Final eval

Evaluation 7

After looking back at my preliminary front cover I feel I have drastically improved my skills on photoshop and photography in general, resulting in a more professional looking production. It is clear that my preliminary task looks childish and ridiculous as compared to a more professional looking product mainly due to the colours, fonts and layout of the text. I have learnt that a successful magazine needs to look a lot more professional.

Furthermore I had not carried out any research whatsoever prior to completely the preliminary task, meaning I was unaware of what was actually expected and required of a finished product. I also had no knowledge of websites such as "dafont" which allow for an extreme amount of variation of choice in terms of magazine conventions that could be used.

My contents page preliminary task stands out in particular, especially when compared to the contents page of my finished production. On it's own it looks amateurish but when compared to my finished contents page it is brought to light just how messy and incomplete it actually is.

Researching into magazines has given me a very strong idea of what magazines actually look like which I believe has been well reflected within my production. I believe I have grasped a strong concept on how real magazines are made, laid out and what is expected within the real world.

My preliminary contents page is also very basic and does not show the conventions of a real media product, much like the cover. Once again, no research was carried out so I had a very limited idea of what to do for this task. I created my preliminary contents page on photoshop but only had a vague idea of how to carry out the basic processes that photoshop allows. The colour is very bland and the general look is not very aesthetically pleasing. It is very boring to look at and does not meet the requirements of my target audience.

On the other hand, my final contents page has a professional look as my skills of using photoshop had developed over the time period I was creating my magazine. I had also researched into pre-existing music magazines so my knowledge had been widely broadened since the preliminary task. The images used on the real media product reflect how my skills have developed and improved since producing the preliminary task.

Evaluation 6

Evaluation 6

When starting my magazine I had very little in terms of knowledge and experience regarding the use of any photo editing software and blogging websites. I had never actually made a blog before and neither had I looked at many. In addition to this the only real experience I have had with photoshop was  during the preliminary task. Processes such as inserting text were quickly picked up, however things such as manipulating text to change the way it looks took a little time experimenting with to get right. The most heavily manipulated text I used was for my title. I used blogger to document the research I did into target audience and conventions of magazines similar to the one I had in mind as well as to record the surveys I conducted across random students in my college. I also posted pictures from the photoshoots I conducted as well as the history of particular magazines relevant to my magazine.

By using various types of technology it has shown me how technology has changed over the past couple of years which allows me to do a lot more things regarding editing, producing, documenting and presenting my work.

Digital technology is really easy to collect a wide range of Media. It is fast, and efficient to collect things like photos and video, and because of technology improving all the time, it produces high quality content quickly. Digital technology is also good as it is much more portable, meaning that you are not restricted to one location. You can record things in a variety of place, therefore making your content a lot more interesting.

 I used photoshop to create the front cover, contents page and edit the photographs I took. I decided to use photoshop as it has various advanced tools that would be helpful in the process of production. I had very limited knowledge and experience using photoshop so I developed a lot of skills whilst constructing the product and I now feel I can use photoshop effectively to a reasonable standard.

The little experience I had with photoshop I gained through GCSE media, meaning I was previously aware of a few tools. Because of this I felt creating a magazine may be easier for me to do rather than a radio extract or film trailer. I found photoshop really useful when editing my photos and i used tools such as the level editor to adjust the lighting and colour of my photograph. I also found it helpful in making parts of my magazine stand out more, such as the Title and Subheadings, which I used a drop shadow on.


I also used publisher in order to create my double page spread. This is because it handles large groups of text far better than photoshop does. This seemed like a good choice as publisher aligns text properly, make it look tidier and more organised on the page, essential for a double page spread.I have furthered my knowledge of this software as it has allowed me to use tools I had no idea about to help create the double page spread.

To create my titles and subheadings I decided that I need to find more aesthetically complexed fonts as the fault library on adobe and microsoft softwares are not varied enough. To do this I found a site called dafont.com. This websites gave me access to thousands of different fonts, all categorized under different descriptive words. These categories allowed me to easily find fonts suitable for the type of magazine I was creating, so i may use this in the future if I have any need for ornate fonts in any production tasks I may be required to complete.

I used 2 different cameras for the images I used in my magazine; a canon DSLR ESO 1100D to make my main images and a Kodak EasyShare DX6490 to take the small extra font cover images. I already had a bit of knowledge about DSLR cameras from experience but by using these cameras I have developed my knowledge of lighting. These cameras were appropriate to use as they gave me photographs of high quality

Blogger was probably the one piece of technology that I learned the most about. Beforehand, blogger was something completely unknown to me. It is the site that I used to document my progress and ideas throughout my coursework and has proven to be rather handy in keeping track of my progress as I got later into the AS year. At first the site seemed strange due to my lack of experience with blogs, however, by this stage I have managed to get a firm grasp on how it works. It is now almost 2nd nature to me. The tool I found most useful on blogger was the autosave feature as this saved my work on a couple of separate occasions where my laptop had crashed.

