Similarities and differences between Kerrang! and my magazine

During the process of making my magazine, I focused on having a magazine which I wanted my magazine to have the same image. The magazine that I based a lot of thought and influence around was Kerrang!. As I have now completed my magazine, I have made a Prezi presentation which compares the similarities and differences between my magazine and Kerrang.

<iframe src="http://prezi.com/embed/nxo1b3rcric9/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;autohide_ctrls=0&amp;features=undefined&amp;disabled_features=undefined" width="550" height="400" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

Q: How does your media product represent social groups?

To answer this question, I have made a Prezi presentation stating all the social groups which would relate to my magazine and explained them. The link for my presentation will be below.

<iframe src="http://prezi.com/embed/aguhmia0-ffj/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;autohide_ctrls=0&amp;features=undefined&amp;disabled_features=undefined" width="550" height="400" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

Q: Looking back at your premiminary task, what have you learnt in progession to your full product?

I have answered this question on video - pictures of preminiary tasks will be put in links below.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShUgxojDMIOJHWNWpPV_gd5U8qTaD8AyprF9y91d8_5WbbKl1MS5GHnjbp3Sy2eQwFC_ZIWX-onYhXMFXU_Jewz1Vq9PdVQt6_vb-_F6k8vQNkKmsXNaZAINp1UM7emCl-BW1PdCugKw/s1600/magazine+coverr.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnF_vr-jWuYWAocY0oSFsWRhqaafiXbfnS8gWEfIg_h7qK6ISUsk9K7-YWUTPvX-AbLaUP17ansg-8QChjcZhG-4UCeUP95-c66QgSO4pDxpGmx4bE7C4PRQ1J8UQjXQsWV72d2mDE0s/s1600/magazine+contentss.jpg

Q: Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you address/attract your audience?

To answer this question, I have prepared a presentation on Prezi to outline things about who would be the audience for my media product and how I would attract them. The presentation states the kind of person who would be a perfect reader for my magazine meaning that this is the kind of people I am aiming to attract. Below is a picture of what my presentation should look like and I will also include a link to my presentation. 

<iframe src="http://prezi.com/embed/vy3cifco1qyi/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;autohide_ctrls=0&amp;features=undefined&amp;disabled_features=undefined" width="550" height="400" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

Target audience for my magazine opinion videos

I asked three people about what they thought about my magazine. Two of them were my target audience and one of them has a different music taste to what my magazine is about. I had one person who doesn't like this music as they would give me more criticism and will also let me know whether possibly my magazine appeals to a wider range audience than I initially estimated.

 

Q: What have you learnt about technologies from constructing your product?

During construcing my magazine, I learnt a lot about different technologies such as Blogger, Prezi, Photoshop, Indesign and various camera equipment. This made my knowledge of new technologies which are used to make media products such as magazines develop and give me a better understanding of them. Below I will explain what technologies I used to construct my magazine and what I learnt about them. 

Blogger:            Whilst doing my coursework, I created a blog for the first time and had to learn everything from the beginning as this was the first blog I had ever made. I learnt how to upload blog entries including pictures, videos and also learnt how to customize the background and fonts on my blog to make it look unique. I would have never thought to make a blog if I had not done this in Media, but it has helped me to understand more about technologies whilst constructing my magazine.

Prezi:              Prezi is a useful site where you are able to make and share interactive ‘presentations’ similar to PowerPoint but is easier to share with people. I used Prezi whilst doing coursework to answer a question and had to learn how to use it as I had never used Prezi before. It was simple and easy to learn and had a wide variety of things to choose from.

Cameras and camera equipment:                Before taking the pictures for my magazine, I had to learn how to use professional camera equipment in order to get the best quality pictures for my magazine. During some lessons, we had an introduction into the professional cameras and how to get the best pictures possible and tried out the cameras. After, we had to work independently to take the pictures ourselves with the cameras and also had to ensure we set up all the camera equipment ourselves. Before constructing my magazine, I did not know how to use a professional camera but now I am able to.

Photoshop:                          Whilst constructing my magazine, I had to use Photoshop to edit my pictures to give them a more professional ‘real life’ magazine look. Before constructing my magazine, I had no idea how to use Photoshop and when I first started using it, and also found it pretty difficult to understand all of the tools that Photoshop provided. But due to a lot of practise during lessons and free periods, I had learnt how to use it and managed to edit my pictures.

