Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When looking at my student magazine and my music magazine you can instantly see the difference in layout and quality on the main cover. I realised that when i started planning that i needed to do more research because this was one of my criticisms in my preliminary task. Also looking at both contents pages again you can see how my final product is more professional than the first task because i have become a lot more used to the technology and now i know how to edit layouts images and other things on photoshop and quark express. The images where similar on both magazines but the image on my final product was a lot better because i learnt from my mistakes in the first one. In conclusion looking at both magazines you can clearly see the difference in them.My final product is more professional with a better layout , less mistakes and appeals to the target audience a lot more.

*pictures will be uploaded shortly*

Question 5 - How did you attract and address your audience?

I wanted to attract my niche audience so i did this in several ways. During the making of my magazine i used information from the research i did and also from posting ideas on social networks.
http://www.facebook.com/murphstarrr?ref=profile#!/photo.php?pid=30941922&id=1426063862
This link shows the responses i got from my target audience in my first draft, using these response i knew this would help in making my final magazine more successful. When i showed my target audience a selection of colour schemes i realised they wanted purple and black and so i took there ideas and used it in my final cover. I also took ideas from research such as bold fonts and ones that would suit my target audience and would connote a 'street' look. I also attracted my target audience by using a typical model for my front cover, a black youth wearing the typical clothes e.g. bright branded colors and a flat peak cap. I also used quotations from the model such as "I am the greatest" this draws my audience to the magazine because they will want to read more about the story. On my contents page i used similar methods and asked audiences for helps with font and coloring to try and make my magazine appeal to the UK grime listeners.

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 4
The media product I made was a UK Grime magazine, I researched it , came up with my own ideas and finally i created a final product. Whilst creating ideas and researching into the grime area i had to take into account my target audience . The target audience i was trying to reach was young males age 14 onwards who are interested in grime from the UK, i knew that my magazine would only appeal to a niche market. My target audience would be working class youths that would probably not be attending higher education , they would not be mainstream and would prefer to keep the 'underground' reputation because grime is not a popular mainstream music genre. My target audience's personal life would probably consist of partying, taking drugs and having a overall good time. So when i established my target audience it helped me because i could find people who fit the criteria and ask how they thought my ideas would go down and if they would purchase the magazine.

Stereotype image of a 'young grime listener'

Overall after speaking to a few friends who suit my target audience i believe that i have reached my target audience because i got some great feedback and little criticism. But the criticism i did get i used in saying how i could of improved it.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product

Google.com
I use Google everyday so am familiar with using it, Google really helped me when conducting my research as I used the search engine when trying looking for magazines that would influence me whilst making my magazine.I chose to use Google over other search engines such as Yahoo search and Ask Jeeves because i use Google everyday and find it easy to use, also it is the worlds largest search site which would give me the best results. When I finally finished my research i realized Google is a reliable and easy site to use and it also helped me very much in my research.

Adobe Photoshop
When i started to use Photoshop i found it quite complicated to use but soon got used to it. Photoshop helped me edit all the images that i used for my magazine, it especially helped with my main image for the front cover. It helped me refine and edit the image and re-size it to make the image perfect and just how i wanted it. Photoshop didn't just help me with photographs it helped me with my texts , layers and when finalising. Overall photoshop gave my magazine a professional look and helped me appeal to the target audience.

Nikon D60
I used this camera because i am familiar with the DSLR and i knew it would give me the best picture quality. When photographing my first photo shoot i realised that the camera gave my pictures excellent quality and resulted in near perfect pictures.If i would of had to use a standard camera i wouldn't of got the quality or effect i wanted, therefore i learnt that the Nikon camera and its technology gave my magazine a professional and quality looking picture.

Quark Express
I used Quark Express to make my contents page and double page spread, this was the best choice because it is easy for layouts and columns which would help me make my magazine. When I set up my double page spread and contents page I soon learnt how to add texts and images and how to use all the appropriate tools. I had to learn how to move texts around and blend them in to give my contents and double page a professional look. This technical programme is quite hard to use but helped a lot when making my double page spread and magazine.

Blogger.com

Blogger has been the main online resource where we have stored our research , progress and final products. Blogger has helped alot because I have used it to update and record all my work so far. Using Blogger I have uploaded powerpoints , videos , images and added links to my work, and has helped me reflect on my own ideas and think things through.

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Mainstream magazines sell there magazines to shops that are easily accessed and will attract the main stream audience e.g supermarkets such as tesco and shops such as W H SMITH. Q is a mainstream magazine which has been very successful due to appealing to a wider market and selling in shops which can be accessed easily, both these techniques have been successful with Q as it is now a very popular magazine. However independent distributors sell there magazine in smaller shops and make it harder for people to get. You can access these independent magazines in shops such as small fashion shops , record shops , clubs and over the internet. My magazine is a perfect example of a independant distributor. My magazine only appeals to a niche market of mainly male youths. MURKKED (my magazine) would be sold in more underground exclusive places to give off the impression that the magazine is more street and can not just be picked up anywhere, this will give people the impression that my magazine isn't just another mainstream magazine and will appeal to my target audience alot better.

Vice magazine is a example of independent distributing, the magazine can be found in specific places and does not sell to a mainstream audience and has a nice market.

Question 2 - Hows does your media product represent particular social groups?

Presentation2

View more presentations from Matty Murphy.

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

XXL Magazine.
True Magazine.


Compared to my UK Grime magazine 'MURKKED'.


Compared to the media products above my magazine is very similar but also different to these real pieces of media. Using the similar/same conventions, parts, technique and language.

The first comparison that my magazine has compared to the real magazines shown above is that both magazines have a masthead , straplines , fonts and a picture that suit the target audience, editing , language, colour choices , layouts and use of language. Also the differences are that the magazines different depending on the genre of the magazine. E.g. XXL magazine has used very stylish but simple fonts to attract the readers to the main image of the black 'gangsta' this will attract their target audience of rap listeners. My magazine has rough looking fonts in colours which stand out because i wanted to appeal to my target audience, however this is different in all of the magazines above. My main cover image was very similar to the two magazines above because I wanted it to appeal to the target audience and make them realise the genre just from looking at it. Looking at magazines in my research I saw that the models had a serious face and were shot from a low angle, so when taking photographs for the front cover I tried to get my model to look similar and took the shots from a lower angle making the model look more powerful. My magazine and the real media products above have all the parts to a magazine however the styles are different depending on the target audience and genre of music, the real products obviously are more professional due to better funding and technology.

My contents page used the conventions of my genre that I identified in my research e.g. the contents pages I looked at had one main image with writing around it so that's what I used when taking images for my contents page. It was also similar when I looked at ideas for my double page spread and once I found the idea of using one page for the title and main image so i decided to use this in my final double page spread.