Question 1a) Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and your ability to use such research for production developed over time
Start with foundation portfolio (AS)
The genre is punk/rock so I researched into similar magazines with the same genre. These are magazines such as Kerrang and NME. I got my inspiration and ideas from these magazines as they contain the same features of mine, a music magazine. They all contain lists and articles on music which is what I made my magazine feature. I had to include all of the same genre of music as it would make sense to appeal to the targeted audience. I deconstructed a couple of existing punk rock magazines as this would help me to understand what appeals to my audience. These were things such as bold headlines selling the story on what the best music is currently/concerts going on. They also included a main image to sell the music, I did this with my foundation portfolio as well because I think it sells the story if there is a key image to associate it with. I picked out the main articles down the side of the magazine talking about the current news in music (kerrang TV) I got my inspiration from a particular article on Kerrang which shows a lot of information about what is new. However I reduced the amount down the sides as it looked a little bit crowded because of the colours I had (red, black, and white) I learned from this that you need to consider the layout and colour schemes of the magazine before adding in the text otherwise it may not be visible enough to read. Kerrang's colour scheme was black and white so the text was easy to adjust as opposites over the colours to make it clear, but when I did this I found that some of the words were not seen because of the red which had a major effect on the important articles.
Advanced portfolio
This is a fashion magazine specific to the North East region of England. I have researched into other magazines similar to this such as Etc magazine and Living North magazine. Etc is about fashion and advice aimed at women but Living North is mostly about interior design, however I chose to look at these because they are based on the NE of England which helped me to understand what kind of things people from this region look for in a magazine. They would mostly be interested in events happening around them as they are the people most likely to attend. By researching into other magazines similar to mine I have gained an insight as to how to make my magazine the best and most professional it can possibly be. My magazine genre is quite unusual of pop culture/indie regional fashion magazine so I had to look at genres of magazines that have these features because none had them all together. Comparing existing magazines to mine was proven quite difficult as it is a very rare genre if not existing at all. My magazine is a combination of these common genres found in regional magazines. I developed my creativity skills from the foundation portfolio as I had to combine the two genres together to come up with a new genre, rarely seen. This includes the two genres that are becoming increasingly popular by demand (pop, indie/rock). I managed to combine these two effectively as I have displayed a range of both genres in my images and layout. I think this works because I have not neglected one or the other so there is a balance of both that create a feminine outlook on the indie/punk genre. I was able to do this through researching into existing magazines as I found support on how to set out my magazine to attract the right people, for example, the colours to use, type of font, typical stories that they would be interested in (fashion icons/music icons/regional events).
1B
Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to genre
In my advanced portfolio I have created a regional fashion magazine. The genre is pop and indie/rock. A combination of two genres (hybrid) The two genres I used are not typically seen together (binary opposites) but I have put them together to create originality. These two genres are becoming very popular now and as they are combined it could potentially increase the number of buyers for the magazine if it were to be published as it includes features from both genres that would help to sell the magazine, for example, the style of clothing my model wears is both pop and indie. This also helps attract readers of the targeted age as she is 20 years old.
The layout is for women age 16-25, young audience, feminine- colours pink, black, and white. Typical of a fashion magazine to attract certain type of person, who would most likely be involved in fashion or have hobbies such as clothes shopping. Includes some indie genre on the double page spread- clothes, colours, for the older audience (b&w) 20-25. The younger audience more attracted to the front including brighter colours.
The two chosen genres would typically not be seen together but as I have combined them together and incorporated their features together I have created a new kind of genre that older teenage girls and young women (20-25) would most likely to be interested in. (because of the fashion changes and what is most popular with these age groups. I think these work because the two genres are closely linked in terms of audience, closely linked fashion themes and colour schemes. However the indie/punk side of the magazine changes the genre dramatically but I have thought about how to present this in my double page spread and figured out a way to make this genre come across more feminine with pop culture.
