Written Evaluation Question 7

Knowledge about software for prelim task to final.
When I first started my prelim task I didn’t really know what to do on photoshop, and I found quark quite hard as well but as I got further into my project it became a lot easier and I could use more applications

Knowledge about magazine conventions from prelim to final.
When I started my prelim task I didn’t really understand what I was suppose to put on my magazine, but as I got closer to my final task it became more clear to me and I understood in a lot more.


Importance of planning and drafting from prelim to final.
When I made my prelim task I made a small plan but it wasn’t too good but I though it wouldn’t matter too much, however it made a big difference not having one, so when I made my final produce I made a very well made plan.

Importance of feedback from others in helping you create your final ideas.
I had some help from friends mainly changing my masthead from hardcore hip hop to hip hop nation; this helped a lot as it made my magazine a lot better.

Evaluation for media magazine.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When I was making my front cover I was basing it on a hip-hop magazine front cover called TRUE. I had the ideas from this magazine, then picked the parts I liked and transferred them into my magazine, changing small details. I have created this magazine to be read by a niche audience (hip hop) I thought of colours that I could use which were, silver, blue, orange, red, black and white. I though these would represent a hip hop magazine well. Then I had to chose a font style, I found this quite hard as I wanted something that was quite rough and not smooth on the corners and I wanted the writing in all capitals as it would look more intimidating which I think is represented in nearly all hip hop magazines. I wanted to use a few different colours on the text like in the other magazine TRUE; this would make the reader see all the subheading, as they are clear and stand out from the page. When I was taking my photo I didn’t want it to look like the picture in TRUE, I positioned Andy (the person on my front cover) with his arm crossed and his head slightly tilted away but still having his eyes on the camera, I wanted him to do this so he would look more intimidating, also I wanted him to wear that shirt because it doesn’t make him look all innocent. I though this would make him look stereotypical of a hip hop styled star. I decided to have the free posters at the bottom, as this is a very good way of dragging the reader’s attention, as they think they are getting something free. This would make them more likely to buy the magazine. I tested a lot of fonts to try to find the best one for my masthead, as the masthead is the first thing a reader looks at. I started with my masthead as Hardcore Hip Hop and later changed it to Hip Hop Nation because I thought it would stay in the reader’s head better therefore making them remember it so they might talk about it to friends or family helping to sell the magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I think it represents hip-hop singers and stars in a very stereotypical way just like the rest of the hip-hop magazines do. I think I have produced pictures that would help show the reader that this is a hip-hop magazine, as Andy is dressed in a stereotypical hip-hop style. I believe people that would buy this type of magazine would dress in a similar way, I think this because they would see hip-hop stars and see them as an ideal self, therefore they would dress like them. The media has meditated peoples views on how they see people, this is so it is easier for people to recognise something that they like, for example someone who likes hip-hop and wants to buy a music magazine wouldn’t have to look for ages because the hip-hop magazine would be stereotypically different and the buyer would know what he is looking for. Also I think the picture represents stereotypical hip-hop fans in the way he is behaving, for example he has got his arms crossed, this is a very defensive action which shows he isn’t too friendly, and he is pouting, this would also show he is trying to look big or special compared to other people, which I think social groups that like hip-hop would act and behave like.


What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As a independent company I think the magazines would be sold on a small basis, the magazine wouldn’t be advertised on the radio or television as it would be too expensive, it would be sold to small store and magazine shops, the main way this magazine would get viewers to hear about the magazine would be by readership where someone would buy the magazine and pass it on to a friend or family member. It would also get seen by the public on the internet, as there would be a website, (www.hiphopnation.co.uk) but there would also be posters advertising the magazine and leaflets that would be handed out and posted to people, this would be the best way for the company to make money as it doesn’t have enough money to advertise on the television and radio.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience are 70 per cent males and 30 per cent females, males would be more interested in this genre of music Hip Hop, but there are a lot of females that like this genre. The age group would be from 16 to 25 year olds. The boys would be stereotypically interested in lots of fashion assertors like cap hats, baggy jeans, and baggy hoodies. Also they would probably be interested in sports like football or American football. Girls would also be very interested in fashion but they wouldn’t be dressed in the same way as girls in a Hip Hop magazine. Whereas boys would dress like the Hip Hop stars girls would not. They would probably be quite outgoing and adventurous.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I advertised my magazine on chat websites like bebo and facebook, as people that go on these websites are stereotypically interested in hip-hop music. I also advertises in shop windows with posters and also handed out leaflets so that more people will see the magazine and it may convince them to buy it.

