Evaluation

How does your media product use, develop and challenge the conventions of a real media product?
For my magazine to be suitable for my target audience I had to interpret some conventions from other real magazines into my own, so that it looked realistic and professional so that I could effectively attract my target audience. Below is the link to a Prezi presentation I created discussing my product and it's conventions:

AS Media Evaluation on Prezi

In which way does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have compared the main person within my magazine with a character on the cover of a published magazine that is distributed by the company that would distribute my magazine, to show how I have represented a particular social group. I have used Bob Dylan on the cover of the magazine Mojo, who creates music of the rock/indie/folk genre which is similar to the artist in my magazine. 

In both of the images the body language and posture are very similar. It's a very laid back position that looks relaxed. Both characters are making eye contact with the camera and the shot is a medium close up with a head on shot. Both males are wearing low-key clothes in neutral colours that don't massively stand out, which matches in with the toned down scheme of the cover. Hair styles are also similar as they are both styled in a messy way. All of these factors help portray the indie genre of my magazine as they all compliment each other and blend in with the theme. A difference in the two images is the background - the published magazine's background is a plain simple block colour, whereas mine is a rather complex image consisting of typical London landmarks. Regardless of this factor both images consist of the same tone and have the same feeling about them. There is also the fact my own image is in black and white whereas Bob Dylan is in colour. They are both scaled down images yet the colour difference shows how diverse the genre can be, how there is a wide breadth of  things you can do within this genre to portray it to the indie/rock/folk social group. 

Like Bob Dylan, I wanted my character to hold similar values. I wanted to portray the fact that no matter your age, gender or style, if you work hard enough and want something so much you can achieve your dreams. Bob Dylan started making music at 18, and the genre he produces is widely loved but also criticised. My character is also young and looks fresh and in order, which presents a positive image to my target social group.

What media institution would distribute your media product and why?

I have created a video on Animoto demonstrating which media company would distribute my media product and why.

I have carried out some research on distribution and how magazine media products could be distributed or shown to a wider range of audiences. Below is a Prezi presentation demonstrating several different factors:

Distribution on Prezi

Who would be the target audience for your magazine?

To ensure that my magazine would appeal to my target audience I carried out some research on their lifestyle and what they are interested in so that my magazine would be suitable for them.

I created a simple online questionnaire for my peers, which was filled in by teenagers aged 15-20 which is my target audience but very accurate. This questionnaire consisted of five different questions to find out what my audience were interested in doing, what their preferred genre of music was and what their lifestyle situation was like. My questionnaire and a sample of results are summarised below:

Summary of a sample of results:

My target audience was mainly working class. with all of the participants being in education with some also being in work. This means that my magazine would be affordable to a wide range of people who could even buy their own magazines regularly. The dominant response for what people do in their spare time was that they like socialising with friends, with them spending money on clothes. The genre of music that occured most often was indie and rock, so I know I need to create my magazine aimed towards these people.

I then constructed a simple survey to gain feedback which consisted of ten questions to see what my target audience were like, i.e. their gender and age, what their lifestyle was like, and what they thought about my magazine and if they would buy it. Below is a sample of questionnaires that were completed and what answers I received:

The people who said they would buy my magazine were dominantly of a younger age group, with all of them being in education. There was a range of both male and female peers ho the majority of bought magazines monthly. Almost all of my audience said they usually listen to indie music which shows this is the kind of music I should include in my own magazine. The price range they would buy magazines at tended to be of the lower or middle price range. Improvements I received were to mainly add more elements and to fill the space, so I know what I needed to change and who I was catering to.

How did you attract/address your audience?

After carrying out research to find out who my target audience were, I was able to incorporate what their interests and likes into my magazine so that it would appeal to them. Below shows how I have done this:

How did you attract/address your audience? on Prezi

What have you learnt about new technologies and software, from the process of constructing your magazine?

Photoshop CS5, Prezi, Blogger, Animoto.

Here I have created an image on Photoshop showing all the digital equipment and software that I used. This includes Photoshop CS5 to create my media product, as well as three websites used to help with my research and planning. 

