Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator, 

The brief for my AS Media coursework was to create a Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread for a new music magazine. I chose to do my music magazine for the indie music genre due to this being a genre I enjoy myself but also that it is becoming increasingly popular and therefore there is a greater demand for media products in this genre and a gap in the market for an indie music magazine.

In order for me to have a wide enough audience for there to always be a demand for my product I chose the target audience of males and females aged 14-17. I have been able to work well to create a magazine to suit this audience as I fall into the category I am targeting and I can consult my peers and get feedback from my target audience very easily.
I have used labels on my blog to make it easily navigable in order to find what you are looking for. 

Yours Sincerely,

Lucy Olivia De Cort, Edgbarrow School.

Candidate Number: 0097

Centre Number: 51111

Evaluation- Question 7

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

Evaluation- Question 6

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

During the process of creating the front cover, contents page and double page spread for my music magazine I used a large range of different technologies and I have discovered how each have pros and cons, how they impacted my final product and how well I worked with them.

Blogger-

Throughout the entire of our coursework I have had to use the Blogger software to upload my work and show my progress with each task. The software is very easy to work with and allows me to share my work with my teachers, peers and the moderators to get feedback on my work and then make changes. The fact that the software can have embedded videos, presentations and images helps make my posts more interesting and it easier for me to present my work. I was also able to access previous students blogs for inspiration and guidance when I was struggling on what to do or what direction to take my work. Blogger allows you to create drafts and then go back to post them when you like, this was helpful and allowed me to edit posts as I went along. Another good thing about Blogger is that I could label all of my posts so that it was easier for my teacher and the moderator to navigate my blog. The only problem I have faced with this software was during my research stage when there was an issue with the order my posts were going up. I managed to overcome this issue my reverting all my posts to drafts and then re-uploading them in the correct order.

Serif PagePlus X6 and X9-

During the very first part of our coursework we had to create a school magazine using the Serif PagePlus X6 software. At first I found it very difficult to figure out what tools I needed for each task I did and this slowed me down quite a bit. However by the time I had finished my prelim task I had mastered the basic techniques and created a simple magazine cover and contents. Trying out this software before we had to use it for our main task was very helpful as it increased my confidence going into the main construction part of our coursework and it helped me follow the codes and conventions of a magazine by being able to easily switch between the pages I was working on. Within this software I was also able to cut down images in the cutout studio and change fonts and text so that it fit the codes and conventions of real media products.

I also bought the software and installed it on my computer at home so I could continue work at home and sty up to date with my work. The only problem that I faced was that during our construction process there was an update and the school computers had changed from PagePlus X6 to PagePlus X9, this didn't cause too big an issue but I had to take some time out of my construction to convert all my pages so that I could continue work on them in the new updated software.

Internet explorer-

This technology was extremely useful and was my main media platform in the research, planning and evaluation section of my coursework as I needed the internet to access sites like Blogger to upload my posts, Prezi to present my planning and Google to do research on music magazines, publishers and target audience. I was able to find what I needed quickly and I could bookmark pages that I needed to go back to at later stages.

Prezi-

This software was very useful in my planning stage as I could group all of the sections of planning into one presentation that was quick and easy to use. It looks more interesting and is less conventional than Microsoft PowerPoint and so I opted to use this instead. Prezi was also very helpful in the fact that I could import images into my presentations so I could annotate my work very easily, I was also able to add titles to make to clear of what the presentation as about. I was also able to embed Prezi power points straight onto my blog posts very easily and tis made it easier for my teachers to see my progress and for the moderator to view my work. The only con of this software is that it is everyone's default from power point- meaning that it is so widely used that it isn't very 'alternative' anymore and so can be very boring to an examiner who must look through hundreds of similar presentations. This is why I only included a couple of Prezi power points in the entire of my media coursework.

Popplet-

I used Popplet in my evaluation section of my coursework to present my answers to an evaluation question. It was very easy to use and I could place my information in a wind map layout which made it like it almost flowed from one part of my answer to another. It was also vey easy to embed onto my blog and free to use. The only problem that I encountered with it was that I couldn't post images very easily but for the answer I presented it worked fine with just text.