1A
In my foundation portfolio I chose to create a music magazine with the genre of punk/rock. I researched into existing magazines such as Kerrang and NME to look into what I needed to add to my magazine in order to attract my targeted audience. I looked at how the front cover was presented and the colour choices they made. My biggest inspiration for this was Kerrang. They use predominantly black and white for most issue covers, I think they do this because these are the most popular colours for this genre. I took note of this and when it came to planning and creating my magazine I used the same colours with a red background. I added the red because my magazine is called 'Fire' which corresponded with the colours and gave it more emphasis on the name to make it more memorable. Kerrang have the slightly burned out masthead similarly to mine to give it the rebellious look. I included, in my magazine, the names some bands under the headline 'the hottest music' this again corresponds with the theme of the magazine, that being fire. It makes sense to name the bands that are typically liked by the people who would like my magazines' genre of music, this is to attract my target audience. I deconstructed a few magazines with the genre similar to Fire to get an idea of what they consist of and how I can use that information to create a successful magazine that appeals to my target market. The most important thing that I found out from the deconstructions was that the masthead and the headlines as well as the key image are really important for attracting people's attention. From this I learned that, in future production of a media product, I need to make sure these features are the most prominent because this is what will determine the popularity of the magazine. For example, it has to have a catchy or bold masthead and the main image needs to instantly connect with the readers, this could be through the use of a personal mode of address with direct eye contact. The stories down the side of my magazine were looking too crowded at first so I researched into how other magazines presented their articles and some of them could get away with the crowded text look but my colours were too bright to do this. It started to look messy because of the red background so I took this into consideration and reduced the amount of words for each story. In turn, this gave enough room to move the image along the page to get more of the model in frame. I could also make the masthead bigger and therefore more noticeable which is one of the main points to emphasise. My ability for research into existing magazines developed over time as I found out that certain colours should not be implemented when black or white text needs to be used. I also found out that the image's position is really important for mode of address.
Friday, 16 May 2014
Gauntlett & Connell- MH notes
(Refer to MH magazines for analysis's)
Men's Health quote by MORGAN REES, EDITOR 'Men's Health is the magazine for active, successful, intelligent men who want to make the most of their physical, professional and emotional lives. We give men the tools they need to make their lives better.'
MH powerpoint Gauntlett:
They all usually contain something about sex and how to be the best. MH also almost always have an 'advice' column that instructs men on what they are doing wrong or what they have to do.
Extract slide 6- They force men into being married as it suggests an easier life, men may feel threatened by this and marry out of fear rather than love. According to MH men should be married or they can seem weird and not following the path society has made them go to. It also suggests that men can feel happier with a partner and safer as not being married can cause a risk in heart disease (from eating unhealthy) They persuade men to be married because it will boost their earnings by 20% which is more of a motivator than to do it because they want to. Connell might suggest that this is making men an overman or hegemonic. Gauntlett may suggest it makes men insecure and feel like they need to change their lifestyle to become a 'real man'.
Slide 7- The extract suggests that men need to be laddish to cover up their insecurities about their lifestyle choices. This extract is for a typical hegemonic male. They tell men to beat their friends at relationships by staying married at 30 even if your friends 'buckled'. It is border line sexist by implying that women are temperamental without sleep and that all women don't want a commitment. Instead of having a conversations they tell men to follow their advice which could be dangerous for certain relationships.
Slide 8- Tells men that married life will make you better emotionally, physically, and mentally because it helps to loose weight, be happy, and more attractive. In reality this is not 100% true as each individual is different but MH twists the truth into making married life better. Using statistics can help to persuade the men to believe them as they think these numbers are accurate and more believable.
There is evidence in MH that men can get insecure over the articles in the magazine because it suggests that all men need to be like this (refer to any front cover male who shows muscle) and if you don't then you are weird and makes them out to be 'losers' as some captions will include words such as 'to be the best' or 'fight and win'. Once MH have the men feeling insecure over their bodies and minds they have 'solutions and reassurance' that men can be who they desire (hegemonic) when in reality there was nothing wrong with them they just do this to sell the magazine.