To design, create and edit my three music magazine pages I used the well known editing programme Photoshop CS5 as I felt it would be the best software for editing and it's range of tools. I had also used the programme before slightly so I knew the basics which helped me and knew what techniques were available to me. It also allowed me to learn more of a variety of complex editing tools and how to use different layers and grouping techniques to assist me. 

To present my research, planning and product, I used the blog website blogger.com. I had not previously used this website however I did have experience with different blogging websites so the concept was not new to me so it was easy to get used to regardless of the fact I had not used it before. It was a very productive helpful method to display my work as it meant everything was in one place and together, as well as in order. It was easy to add new posts and to also find previously added posts if I felt the need to edit any and they were displayed in a simple layout. It is an easier method rather than having everything in a file and separate. It allowed to to document every stage and all my research I found along the way, even if they were only small additions/alterations. I learnt how to insert different types of media such as images and videos, as well as links and elements I could embed. This was helpful as it allowed me to display a range of media elements to make my blog look more interesting and diverse so that I could show that I can use different mediums to show my work.

Other websites I chose to use were Prezi and Animoto. These allowed me to produce online interactive presentations and short videos to talk about different aspects of my evaluation of my final product. It helped display a range of elements in my evaluation so that it made it look more interesting and friendly instead of endless amounts of plain text. Users can also interact more with this range of media as it requires the audience to physically click and listen. As well as these four products, I used Google Documents which meant I could create questionnaires to gain audience feedback and so I could also find out who my target audience were. It allowed me to receive a different audience from those who would fill in my survey. 

In which way do you feel you have progressed from the preliminary task up to your final product?
From my preliminary task to my final product, I feel I have progressed a great deal in several areas. Firstly, I have gained a wider knowledge of the editing software that I used. I have learned how to successfully crop, cut out and edit images in Photoshop, as well as a range of other editing techniques such as the magnetic lasso tool and text settings. This meant that images as well as other elements on my product looked more professional and integrated together well, so that the quality was of a higher standard, in comparison to my preliminary task which was very bare, plain and boring. It didn't look professional or organised although it had basic generic conventions. Fonts had progressed to look more in setting with the tone of a magazine and looked of a higher standard compared to the simplistic fonts in my preliminary task. I gained a further understanding of construction and how the standard of how a product looks depends on how you put all the separate elements together. This helped me to develop my skills and create an overall better final product. I used a better colour scheme which kept in tone with my product and went well together as my preliminary task consisted on two separate colours which looked uninteresting and not appealing to audiences. The layout of my final product also improved as it needed to be conventional and realistic, so it would look in place amongst real media products. Overall I have progressed massively, as there has been a vast improvement in the standard of my work from my first preliminary task to my final product.

Final product

This is my final magazine front cover page for my magazine.  After my first draft of my music magazine front cover I gained feedback off my lecturer and peers on what I could do to improve which has helped me make my cover better and get it to this stage. Compared to my first draft it looks much more defined and professional. I changed the layout of some of the sell lines as I believe that they fit better in other places and made the cover look much more professional and realistic than before. I also added a stroke around a lot of the main text so that it was more visible and looked more defined. I have also made sure that the main sell lines are colourful and stand out so that they catch the audience's attention whilst still keeping in tone with the genre of the magazine. 

This is the final contents page for my music magazine. Compared to my first draft, I feel that this version looks much better and a lot more professional as there is less space and more conventions of a typical magazine. I added in a box with a 'contributor' and a description and image, which was consistent with the box alongside it. This filled the white space at the bottom of the page and made it look less plain. I also added another article below the 'in every issue' column so that it had a more realistic amount of stories and there was, again, less white space. I then anchored the bottom image of 'Cohesion' so that the audience doesn't get confused and knows what the image is in relation to and I also did the same with the above image of the featured article. This also made my contents look more professional as most images within a magazine are anchored.