Windows Paint-

This software was very helpful in my construction process as I was able to create an album cover for my artist that featured on the front cover and the double page spread. I learnt that it is very important to use your own images as I was going to use one I found off the internet of some trees yet my teacher told me that all images needed to be my own and so I took my own image and replace the one I had found with it. The software allowed me to do this quickly and easily.

Sony DSLR-

During the planning section of my coursework I had to take photos of my model to put in my magazine as my artist. I used a Sony DSLR camera as it allowed me to adjust focus, saturation and aperture and it was very precise. I was able to produce a large range of high quality images to choose from for my magazine and I had no problems with the camera as I had one of my friends who does photography help me out with working the camera. At our school I was able to book out a photography studio that has black and white backdrops and this allowed me to get an even bigger range of images. I learnt that by using a high quality camera I would get high quality images that would look good on my magazine cover as they would look more professional and closer to what real media products look like.

Phone Applications-

After taking my images is used apps on my phone to edit them to make them seem more professional. I used the app YouCam to edit out any blemishes from my models face and the app Photo Editor to clean up the images and play around with filters. I had no problems with these apps but they helped me and I learnt that good photo editing software can sometimes be free and that software like Photoshop isn't always necessary to get a good outcome.



Evaluation- Question 4 and 5

Who would be the audience for your product?
How would your product attract/address your audience?

Evaluation- Question 3

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

Evaluation- Question 2

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Evaluation- Question 1

In what ways does your media product develop, use or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Main Construction- Final Draft

Front Cover

Contents Page



Double Page Spread

Evaluation Question Planning

Question 1- in what ways does your media product develop, use or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I am going to use screenshots of my draft pages that I can then annotate to show where I have developed conventions in my own magazine but also challenged them. I think that I am going to present the answers for this question in a more simple text based format, with only a few images. The software that I will use to present my answer will be 'Prezi'.

Question 2- how does your media product represent particular social groups?

For this question I am going to look at whether I have portrayed a specific social group correctly or conformed to the stereotype that surrounds them. I will look at how my artist is posed, dressed, portrayed in the interview and on the first cover. I think that for this question to be answered in the best way I am going to present it in a Piktochart as I can easily  show well my magazine does and doesn't represent different social groups.

Question 3- what kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

I will use my research of publishers to answer who will publish my magazine, how I will target my audience and where it would be sold. I will refer back to my product placement for this question as I talked about product distribution there and I can use it to help me answer the question. I think that the best means of presenting this question and my answer will be with software like Animato or Popplet.

Question 4 and 5- who would be the audience for your product? How did you attract/address your audience?

I will look back at my research on audiences and profile my target audience, how I will target them and address them- artist chosen for cover, language used in magazine, plugs on cover. I will present the answers for these two questions in the form of a Popplet as I can easily link my points together with a mind-map style presentation. 

Question 6- what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I will talk about the accessibility of technologies for my target audience and anyone in the music industry, the pros and cons of these technologies, how they have helped me and what I have used (e.g. social media). I will present this in the form of a simple typed out document onto my blog with a few images as I feel this will allow me to section my answer more easily and expand on my answers a lot.

Question 7- looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I am going to emphasise how much I have learnt when using the new software and talk about some of the struggles I faced and how I overcame them. I think I am going to present this answer in the format of a director’s commentary over a slideshow. This makes it easier for me to navigate through the steps I took in the creation of both my preliminary magazine and my final music one. I can also upload the finished video onto YouTube and easily embed it onto my blog.

Interview Questions

Below are the questions I am going to include in my interview with my artist on my double page spread; I plan to ask about their journey to where they are now, what their music recommendations are for our readers and their plans for the future. I want the artist to come be comfortable with answering the questions they are being asked and that they are portrayed the right way to their fans and the readers of Vinyl magazine. Before I jump into the questions I will include an introduction that is a couple of sentences long to ease the artists into the questions and create an instant connection between the reader and the article. Below is my finished interview:

