Audience Feedback- Emma Parkinson

Tahler...

Your contents page for your prelim task needs some improvement as the colours clash.
In order to improve this for your final project i suggest you look at a real magazine to find out what the generic conventions are .

:D

Love Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

x

Audience Feedback From Andrew Harrison

Good work all around, the front cover, contents page and double page spread all look very realistic, and i like the use of filters and lots of colour; features which would be present in a magazine which uses the same genre's as yours.
The magazine has a good consistent theme.
x

Audience Feedback- From Emma Parkinson

Heyy :D

You're front cover is awesome :)
If it was in a shop, on a shelf i would buy it :)
it looks really professional and realistic in comparison to the magazines out there now.

Your housestyle colours/font are consistant throughout your front cover, contents page and double page spread
This is important as it creates the realistic effect :D

Yaaayyyy
Well Doneeeeeee :D
xx

My prelim task helped me in many ways, above is both my college and music magazine. Using Adobe Photo for both it had advantages and yet disadvantages. Following the conventions for both it was hard to show my skills for example text editing and advertisement as the college magazine was much more suttel and formal, however this gave me a chance to play around with styles of magazines and got me thinking about what the product was trying to achieve and visually look like.

For example when taking my pictures my prelim task helped my photography on FUTURE SHOCK the main reasons for this was the fact that i understood the stereotypical facial expressions and body language of the two which added verisimilitude. In this case my TRC magazine had the student looking knowledgeable and interested in his own education.

From my draft to my final i have made several changes to add finishing touches to my project. One thing was the absence of pictures which i felt made my draft look too cluttered and crammed, therefore i had just two pictures at the bottom. On the other hand i felt my draft lacked sell lines therefore putting more banners on to make my magazine seem fuller.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Audience feedback was really useful to me and made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses.

The positive feedback was helpful in the sense that i had achieved at making my magazine exciting and busy on page. Also the comment on colour was really reasurising as this was one factor which i needed to adress to my target audience and the best way to promote such a niche genre.

The weaknesses were equally as important and looking back realsied the colours did crash together on my prelim and the idea of having the masthead themed throughout was inapropiate, if i were to do this again i would have just kept the text colour as white. Without any comments i wouldnt be able to learn from my mistakes and relise i had done wrong. If i were to do these pages again these would be aspects i would deffinately take into account and change.

DISTRIBUTION

Having such a small and local magazine i have decided that the best way to start distributing my magazine would be through another. In this case i have chose Kerrang my reasons for this are simple it will give FUTURE SHOCK plenty of publicity and a chance to get in the public eye. If this proves to be a success it will then be stable enough to stand on its own and be part of Bauer as an official product.

FINAL

FAIL
One aspect i struggled with was the focus on the camera, with this i had to practice several times before getting one without a blur. This occured on a regular basis untill the tripod stand was introduced to me when taking ones for my actual magazine pages.

However sorting the problem this task helped of getting an exsisting band picture and ordering the actors into the needed positions this also improved my people skills and gave me confidence when taking ones for FUTURE SHOCK

As you can see the quality of two are obvious the one to my left the faces look all disorientated and lack facial detail. The top image is much more clearer and detailed.

The stereotype for my magazine.


LOVES TO PARTY AND RAVE

DISTINCTIVE COLOURFUL FASHION

FITTED POLOS, SURFING SHORTS, BAGGY JEANS

HIGH TOP SHOES

WIDE RIMMED SUN GLASSES

ENERGETIC AND LIVELY CHARACTER

LIKES SEVERAL GENRES OF MUSIC

When magazines get such a big name for them selves many can get away with placing images over the top of the masthead in my case as my magazine is a first ever edition and would be a total distaster as the audience wouldnt have a clue what they were purchusing eventually over time if FUTURE SHOCK got more popular i would get away with placing images over certain letters.

Also being an exclusive issue similar to Kerrang i have plenty of topics in my sell line this is important to wow my fans.

Here is a step by step print sceening of one of my images on adobe photoshop. Starting i cropped the bits i didnt want making the image look tidier on page, after this i added darker highlights into the background making the acting band members look more vibrant and onto the fore ground.

glossary of key terms

Masthead – The name and logo of the magazine.

