16-20                                      30%

21-30                                      40%

31-40                                      25%

41-64                                      4%

65+                                         1%

 

Matt is a 23 year-old musician who loves to play, listen to and read about indie folk music. His weekly rituals are buying GAIN magazine and finding out his favorite artist’s upcoming gigs, guitar playing techniques and how to "make it" in the music industry. He also loves finding out about new bands and their sounds.

Matt likes a good range of music. He likes that the bands he discovers in GAIN magazine because the genres are fresh and original. 

Audience Gender

I think the gender ratios of my audience are an accurate reflection of the style of music of the magazine. The music generally has a strong meaning and is very emotionally attaching which may mean that it would appeal to women. whereas if the genre of my magazine was heavy metal the ratio would be closer towards appealing more to men. However I think the music appeals equally to both genders as there are many different types of indie music ranging from mellow to hardcore. Women usually favor mellow to dynamic indie music rather than hardcore because of the general presence of strong meanings in the songs.

Example of Female indie music fans

1)Mellow--------------1.5)---------------2)dynamic---------------2.5)-------------3)hardcore

1)   this is an example of mellow indie music- usually with no distinctive rhythm or beat. generally the most lyrically influenced indie music. More mellow music tends to contain unusual instruments such as xylophones, banjos, mandolins and ukuleles. Indie women tend to favor this sub-genre.

2) This is an example of dynamic indie music- tends to be catchy with a good chorus and a good beat. More like pop music. however it still has aspects of originality and quirkiness. This tends to appeal to a mixture of both genders because the meanings of the songs tend to be more powerful and in most cases less emotive.





3) This is an example of hardcore indie music- generally has screaming in it and is heavily influenced by heavy, complicated and fast drumbeats and distorted guitar melodies. sometimes it will be fused with dance music containing synthesised, electronic sound. This sub-genre mostly appeals to men because of the explosive nature of the music.


Summary 
My media product appeals to wide range of people from both genders and, being influenced by the NME, would have a lot of different sub-genres of indie music in the content of the magazine. Indie Music is reasonably current, and has evolved from the 1980s up to 2014 and present day, so I think my audience chart is a good representation of the consumers because it has a wide range of readers.


Photos I've taken who represent my audience

These are some of the unused images and cast for my music magazine:

How does your Media Product Represents Particular Social Groups