This is my final draft for my double page spread article for my magazine. I have gained feedback from my lecturer and peers to help me improve this article to make it looks more professional and conventional. I have altered and added a few things to improve the look of this feature. I made my first priority to fill a lot of the white space so that it didn't look so bare, so I added in a 'fact file' of the artist I'd wrote about. This could also be interesting as the audience get to find out more about the artist which could mean they find it more interesting resulting in good reviews and more people talking about and buying the magazine. As well as this, I added headings under each of the images so that they were anchored and again, so that there is less white bare space on the page. It added colour and a range of elements to the page to make it looks more appealing to the audience. Finally, I added "sound interview special" to the top right corner so that it made the interview look more conventional so that the audience would know what was on the page if they were just flicking through the magazine for instance, which could catch their attention. 

First drafts

This is the first draft of my front cover for my music magazine. I am quite happy with how it looks so far however there are some adjustments which could be made to make it look more professional, however I feel it does look quite like an actual magazine you could buy. For my main masthead, I have used a very simple font which I feel is effective as it is consistent with the theme and genre of the magazine with it's simple but bold effect. To influence the audience to buy the magazine I have included a sell line at the top of the magazine which says "Britain's No.1 music magazine", which is effective as it shows how popular the magazine is which influences the more people to purchase the magazine. Finally, for the sell lines for the articles, I have tried to include a range of different topics to attract a wider audience, such as two interviews on two different artists, top 50 artist and upcoming gigs. I have done this as different people may be interested in different aspects of magazines. 

This is the first draft of my contents page for my music magazine. I think that out of the three pages I have created this is my worst, as it looks rather unprofessional and there is a lot of white space. I have included a main masthead which is the magazine name, and the title 'contents' with the date. The main masthead is the same colour as the front cover so it is consistent and looks more professional so the audience can recognize it. For my article headings I have chosen a small range so that it is more appealing so wider audience may want to read it. 

This is the first draft of the double page spread of my music magazine. I feel very happy with the way this has turned out as I think that it looks quite professional and interesting - the columns of text are conventional however the photographs are done in a way which is unusual and different. However, I think that there is a lot of white space which could be filled to make it look more interesting and less bare. I have used a range of questions which are in colour to differentiate between the answer and itself. I have also inserted a pull quote to make it look more realistic and I have also used a paragraph to introduce the article to make it seem more official and informative. 

Time management

Managing my time for my research and planning, and my actual product, hasn't been as organized as I would have liked, however I have been frequently working and updating my blog once a task was finished. I used my weekly lessons productively and am confident I will finish my AS coursework on time and meet the deadline on Thursday. I am currently in the process of completing my last task - my evaluation.

Inspirational text for my magazine double page spread

I like these two double page features because of the way they are constructed. I like how the image dominates the page but it isn't over complicated. They look tidy, smart and very proficient, with a limited yet effective colour scheme.

Inspirational text for my magazine contents page

I liked this contents page because it, again, is very simplistic. I like how one main colour (orange) has been used and then different tones of it has been incoperated. The colours match the image and overall it looks easy on the eyes yet very professional.


I liked this contents page because even though it has a lot of text and images on it it still looks professional and you can tell that it is this particular magazine - it goes with the theme of NME. I particularly liked the main masthead "inside this week" as it stands out and the font is very professional looking.

Inspirational texts for my magazine front cover

I liked these two magazine covers because, although they are two different magazines, both front covers have minimum detail. They both have very simple colour schemes which include two or three colours however both have one main bold colour which stands out and the other colours are either black or white, which makes the other colour stand out more. The colours used relate to the image and the colours involved. I like how the covers are mainly focused on the image and how this makes the covers look more effective and unusual.

Inspirational texts for my magazine front cover

I liked this magazine cover because of it's simplicity. There is only one image and a three tone colour scheme which works well together and looks effective. There aren't many sell lines and I like the position of the main person's name and how it stands out.



I like this magazine cover as it is also simple, and has minimun sell lines around the main image. It is consistent and the theme/scheme is very clear to see.