Indesign:            I used Indesign to put my whole magazine together, this programme was used the most in contributed towards constructed my media product. I put all of my pictures and texts together on Indesign and played around a lot on it to make my magazine have the look that I first thought of. Before using this programme in Media, I had never used it and didn’t have any understanding of it but whilst constructing my magazine, I learnt a lot about it and how to use the different tools it provided.

I think that using all these different technologies has made my magazine look as professional as possible as if I used other technologies such as Microsoft Paint to make my magazine, I wouldn't be able to use as many functions as I did on Photoshop and Indesign. Camera equipment that I used also gave my magazine a more professional look as if I used a cheap unprofessional camera, the picture quality of my magazine pictures would not be as good as they currently are. I think that the technology I used has a massive effect on my magazine and helped me to shape it to what I first planned it to be when I made my magazine plan.

 

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

Previously this year, I researched different media institution and what magazines are covered by which media institutions.
I found out that magazines such as Kerrang! (which my magazine is the most like) are published and distributed by Bauer Media.
I think that a media institution such as Bauer would distribute my magazine because of similar magazines such as Kerrang! as it is of a similar genre and style which most media institutions look for before deciding to distribute magazines as most institutions sell similar styles of media products.
I think if Bauer decided to distribute my magazine, I would have a big chance of gaining many loyal readers given that it is sold to the correct market. 
I have also made a comparison Prezi presentation which compares one of Bauer's magazines which is Kerrang! and my magazine and states the similarites and differences of both of our magazines, this gives me a clear idea on whether Bauer may be interested in publishing my magazine, as if it is completley different to Kerrang!, they may be unlikely to be interesting in publishing it.

<iframe src="http://prezi.com/embed/nxo1b3rcric9/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;autohide_ctrls=0&amp;features=undefined&amp;disabled_features=undefined" width="550" height="400" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

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

To answer this question, I have made a presentation on Prezi.
The presentation should look like the picture below and is interactive. Link for the presentation will be below the picture.

<iframe src="http://prezi.com/embed/ulsp5vjzedlu/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;autohide_ctrls=0&amp;features=undefined&amp;disabled_features=undefined" width="550" height="400" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

Final Draft for Magazine

 The picture above is my final magazine cover. I have changed quite a lot on it since my last draft due to feedback and also I wanted to add a few things onto it myself as I had too many empty spaces which I filled now with different exciting stories to attract the reader and make my magazine more eye catching.

This is my final double page spread, I have not changed it too much since my second draft as I thought that my double page spread was the strongest part of my magazine as it looks the most professional and like a magazine interview you could find in a real magazine. The most visible changes I have made to my double page spread is the clear color and font layout for the interview so that the reader can instantley tell whether the interviewer or interviewee is speaking, I also added another picture of Nicole and added catchy quotes from the interview. 

As you can see, I have now made an clear contents page with picture stories, a 'confused looking' Nicole to fit in with the whole contents page theme, and also included a picture of the 'home made' fan stickers. I have included most of the pictures that will feature throughout my magazine in my contents page to give the reader a taster of what they will see in my magazine and so they can easily fit it as well thanks to the clear multicolored page numbers.

Thoughts on first draft of my magazine

I asked one of the people that I thought were part of my target audience to give their opinions on the first draft of my magazine which I completed last week. Through the opinions of someone in my target audience, I will be able to use them to make improvements to my magazine to try and make it the best suited for my audience as possible.

First draft of my magazine cover and double page spread

Around 2 weeks ago, I finished my first draft of my magazine front cover and double page spread. Currently I am working on making improvements to it as it doesn't quite look professional yet and like something you'd find on a magazine shelf at your local shop or supermarket.
I will attach a picture of my front cover and double page spread below.

 

  
For my front cover, I have many improvements to make such as filling in empty spaces, making the picture editing look more professional, making the title of the magazine bigger and making it look more like an actual magazine.

 

Beginning and progress of my magazine

In the past month, I have been working on my magazine. I have currently created a draft of what my final magazine cover, double page spread and contents page will look like but I will work on making improvements on it. At the beginning of year 12, I didn't know much about the thought and things that go into a magazine, but as we went through the course, I realised that a magazine includes a lot of work and thought but we don't tend to notice it as we are used to magazines looking professional in almost every shop we enter. When we were planning what we are going to use in our magazine, I had barely knowledge but we then went through what goes in a magazine (on previous blog entries), which helped me develop an understanding of a magazine.
I think one of the mistakes I have made is not making a drawn plan of what I'm going to include on my front cover, double page spread and contents page.