VINYL: I’m here with Sam Jones, who before anything else I want to congratulate on his debut album, ‘Let the wind take you’, entering the top 5 on the Indie charts and the success of his tour, having sold out all 14 nights in only 30 minutes.
SAM: Well thank you, it’s all happened so fast, it seems like just yesterday I was supporting Jeremy Loops on tour and writing the first song for the album.
VINYL: Yes, we remember how incredible you were as his support act, would you say he is one of your biggest inspirations?
SAM: Yes, he’s always been someone I had admired and having the chance to work with him has been amazing, he changed the way I approached writing and performing music.
VINYL: Who would you say are some of your other inspirations, or someone you would love to collaborate with in the future?
SAM: Well one of my biggest inspirations was, my granddad, he played music his whole life and it was his dream but he never pursued it. It is him who inspires me to work harder to achieve my dreams. The next part is hard as there are so many artists out there I would love to work with, one that I would be honoured to play with would be Newton Faulkner… that man is a genius on guitar.
VINYL: Well we’ll take your advice and make sure to see him this summer as he’s on the lineup for Reading Festival 2016. Now we heard rumours that you would be joining the lineup this year amongst the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foals, The 1975 and Chvrches… is this true?
SAM: *laughs*, I can see my manager giving me an overly enthusiastic thumbs up so I’m guessing that its okay for me to announce my place at the festival this year.
VINYL: Ooh, a VINYL magazine exclusive, you heard it here first! Sam Jones will be playing on the BBC Radio 1XRTA Stage on the Saturday.
SAM: And I’ll be roaming the rest of the festival all weekend so come find me if you want, I love to meet fans and fellow musicians.
VINYL: Speaking of musicians, do you have any advice for those who are trying to get signed, book gigs and break into the industry?
SAM: You have got to be passionate and be willing to put blood, sweat and tears towards achieving your dream. I wish I had someone to guide me through it all as it was a fight but once you’ve made it, you can see how it was all worth it.
VINYL: And do you feel like you have reached success then?
SAM: I don’t think I will ever feel like I have reached ‘success’ as that it too difficult a level to define. I think that I will always be striving to write better music, perform at bigger venues and create a bigger fan base.
VINYL: Would you say that having lots of fans is important to you as an artist then?
SAM: Yes, but I don’t think that the amount of fans defines you as an artist, they are there to support you, the same way a family would. I don’t make music for the money, although it doesn't hurt, I make it for the people who come to my shows. For me, it was always just about the music… nothing else matters.
VINYL: Have you always known that you wanted a career in music?
SAM: YES! From the age of 7 when my parents bought me my first guitar I was always putting on shows for our family and friends and every year when I blew out my birthday candles I would wish that I became famous when I was older and now I feel as if I’m making my wish come true
VINYL: well dreams certainly do come true!
SAM: *laughs* ha. Yeah I guess all those wishes were well used.
VINYL: So your debut album ‘Let the wind take you’, what inspired it? We desperately want to know the truth behind the lyrics of each song
SAM: Well I’ve had to overcome some big things in my life and I like to think that they’ve helped me put such raw emotion into my lyrics. I usually have to be in a good writing environment and I am sometimes inspired by people around me
VINYL: Would any of these people that inspire you be perhaps a girlfriend?
SAM: No, I don’t have a girlfriend but I wouldn't say that I am not seeing anyone right now but I would like to keep my private life under-wraps at the moment and focus on my career right now
VINYL: Okay, we won’t pry! Just promise us that we’ll be the first to know if your mystery girl is ready to come into the limelight any time soon
SAM: I’ll be sure to do that
VINYL: And on that note I would like to thank you Sam for your willingness to answer our questions and learn more about you and your new music. We hope that you go far and take the Indie music industry by storm.
Don’t miss out on Sam’s debut album ‘Let the wind take you’ before its too late! Now available on Itunes, Apple Music, Spotify and in music stores near you.

I will then finish the interview by thanking the artist for answering our questions and wishing them well in their future career in music to leave the reader in good mood after reading the article and with a good impression of the artist and the Vinyl interviewer.

 



Main Construction- Third Draft

This is my third draft for my magazine, the changes I have made from my last draft are vey dramatic. I took my teachers advice changed my cover photo for one where my artist is looking at the camera, making eye contact with the reader. I have also changed the background on my other two page to a block colour as I think it helps the reader focus more on the text, on my contents page I have rearranged the images in a more jumbled way as it adds a more authentic look for my magazine. On my double page spread I have made the image smaller and the amount of text on the page significantly bigger. I think that this was a good decision as the interview will need to be quite long as it is the feature interview of this issue of the magazine. I am not completely satisfied with how this draft has turned out and still think that there are things I can change to make the magazine look more like a real magazine by using more forms and conventions of real media products.