The Lead – the introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals.Body copy refers to the text of your written articles, which should be produced as a printed presentation to accepted industry standards, e.g. correct use of language, font size, word limits etc. Usually written in columns.

Serif font – fonts like Times New Roman, or Baskerville Old Face, which have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.

Sans serif font – fonts like Impact, or Agency FB, which do not have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.

Drop Capitals – Really big letter, which start off an article.

Cross Head – Small sub-heading used to split up a large block of text.

White Space – white parts of a page other than text or pictures.

Mode Of Address – How the magazine talks to the audience.

Sell Lines – Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience. Kerrang!’s sell line is “life is loud”.

Banners – text, which stands out because its on a coloured background.

House Style – a magazines distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Borders – the gaps at the edges of the page.

Gutters – the gaps between the columns of text.

Leading - the space between lines of text.

Kerning - the space between letters.

Strap Lines – a smaller headline, printed above the main headline.

By-lines - name of the person who wrote the article.

Picture Credits - where did the photos come from, or who took them.

Anchorage – The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and visa versa.

Interview double page spread:

INTRO:

Coming up in the gritty world as everyday typical teenagers Noah(drummer), Matt (keyboard) and Troy(main vocalist) struggled to to get to grips with the harsh street wise environment they were brought up in. Wagging school and taking drugs were factors of their everyday life, growing up abit the 3 close friends decided they had to get out and see the world instead of sitting about wasting their own. Now on the steady road to success Future shock has got the exclusive first ever interview on how a troubled life of some simple boys has made them appreciate life and turn their troubles and emotions into music.

QUESTION ONE:

What were your feelings towards life a year ago and did you ever think it would change?

TROY:

Thinking back we were so out of it and off our tits twenty four seven you actually forget what to feel like and how to act, we would sit their counting our last bits of money on some scrapped furniture hoping it would get us hooked up that time the following day. No one semp't to give two sh**s about how we felt or listened to us so drugs was our only escape route to blanking them out. Personally i was seeing myself with no job and an addict for the rest of my life, it was so hard waking up in a morning knowing theirs f**k all out their to do and get out of life so yeah we were pretty screwed.

QUESTION TWO

How did the music come about and was it just an over night thing ?

MATT:

Influenced with 3 litres of the cheapest cider i cant remember much of the night to be honest but i think it started when we were stumbling around pretending to be a singers, one thing led to another and i think we started jumping about and raving beside each other. Being smashed out of our heads we had the idea to make up the most chaotic dance song i ever recall, it wasn't till i stumbled upon the screwed up piece of paper the next morning at the side of some sick i realised. Reading it at first was a struggle but i could see what we were trying to say with the lyrics and that, looking over at them crashed out on the floor i was too embarrassed to say anything in case they thought i was just bull sh****g and had made it up myself. Anyway we thought about it and decided to start making some crazy beats i admit the first hundred were absolute w**k but they got better in time, before we knew it we had done a full album in a week!

QUESTION THREE

How did you as a group escape drugs and how hard was it?

NOAH:

Personally I'll be honest we didn't actually stop doing it until we were overly desperate and needed some basic music gear, and I confess even then i twocked a couple of notes from our saving jar for some, but through time we got more obsessed with the music and rave sessions to even care anymore. When it spilled out onto the streets we were actually trying to get somewhere in life we were kicked for it every time we had f**k all support from anyone and people just couldn't take us serious. Even now when we get depressed that little feeling inside us is craving for it but we just think how far we have got and just seeing some of our old mates still hooked it gives us more of a drive to succeed.

QUESTION FOUR

We have heard in the media already that you have plans to take your music to the next level and are ready to compete with other big names?

TROY:

Where we stand at the moment our albums release date (Attack of the nerds Scribble) will be out sometime this summer were not sure yet on the date like. We then have four gigs mainly around Rotherham however Manchester and Leeds are possible venues through our newly found manager who is a proper top lad. One rumour we had heard spreading about is that Master Shortie wants a collaboration at the o2 arena wether this is a load of b******s we don't know but we would take every chance share music we know how hard he likes to party too, not forgetting the chances of getting known down London.