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

I have learnt a lot about media, mainly about camera work and hope to take a perfect picture, I have learnt how to control the focus, zoom and how to arrange people within the photo well. I also found out a lot about photoshop, I found it hard to start with, but as I worked with it a few times I got a lot better and learnt how to produce a better final product. Quark was easier to pick up I thought, I though after using photoshop I could find how to do stuff more easily as the set up was quite similar.

final Double Page Spread

Final Contents Page

Final Front Cover

Pictures Used On Contents Page

Pictures Used On Front Cover

Pictures Used On Double Page Spread

My Magazine Draft

Font Ideas

Glossary Of Terms for Magazine

Masthead: 

This is the main name of the magazine, this will help people to find your magazine if they know about it. This could be a name and a picture.

The Lead: 

The introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals. This is the main paragraph that will stand out compared to the rest of the subheading, it is normally introducing the magazine of artist. The Body copy always refers to the writing in your articles, which should be made to an industries standard, the standards would be using certain font sizes and proper English spelling ect.

Cross Head: 

This is when there is small sub-heading that are used to separate big sections of text.

Borders:

 This is the gaps between the edges of the page and the article or picture.

Gutters: 

The gaps between the columns of text.

Leading:

 The gaps between all the lines of text.

Kerning: 

This is the space between all letters.

Strap Lines: 

This is a smaller headline that is above the main masthead or headline.

Drop Capitals:

 These are the big letter, that are at the beginning of articles.

White Space: 

This is when the page has white space on the page not including pictures of texts.

Mode Of Address:

 This is how the magazine draws in the readers and audiences 

Sell Lines:

 This is normally big text, it is used to make the reader want to buy the magazine for example in my magazine i have "your music is our music" it is used to help sell more copies of the magazine.

Banners: This is when there is text on a coloured background, this will help to make the words stand out making the reader notice it more.

Anchorage: 

This is when a picture will help make the text more understandable or believable, or when the text makes the picture more understandable or believable.

House Style: 

This is when a magazine is made purposely to make another competitors magazine look worse making people buy this magazine. 

By-lines:

 This is the name of the person that took the pictures or the name of the person that wrote the article within the magazine.

The Five Rules Of Photography

1- Animating all the people involved.

you need to make sure that all the people in the photo are looking at the camera. also you need to make sure that there facial expressions and body language are how you want them.

2- Don't use High angle shots.

High angle shots are not good to be used on a front cover, they will always look poor, making the magazine look bad. However they are fine to use in your double page spread.

3- Positioning of photo.

When you add your photo to your front cover you should have left room for your masthead and subtitles, you should also make sure that you never cut the persons head of the top of the magazine.

4- single artist shot.

if you are using a single artist for your front cover you should make sure that the shot is a medium close up, otherwise the photo will look out of shape. 

5- Band artist shot.

you should always make sure that the lead singer of the band is clearly shown in the picture, you should always have them at the front or have them in the center of the front cover. this will make it easier for the reader to know who the lead singer is.

my Magazine First Draft (Not My Pics)

Interview For Double Page Spread

 Interview.

 Who influenced you to start singing when you were young?

Funnily enough as a youngster I use to listen to all kind of music my main hero was a combination of Bob Marley and David Bowie, it has nothing to do with the music genre now, in my late teens I started listening to Snoop Dog and Akon they were my main idols. I didn’t have a particular favourite; I just liked all of it.

How did you find making your new album (Strangled Help)?

I though it was brilliant, my album before was good to make, but I knew the people and got on well with them more with the new album, I also think the music is better so I was happier with the end product. It’s in the best new releases so im really happy about that at the moment. It was brilliant to make but you have no idea how hard it was to think of a title it took me about a week of thinking. But I finally decided to name the album after my favourite song.

What songs do you enjoy singing the most?

My favourite song is “Strangled Help” I don’t really know why, but I really like the background beat and the words are so suited for the song. I do like all the songs though the whole album is really good. I did it on stage and it was the best song I’ve ever done it was brilliant.

What is your favourite song that you have made?

“Believe” it was my favourite we made because we were recording for the video and it was quite a comical video, that’s also on the at end of the album, to make the video we went to a studio in New York where we filmed on top of a sky scraper. It was amazing. 

Are you considering any concerts this year?