Mode of address
Most MH magazines will have a laddish tone to protect their heterosexuality as they are given advice on relationships, health and cooking, and sex. These are more commonly found on women's magazines which is why men are taking back their masculinity (Bly) Gauntlett suggests humour and irony is used in a laddish tone to cover up the fact that men don't want other men to know that they read this stuff. It makes them feel weak and inadequate.
Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated...(inviting) a fluidity of identities
slide 11-
An objectifying 'advice' column where a man informs other men on how to skirt around the issue of 'sex only relationships'. When men don't want a real relationship and the woman does, this advice column suggests lying and blaming the break up on her just to save the man's reputation. They care more about how the man is represented rather than the woman's feelings and how it could negatively affect her confidence. It could also be really bad advice as not all women and men are alike and so different situations will happen. This person is taking advantage of women's minds and exploits the fact that 'women are typically looking for a real relationship more than men', and 'women are more sensitive than men usually'. They try to show respect for the women by saying 'bad mouthing her won't reflect well on you', however, although they are suggesting to not bad mouth women (as they shouldn't) they are also showing that they care more about their reputation than the women's. To save themselves they must show women respect which is selfishness, they should be taught to show all people respect because it is courteous, not because it will reflect good on themselves.
"She's not worth more to you than sex", Blumberg is suggesting that this is the real reason why some men don't want a real relationship by adding "It's a hell of a lot better than telling her [she's not worth...]" This is telling the men that showing yourself more respect (as a man) is what you should do and not show women much respect as equals because it shows weakness.
Men's Health quote by MORGAN REES, EDITOR 'Men's Health is the magazine for active, successful, intelligent men who want to make the most of their physical, professional and emotional lives. We give men the tools they need to make their lives better.'
MH powerpoint Gauntlett:
They all usually contain something about sex and how to be the best. MH also almost always have an 'advice' column that instructs men on what they are doing wrong or what they have to do.
Extract slide 6- They force men into being married as it suggests an easier life, men may feel threatened by this and marry out of fear rather than love. According to MH men should be married or they can seem weird and not following the path society has made them go to. It also suggests that men can feel happier with a partner and safer as not being married can cause a risk in heart disease (from eating unhealthy) They persuade men to be married because it will boost their earnings by 20% which is more of a motivator than to do it because they want to. Connell might suggest that this is making men an overman or hegemonic. Gauntlett may suggest it makes men insecure and feel like they need to change their lifestyle to become a 'real man'.
Slide 7- The extract suggests that men need to be laddish to cover up their insecurities about their lifestyle choices. This extract is for a typical hegemonic male. They tell men to beat their friends at relationships by staying married at 30 even if your friends 'buckled'. It is border line sexist by implying that women are temperamental without sleep and that all women don't want a commitment. Instead of having a conversations they tell men to follow their advice which could be dangerous for certain relationships.
Slide 8- Tells men that married life will make you better emotionally, physically, and mentally because it helps to loose weight, be happy, and more attractive. In reality this is not 100% true as each individual is different but MH twists the truth into making married life better. Using statistics can help to persuade the men to believe them as they think these numbers are accurate and more believable.
There is evidence in MH that men can get insecure over the articles in the magazine because it suggests that all men need to be like this (refer to any front cover male who shows muscle) and if you don't then you are weird and makes them out to be 'losers' as some captions will include words such as 'to be the best' or 'fight and win'. Once MH have the men feeling insecure over their bodies and minds they have 'solutions and reassurance' that men can be who they desire (hegemonic) when in reality there was nothing wrong with them they just do this to sell the magazine.
Mode of address
Most MH magazines will have a laddish tone to protect their heterosexuality as they are given advice on relationships, health and cooking, and sex. These are more commonly found on women's magazines which is why men are taking back their masculinity (Bly) Gauntlett suggests humour and irony is used in a laddish tone to cover up the fact that men don't want other men to know that they read this stuff. It makes them feel weak and inadequate.
Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated...(inviting) a fluidity of identities
slide 11-
An objectifying 'advice' column where a man informs other men on how to skirt around the issue of 'sex only relationships'. When men don't want a real relationship and the woman does, this advice column suggests lying and blaming the break up on her just to save the man's reputation. They care more about how the man is represented rather than the woman's feelings and how it could negatively affect her confidence. It could also be really bad advice as not all women and men are alike and so different situations will happen. This person is taking advantage of women's minds and exploits the fact that 'women are typically looking for a real relationship more than men', and 'women are more sensitive than men usually'. They try to show respect for the women by saying 'bad mouthing her won't reflect well on you', however, although they are suggesting to not bad mouth women (as they shouldn't) they are also showing that they care more about their reputation than the women's. To save themselves they must show women respect which is selfishness, they should be taught to show all people respect because it is courteous, not because it will reflect good on themselves.
"She's not worth more to you than sex", Blumberg is suggesting that this is the real reason why some men don't want a real relationship by adding "It's a hell of a lot better than telling her [she's not worth...]" This is telling the men that showing yourself more respect (as a man) is what you should do and not show women much respect as equals because it shows weakness.
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Structure of exam- masculinity response
GENERAL
2 case studies- mens health/sherlock
Intro- what case study is and what representation is (masculinity)
Historical paragraph- historically how have men been represented? (fight club, James Bond etc)
leave fight club until last to show comparison between old (FC) and new (SH)
- superior figure
-dominant
-brave
-physically fit etc
- add theory
Present case study (SH) debate over positive and negative things involving masculinity in SH.
apply theory in here
conclusion- summary of findings- talk about future representations (from all of my research I have found that men could be represented as ........ in the future)
MEN'S HEALTH!!!!
Masculinity question, talk about
-What is being represented
-Collective identity
-Representation of men (fitness, behaviour, male grooming, semiotics(?) media lang and body lang)
-How Men's health suggest men act around problems and how to fix them (mental heath/illness, activeness, socialising (mostly around women))
-How they use the cover models to advertise, create a sense of true masculinity and being an acceptable man.
-Who are the target audience and why do they appeal to this
-Add in media terminology and theorists (Connell's types, David Gauntlett's male identities, Bly's Mytho-poetic male, Freud and Nietzsche) (Identification- male gaze, Narcissistic identification, Quick fix problem solving, voyeurism, idealism, misogyny, male superiority)
CASE STUDY!!!!! (Pick one episode but can talk about others a little bit rarely)
Talk about
-Everything above in general section
-How each male character reacts/behaves, maybe why?
-Can be opposite to Men's Health or have similarities
-Involve theory on each character (males) link up to explanation
-Who is the new man? Who is hegemonic? and overman?
-Debate over sexualities of the two main characters- Who cares the most to be heterosexual? or over compensates? who doesn't show much focus on this?
WHICH THEORISTS TO USE!
-David Gauntlett- against idea of typical masculine men. Apply to Sherlock and Men's Health when associated with male grooming. (Personalities are fluid and can change) Hegemonic male- a man who wants to be a very masculine man as they think this is the only acceptation.
-......? Identification- narcissistic identification
2 case studies- mens health/sherlock
Intro- what case study is and what representation is (masculinity)
Historical paragraph- historically how have men been represented? (fight club, James Bond etc)
leave fight club until last to show comparison between old (FC) and new (SH)
- superior figure
-dominant
-brave
-physically fit etc
- add theory
Present case study (SH) debate over positive and negative things involving masculinity in SH.
apply theory in here
conclusion- summary of findings- talk about future representations (from all of my research I have found that men could be represented as ........ in the future)
MEN'S HEALTH!!!!
Masculinity question, talk about
-What is being represented
-Collective identity
-Representation of men (fitness, behaviour, male grooming, semiotics(?) media lang and body lang)
-How Men's health suggest men act around problems and how to fix them (mental heath/illness, activeness, socialising (mostly around women))
-How they use the cover models to advertise, create a sense of true masculinity and being an acceptable man.
