Situated below is my creation process of my potential front cover for my magazine.
Creation Process of Potential New Cover. from Hasan Ahmed
This also is my step by step process of my final front cover. As you will see i have explained all the
decisions which I have made.
decisions which I have made.
Creation Process of Final Front Cover from Hasan Ahmed
This is my step by step process of my contents page which i created.
Contents Page Creation Process from Hasan Ahmed
Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Question 2: How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
Class is portrayed in my magazine through my models as
they’re young and thug like. However this perception is broken as they're on the verge of being successful and making a change in society through their music. The 'Stormzy' interview (story on my double page spread) may show
people of working/middle and even lower class individuals who are involved in
crime; that there is a way out if you work hard. This is evident as Stormzy deviates from the social norm as he has broken this stern typical rapper/artist who commits crime and does not amount to anything. My magazine could attract the working class fans
as they could get insights on how other individuals from lower class
backgrounds are striving to move in the footsteps of their positive idols. The main aim of my magazine was to provide the audience with a real insight into the life of a rap artist and how everything she's become is a result of her hard work and dedication. This in turn will act as a motivating factor and make the audience survive towards success as well.
Ethnicity is represented in my magazine most noticeably
through my models who are both Caucasian. However, the majority of the models
used throughout existing rap magazines are usually of African/Jamaican descent. This is one of the many ways through which i have challenged the existing codes and conventions of magazines. My magazine includes models from Irish and English backgrounds which subverts
from the majority of existing rap magazines as there are some artists that
feature members of different ethnicity such as the lead vocalist of 'section
boys'. Region is represented in my magazine through the language as
it’s very casual but standard English. This would make it more widely read in
English speaking countries and the casualness would make it more appealing and
something they can relate to as readers would feel comfortable reading something
conversational and relaxed than something analytical. This conforms to existing rap magazines as
the majority of them use informal language such as XXL.
By choosing to
use the image of a recent, popular, grime artist as the main image on my cover
page, I have made it quite clear to the audience that the magazine is based
around the rap and grime genre. Therefore, the type of social groups who would
recognise this particular artist would be young rap and grime fans who are up
to date with the latest news and gossip regarding this particularly celebrity. Additionally,
the fact that I have included the aspect of technological convergence on the
media product further reinforces how it would most likely be a young generation
of RnB fans who would relate to the magazine. This is because younger readers
would be most likely to interact with the product by going online or
using the social media apps which are used within the magazine as synergy.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your
media product an why?
I believe for my product, the conglomerate Bauer Media would
be the best method of distribution due to their institutional prosperity which
allows them to attract a wider range of audiences through their effective use
of synergy, making them a multi platform; allowing them to branch off into TV,
Web, and print magazines. By utilising these multi platforms; it means that if
I produce my magazine with them, it would be accessible on print, television,
social media and even on a mobile phone. This would increase my consumer rate
as it would enable me to appeal and attract a wider audience that I wouldn’t
have been able to do before without the use of Multi platforms. Consequently, not
only is Bauer known for publishing different types of media but they also publish
a number of magazines relating to a variety of different and specific
categories. They own major music magazines that they publish on a regular basis;
‘Q’ and Kerrang!. These are all major music magazines in the market that
share the same characteristics with the magazine that I have produced as well
as slight differences. Especially ‘Q’ as this is a magazine that also focuses
on popular culture music and targets a similar audience to my own. This ensures
that if I was to produce a magazine with Bauer they would be able to
effectively cater for all the needs that would be required of my magazine; thus
ensuring the success of my production. Moreover, Bauer would be a good magazine
for me to publish my magazine with as my product fits in with the same type of
music that they already associate themselves with. Through being a reputable
brand name and image; this allows my product to reach and target more of the
audience that it was initially set for the magazine. Bauer reach a total of 22 million
UK individuals everyday, so an institution that concentrates on the Rap and
Grime genre would be better. Bauer is the best example of this as they lately
have been taking a huge interest in grime artists, and even unsigned rappers. They
also have a big responsibility of selling their own news articles and tabloids
to their listeners. I think this would be an ideal choice as the company has
the same target audience as my music magazine. By choosing to publish my
magazine with a large company such as Bauer, it not only ensures the capability
to access a large range of people but also my magazine music genre will develop
and differ along with the trends and consequently will attract a large group of
aspirers. On the other hand; if I was to publish my music magazine with an independent
company such as ‘Volcano Publishing’ I would not be able to efficiently target my
target audience. This is due to independent publishers focusing on targeting
specific niche audiences. Therefore, by producing my magazine with an
institution such as Bauer, I would possess a larger consumer rate.
6.What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?
While in the process of creating my music
magazine I have utilised a mixture of
new technologies such as Photoshop, Slideshare, Page Plus, and Prezi. By utilising
all of these I was able to ensure that my research and planning process of this
media product was displayed effectively.
To start off I was unaware of how to
operat a DSLR camera which is what we used to take the images for our front
cover of the magazine. Instead of shying away from the task at hand; on the day
of the photo shoot I played about with the different settings on the camera and
learnt how to focus the images in shot and blur out things in the background.
This was highly useful for me as this type of shot was common in the rap and
grime industry. An example of this is when I took a mid shot of Vicky with Rob
in the background and I ensured that he was out of focus.