Recce

Locations and backgrounds
Backgrounds when indoors, will be white or anything plain or simple which isn't confusing or too much. The background will relate in some way to the magazine. 
If a problem occurs, a colour or background can be photo shopped into the image, or the image transferred onto some other background. 
Backgrounds if outdoors, will be in a location which will be clear with not too many elements. It will have to be interesting and in relation to my magazine. If a problem occurs, different images will be taken or the current photos with poor backgrounds will have to be edited. 
Location will be in a house with a simple room or in college, and when outdoors, will be in a garden, or in a quiet location with simple backgrounds to be used e.g. a brick wall. 
Problems with this could be that travel/transport to these locations could be unavailable, or some places may not be able to be accessed. To overcome these issues, a location which is close, convenient and available for definite should be chosen.

Props and costume
Props and costumes, if/when used will be used to make the images look better and more interesting. Props used would be something like a musical instrument i.e. a guitar. This is because it is a music magazine so it will relate to the genre. 
Costume will be clothes in relation to the artist and genre of the magazine, and if the background is plain, costume will be interesting and colourful. 
If props are unavailable, none will be used or other available ones will be used instead. 

Lighting of images
When indoors, there needs to be good bright light which makes it clear and able to see what/who is being photographed. If the image comes out too dark, Photoshop will be used for effects and brightness. 
When outdoors, photos will have to be taken in good weather conditions and during the day so photos are bright and clear.
When taking photos, several will be took just in case, so I have extra - means I will have more choice so I can get the best quality photo possible. 
To add interesting features and a mix of photos, some may be taken in a certain light i.e. when indoors, low key lighting, or when outdoors it could be when the sun is setting, to make the images more effective.
To avoid problems, multiple images will be taken in different situations and places. 

Health and safety
Electrical equipment will be kept out of the way and will be tidy as people could trip and injure themselves. When outdoors, equipment and floor conditions will have to be closely watched - if wet, a person could slip and fall, or if electrical equipment gets wet it could get damaged and break, or electric shocks could occur. Loose wires and objects will be double checked and moved out of the way to avoid tripping and falling.

Weather
If taking photos outdoors it will have to be sunny and bright. Or if a certain effect/technique is being used photos might be taken in rain/snow.
Rain or snow could be a problem as it could damage equipment and ruin the appearance of the person in the photo. Could also cause hazard when walking. 
Dark/light could also create problems. Too dark could create visual problems (for example blurry images or not being able to make out the photos). If too bright, it may make the image unclear and unable to see what the image is of. 
Whether could also cause travel problems to locations if a location in necessary. 

Preliminary task

Flat plan for my magazine contents

Colour: there will be quite a lot of colour on this page. A lot of the text will be in the same, or a similar colour to the title "sound", which will be a blue/purple colour. The only text that will be in black is "contents", "October 2011", and the headings and page numbers in each section. The images on this page will also be in colour.

Image: there will be around three to four different images on this page relating to the headlines that are next to them. The biggest main image will be of the person my double page spread is about . As well as this there will be two to three images in the subscribe box of other magazine covers, and there will be a small thumbnail in the editorial box. All of these images will be in colour. 

Text, layout and font: all the text will be in different sections of the contents, and will be in a size 11 in the font Arial. The headings will be bold and in capitals so that they stand out. My main heading "sound" at the very top of the page, will be in a larger font so that it is obvious that this is the title of my magazine, and under that will be the heading "contents" with the month. Both of these will be in black and will be in a slightly smaller font than the main sell line. 

Flat plan of my magazine double page spread

Colour: colour on this page will mainly be text. The name of the artist, the questions within the article and the headings under the images will be the same red colour as the artist's name on the front cover, so that it is keeping with the theme and colour scheme. The three images on the page will be black and white.

Image: there will be three images on this page which will be of the artist that the feature is about. The images will be within polaroid images which will make it look more interesting and not as plain as just having the images placed on the page.

Text, layout and font: there will be two columns of text on the left hand side of the page which will be my article. The font will be Arial and a small size so that it looks professional and tidy. Within this article will be a pull quote, which will be in a bigger font so it stands out. There will then be the main masthead as well as the tag line, with the tag line being in Arial, as well as bold and black. The main heading being in a larger font and in red. These will be located at the bottom of the page towards the left hand side. To the direct right of this will be 'words and photos', which will be in a small size and also Arial.