-Who are the target audience and why do they appeal to this
-Add in media terminology and theorists (Connell's types, David Gauntlett's male identities, Bly's Mytho-poetic male, Freud and Nietzsche) (Identification- male gaze, Narcissistic identification, Quick fix problem solving, voyeurism, idealism, misogyny, male superiority)
CASE STUDY!!!!! (Pick one episode but can talk about others a little bit rarely)
Talk about
-Everything above in general section
-How each male character reacts/behaves, maybe why?
-Can be opposite to Men's Health or have similarities
-Involve theory on each character (males) link up to explanation
-Who is the new man? Who is hegemonic? and overman?
-Debate over sexualities of the two main characters- Who cares the most to be heterosexual? or over compensates? who doesn't show much focus on this?
WHICH THEORISTS TO USE!
-David Gauntlett- against idea of typical masculine men. Apply to Sherlock and Men's Health when associated with male grooming. (Personalities are fluid and can change) Hegemonic male- a man who wants to be a very masculine man as they think this is the only acceptation.
-......? Identification- narcissistic identification
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Jackass 3 notes (2010)
Audience- 18+
How are men represented in the film?
-tough
-maybe a bit stupid
-sometimes fearless
-loud screaming
-daring
-laughs at others pain
-not very masculine
- some of them are scared to start
- try to be brave
- iconic music to represent masculinity
*Bly theorist- (iron John) grieving over loss of masculine, deep masculinity
*Connell- trying to be a masculine man and not afraid of pain, trying to be hegemonic
they are marginalised, they are repressed and try to break free of that.
All types are shown, i.e. big build, skinny, age difference, height difference, new man and typical man, all white men.
hyper masculine- wanting to be the hegemonic male a lot.
slow motion- show the pain and how much it hurts them, they are enjoying the pain themselves.
Some men are shown to be in serious pain and crying.
How are men represented in the film?
-tough
-maybe a bit stupid
-sometimes fearless
-loud screaming
-daring
-laughs at others pain
-not very masculine
- some of them are scared to start
- try to be brave
- iconic music to represent masculinity
*Bly theorist- (iron John) grieving over loss of masculine, deep masculinity
*Connell- trying to be a masculine man and not afraid of pain, trying to be hegemonic
they are marginalised, they are repressed and try to break free of that.
All types are shown, i.e. big build, skinny, age difference, height difference, new man and typical man, all white men.
hyper masculine- wanting to be the hegemonic male a lot.
slow motion- show the pain and how much it hurts them, they are enjoying the pain themselves.
Some men are shown to be in serious pain and crying.
Friday, 2 May 2014
Case study (sherlock BBC)
BBC Sherlock (tv drama) series ? episode ? year ? Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat (Arthur Conan Doyle)
questions asked:
questions asked:
emleslieboddy.blogspot.co.uk (masculinity)
conclusion- how do you think men will be presented in the future?
Rough plan- I think that men will be represented as much more feminine in the future as they are stepping away from the idea that men have to be muscular and strong (mentally and physically). However, mostly in the western world, some men may prefer to be the dominant one over women and remain sexist towards them. I think that the idea of masculinity is going to be destroyed in the future because a lot of connotations referring to women liking certain things (e.g..pink, dolls, marriage, make-up) and men liking certain things (action, violence, sports, blue,) are becoming non-existant as these things break barriers into different genders, for example, women can be construction workers without having being discriminated (mostly). The idea of femininity and masculinity as suggested by (barthes?) is a myth, and I think that this will be a complete myth in the future because genders are not being associated with abstract theories as much. This could be because of the way women were treated and some still are treated unfairly because of their gender, so women fought to be equals and then most of the world operate in a non specifically gendered way to remove all issues of discrimination. Overall I think that men would not have the connotations of how they are now, strong, physically fit, dominant, some sexism etc because masculinity is like fashion, it goes and is replaced with a better idea. As women and men disregard the fact that they have to conform to the rules of society where they need to do certain things because of their gender, the more they rebel and become equals. In the case of BBC Sherlock where 'smart is the new sexy', it is showing change in how men want to be seen by women, for example, smart, intelligent, and respectful.
