*Nicole Cameron: AS Media Coursework; Evaluation

1. 1. Evaluation##

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

I have purposely chosen to make my music magazine slightly different to the magazines I found during my research as I feel that a funky-house magazine should fit funky-house music. This genre of music is loud, different and does not conform to the stereotypical views of urban music, whilst sticking to its basic conventions.

I feel that my magazine challenges other funky-house magazines as when comparing it with M8 magazine and Mixmag you can clearly see that my magazine has a lot less sexual orientation. This gives my magazine an advantage as it means that it can appeal to wider markets i.e. younger readers. Parents are much more likely to buy my magazine for their children whereas they may not feel as comfortable with their sons or daughters reading the other magazines with the covers that they have. Another way that it broadens my target market is that it does not exploit women like the other magazines. The women used in M8 magazine and Mixing are used to attract male readers however, this deters certain females way from it. I have also chosen to design my magazine using the basic aspects of a music magazine but have unique features. For example my magazine contains a strap line, cover lines, main images and titles. However, the focus for the cover of my magazine is on my cover lines and not my main image which is not common in most magazines.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I think that the main link between my cover, contents, and double page spread is the colour scheme. The black background and fluorescent colours flow throughout all three pages and this is what connects them. I feel that the page that unifies all three together is the front cover; there is at least one aspect of the front cover that is on the contents page or the main article. An example of this is that on the front cover “Fresh” is done in bright green, with a drop shadow, a glow and in the font Halo. This is than copied in the contents page so that the word “Contentz” looks similar. Also the cover line “Miss La’Recce” has been duplicated into the main article with the only difference being a change in colour. The language used throughout the magazine also links the three pages. I have decided to use informal language as it is the language used and recognised by my readers. Also it is laid back language and I feel that it is unnecessary to write in language that cannot be understand by my readers as this would put them off. The green has been used on the cover, contents, and main article, I chose to use a bright green as it is a good connotation of freshness and my magazine likes to focus on fresh talent, fresh music and fresh rave (hence the name). The colour of scheme appeals to my target market because as it has a club feel to it; dark setting with bright lights. This connects with my target market as they are the type of people who chose to go clubbing.

3. What have you learned from you audience feedback?

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I have used various programs, software, technology and media to help construct my coursework. I used the internet to do the majority of my research as although I was able to find magazines in shops, using the internet meant that I could find a greater range of magazines and also meant that I could look at past issues of magazines. This was a great help as it meant that I was given a much broader idea of how funky-house magazines are constructed and I could also compare magazines and see what common features of magazines are.

I took my images using a digital camera and I then modified each picture using Photoshop and also used this program to plan out the layout of my pages once I had had a rough idea of how I wanted he m o look on paper. Photoshop was very useful as I was able to re-create pictures to how I wanted them. I could change add things to an image, change colours, fix any problems with the picture and make it look more professional in general.

Once I had a more precise Idea of how I wanted the page to look place the images need into *InDesign, added the text and wrap it if needed, and sorted out the layout. With *InDesign I was able to then convert my documents into a PDF file so that I could upload it onto my college’s Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle) so that my teacher could make and check it.

Using Microsoft *PowerPoint I was able to produce a presentation to show my research and planning with this programme I was able to add effects and special transactions to my slides to liven my presentation up a little. The ‘Print Screen’ button on the keyboard was very useful when doing my presentation as I was able to show stage by stage examples of how I modified each image without having to save each individual step.

The majority of my text was typed up in Microsoft Word, copied, and then pasted into the relevant document wither it be my main article in *InDesign, or long texts in my presentation.

A very important piece of new technology that I relied on a lot for this project was my USB. It enabled me to save large amounts of work in one place and also meant I could work from home. The only worried I had with using this product was that if I were to lose or forget it at home then I would have to start everything again or have nothing to do in the lesson.

I have done this evaluation using Wiki which is based on ErfurtWiki, which is an implementation of the WikiWikiWeb hypertext system. This is a site that enables me to create a web page. I am able to add text and pictures to this page and it can be viewed by anyone. At first I had a few troubles with using this website, but I then got the hang of it and was able complete my coursework.

In all, I have enjoyed this project as I have been able to use new software like Photoshop, *InDesign, and WikiWikiWeb. Although I did struggle with this project in the start I really got into it and started to experiment with different ways of doing things. If I were to do this project again I would plan more so that I knew exactly what I was doing and when it was being done.