EVALUATION: WHAT DO I NEED TO INCLUDE?

To be completed and posted on your blog by Wednesday 5th January

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

Screengrab each section (contents page, features page and front page) from your magazine to show how typical of music magazines your particular design is.
Annotate each one and post to your blog. Write an analysis of how you have used the conventions we have covered.
 Layout conventions (use all terminology covered throughout this unit)
 mise-en-scene of images - costumes and props / camera angle / rule of thirds
 Typeography and style (serif / sans-serif)
 Written content – mode of address and register
 Music genre and how your magazine suggests it
 Style (white space/visual clutter / house colours etc)


2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

- Take a screengrab of an image of one of the models used in your magazine (eg front cover). Find an image from a real magazine which you think bears some similarity.
- Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of the way you have constructed the image.
- You might consider posture, gesture, angle, shot type, lighting, costume, expression, hair, etc
- Refer back to your ideal reader post

Social Groups Representation through…
15 – 25? / 18 – 30? / 18 – 45?
Male / female?
Confident?
Rebellious?
Carefree?
Self-aware?
Open to new music?
Curious about music?
Range of tastes / specific likes?
Upper/Middle or Working class?
Related to genre of music?
A stereotype – emo?
Lifestyle:busy/social/demanding? Posture/expression/gesture in images
Price
Typography – serif / sans serif?
Colour scheme / house colours
Mode of address / register?
Layout – visual clutter / white space?
Style features?
Lighting
Costume /Hair
Types of features in contents






3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Annotate jpegs of your magazine in Flickr.
You will need to consider institutional issues to include: discussion of the role of magazine distribution (http://www.ipcadvertising.com/ipc-brands/2009/feb/03/nme?edition=print)
Uncut Magazine:
http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/ie8ggqzju8kgqdditq67k9hj.pdf
NME:
http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/hvcjivb3x8p8oqk9bw285ffu.pdf
 what your magazine is similar to yours 'institutionally' (name some magazines which would be distributed in a similar way)
 You need to refer to actual company names and processes.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
 Take a photo of your ‘ideal reader’ and an explanation of what kinds of taste they might have- where they would shop, what music they would listen to, what their favourite TV programme would be, etc.
 Post it on the blog and write a few notes on why they would buy your magazine.
 Refer back to your ideal reader post

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
 Use Flickr to post an explaination: your annotations will refer to genre conventions and what you have identified as the Unique Selling Point of your magazine. Why should people buy it?
 Refer to your ideal reader post – explain why your magazine would appeal to them
 Refer to your market research (facebook / survey monkey) – how did you use this feedback to give your audience what they wanted!

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
 Drop the images as screengrabs or photos of the equipment used onto your blog. Describe the technology you have used and annotate it explaining what you learnt about it/from using it. How did it help you in this project?
 Eg. Still camera? tripod? Desktop publishing software (Serif PhotoPlus/PagePlus/ Photoshop?) Lighting equipment?
 Include reference to all the online programs you have used such as , flickr, blogger, slideshare, survery monkey, facebook etc.

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?
 Screengrab frames from both tasks and put them on the blog and annotate showing what you know about photography, layout, fonts and modes of address.
 Explain what you learnt from your school magazine and how your music magazine was therefore different

Front Cover Conventions

Designing your front cover: Forms and Conventions and The Rule of Thirds

Front Cover Conventions:
(a) Cover lines and man cover line
(b) Strapline
(c) Slogan
(d) Lure
(e) House colours
(f) Masthead
(g) Headline
(h) Central image
(i) Buzzwords
(j) Dateline
(k) Byline for main image (name of model and photographer)
(l) Bar code
(m) Anchorage text

2. How many different font types are there on your cover? What types are there?

3. Describe the colour scheme and house colours: (Vibrant/Clashing colours? Exciting cover lines? Advertisement puff? Glossy images? Star quality?)

4. Describe the mode of address for NME. How does it speak to its audience?

5. Does this magazine cater for a mass or niche audience? Who is the target audience?

Homework Tuesday 30th November
Design your flat plan of your cover page.
Take between 10 – 15 images for your front cover – post all images on your

Creating Contents Page

What would features would you expect to see in your magazine’s contents page?
Remember it MUST present your whole magazine in the right way to appeal to YOUR target audience:

- Articles on new artists
- Ratings of new albums
- Reviews of gigs / tours
- Reviews of singles
- Artist’s or band’s profile / interview
- Regular features (appear in every edition)
- Special features (appear in this edition only)
- Images of some of the features pages (preview of what
- Singles chart list?
- Message from the editor?

Style features
Subheaded contents
House colours
Varied font styles
Images to represent each feature
Pull quotes from a reader / the editor / an article in the magazine
Folio
Captions in box-outs

Worksheets

AS Media Studies - G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media Marksheet

What should I have on my Blog?

1. Forms and Conventions and target audience of 3 Music Magazines – detailed annotation
2. Powerpoint research into a music magazine
3. Research into ideology of school magazine (similar products)
4. Brand identity of a music magazine – annotated example
5. Target audience of a music magazine – ‘ideal reader’ notes and analysis
6. Preliminary Task: final outcome and evaluation
7. Research into typography – rules and ideas for masthead
8. Audience questionnaire results from
9. Reader Profile and explanation of why you created it – how has it helped you understand your target audience? Give details of other reader profiles you have researched (Uncut and NME)
10. Print Screens of Survey Monkey research what what you discovered from doing this research
11. Post an explanation of what the ideology of your music magazine is
12. Mindmap of ideas about the content of your features page (completed in lesson) and how you will create a clear brand identity
13. Flat plans of features page annotated to explain decisions made
14. Powerpoint used in Features Page pitch. Summary of your audience feedback from this pitch (refer to notes grids completed by the class).
15. Flat plans of contents page annotated using 12 questions on the worksheet given to explain choices made.
16. Flat plan of front page, annotated in detail to explain decision and conventions followed.
17. All still images used in the magazine including shots not used. Annotate each explaining why used/not used, why you chose this image, any problems with lighting etc.
18. Front Page, Contents Page and Features Pages must be embedded on your blog (60 marks)
19. Evaluation must be embedded in your blog (20 marks)

Terminology for Deconstructing Magazines

Leading = the space between lettering and words

Body Copy = the main article

Headline = title of the article

Byline = the name of the journalist / photographer (usually written underneath the mini head)

Page Lead = small amount of text underneath headline on first page of article written in larger scale text than the main body. This gives a small lead into the article to hook the reader.

Art = all images / illustrations used in the article

Spread = another word for ‘page’

Caption = gives the page some context. This could include the title, date and media it was made with. Type is set small – not too intrusive.

Folio = Contains page number and name of magazine at the bottom left of the page. This gives additional branding for the magazine.

Pull Quote = making a small section of the copy larger to give the audience a ‘point of entry’ eg. quotes from interviews.

Mini head = a smaller headline underneath headline

Typography = font style. This can be thin/elegant/sans serif/serif/bold/striking/scaled down

Columning
Composition
Legibility to be considered when layering text and images
Texture
Fonts