One of the most vital pieces of tech I had at my disposal was the internet, primarily the use of Google. I used google in order to research many aspects of my coursework as well as for finding examples of real life magazines, target audience research, information about distributors and much more.

Evaluation 5

Evaluation 5

To attract my target audience I had to think of elements that would appeal to them. I gathered from my model, who fits my target audience profile, that I would have to include real artists within the specified music genres and feature them at some point during the magazine. I chose to reference bands and big names such as The Big 4, Iron Maiden's bassist Steve Harris, Opeth, Black Spiders and Airbourne. Another element I include was the advertisement of a competition to win a Line 6 Amplifier. I figured that as many of my target audience would play instruments the inclusion of instrumental equipment would work well in conjunction with other magazine conventions to attract said target audience to buying the magazine.

Evaluation 4

Evaluation 4

This is Joe.

I chose Joe as one of my models for the magazine as he fits into the target demographic. He listens to the music that my magazine is based around. He also wears clothing that is associated with the music genres (the leather jacket he is seen wearing actually belongs to him). His favourite band momentarily is the AD/DC inspired Hard Rock band Airbourne but also listens to bands such as Slayer, Metallica and 3 Inches Of Blood thus acting as a common link between their respective music genres (All hard rock or a sub-genre of metal such as Thrash or Death). He likes television programmes such as Scuzz as they heavily feature the music he likes as well as Horror films, which also have an excessive use of his music tastes; music found in my mag. Notable horror films that exercise the use of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal are the Resident Evil Franchise, featuring artists such as Slipknot and DevilDriver.

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 3

Future are a media distribution company are large media distribution company (Like Bauer but not as large) who appear to specialise in special interest magazines. They publish magazines such as Official Xbox, Total Film and Metal Hammer, which both appeal to their own specialised audience.

 "Future sells 3.2 million magazines every month; we attract more than 23 million unique visitors to our websites; and we host 27 annual live events that attract hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts" - From the companies own website.

Future expand their brands through the use of websites. Here are some of their listed: musicradar.com
revolvermag.com
metalhammer.co.uk
guitar world.com

They also host live annual events such as Metal Hammer Golden God Awards, Metal Hammer Live Tours, Mayhem Fest and Classic Rock Roll of Honour.

I feel Future would be an appropriate distribution company for my music magazine as they specialise in special interest magazines, which I think applies to my mag. They also have talent for expanding magazines such as Metal Hammer by creating relevant events for the magazine as well as the magazines own website as seen above. My magazine also deals with hard rock and not just metal which acts as a filler in the market as they do not appear to have a magazine that includes hard rock (as Metal Hammer is exclusively metal). This means that my magazine could compete with Bauer's Kerrang! mag.

I also came across IPC media. It produces over 60 music brands including NME, a magazine I have directly researched and analysed (as it is a rock magazine). It reaches over 26 million people in print alone and is therefore very influential to UK music.

I also found that iPad and iPhone versions of the magazine are available through it's publisher. I thought it'd be a very good idea to have a similar version of KRUNCH available on such a platform as my target audience are young and very likely to be very familiar in using gadgets such as these. NME is available in this format, however, Kerrang! is not which leaves a large gap in terms of market for fans that may wish to read a music magazine based on my selected music genres on their phones. This is a quicker way of accessing a magazine without having to go into a news agents to purchase one. On the other hand, audience members may not have a hard copy of the magazine, which would be seen as a downside to collectors.

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I also looked at Bauer Media. This larger institution produces over 300 magazines in over 15 countries, as well as T.V, radio and online. Some magazines that they publish include Kerrang! and MOJO. My magazine is heavily influenced by and resembles Kerrang!. The target audience and music styles of each magazine carry numerous similarities and as a result, I felt Future was a better suited publishing company as there would then be competition on the market for Kerrang!.

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 2

My media product represents particular social groups (rockers and metal heads) through the models used in my magazine. My models can be seen wearing numerous items of clothing that can be associated with metal heads and rockers. The most obvious of these are leather jackets and jeans (Denim, skinny etc). Each of my models is wearing at least 1 item of these clothes. Props also help to present these particular social groups as they are holding instruments. It is very typical for members of these social groups to play instruments and so I felt having instruments present in these shots would be an adequate convention to help represent said social groups. My models are also present with extreme hair styles (surprise surprise, something else that is typical of rockers and metal heads). They either have spikey and volumatic hair or really long hair which help to provide them with the general rugged look associated with the social groups they are representing. The main cover photo. The angle of my cover photo is also at a lower angle. This helps to represent my main model as quite a dominating character, common in the social group as it is almost like a patriarchy with misogynistic lyrics featuring in the music which mainly revolve around sex.