Over towards the right of the page will be a small 'fact file' of the artist, which will be bold and black so it stands out, and will also be shown in Arial. It will be aligned left but placed under the images to the right.

Flat plan for magazine front cover

This is the flat plan for the front cover of my magazine. 

Colour: the front of my magazine will have a colour scheme. The image will be in black and white to simplify it and the text around it will have a scheme of two colours. The magazine name will be in a blue/purple colour with a small black outline, and the "50" and "upcoming gigs" will be in the same colour. The "exclusive" and the name of the artist will be in a red. All other text will be in black. I  have chosen these colours as I believe that together they will create an effective look which looks professional and good together.

Image: there will be one main image on the front cover of the magazine, and that will be of the person featured in my main double page spread article. The person will be positioned more towards the right of the page and will be looking directly at the camera. The person will have a plain, serious facial expression and it will be a medium close up of them just standing plainly. There will also be a bar code image in the bottom left of the page.

Text: there will be text around the image which will be headlines and content within the magazine.

Layout and font: I will use a few different fonts - the main sell line "sound" will be Tw Cen MT, and the rest of the text will be Verdana except for the name of the artist which will be in Arial. The text will be positioned clearly around the image, with the main sell line "sound" at the top of the page. The rest of the sell lines will be down the sides and not obstructing the image.

Target audience of my magazine

Target audience

The target audience of my magazine will be varied. My aim will be to try and get the magazine to appeal to both genders as I will include various different elements which will interest both male and female readers. Many different aged readers will be able to take an interest in the magazine as they may like lots of different types of music, but my main aim will be to please readers in the teenage age group, largely older ones who are between the age of 15 and 25. It will most like attract students who are in college, school, or even have a job, who have interests such as musical instruments, the latest news in the music industry and attending music events. They'd spend their money on new albums and music downloads, and they'd buy festival and gig tickets. They'd be of social grade B to C1/C2.

Institutional context

My magazine will be mainly a mainstream magazine, in the sense that NME and Q are mainstream, although my magazine will be different from these. My magazine is mainstream because if covers music which the majority of music listeners listen to (i.e. pop rock). This means that publishing houses such as Bauer and IPC would publish my magazine.

Background research into target readers

1. Genres the publishing house ‘Bauer’ covers

• Bella
• Take a break
• That’s life!
• TV guide
• TV choice
• Q
• Kerrang!

2. Other music magazines the publisher carries that target different audiences

There are only two music magazines the publisher carries and those are Kerrang! magazine and Q magazine. They are both aimed at a younger audience of around teenagers.

3. Latest audience data for Kerrang! magazine

Overall there are 421,000 readers of Kerrang! magazine. Around half of these are middle class (218,000 readers) and the other half being working class (203,000 readers). This shows that there is a wide range of people from different classes that read the magazine whereas magazines such as Q have a much more middle class based readership. There are mainly 15-44 year olds that read this magazine as there is 389,000 readers in this age group, and there are only 32,000 readers which are 45+. This shows that the magazine appeals mainly to younger people. There is a large gap between the amount of readers when it comes to gender also. The magazine has a large male based readership as there are 258,000 out of the 421,000 readers of the magazine, and only 164,000 female readers.

4. Percentage increase/decrease of readership

Since last year there has been a 0.96% increase in readership (almost 1%), which is around 4000 readers over the year, which isn’t a lot.  

