Music magazine evaluation
1) My music magazine was called “Press Play” the genre of my
magazine was RnB the reason I chose this genre was because I personally listen
to RnB music and I have knowledge towards urban artist. I was challenged with
conventions that would make my magazine an RnB magazine. I used elements of
mise en scene such as props, for example snapbacks, these were hats which I had
seen on many famous male urban artist such as Chris Brown. Another prop which I
used was casual urban clothing such as jeans and leather jackets as I thought
this would make my magazine seem more realistic to the genre. Moreover, I told
one of the models to wear a hoodie's so they would look more like a street boys
which seemed appropriate for my magazine. From my research I gathered that the
models in RnB magazines wear props such as chains. I used this on my contents
page as one of the models is wearing chains similar to one of the Q magazine
models Jay Z. In my magazine I have used another aspect from the Q magazine,
this form of research was used on my front cover from the Q magazine I saw that
the RnB model they used was looking directly at the audience and they used a
mid-shot, I did the same for my magazine as I made my model look directly at
the audience and I took a mid-shot of her, I thought by using this the audience
would be able to engage with the model. The second case study was from a
magazine called “Pop Girl” this magazine helped me with a few aspects of my
magazine. The contents page from the magazine “Pop Girl” was not structured
formally. The images were kept on a bit if an angle, I thought that instead of
only have my pictures on a skew I should do the same with the columns I felt
that by doing this it would represent that RnB music isn’t really something
planed or structured. I took a range of images for my contents page to reflect
a variety of content. I had an idea of how I was going to keep the contents
pages as I wanted to have a range of different people so that my contents page
would engage all types of ethnicities also it wouldn’t be aimed at a specific
ethnicity. From my case study of the magazine “Pop Girl” I saw that the
contents pages hadn’t directly been aimed at one particular ethnicity group.
With my double page spread I kept a double page with models picture and one
page with the article, I used an element of the DPS from one of my case studies
“Pop Girl” they only used one page to have the article hence the reason I did
the same. The reason of why I kept one page was because I thought if the
audience see a long article they might get bored so I decided to keep it short
so the readers can connect with the article easily. The research did make it
easier for me to make my magazine look like an RnB magazine. I took many
different properties from my case studies and tried my best to apply to my own
magazine. By looking at the magazine I was able to see which elements I could
use and what I couldn’t use. From my case studies I learnt that RnB magazines
are not as formal as what a jazz magazine would be like, RnB Magazines are
usually quirky and fun and that’s what I tried my magazine to be like as I
thought the audience can engage with my magazine and that it would stand out
from the others.
2) In my magazine “Press Play” I portrayed young people between
the ages of 16 – 24. This was because I wanted to keep my magazine for young
adults who enjoy listening to music day in and day out maybe while travelling
or sometimes just when they need some motivation as some say. The main group I
was targeting was urban groups this was because the genre of my music was RnB and
most RnB singers are from an urban background. The clothing worn by the models
on the cover and contents page represent urban artist as they are wearing the
typical urban clothes such as snapback, leather jackets, hoodies etc. this type
of clothing is not only worn by any ethnicity as the urban background is
multi-cultural. The clothing represents the city as does the multi-cultural
group this section the group of people as many urban singers are all
ethnicities from my opinion I think it brings all types of people together
allowing them to socialize with different groups of people. The social group
also depends of various ethnicities and their friend circle. However my
magazine was aimed at all types of ethnicities as the models I used on the
front page and contents page come from different backgrounds this would make it
easier for the audience to be able to engage with the audience. The typical
fans for my magazine would be young adults who are interested and reflect on
theses urban singers which they see as role models. The girls would mostly wear
casual, current and fashionable clothing by looking at my front cover it gives
an example of what the typical girls interested in my magazine look like. The
typical boy fan group would wear hoodies and snapback hats; this is what an RnB
music artist would wear. For my contents page the elements of mise en scene I
used was the clothing and props. To make my model for the front cover look like
more of an urban, RnB artist I did some research to find an urban looking
outfit. I told the model to a wear a leather jacket as I thought it would give
my magazine an edge, as she won’t look classy. I deliberately didn’t objectify
the model on the front cover like other magazines as I wanted mine to be
different hence the reason the model wasn’t revealing any skin in the pictures.
In my contents page I wanted to make the male models look as if they are the
typical urban street boys to do that I made them wear snapbacks and hoodies.
Another prop that I used was a lot of chains/necklaces; this is also another
typical urban statement this will show that I have really contemplated about
the props and costumes. My magazine has attached many messages and values such
as today’s youth aged 16 – 24 can be influenced in a positive way, as my
magazine does not include any negative body language such as swearing or
smoking. It is shown in a positive way because of the clothing the models are
wearing which are modest and doesn’t show skin this makes the magazine more
appealing for both male and female.
3) The media institute that I chose to distribute my magazine was
Bauer media group I chose this group as I researched and found out that they
had published many RnB magazines so I thought it would be right to choose it.