Rough plan- I think that men will be represented as much more feminine in the future as they are stepping away from the idea that men have to be muscular and strong (mentally and physically). However, mostly in the western world, some men may prefer to be the dominant one over women and remain sexist towards them. I think that the idea of masculinity is going to be destroyed in the future because a lot of connotations referring to women liking certain things (e.g..pink, dolls, marriage, make-up) and men liking certain things (action, violence, sports, blue,) are becoming non-existant as these things break barriers into different genders, for example, women can be construction workers without having being discriminated (mostly). The idea of femininity and masculinity as suggested by (barthes?) is a myth, and I think that this will be a complete myth in the future because genders are not being associated with abstract theories as much. This could be because of the way women were treated and some still are treated unfairly because of their gender, so women fought to be equals and then most of the world operate in a non specifically gendered way to remove all issues of discrimination. Overall I think that men would not have the connotations of how they are now, strong, physically fit, dominant, some sexism etc because masculinity is like fashion, it goes and is replaced with a better idea. As women and men disregard the fact that they have to conform to the rules of society where they need to do certain things because of their gender, the more they rebel and become equals. In the case of BBC Sherlock where 'smart is the new sexy', it is showing change in how men want to be seen by women, for example, smart, intelligent, and respectful.
include- episode, series, year, producers
-look at media and audience in case study
I think that Sherlock is viewed equally by men and women. Usually of ages 16+ as it appeals to a very wide range of audiences. This applies for the BBC Sherlock as it has become more popular with the actors playing the parts of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Sherlock is perceived as quite masculine but as a new man since he uses intelligence to seem superior, whereas the common man may use strength and muscle to show superiority. Sherlock is still well dressed which emphasises the 'well groomed man who is also the new man' as a way of proving that men can be concerned about fashion but still be manly enough.
I think the audience has such as variety because of the way the original Sherlock series was. This would appeal to the older men and women. The BBC version now appeals to the younger ones as they incorporate modern terms, language, and general modern features such as the cabs and trains in place of each other. They chose fitting actors to play the parts of SH and JW as appearance helps to originate back to the original books. These actors are also becoming more popular which helps bring in more of a variety of audiences.
I think that Sherlock is viewed equally by men and women. Usually of ages 16+ as it appeals to a very wide range of audiences. This applies for the BBC Sherlock as it has become more popular with the actors playing the parts of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Sherlock is perceived as quite masculine but as a new man since he uses intelligence to seem superior, whereas the common man may use strength and muscle to show superiority. Sherlock is still well dressed which emphasises the 'well groomed man who is also the new man' as a way of proving that men can be concerned about fashion but still be manly enough.
I think the audience has such as variety because of the way the original Sherlock series was. This would appeal to the older men and women. The BBC version now appeals to the younger ones as they incorporate modern terms, language, and general modern features such as the cabs and trains in place of each other. They chose fitting actors to play the parts of SH and JW as appearance helps to originate back to the original books. These actors are also becoming more popular which helps bring in more of a variety of audiences.
-Is identity changing?
Identity is changing in modern society as characters such as Sherlock are becoming widely acknowledged and followed. Identity is changing for the better mostly because it gives people the freedom to dress and act however they want without feeling pressured into being one gender or the other. Gauntlett is against how men are perceived in MH and doesn't believe that it is necessary, he thinks that change can happen and it will in future.
mention theorists-
Gauntlett
Connell
Frued
Bly
Butler
Monday, 28 April 2014
Section A 1A question
Describe the ways in which your production was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.
At AS level I researched into real media texts by looking into magazines such as Kerrang and NME. They have the same genre as my magazine which helped me to understand what features should be included in a successful magazine that would also attract the targeted audience. These types of magazines, in the style of punk rock, usually contain very few colours and almost always use black as this colour has connotations of being associated with the rock genre. I already had knowledge of these magazines which made my magazine production easier in terms of the model's appearance, the colours and text, and relating them to music. These magazines are quite popular within this genre which is why I chose them as examples and inspiration to get a good idea of what the audience prefers in order to make my magazine professional and successful. For the most part of my main product, the magazine, I was creative in ways such as the name, headline, colour arrangements, and model position. The model on the front has her head facing away from the camera which is not usually seen on a magazine if they are to be 'inviting'. Most of the time they will be looking at the camera to give a direct address to the audience but in my magazine I wanted to create a look of mystery so we don't actually get to see her whole face. She is with a prop, the guitar, which is only rarely found on a magazine and this makes my magazine more original than the other real media texts.
