Evaluation Question 7) Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that 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 the product?

Evaluation Question 5) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Transcript for Question 4

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Does your project look like a music magazine? Why? What conventions have you used?
Yes, My project does look like a music magazine. I have made sure I have used conventions which are in most magazines which consist of a mast head, the main image looking at the camera, strap line, headline, barcode, sell lines, price and issue date. By following these conventions it allows my magazine to look like a music magazine. Also in the Double page spread and contents. I made sure the page numbers were there alongside the logo of my magazine. My contents talks about features and reviews.

Does it subvert conventions or conform  to magazine conventions?
Certain parts of my magazine do subvert conventions of a magazine, one of the features that subvert is the layout of cell lines all being on one side, however this only subverts the conventions of most music magazines but does not subvert the conventions of a rap magazine. I also subvert conventions in terms of audience, my audience is specifically just for females which goes against the audience of most other music magazine as they target mostly males or both genders. Also in the contents magazine instead of talking about regulars I have included news and fashion as most rap magazine are not just about rap, culture, community and politics - an example of this is the source magazine.
Most magazines I have analysed for contents page did not have an editors collumn, this subverts the stereotypes of most rap magazines. I included one simply because the rap genre  is an example of relating with the audience and also stereotypically females like to feel involved.

What analysis of existing professional products did you do?

I analysed different front cover magazines for rap/hip hop and picked up colour schemes,  lay out and conventions this allowed me to understand what would make my magazine look like a rap magazine and also it allowed me to understand what my consumer audience may like as I was going to have the same age and ethnicity demographic of the other magazines I looked at.
In addition to that I done analysis of the contents pages and double page spread. This allowed me to understand what is normally within a contents page, It informed me on what type of things I should include in my magazine such as tours, reviews, upcoming artists etc etc. The analysis of double page spreads also allowed me to understand how important layout is and how important the colour scheme is, most  double page spreads I looked at were appealing which engaged me to read on.

Does your magazine clearly fit into the music genre or is it unclear of what the genre is?

I personally believe my magazine is a good example for the genre I was looking to portray which is rap, however some people may mistake it for hip hop/ R&B, but the lay out, colours and models make it quite obvious that this is a rap magazine.
How have you used models as artists?
I have used female models, they are the same age as my target audience which is 16-25. They all are different race, this allows my audience to feel more engaged into my magazine.

How have you used photography, editing  and mise en scene?

For photography I gave my main image a mid shot, and my double page spread a long shot. The reason I used these shots is because I wanted the front cover image to be the main focus and to also have a little glimpse of the location and the long shot I wanted to show the location of where I took the photography.
Editing, I used Photoshop to edit all my photos and my front cover magazine, this allowed me to give different effects. The contents page all images have a red tint as I am trying to make the images go with the colour scheme, also my main image I blurred out the background as I wanted her to be the main focus, the double page spread I made black and white as it is more effective, I have trailed the same picture in colour but it didn't have the same effects.
Mise en scene, I made sure the costumes of my magazine were appropriate for the genre and also the location was mentioned in the front cover and double page spread, so I made sure the models were in the locations talked about.

How have you used lay out design?

My lay out design uses a colour scheme which is used throughout the whole magazine, this gives my magazine order and allows it to look more appealing, also I have used little small doses of colours here and there, an example being blue in the double page spread and gold in the contents and double page spread.

Evaluation Question 4) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Transcript for Question 2

I have inserted a transcript, just in case I am misunderstood in my explanation.

Does your magazine use conventions from other professional magazines?

The conventions of a professional magazine include strap line, headline, masthead, main image, sell lines and bar code. As you can see the rap magazine I have used to compare my magazine with contains all of them features. The magazine I have used for comparison has the main image at the front so the consumer is aware of the artist or icon, also the sell lines surround the icon to show the importance of the music figure, the headline allows the consumer to know what the main article will be about. The bar code informs consumers that the magazine is up for purchase in stores other than just online subscription.

I've made sure my magazine conformed to these convention, I have included these features as you can see, the headline is short and informing this allows consumers to understand what the article will be about as it will be summarised well, in addition to that the main image is centre with sell lines surrounding which allows the audience to be engaged and to inform the consumer on how important the music icon is which will attract the consumer to read on. The sell lines are presented in different sizes which increases the appeal of my magazine on top of that my sell lines are short and simple to read, making it easier for the consumer to be engaged in my magazine

Did you chose language techniques, layout design, fonts, colours, locations  and models in order to communicate particular ideas to your audience

Yes, the language I have used is formal to a certain extent, it does include slang which is used in the rap genre to engage the consumer more, the audience is able understand the language better because they hear the language with in rap songs and from popular rap artists.

The lay out design I used was simple but yet effective as it gives an urban look, This gives the audience  the idea that the magazine is laid back however still will be intriguing. I inserted a banner, this conforms to most magazine conventions,  my banner includes free merchandise which will allow my magazine to give the idea to my audience,  my magazine is worth purchasing for the free merchandise.

The fonts I used were bold and clear, however for the mast head I made it slant, to represent the name flow as it is flowing in another direction, the fonts used in the double page spread had an urban look which related back to the genre of the magazine as a whole. The contents page I kept it all clear and bold, however I used different fonts in certain areas to give it a bit of style as rap is all about image, the reason i kept it clear is because the contents page is where people will decide whether they want to read on in my magazine of not, so i made sure the font was clear.

Location of the front cover image related with the headline, as the location was in the hood however i blurred it out to show that the 'hood' isn't the focus anymore.  The location of the double page spread relates with article as it says in the caption they're in the school shed, these locations are locations consumers can relate to - this communicates with the audience because rap is one of the only genres that relate to its audience on a deep level so the location shows the consumers that they can relate to the music artists presented in my magazine.

I chose the colours red white and black because they are dominate colours in addition to that these colours are associated in rap a lot, they are also associated in a lot of rap magazines, an example being a one in the previous slide. this allows the audience to be aware this is a rap magazine.

The models I used all had baggy clothes and also none of them had the girly look, it was more tom boyish however they still had a girly flare, this allowed the consumer to know that the magazine was rap dominated however still aimed at girls.

Evaluation Question 3) Who would be the audience for your media product?