Front Cover

Contents Page



Double Page Spread

Main Construction- Second Draft

After getting feedback on my first draft, I have changed my second for the better. The biggest change being the use use colour across the magazine, this is because it gives the magazine a more welcoming and bright look whereas my monochrome colour scheme I had planned to use was too dull and wouldn't encourage readers to notice and pick my magazine out from a range of others. For now I have used photos on the front cover that are not my own but if I move forward with this layout for the cover I will replace the images with my photos that I have taken myself. Another change that I have made has been the continuation of the brick wall pattern as a background. After completing this draft and looking at it as a whole I have decided to not move on with this design as I think that it is too distracting from the text on each page. 



Front Cover



Contents Page





Double Page Spread





Main Consrtuction- First Draft

This is the first draft of my front cover, contents page and double page spread, I used SerifPagePlusX6 to create this. As you can see below I followed the specifications of my plan for each page very closely allowing my final product to come out exactly as I had planned. I have decided that for the time being I am simply going to use 'VINYL MAGAZINE CONTENT' to fill the space where the text goes as it allows me to work faster through each of my drafts and I can add the actual text into the final draft.

Front cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Final Images

Images

Once I had taken my images I had to sort through each one and decide on the final ones I would be using for my drafts. I managed to get a selection of my model in various different positions; some standing, leaning against walls, sitting, crouching, portrait shots and even some extreme close ups of the details of his clothing. After I had sorted through my many images I had to edit my images as  this allowed me to experiment with saturation, filters, tone, contrast and corrections. My process of editing each of my photos was to crop the images to the size I wanted them, then to edit the images to give them a more airbrushed and professional look and to then experiment with different filters. I cropped my images using the editing software built into my iPhone, I then used an app called 'You Cam' that allowed me to smooth the image, remove blemishes from my model's face and to change the saturation and sharpness of the image. I then put the images in monochrome filters to see how much they would fit into my vintage theme for my magazine. Below is a collection of the images I will be using for my magazine showing the process I used to create my final images.

Original image- unedited

'Airbrushed' image using app

Final image in black and white filter

Original image- unedited

Final image in black and white filter

Original image- unedited

'Airbrushed' image using app

Final image in black and white filter

Original Image

Final image in black and white filter

Dolby

Some thorough work here and nice ideas. Don't underestimate the importance of audience throughout the entire project. By profiling your intended audience in detail you have a clear idea of how to appeal to them. Get feedback as often as you can as you construct. Consider the evaluation questions you are required to answer at the end of the project now so they are in your mind.

Image Inspiration and Photoshoot plan

Image Inspiration and Photoshoot plan

When deciding on the kind of images I wanted to take and choose for my magazine I took inspiration from these images below. I have found from my research that black and white is the most popular colour scheme and so I plan to use monochrome filters on the images that I take. I also like the positions that these models are in and will use them as a guide for my 'model' when photographing them as it will help them have some direction when choosing poses. I also like the close-up shots of just the portrait of these models as it adds an intenseness to the image and the eye contact could add a connection between the reader of my magazine and the artist on the cover. 

To take my images I have booked out a photography studio at the school which had black and white backdrops I can use, studio lights and tripods for my camera. I plan to use both the black and white backgrounds to get a range of shots to choose from and even plan on going outside to get some images with brick walls in the background or natural settings. My 'model' is a male friend of mine who I believe suits the vibe and style of my magazine as they themselves are very into indie music and follow some of the style trends of some of their favourite indie artists. Below is my the plan I have created for my artists photo-shoot giving the details of the shoot.

Inspiration

Inspiration

To show my thought process while making decisions for the aesthetics of my music magazine, I created a 'mood board' style collection of images. Below is the collage of existing music magazines; their layouts for the front cover, contents page and double page spreads. I think that by looking at these images I can see what elements I want to have in my magazine and what styles I want to influence the finished product of my magazine.

I also decided to create to create another collection of images but this time of existing indie artists. I think that this will help me take good photos for the front cover of my magazine as I now have a clearer idea of what style photos many indie artists take. I can now see how indie artists choose to present themselves in the media, the kind of persona's some to choose to take on, what messages they like to put out into the industry and to their fans and the way they choose to style themselves. I can use this information to make decisions for how I want my artist to look for the cover of my magazine and even have a better idea of how I want to present them in the article I have to write about them.