(the cost and dates of Attack Of The Nerds tickets are all on our website http://www.futureshockrave.co.uk/)

QUESTION FIVE

Although your style is very unique and varies between the genres of rave and dance how have you managed to give your songs so much meaning and depth?

MATT:

Coming up in the music world we could see how many bands and solo artists just stick to one thing usually the thing they are most good at. We took this into account when looking at our music and was fed up with all the songs which didn't have any meaning other than the everyday "my girlfriends left me i am going to sing about it ". Sitting down our heads just exploded with past experiences and emotions we couldn't let out before in just words this gave us starting points in how the songs would begin. One of our first songs created was extremely meaning full to us in our younger days and evolves around a close friend we lost back at school.

QUESTION SIX

Are u going to make it big and why should people buy your album?

NOAH:

Were not trying to say we are the best, but we are getting there and faster than anyone else.

People in the charts don't know whats hit them we are the next gen heroes and in a years time i assure we will be massive. We say to everyone buy our album its out of this world get up to date with this fresh era which has begun.

EVALUATION

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

Using conventions from exsisting music magazines i didnt reely pin point my magazine to a certain genre. Thefore i took small elements from many to give a more unique feel to my magazine as it is niche. One thing i took into my own use was the similar style of masthead to kerrang, changing it with colour themes it was then suitable for my audience as to a mainstream rock fan base which have much more darker plain colours.

When coming to the photography of my magazine i wanted the representation of the my band as close to the real thing as possible, therefore i had the group in various body positions of the backdrop complimenting each member in individual ways for example i have used "THE GOSSIP" with this i have took the prop of some sunglasses and put them in (Adams) mouth not only does this compliment the feel of my magazine it makes it stand out from just a plain stance.

Similar to this my contents and double page spread show obvious connections as the images i have taken are full of action and movement giving the audience a preferred reading and connotations of raving.

My contents page itself has all the the stereotypical factors which add to the verisimilitude
this includes obvious elements such a as bulleted columns, bands, prizes but as well of this smaller aspects which are equally as important such as a small image of the front cover at the top and putting frames round my text boxes all make FUTURE SHOCK believable.

My double page spread follows the same principles as the previous. Using the font 28 DAYS LATER, IMPACT and the chaotic over the top colours gives my target audience a strong house style which will help them recognise my product if their was to be another issue. One thing i felt suitable was the use of adobe photo shop elements 5, with this i could play around with the brightness, contrast and saturation of the images i took and enhance them to give connotations of heavy dance gigs it also makes my pages stand out and gives stronger anchorage to my captions above.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is aimed at teenagers and young adults who are trying to keep up with the ever changing music and unique hybrids which are forming through time. With this as my magazine is a first issue it will be very niche and have a small fan base which is why i have had created it with upcoming and local artists. The overall mise-en-scene of my front cover had to be spot and look different to other mainstream genres for example heavy rock this makes it clearer to the fans who are interested in this type of music. With this i have my 3 actors dressed suitably and following their rolls as a rave and dance group to help convince this Adam (left) has a tight white v-neck top on with retro ghetto blasters all over, this is much easier than finding one in real life and taking a snap.

The way they are stood as a group shows variation and differences in sexuality on one hand i have Tom (left) stood in a stereotypical masculine way with his chest stuck out and a serious facial expression hinting he is comfortable with his sexuality of being straight. In centre of the page i have directed Andy to have a less domineering role and touching Adam on both shoulders, this could give of mixed emotional connotations some accumulating he may be uncertain of his sexuality or just a has a strong bond with his band member. Either way i felt by showing a mixture of people it would make the viewers reading comfortable to be an individual.

Targeting both female and males i thought of different ways i could reach compliment both genders. This is how i did it.