We have got a few lined up in England, where in Sheffield, Nottingham, Newcastle and Liverpool, I can’t wait to get to Liverpool, I have lots of fans there I’ve been told. I also want to get to the O2 arena that would be a special moment for me.

Who would be your favourite singer to sing with?

I think it would have to be Akon, he has made some really good songs recently and it would be the highlight of my career, but im too big time for Akon, no honestly I would love to work with him. I would really enjoy working with snoop dog as well but Akon would be my number one. 

What are you planning to do next?

Hopefully im going to be having a year off, I’ve been working full time for nearly 6 years and I really need a break, I’ve planned to go travelling with a few of my friends, but after Im making another album, I cant get enough of music. 

Did your background and pears influence your choice of music?

Yes I was always interested in all kinds of music but when I moved up to college I meet new people and probably changed my views on music, I very grateful for them changing my opinion.

Other than your own music who do you enjoy listening to?

Wow again I like loads, im quite into 50 cent at the moment I’ve just bought his album and really like it, but I always listen to my music so I don’t get much chance to listen to any other. There is loads really I use to listen to Nelly’s album all the time, I use to think that was the bees knees.

What was the proudest moment in your life in the music industry?

I’ve got to say the first time I saw my album on the shelf in the shop, I mean I was happy when I first realised it, but it really hit me when I saw it on the shelf , on sale next to T-Pains Album, in best new releases section. 

What was the first song you ever wrote?

Me and my friends wrote a song whilst we were at college, it was called “Big Beat” it was honestly quite good but my friends didn’t want to carry on making songs, so I joined another agency, im really proud of my self for perusing my dream but I would have rather don’t it with my friends.  

Are you touring any where this year?

Not this year, but I’ve been organizing a tour in America form February till around end of September so I really can’t wait to start that. Hopefully after I’ve been on tour ill have more fans and be able to feature in more song with other famous singers. Hopefully.

Did you ever go to see any concerts, and if so which was the best?

I’ve been to see a lot of concerts, Akon, T-Pain, Snoop Dog, and I really wanted to go to see 50 cent but I couldn’t get a ticket. My favourite has got to be T-Pains, it was amazing, I was right on the front so I was like 5 meters away from him and it was brilliant. That was the only time I got a really good space to watch the concerts so that might be why it was the best.

Do you think your music represents yourself within it?

I think so, I am quite a short tempered person, I don’t really get aggressive a lot but sometimes if I’m in a bad mood I’ve been told I’m not a good person to be around. When making a video or taking a photo I am shown as an up front aggressive person so hopefully my stage character isn’t been shown in my own personality. The music its self does I think represent me, as I do have quite a lot of input into what goes on.

Do you have any regrets about your career so far?

Not really, I wish I could have convinced my friend to stay with me but, I might not have made a name for my self if I stayed with them so I am very happy at the moment, I’m more of a person that looks forward that backward, so the future is bright, the future is KID DD.

Treatment and Production.

Magazine Name: Hardcore Hip Hop
Team Participants: Sam Gouldsborough, Dale Furniss, Sam Needham, Thomas Hamshaw, Sean Beasley

I am going to make a niche music magazine called Hardcore Hip Hop, I would try to target people who are interested in the genre Hip Hop. I am going to take photos of some singers to add them into the magazine. Also I will be interviewing one of them to talk about on my double page spread.

My target audience are 70 per cent males and 30 per cent females, males would be more interested in this genre of music Hip Hop, but there are a lot of females that like this genre. The age group would be from 16 to 25 year olds. The boys would be stereotypically interested in lots of fashion assertors like cap hats, baggy jeans, and baggy hoodies. Also they would probably be interested in sports like football or American football. Girls would also be very interested in fashion but they wouldn’t be dressed in the same way as girls in a Hip Hop magazine. Whereas boys would dress like the Hip Hop stars girls would not. They would probably be quite outgoing and adventurous.

I am going to work with five people Dale Furniss, Sam Needham, Thomas Hamshaw, Sean Beasley I will be taking pictures of them all on there own because in Hip Hop magazines there inst many bangs or groups of singers, I am going to chose one picture to go on my front cover as the main talking point and one smaller picture to go into the bottom corner of the front cover, On my contents page I am going to have lots of pictures of different people as this would draw in more people and fans of the singers shown on the page, On the pictures I wouldn’t have the original background, they would be cut out and added to a background that I would make to fit to the magazines colour scheme. The people in my pictures would be wearing baggy cloths mainly, I would have them wearing baggy hoodies, baggy jeans and a baseball cap, I would vary the cloths that they all wore, for example they could wear an American football shirt, tank top or sometime you see a lot of suits been worn on music videos or other magazines.