For the double page spread in my music magazine at AS I researched into other double page features such as the ones listed above, NME and Kerrang, they didn't have many double page features to look into but I found some useful pages that consisted of of articles on music that display a good deal of text and images. This helped me understand what a music magazine double page should consist of. I carefully planned the images out so they would fit on the page without looking messy or out of place, by researching into other magazines I have gained knowledge on how to properly position photos in order to make them as professional as possible.
At AS level I researched into real media texts by looking into magazines such as Kerrang and NME. They have the same genre as my magazine which helped me to understand what features should be included in a successful magazine that would also attract the targeted audience. These types of magazines, in the style of punk rock, usually contain very few colours and almost always use black as this colour has connotations of being associated with the rock genre. I already had knowledge of these magazines which made my magazine production easier in terms of the model's appearance, the colours and text, and relating them to music. These magazines are quite popular within this genre which is why I chose them as examples and inspiration to get a good idea of what the audience prefers in order to make my magazine professional and successful. For the most part of my main product, the magazine, I was creative in ways such as the name, headline, colour arrangements, and model position. The model on the front has her head facing away from the camera which is not usually seen on a magazine if they are to be 'inviting'. Most of the time they will be looking at the camera to give a direct address to the audience but in my magazine I wanted to create a look of mystery so we don't actually get to see her whole face. She is with a prop, the guitar, which is only rarely found on a magazine and this makes my magazine more original than the other real media texts.
For the double page spread in my music magazine at AS I researched into other double page features such as the ones listed above, NME and Kerrang, they didn't have many double page features to look into but I found some useful pages that consisted of of articles on music that display a good deal of text and images. This helped me understand what a music magazine double page should consist of. I carefully planned the images out so they would fit on the page without looking messy or out of place, by researching into other magazines I have gained knowledge on how to properly position photos in order to make them as professional as possible.
For my music magazine I used Photoshop in
the first half of production. I changed halfway through because I found
Photoshop to take a lot of time as I had no skills in that programme. I did
learn a few things in it but it was wasting too much time so I edited the
images and moved them into Publisher which is when I presented the magazine as
a whole, including background, text and colour schemes. The editing skills I
learned in Photoshop will be useful in the future, for example, creating
another media production such as a poster/magazine etc and using the editing
tools and touch ups to make the images look professional. On the other hand,
this will take time to do and may be easier and quicker if I was to use
programmes such as Publisher, or any other Windows Office programmes.
In post-production for my AS media
magazine I changed a few features to make it look more appealing to the target
audience. These were factors such as the colour red for the background instead
of orange. I chose red as it is more fiery giving the link between the colours
and the masthead 'fire'. Red has connotations of being associated with blood,
fire, rage, and danger. On the other hand it can also mean passion, romance or
love. In the case of my magazine I have paired the colour red with black and white
throughout to show that it is reinforcing the 'rock' genre as seen in most
magazines of this type.
In A2 I looked at a range of differing
genres such as regional and fashion. My magazine is a combination of both these
genres which made it harder to get a real media text example to be inspired by.
However, I managed to look at etc
magazine and northnews which
involved characteristics of each genre. Both concentrating on one key feature, I
added parts of each magazine to make mine as original as possible. By doing
this I have a one of a kind magazine that can attract two types of audiences
that prefer certain genres, for example, my magazine mixes pop culture and
indie/rock, only subtly but the audience can still be interested if the themes
are kept as equals. I researched into the magazines mentioned above to get an
idea of what these types contain and how I can use it to appeal to the same
audience as if it were competition.