TARGETING MALES

GRITTY LOCATIONS FOR PARTS OF MY PHOTO SHOOTS

EXPLICIT AND BOYISH TAG LINES

FOR EXAMPLE

"WE HAD F**K ALL SUPPORT"

RIVALRY OF MALES SCOIAL REALISM

(CLAIRE MONK)

FIGHTING SNAPS

IDEAL SELFS

TARGETING FEMALES

FASHION

LOCAL FEMALE BAND TO ENCOURAGE NEW TALENT

IDEAL PARTNERS

FLORENCANT COLOURS

With my masthead FUTURE SHOCK i have encoded meaning to give simple denotations deeper thoughts for instance the FUTURE is used as my magazine is unusual and attempting to influence musicians and for fans to always look further for trends, stles and genres of music which will widen their appeal. The SHOCK dennotes being startled and awakened by an energy this can reflect onto the general feel of my magazine which is designed to jump out of the page instead of blending in the rest.

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

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for FUTURE SHOCK would be arouund the ages of 16-22 no older or younger due to explicit language use. The readership around 60% male to 40% female the audience must be interested in future electronic rave and dance and alow them selfs to explore different eras which are beguining to unwravel. They should also be interested in new and upcoming talents brought to light through the magazine. Money wise my magazine wont be making a large amount of money as its readership is a smaller minority than for example KERRANG or Q and its monthly, however it wouldnt take as long as a popular selling magazine to make as i wouldnt have as many pages.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Even though my magazine is a hybrid genre and different i have still kept all the fundamentals of a music magazine this is one of the most obvisious aspects as the audience need to understand what it is your actually selling, therfore on my front cover i followed the conventions and cropped an appropiate picture and had it main focus covering most of the page. To adress my audience i also had smaller images around the outside and bottom this tells the audience my magzine has plenty to offer and will persuade them to find out about the artists e.t.c. With the pull quotes i limited the amount of text teasing the reader it aslo dosent give too much away that it isnt nessercary to read on and purchuse my magazine. On my masthead and sell lines i have showerd the text with colour this keeps my magazine looking busy and exciting it also helped my fonts jump out onto the fore ground through having text boxes this will attract customers and give them plenty to look at.

Word use has also helped me, modern, exclusive and ggoodies (great goods) all give postive feedback to Future shock and readers look out for things like this which will make them feel they hav got something worthy and valuable. With so much going on it was a good idea to keep the discourse structure simple and easy to follow this is evident through my double page spread where an indepth interveiw was present.

Being local my magazines main band

ATTACK OF THE NERDS interveiw is much more around domestic problems and rough up bringings this gives my double page spread character and makes a relationship with the reader as they may be able to relate parts of their life to it.

Attracting young adults the left image on page has plenty of energy and action it also shows the wild side to the band. Further up top another snap puts the readers on a short story and gives achorage to the meaning full interveiw aside and below. Under the band name is a descriptive opening about the group in general and gets audience arroused to read on.

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

Starting the project i was introduced with new and strange ways of saving and using my work to an advantage over the internet. Blogger at first was a real struggle to navigate howeer over time through smart custimization and work prep i eventually got used to the website. The next couple of weeks had me creating posts and uploading images which was satifying and gave me confidence to carry on.

Soon after we were shown two programmes the first adobe photoshop element 5 and Quark express. Using adobe photoshop in the past i was fairly comfortable navigating and constructing my project and in a whort time had created my front covers. Later getting cam studio inwhere i could take my own recordings and upload them had me using the lasoo tool cutting one of my band members out and onto a blank file this was failry easy to grasp however the playing and stopping of the softwear got akward and took several attempts to perfect. After tweeking my front cover i advanced into fonts and enhanced many of my text styles with drop shadows, gradients and outlines this aded proffessionalsim to my work. Helpfull also was the adavanced picture settings of adobe which after cropping allowed any inconvient marks or tears in the backdrop to go away.

For my contents and double page spread i wasent comfortable using Quark express and found it difficult even to add simple things such as text boxers and import pictures due to lack of experience. Getting towards the end of the project i eventually grasped what was needed to do and was happy fitting box to picture, picture to box along with house styles and other basics. One usefull tool was the drop capital, this ensured my work could resemble existing ones and added verisimilitude to FUTURE SHOCK.

LASSO CUTTING TOOL

Here is some simple editing i have done on a picture taken at the front of my college. Using the lasso tool i have cut out the background and opened a new file and pasted the remaining foreground, this can be usefull when you dont want certain aspects in frame.