Deconstruction of a double page spread

The double page spread is taken from ‘Kerrang!’ magazine and includes news on the band “My Chemical Romance”. There are two columns of text; however this is just on one page as the other page contains a large image. The image is of the main singer and takes up the entire page. Next to this there are three other smaller images in a strip continuing from one page to another underneath the text.  There is one big heading piece of text which is a quote from one of the members which is effective and makes the reader want to read the article to find out where the quote is from. There is then a smaller heading stating what band the article is about. It is set out in an interesting way and looks professional. There is a strapline, which is the bands name in the subheading. This draws attention to it so the reader knows who the article is about. There are certain elements which overlap each other such as the smaller images overlapping the main large one which covers the pages. There is also the colour of the double page spread. The main image makes the background black as that is what the colour of the image is because of the fact it is in black and white. This means that other elements such as text have to be a colour that would stand out so it’s white and red. This makes the layout more interesting and organizes the page so that the reader doesn’t become confused or can’t read some of the text; everything is clear. 

The images on the page are all photographs, and are of the band itself. Since all members are male all images are of male characters. The images are viewed from the point of view of whoever would be standing in front of the band member, or on the main large image it would be from the point of view of the audience as it is taken at a gig. The pages are image led as the photographs on the double page spread are dominant and the text only takes up a small portion of one page. There are also captions on the images used for anchorage, although they are quite serious and not sarcastic, they allow the reader to know about what is happening in the image without there being a joke involved.

The font of the main quote heading is quite large and bold, it is noticeable and the font is plain but effective. This is the same for the smaller heading however the font is smaller and there is only the strapline (band name) in bold. Both headings are in capital letters. The main body of text is even smaller but still readable. There are “screamers” used in the title, as there is an exclamation mark at the end of the title. This emphasises what was said and shows the reader that it has been stressed. There is also other punctuation like this in the small text and on other small headings such as “WORLD EXCLUSIVE!”. The vocabulary is very sophisticated and technical; the text uses words which relate to the music industry and sentences are strung together in a professional way.

Deconstruction of a magazine contents page

The contents page for ‘Kerrang!’ magazine uses at least two separate fonts. There is the bold font in yellow, which is bold, noticable and it stands out to catch the readers attention, and there is also the smaller black font which are the sub headings. The yellow font shows the main headings and the masthead letting the reader know this is the contents page. The yellow is bold and vibrant so that it draws attention to itself so the reader knows what is in the magazine and the features. It allows the reader to look for a certain  section so they can find the page the are looking for. The smaller black font lets the reader know this will contain more information which is specific as it doesn’t stand out as much and is smaller so that the page doesn’t look too over-crowded. This makes the page look more attractive appealing to the target audience.

The text on the front cover is limited as too much would make the contents boring and pointless as it is there to let the reader know what pages certain articles and information is on, meaning it should only be small sentences letting the reader know this. The main text that stands out is the ‘contents’ as it is the biggest and boldest word on the page as it is the masthead. Next to this is the biggest paragraph on the page, which is a little paragraph from the editor. Other than that any text is short and just band names or small captions to the images.

The only main bright colour on this page is the headings and on the images. The headings stand out and make it easier for the reader to read and see, and it makes it better for people to decipher the main headings from the subheadings. The other colour is on the small thumbnail images showing the reader some of the contents of the magazine. These make the contents page look more interesting and less boring, and interests the reader more. It also appeals to the target audience as the colour is attention-grabbing  and makes the reader wonder what is being said about that artist.

The body language and staging of the small images on the contents page are set out in a good and interesting way. The images, although small, are quite clear and are good quality. There are eight small images, and then one slightly bigger one. Each image is staged in a professional way which makes it look interesting and appealing to the audience. The body language of the people in the images is relevant and goes with the genre and style of the magazine as they are holding musical instruments and are standing in a set out way so you can recognize them as bands/singers. The images have been staged in a clear way where they aren’t too close together but aren’t too far apart. It is an overall good staging of several images together as it doesn’t look boring and would appeal to the reader.

The framing of this page is very well presented. The page contains all the information needed but isn’t crowded or incomprehensible at all. The layout looks professional. The images are different types of shots: there are medium close ups, close ups, and there is a low angle shot. The range of shots makes the images and framing of the individual images look more interesting. There is a white space on the right hand side, but this balances the page out nicely as if it was filled with information the page would look too crowded and unbalanced.