When I take my picture I am going to be very careful on how they are stood, there facial expressions, how the cloths are fitted and weather there stance is right. All the pictures that I take for the front cover would be medium close up, on the contents page I would vary the photos, I would have a medium close up maybe a few close ups, I would add the pictures according to the way they compliment the magazine. When I take my pictures I would always make sure the person in the shot is looking at the camera, and I would only consider using pictures that are in perfect focus. I would make sure there is nothing behind them that could interfere with editing the picture and I would make sure that I don’t cut and body parts out of the picture.

To make my double page spread I would get a shot that would have the entire body in,
I would also make my article about an interview with one of the Hip Hop singers, I would ask serious questions mainly about there music and one or two about there personal life so people would get information about there music concerts and they personal life. I would style this article in the same way as I have the contents and the front cover, so it will stay in touch with the rest of the magazine.

If I was to use a high angle shot in my magazine, I would have to make sure that I am safe whilst I am standing on something, if I was stood on a chair I would make sure that there is someone holding my up so I wouldn’t fall and hurt myself, also I would make sure that the people in my photo shoot are safe in the way they are posed.

College Front Cover

My College Contents Page

example 4 of Hip Hop Magazine

example 3 of Hip Hop Magazine

example 2 of Hip Hop Magazine

Example 1 of Hip Hop Magazine

IPC Media and Bauer Essay

 IPC Media and Bauer Essay.

IPC Media is a massive company, it is owned by a conglomerate called Time inc. IPC is one of the leading UK companies publishing magazines. It is also split up into 5 different sections, IPC TX, IPC inspire, IPC Southbank, IPC ignite, and IPC Connections. Each section has it own role in making the companies success. These 5 sections employ over 2,200 people. IPC own around 80 different magazines, many of these are famous and well known, for example they own Nuts, Rugby World, Woman, Now, What’s on TV and Pick Me Up. Also they sell around 2.8 million copies of magazines in the weekly magazines for women. Almost two thirds of all women in the UK read an IPC magazine and just under half of the men, this totals up to around 26 million Adults in the UK.

 IPC also own NME which is their biggest selling magazine selling at around £2, NME also has the 3^rd largest music website in the United Kingdom. Mainly showing Indie bands (Kings of Leon) but are known as a mainstream magazine. Readership and circulation is a big part of magazine companies making money and comes in a lot with magazines as many people may not buy the magazine but may still read them, they could read it at a friends house, on a bus, or in waiting rooms. However NME isn’t making as much money as they use to as they are selling on average 64,000 copies of there magazine which is drastically lower than usual. This is bad Circulation. This has happened I think because people are sharing magazines (Readership) but they aren’t getting enough readers that are buying the magazines causing a decrease in sales. To promote there magazines they would sponsor festivals and big events like the Leeds festival for example, this would make people know about the magazine, but it would also be telling the people that are interested in the subjects and areas that NME show in there magazine.

Bauer is a multinational cross Media company who also are one of the leading magazine selling companies. The company originates from Germany. They own magazines like Kerrang, FHM, Zoo, Q, TV Choice, Closer Empire and many others, TV Choice sell on average 1,350,000 copies each week and it is the UK’s top selling magazine.

Kerrang is a niche magazine, this is so they target a specific audience for example Kerrang is Punk Rock, they also have a channel on the TV showing Punk Rock genre related music.  This is cross media ownership when a company uses synergy and comes together with another company to make more money, like Kerrang have made a music magazine and channel. This would make people that like Punk Rock buy this magazine instead of a mainstream magazine, or watch it on the TV instead of channels like TMF. Also if the reader like Punk Rock genre they would know that they would enjoy the magazine, whereas if they bought a mainstream magazine they may only enjoy reading a few pages. Lots of magazines make there money from advertising, but what they would advertise would be related to the genre of the magazine. For example In Kerrang (Punk Rock genre) they wouldn’t advertise football matches or make-ups because stereotypically people that like Punk Rock don’t like football of make up, so the advertiser wouldn’t make any money from advertising in this magazine.