On the day of the photo-shoot we had to
set up the drama studio to ensure that we could take the best images possible
for our music magazine. We started off by effectively using the soft box lights
which we were provided with by the school. This ensured that we could take a
variety of high and low key images depending and the type of message that we
wanted to get across to our audience. By setting up the soft box lights in the
right position it also meant that you were unable to see the light reflecting off
the individual in the shot. This allowed me to portray a sense of professionalism
within my music magazine. Consequently, we further utilised a backdrop which can
be seen through one of the images I took of Vicky as she is behind a black back
drop. This further develops the existing codes and conventions as the magazine ‘Rap
Radar’ also did this within their music magazine so I applied it to mine in order
to acquire a larger consumer rate. We instructed the individuals in our shots to
wear dark clothes so it didn’t effect the types and moods of the shots that
were being taken. This would also allow us to edit the images easier if necessary.
Through the use of various different props, such as the balaclava for the main
cover of my magazine it had reinforced how we have been creative and not just used
anything and have actually thought about relating the props to our target audience
as a balaclava is a common prospect of the rap and grime industry. I used Vicky
for the front cover of my magazine as she allowed me to break the barriers and
questions surround gender issues as even though my magazine was mainly targeting
males; I still placed a female on the front. This is one of the ways in which I
have deviated from the existing codes and conventions of a music magazine.
During the process of my photo shoot, I developed
the existing codes and conventions of music magazines as I took a close up shot
of Vicky with her addressing the audience in a direct mode of address. Developing
these existing codes and conventions are imperative as they ensure that my
product attracts and appeals to the mass audience. I ensured all the photos
which I took followed the codes and conventions of existing news magazines.
Example of developing the existing codes
and conventions:
In order to effectively manipulate the
images which, I took using the DSLR camera I imported the images into Photoshop
and made altercations to my main images which I was going to be using. I used
tools such as the ‘Lasso’ tool to cut around the background of my front cover.
I further used this tool with the creation of my contents page as I merged two
images and removed their backgrounds. I done this through adding multiple
frames to my photos as this made it much easier to process and create. I also
used photo shop when creating my logo for my music magazine as I ensured that
it had all the right colours and correct font in order for me to appeal to my
target audience.
For the creation of my double page
spread and my contents page I utilised a software called page plus. This
enabled me to insert the Stormzy interview which I had earlier conducted as
well as enabling me to add additional images and features to my magazine. Using
page plus I was able to insert the front cover of my magazine and add the
appropriate cover lines where necessary. This ensured that I met the needs and
appealed to a wider range of consumers.
I effectively used Prezi and Slideshare
as method of presenting my work ideas and progress which I had showed
throughout the construction of my final product. By utilising these
presentational software’s, I have been able to add a sense of relevance to my
work in terms of technological convergence. It was important for me to use
these software’s as I was able to effectively show the work which I had done.
Finally, I utilised Blogger in order to document and
display all the work which I had done over the planning process of my
production.
Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back,
I can say that I have worked independently and effectively whilst conducting my
research and planning. On the whole, I have improved my personal skills of
being more organised and improving my time management skills as I had to
complete certain tasks within certain deadlines. An example of when I displayed
theses skills was on the photo shoot day as we had to ensure that we took a
wide range of shots that we would be able to later use for our magazine. I made
sure that I took all the images that I required for my magazine as I was only
going to get one chance to take these images. The photo-shoot day was an
imperative aspect of the course as this allowed me to become familiar with the
SLR camera, and due to previous studies in class on camera angles, I was able
to pick the perfect shots and keep in mind the rule of thirds. For
example, (as presented in my blog) I worked together within a group of my peers
to take a range of images of pupils in my school. I’ve progressed in this sense
as I’ve taken my own images while directing my model as I went through the
Photo-shoot, which allowed me to produce images a lot more specific to how I
would like and there was a stronger communication between me and my model to
make my final product more specific to my plans; this ultimately assisted me
and helped me to work as a team. The manipulation of my images has also been an
area which I have advanced in, as in my preliminary task I only manipulated my
images in a limited way due to my lack of knowledge, as I only used the
brightness, contrast and crop tool for my main image. Whereas now, for my main
task images I widened my use of editing as I used a highlighter tool as well as
brightness and contrast and I even cut out and around my model to get rid of
the background. I developed these ideas from existing magazines which I looked
at as they had also cut out their background of their magazines.
My music
magazine was more genre specific and targeted compared to me preliminary school
magazine. This is due to the amount of research I did before conducting my mock
up. The way my music magazine is set up is a lot more professional in comparison
to my preliminary task as I looked at products that already existed and I
evaluated what made them successful and appealing and attempted to emulate this
in my music magazine. It can be seen that I applied these existing codes and conventions
in my magazine as I included a double page spread and a contents page which all
current magazines have. The formation of my double page spread was, as I would
see it, a gigantic jump from my preliminary task as I had no previous knowledge
of making a double page spread or writing an article. This is where I conducted
a lot of primary and secondary research, I explored numerous double page
spreads and distinguished the codes and conventions and then attempted to
included these into my music magazine in order to make it look as professional
as possible. I aimed on writing my article in a conversational register which
helped me interface with my intended interest group and I thought this would be
the best style of writing for my young target audience of people aged between
15-25. Due to my previous lack of experience it meant that I had to produce a
mock up cover to practice creating all of the elements required, which all in
all made my final product easier to produce as I had a firm understanding and
what was a necessity to include and what wasn’t. This allowed me to make my
double page spread as effective as possible.
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