The lighting on the images is mainly bright making the images look bright, almost white. Other images have a darker lighting to them creating a darker effect and making them look interesting, so that none of the images look completely the same and boring, there are different tones.  Although the background of the page is also white, the white looking images don’t blend in or look boring, everything is separate and easily noticeable. The lightness of the page is almost a contrast to the genre of music the magazine includes.

The composition of the contest page is very well set out. The overall design is effective and appealing, the bright  background and bright images making the yellow headings stand out and making it look interesting and the one bright colour on the page. The masthead ‘contents’ is a large font size, bold and stands out against everything as it is a bright colour. The entire page is filled and overall is very well presented. 

Deconstruction of a magazine front cover

The magazine ‘Kerrang!’ uses at least two different fonts. The main masthead has the biggest font as it needs to stand out at let the reader know that this is the name of the magazine. It is large and bold and is understandable. The font used goes with the style of magazine and it looks suitable for the genre. The colour is white which makes it stand out as it contrasts with the black background. Other titles and subheadings are also readable and are in a clear font, with the main subheading advertising the main article in the magazine being bolder than the rest and in a clear colour which is different to the rest. This appeals to the target audience as it is clear and readable so the reader knows exactly what is being said and what is included in the magazine.

The text on the front cover is set out professionally and in a way which suits the magazine. The headings are set out in order of importance and everything is readable and clear to see. The heading “Bring Me the Horizon” is in the foreground and the first thing you see when you pick up the magazine. It fits well with the general theme of the magazine and suits the genre because of the style which is used on the title. Other small text which isn’t as main and involved in the magazine is smaller but still there and still stands out when you focus on that part of the cover.

The colours on the cover of the magazine are basic but noticeable and create a big effect and impact on the reader. The background of the cover is black which makes the text stand out. The masthead is a basic plain white, but it stands out and a contrast is created against the black background. The main heading which shows the main article’s subject is in a bold red which also stands out against the background but is even more noticeable because of the use of colour. Other small pieces of text have a small patch of colour behind them to make them stand out, i.e. the “Exclusive!” is in a white font but has a small red background behind it. There are also the images which contain colour and make the cover look more interesting and appeal to the reader more.

The body language and staging of the main image on the cover is set out in a good way. It is clear and easy to see and work out who the image is of. It is of the whole band and not just of one member of it so it includes everyone. It is relevant to the genre and style of the magazine and the music it is about and the music the band plays. The band has been staged in a clear way where they aren’t too close together but aren’t too far apart. It is an overall good staging of the image.

The framing of the cover has been put together well, the page contains all the information needed but isn’t crowded or unreadable in any way. Everything is clear and the layout of everything is professional. The main image of the band is almost a medium close up, filling the page. It fills the width of the cover so that there is no blank space and the page is filled. The image is also very large vertically, covering a lot of the masthead and exaggerating the band. The shot shows a lot of the band so that all the detail is noticed and that it highlights all the mess and gore on the group, the mess going well with the band’s genre and the theme. Although a lot of the masthead is hidden this is not relevant as since it is a widely well known magazine which people will have seen a lot before, people will know what it is just by seeing some of the title.

The lighting on the image isn’t very high key; there are darker areas in the image and brighter areas. The light is shining from above as there are shadows under the band members’ chins and darker shadows towards the bottom of the picture. The light is conventional to highlight the faces of the band which makes it stand out more and almost contrasts the background as it is so light. The light also puts more attention on the effective mess in the image as it is seen more.

The composition of the cover is in general very well presented. The overall design and layout of it is effective and looks very professional and proficient. The black background, although plain brings out the main and sub images. There are banner cell lines at the top and bottom of the page containing information making it look more interesting. The title of the band is bold and stands out against everything as it is a bright colour. The entire page is filled and overall is very well designed and shown. 

AS Media Brief

The brief I have chosen for my AS work is the magazine cover along with a contents page and a double page spread. I have chosen to do this brief as I believe that I will be able to a higher standard rather than the video task. I have also chosen to make it a music magazine as I take a great interest in music so I think that I will be able to complete this brief in a better way because of this.