 However in Q they would advertise lots of different things like men’s moisturisers, football matches and sports wear because of the wide range of people that read it, so therefore they would advertise popular subject. Q is another of Bauer’s famously known magazines, Q is a mainstream magazine, which targets nearly all music fans of all genres. The main few genres are Indie, Rock Hip Hop, Rap, R&B and Pop. This would therefore interest more people in buying the magazine.

Heavy Metal Magazine Cover

Hip Hop Magazine Cover

Pop Magazine Cover

Ideas For Front Cover

IDEAS.

IDEA 1

Title: POP STAR.
Connotations:
To make the reader know its POP music so you get the right audience
The star would make it sound more out going and big.
Target Audience: POP (Niche)
16-25 year olds,
Males & Females
Sub genre: POP


IDEA 2
Title: Unsettled
Connotations:
It shows a dark and unpleasant view.
Also isn’t a positive though or state.
Target Audience: Heavy Metal (Niche)
Males Mostly, Some Females.
16-30 years olds




IDEA 3
Title: Hardcore Hip Hop
Connotations:
The “hip hop” shows the readers which sub genre they are reading.
The “Hardcore” would show a style and influence the type of
genre inside and could exaggerate the amount of detail about
hip hop found within the magazine.
Target Audience: Hip Hop (Niche)
Males & Females
16-25 year olds

Double Page Spread Picture

Double Page Spread Analysis

Double Page Spread Analysis.
The people in the picture as shown in quite an aggressive way, for example they are all wearing dark coloured cloths, this would show the reader that they are quite gothic, also there face expressions are all aggressive as there is no one smiling. Also with the text underneath “were going to spit blood in your face” which I think goes with the expressions and body language of them all.

Also the people have been arranged in a curtain order as the main person is in the middle, you can tell he is important as he has his hands spread over the whole page nearly and because he is if front of them all. I think this shows he is leader. Also the other people in the picture all have at least a little bit of colour on there cloths or hair, whereas the lead man has black on and that’s it.

The heading in the top left saying news would make the reader more interested as it is an interesting title that makes the reader wants to know what the news is.

The text on the right hand side would be appealing to read if you knew the band or were interested in also it is only a small amount of writing in comparison to the whole article.

Contents Analysis Picture

Contents Analysis

Contents Analysis.
The top left picture shows the front cover of the magazine, this would help the reader to remember the name of the magazine so if they like it they would remember what to buy. Also it would remind the reader about an article within the magazine.

The paragraph at the side of the picture is giving a brief explanation of the magazine to keep the reader interested also it shows who the editor is.

In the top right there is the word contents, this would clearly show that this is the contents so you would know where to look if you wanted to find a specific article.

Also the main points are all in bright yellow, in yellow there are the page numbers of the best articles and ain headings. This would show the reader where to go to find the article the are interested in.

Underneath the contents there is a small section of an article which is “A Chinese girl’s skeleton? That would be crossing the line. It’s a Chinese boy for the record.” This is a very weird sentence which would make the reader wonder what it is about and probably make the reader read it.

Below the title “This Week” there is all the main page numbers and sub headings so you can find a certain article if you were looking for something in particular. These would be less important articles. The main articles are the articles on the main part of the page with the pictures, as pictures would draw the reader in more than lots of other worded advertising.

Front Cover Analysis Picture

Front Cover Analysis

Front cover Analysis.

This would make the reader wonder why life is loud and how they can make there life better or loud. Also the colour is different compared to the normal colours used on a metal music magazine.

The front stripe across the page at the top shows the special features with in the magazine, it shows the bands inside so fans of the bands would buy the magazine. Also the free poster would make people buy the magazine just for the posters. Also this is the only writing in red s it stands out compare to the rest of the titles.

The word Kerrang which is in bold the biggest word on the front cover, showing the magazines title.

The heading ‘Machine Head’ separates the body from the two men which would help show the reader that they are the band Machine Head. This is also on a slight angle this could show a kind of instability in there style. Also it’s showing one of the main articles in the magazine.

The two men in the picture are wearing black which is stereotypically metal and rock, also he looks as if he is shouting, which would show his rock or metal style of singing.

The free posters at the bottom that give titles of the bands and show pictures of the posters, this would help sell the magazine as they are again advertising the posters inside.

At the bottom right where it says plus in white with a bright red background arrow, this is draw the attention of the reader with the colour and therefore would make the reader read the below subtitles “within temptation, marilyn manson, alexisomfire, serj tankian, gallows,the used, atreyu, nofx” if the reader likes any of the bands or thinks there is something worth reading they might buy the magazine.