Improvements Since The Preliminary Task

I am very happy with my overall skill development since the preliminary task. I've learnt allot with composing and putting together photography, as this was one thing I had had a lot of trouble with before. I learnt about the importance of mise-en-scene and eye contact especially.

Preliminary Photography

Final Secondary Photography

 Another thing I have improved on is my use of space and layout. In my preliminary task, my front cover ended up looking very empty, however I have developed this and used the space better now, by not being afraid to use large fonts, as this actually looks allot better. Through learning how to use InDesign, I used the program frequently to help improve this.

As well as many aspects of the actual product I improved on, I also improved allot in my planning. Previously I wasn't sure what the coverlines on the front cover were going to say, and this left it looking empty. However, with the final product, I made sure to plan what I was going to put on the coverlines, before I had even started putting the page together. I also made sure to fully take on board the market research I had done, as this really helped to decide what should be featured in the magazine, and how the readers should be addressed. This was a big improvement on the Preliminary task, as I hadn't done any market research before.

What kind of media institution might distribute the magazine?

After researching both Bauer Media Group and Time Inc UK (two leading publishers in the UK) I have decided that Time Inc UK would be the best media group to publish my magazine. This is because they currently only feature music magazines that concentrate in only indie and alternative rock genres. My magazine would appeal to an audience that they don't currently cater for - Rock and metal fans. Although my target readership age is slightly similar to NME's readership, I believe that my magazine would attract slightly younger and also people of a different social group to NME's readers.

Bauer Media Group currently already have a similar magazine to the one I have created: KERRANG! They also have a similar target audience to mine which is why it would not be good to be produced by Bauer Media Group. However, if Time Inc. UK produced my magazine, they could gain a readership of up to 290,000 (Kerrangs current readership is 293,00)

Time Inc. UK Research

Time Inc. UK publishes over 60 ionic brands, ranging from fashion magazines like Look and interior design magazines like Ideal Home, to sports magazines like Cycling Weekly.

Out of the 60+ brands they publish, there are only two music magazines. 

Below is a bit about their readerships.

NME

Circulation : 40,948

Readership : 388,000

Mean Age: 23

Predominantly Male readership

Genres Featured : Generally alternative, indie, rock 

Uncut

Predominantly older, male audience
Genres Featured: Rock, Classic Indie, Americana

Bauer Media Research

Bauer Media 

Bauer Media is a media group based in Europe which produces a large number of magazines, radio stations and digital TV channels. In the UK, Bauer Media produces 53 Magazines, 44 Stations, 49 Digital Brands and 7 Digital TV Channels. They produce a large variety of magazines, ranging from Practical Fishkeeping and Garden News, to Closer and Heat.



Below is the Music Magazines they produce with their readership details.

KERRANG!

Q

Mojo

How does my magazine represent particular social groups?

 My main artist in my magazine, represents young, alternative adults. She represents a large amount of my intended audience as she is a young female. Although she is slightly older than the very youngest end of my target audience (15-17) she is presented as a strong female figure that the younger audience may aspire to be.

She also represents females as being strong and independent and as someone to look up to as there are little well known female artists in the metal genre. She is also modestly dressed, showing that you don't need to be overly sexual to be a successful woman. Along with this she also presents uniqueness and extreme styles in a positive way, through the friendliness of how she appears to sound in the interview. 

The dark colours shown in the clothing, hair and make-up of my artist is very stereotypical of females in metal music. Corsets and facial piercings are also associated with metal music, meaning that the audience can clearly link the image of the artist with the music she represents.

Another way that teenagers and young adults are represented in my magazine is through use of slang and an informal mode of address. The casual use of swearing and slang is used frequently among teenagers and young adults so I have replicated this in my magazine, meaning my target audience can connect with my magazine easier. 

What I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product - Manga Studio Debut 4

Although I didn't directly use this program in the construction of my magazine, I used it quite a lot to edit fonts and create artwork for one of my secondary artists - Haunted Parade. With this program, I also used a bamboo drawing tablet. I learnt a lot about using layers through the use of this program, which in turn helped in Photoshop. Below is a sped up video of the colouring process.

What I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product - Hardware

For the photography of my magazine I used a Canon EOS 1100D. As I have an interest in photography, I already knew the basics on how I could use the camera, however throughout constructing my magazine, I have improved greatly. 

For my main photography, i made use of the natural outside light to take high quality photos.

However, for my secondary photography, I found it difficult to get the right lighting, as I wanted to take these photos indoors. This lead to the photos turning out quite yellow and grainy.

I then decided to to do a re-shoot of my secondary artist, with an external flash - Canon Speedlite 430EX.

This allowed me to direct the flash away from the model, creating soft shadows and natural lighting. This, compared with the standard direct flash found on the camera itself, gave a much more natural and high quality looking image.

External Flash turned away 

With Direct Flash