Also Bauer media group are a successful media institute so by handing over my
magazine for them to distribute it would be good for the success of my
magazine. From my research I realised that there is a gap in the market as
Bauer media group produce music magazine but they don’t include this genre of
music (RnB). Another media institute I could choose to distribute my magazine
would be NME this is a magazine company which also distributes RnB magazines it
is well known in the market and also very successful. To engage the audience
with the magazine I thought that I would have a Facebook and a twitter page
this would allow the audience to keep connected with the magazine as they can
review and post/tweet comments on how they found the magazine. This would help
make the magazine successful, as I would be able to find out what my audience
desire. My magazine will have a website where the magazine would be
electronically published this means that the audience would be able to read and
access the magazine through a smart-phone while using an app. The title of my
magazine is called ‘Press Play’ the A in play will be an actual play icon so
when my audience view my magazine online they can easily access recent songs by
pressing the play icon, this allows them to have easy accesses to latest songs.
4) The audience for my magazine are students aged 16 to 24 the
reason I kept this age group as I thought they are more understanding. The
gender of my magazine is both male and female as I thought this wouldn’t cause
a division in the market and that was what I was trying to avoid. For my
magazine I chose a various ethnicities I didn’t choose a specific ethnicity
because I wanted my magazine to be aimed at everyone and for them to able to
engage with the magazine. To show I didn’t choose a specific ethnicity on my
contents page I tried to include Asian, white and black so the magazine can
easily connect with all. The area from when my audience would be from would
mainly be an urban area as the magazine is basically based on urban singers
from an urban background. My audience could do a lot in their spare time such
as signing up for youth clubs or maybe starting out a new career with Facebook
and many RnB artists were discovered through you tube. The typical audience for
my magazine are wearing just casual urban clothes this would include hoodies
chinos and trainers maybe for the girls dresses, these fans would live in an
urban area this usually means in the city.
This image represents the male audience for my magazine press play would look like and how he would be dressed
This image represents the female audience for my magazine. This is how an urban
artist fan would look like up to trend and still causal.
5) To attract and address my audience through electrical devices I created an app that the audience can visit online or through an app this would make it easier for my audience to access my magazine. With this app the audience would be able to state which aspects of my magazine they like the most and on which bits I need to improve on. From my opinion my audiences would like to read the feature article as front cover lines makes a reader wonder about what is going on. Another way to attract and address the audience would be by using social networking sites where they can review the magazine and inform me of what they think from their opinion of what can be improve. On the front cover I engaged the audience by the model looking directly at the audience. The journalism was where I had to try including the audience as much as possible hence the reason I kept the tense in first person so I repeated the letter ‘I’ so the audience feel engaged with the text. From my audience feedback I found out that the audience particularly liked was my contents page. I was told that this was because of the layout and images I used. I was told that my DPS and front cover needed a few improvements.
6) While doing this task I have learnt many new technology
procedures while constructing the magazine, with photo-shop I have learnt how
to change the font and the size, the colour of the writing and how to position
it. A key feature I learnt thought this task with photo-shop was rubbing out
the masthead to make the image seem as if it was in front. Also with Photoshop
I learnt how to add and remove layers. A few issues I had with Photoshop when
placing my front cover image was that it kept stretching so for this I had to
place my image in a certain way I stretched the image so it looked equal and
the image didn’t look squashed. To attach my front cover, contents page and DPS
on to my blog I had to turn the documents into jpegs, so I had to export the
document this was confusing at first. I had to also turn my print screens into
jpegs by doing this I thought of placing the image on paint and turn it into a
jpeg this was really easy and I was able to apply it to all my work. The studio
was the trickiest part of the task for me as I had never taken images in a
professional studio with a professional camera so we had a tutorial lesson
where we learnt on how to take pictures and little professional tricks. When it
was my turn to take my images I switched the lights off I felt that this made
my pictures come out better as it gave a golden look. I was very proud with my
images when I left the studio.
7) Personally I think I have improved a lot compared to my college
magazine as my college magazine didn’t really look as professional as my music
magazine does. I have developed in various things such as the use of font and
layout; I also learnt how to keep the masthead behind the models head in my
music magazine. Furthermore with the layout I have kept my cover lines
positioned well as they don’t look as if they are all over the place creating a
mess. The contents page has also improved compared to my college magazine I
tried to use more technical procedures such as outlining the cover lines and
being able to change the colour of the font without a hassle. Another way I
tried to make my magazine professional was that I added more professional
looking pictures. My images made my magazine look more professional as they were
taken in the studio they were also carefully planned as I did research on what
RnB artist wear so I could have a visual image of what I could tell my model to
wear. For the studio we had to book in a slot so we could take our pictures. At
first I only booked one slot as I thought it would be enough but after that I
felt that the pictures I had taken weren’t enough so I had to book another
session to be able to get the pictures I needed.