Planning

Planning

For my planning I wanted to put the planning for the magazines name, font, colour scheme, articles, titles and layout all in one place so that it is easy for the moderator to navigate. It also allowed me to group the sections of planning that were affected by the results of my questionnaire together and show how each decision effected another. I chose to present these on a Prezi presentation as the graphics and animation are easy to work with and the animations allow me to show the flow of my thoughts throughout the planning process. Below is a link to my presentation:

How my research will help my planning

How my research will help my planning

The research that I have done will be helpful in the stage of planning for my music magazine as questioning my audience and analysing existing magazines will allow me to create a magazine more suited to my target audience. The results from some of the questions in my questionnaire have helped me generate an idea of what magazines are most popular in the market and who is most likely to purchase them. My research into product placement has allowed me to see a gap in the market for a specific type of magazine for an almost niche audience, meaning that I can cater my magazine for them and secure a strong place in the market.

My research has also shown me that my target audience needs to be for 14-17 year olds as this is the age that most people listen to indie music and are more likely to purchase an indie music magazine. By knowing my target audience I can more easily  make decisions that will aim to suit their preferences and create a finished product that is as equipped to target my audience to the best of my ability. 

In my research I also included analysis of already existing magazines in the market, this has allowed me to see what styles and content is popular. I have been able to make decisions on the aesthetics of my magazine cover and contents page due to this research as I have seen fonts, colour schemes and layouts that inspired me to come up with ideas for my first drafts whilst still incorporating what my target audience want.  

Product Placement

Product Placement

Market

My chosen genre for my music magazine is ‘Indie’ as this is one of the most popular genres of music at the moment. The magazine I am going to be making will be in competition with other music magazines like ‘Q’ and ‘NME’. From my questionnaire I know that there is a gap in the market for an indie music magazine like mine as many other indie music magazines are very focused on a specific style of indie music (indie-rock, indie-pop, indie-folk) whereas my magazine will focus on the more generalised indie artists but centre itself around the themes of ‘vintage’ coming back into fashion, so including content on old artists being rediscovered, vinyl coming back and have an aesthetic that suits the vintage style.

Target Audience:

My research has also shown me that my target audience needs to be for 14-17 year olds as this is the age that most people listen to indie music and are more likely to purchase an indie music magazine either in stores or online. I also believe that people in this age bracket are more likely to go to a concert, festival or music event and I plan to include content on this in my magazine that would. I will also find it easier to relate to my chosen target audience as I am a part of it and this means that I have similar preferences and can make decisions more inclined to please my target audience. I also think that due to an increased use of Web 2.0, my magazine will suit my target audience as they can share the magazine and spread awareness of its existent quickly and easily via social media sites.

Publisher

Deciding on the way my magazine will be published is important as this is how my product will reach the widest audience possible. I need a publisher that will help produce my magazine as a high quality product and distribute my magazine in many different supermarkets, online stores, shops and newsagents as this will give my magazine the exposure to grow its audience. ‘Q’ magazine is published by Bauer Media Group who manages over 600 magazines, has print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services and approximately 11,000 employees in 17 countries. I think that my magazine’s publisher should be Bauer Media group as they can give my magazine the biggest audience and exposure as I plan to eventually spread my magazine to Europe and eventually the USA and the offices that the company has abroad could make this happen.

Distribution:

For the distribution of my magazine I also plan to use the methods of ‘Q’ magazine as they are sold in many different magazine sections across the country in supermarket chains, newsagents, high street stores (like WHSmith) and even on online stores. To reach an even wider audience I am also going to create a digital version of my magazine available in the form of an app for all smart phones; this will increase the amount of readers as it is easier to access and my target audience is the younger generation who are increasingly using Web 2.0 to share content. For those who purchase the app, exclusive interviews, videos and news of private gigs will be available for them to access and the option to subscribe for monthly issues will be available. I plan to also collaborate with many music stores to distribute my magazine so that I can increase sales as many of my target audience would shop in the kind of stores I plan to work with; these stores include HMV, the Rock Box vinyl shop in Camberley and many smaller vinyl and vintage clothing stores in London.