I used Pixlr,
some Photoshop, and Publisher to do my A2 magazine. These are
all the digital technologies I used to create and edit my magazine as well as
the internet for research and planning of the initial layout. Pixlr is a simplified version of Photoshop in which I could edit my images in
less time but for the same amount of overall quality. It is not as professional
as Photoshop but the image kept its quality. This was because I couldn't spend
too long on the editing of the images otherwise I would run out of time to get
the text and overall presentation done, which is quite a vital part. As
explained in AS production, I couldn't use Photoshop for very long as I didn't
have the appropriate skills to complete the task solely on that programme,
however I did use it for one of the ancillary tasks which boosted my skills in
that area a little further. After the magazine was completed I went back to do some post production which was mostly editing the images to make them stand out more, for example, I lightened up most of the photos so that the model would have a soft feminine face as this would appeal to the targeted audience more, they would look up to her and be inspired as well. There wasn't much editing to be done on the magazine because I captured them in natural light which is what I hoped to get in the photos. Since this went well all I had to do was sharpen and lighten up the models face to give her a 'flawless' look. Some colours were too bright and used too often so I took the one brightest colour on each page (excluding the contents page) and scarcely implemented it into the page. This way the text was still readable but the one colour attracts attention over to that area. This part of production helped me to develop my editing skills and further my creativity to produce the best possible outcome I could achieve.
Section A info
What is included? SectionA 1A
- real media texts
- digital technology
- post-production
- research and planning
- creativity
plan:
name the real media texts I used in AS and A2 (North News Mag., NME, Kerrang, Etc Magazine) go over how I used them for inspiration (layout, colours and poses for the model)
Digital technologies (wix, pixlr, photoshop, publisher) how I used and developed skills or not (PhSh) creating more professional looks within publisher compared to AS, give examples, colours and model types.
post-production (editing) what I changed and how I developed my final piece, I changed the colour scheme and certain words. I edited the contents pages the most, most difficult to add appropriate detail.
R&P (into magazines and genres and 'styles'.)
Creativity (how I came up with the idea of my magazines and the creativeness about them e.g. my inspiration from other texts)
What is included? SectionA 1B
- representation
- genre
- media language
- audience
- narrative
Plan:
representation (what my magazines represent) use the models and how they are conveyed as inspiration to what I need to write about)
Genre AS punk/rock A2 pop feminine hint of indie (pg. 2-3)
media language (terminology) look up
audience (AS-16 to 20) (A2 16-25) bigger range in 2nd year showing development into further audiences and reaching standards to meet them. Completely different target audience compared to AS. Shows diversity into other genres and changing them to suit the audience, versatile. Still keeping with young readers (I am best suited for) knowing what people my age want in a magazine.
narrative (p.o.v) who from.
- real media texts
- digital technology
- post-production
- research and planning
- creativity
plan:
name the real media texts I used in AS and A2 (North News Mag., NME, Kerrang, Etc Magazine) go over how I used them for inspiration (layout, colours and poses for the model)
Digital technologies (wix, pixlr, photoshop, publisher) how I used and developed skills or not (PhSh) creating more professional looks within publisher compared to AS, give examples, colours and model types.
post-production (editing) what I changed and how I developed my final piece, I changed the colour scheme and certain words. I edited the contents pages the most, most difficult to add appropriate detail.
R&P (into magazines and genres and 'styles'.)
Creativity (how I came up with the idea of my magazines and the creativeness about them e.g. my inspiration from other texts)
What is included? SectionA 1B
- representation
- genre
- media language
- audience
- narrative
Plan:
representation (what my magazines represent) use the models and how they are conveyed as inspiration to what I need to write about)
Genre AS punk/rock A2 pop feminine hint of indie (pg. 2-3)
media language (terminology) look up
audience (AS-16 to 20) (A2 16-25) bigger range in 2nd year showing development into further audiences and reaching standards to meet them. Completely different target audience compared to AS. Shows diversity into other genres and changing them to suit the audience, versatile. Still keeping with young readers (I am best suited for) knowing what people my age want in a magazine.
narrative (p.o.v) who from.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)