My magazine is mainly inspired by Metal Hammer. Metal Hammer's target audience is a Niche audience.

• 64% male.
• Median age of 22.
• Average income of a reader is £22,100.
• A reader, on average, has been buying for a year and 3 months, showing dedication to the magazine.
• Target at people who enjoy sub-genres of metal.
• Adverts effective with readers buying 59% of products & services.
• 46% if readers play guitar and 45% are involved in music in some way (for pleasure at home, shows laid back nature, relates to band members playing instruments).

Metal Hammer targets it's audience by having metal music involved in their magazine with adverts and information associated with this type of music. They also offer a wide variety of products:

• Newsletters
• Metal Hammer podcasts
• Rock/metal nights out
• Voting polls
• Competitions
• Mobile apps

Metal Hammer targets it's niche audience through the offer of free gifts with every issue, often in the format of CDs or posters. Different bands feature on the cover of every issue which may attract different individuals to buy the magazine depending on their preferred artists but general the audience stays the same.

Metal Hammer provides a frequent podcast where writers will talk about any news within the metal community and the current bands that are in the hotspot. They also provide a smart phone app which is kept up to date and allows subscription to the magazine from the mobile phone platform. NME radio station also gives them a slot for their own radio show.

Metal Hammer has a habit of taking on a comically cynical/sarcastic tone but is also informative at the same time. Metal fans often criticise the likes of other music genres so this tone of address somewhat appeals to them. Some parts of Metal Hammer can be comically immature (as the audience is very laid back) such as the viewer write in sections where individuals can reply to their letters with great cynicism. However articles tend to be informative, unbiased and mature.

Metal Hammer is widely considered as one of, if not, the most popular heavy metal and hard rock magazines of it's time, overtaking NME in terms of circulation figures. The magazines cover everything from news on current artists, new up-coming artists and guitar history.

The brand values of Metal Hammer are generally mature, clever and unbiased towards bands. They are open to new ideas but only to those which conform. They are often cynical and immature but, as previously mentioned, in a fun/comical way.

Circulation appears to be at an all time high for Metal Hammer magazine, according to The Guardian. It is apparent that circulation has increased from 44,000 in 05 to over 54,000 in 2011.

The website for Metal Hammer is ranked 8597th in the UK with it's core traffic being males ages 18-24 in college or higher education, browsing from work and have no children. The website reaches roughly 0.027% of global internet users.

Here is a link to Matt Heafy on Where Metal Is Going as of 2013. He criticises pop/rap music and the use of dance music in conjunction with metal.

Evaluation 1

Evaluation part 1

1) My product utilises and develops conventions of real media products in a number of ways. One of these is through the title of my magazine. Due to choosing to create a hard rock/metal music magazine, I decided to use an aggressive looking font which almost reflects the image of blood. I decided to colour the title red like pre-existing magazines such as Metal Hammer. Another point about my title is the fact that it is called "KRUNCH". Krunch is an example of onomatopoeia, a literary technique in which the word sounds like it's described action. Krunch is a harsh sounding word, so I chose it to reflect the heavy and distorted sound of the music that my magazine is based around.

The costumes and props used are reflective of items associated with the typical target audience of my magazine. The use of leather jackets and guitar in the main cover shot are not only associated with the music genres I've chosen, but also associated with the characters of the relevant social group (Rockers, metal heads, etc)

I have also used a number of live shots, taken at concerts I have been to myself and taken the photos myself at. These shots exercise a use of mise-en-scene (featuring amplifiers, stage lights, instruments and conventional clothing) to portray a particular image associated with the target audience/social groups. This image is the scene of concerts and live gigs. The live shots also show conventional characters often seen within the hard rock and heavy metal scene in both the UK and US.

The people seen in across the photos used in my magazine are very typical of the music styles I have chosen (as previously stated). They exercise some if not all of the above, fitting them comfortably into the social category. They compare reasonably well to images of others from their social category I have found on the internet despite the age gap between my models and the internet images.

My magazine suggests the chosen music style(s) mainly through the use of everything said above. Everything either directly relates to the music genre or reflects elements and conventions used in/associated with the music genre.

The written content in my magazine also makes use of a lot of starred out curse words. I believe this well reflects the attitude often attached to the followers of the magazine's music styles. Some of the text also directly references things only people of the music genre would recognise such as "The Big Four", a group of 4 bands (Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth) which together are the biggest names in Thrash Metal. 

 

Finally my contents page makes use of many of the previously listed conventions. It mainly exercises the use of odd fonts for titles that are seen in magazines such as Metal Hammer as well as models that fit into the stereotypical characters of hard rock and heavy metal.