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

Here is a Slide Share presentation to show question 7. I have tried to show the main elements of what I have learnt from the preliminary task, and what skills I used within my main task.

Question 7 from hayleycrone

Evaluation 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

EQUIPMENT

Whilst taking my original photography for my media product I used a variety of different cameras:

I used the Canon EOS 550D to take the most of the photography for my media product. The images placed on my product which were taken using this camera were the cover photo, double page spread and on the contents page the images stating ‘fest photos’ and also the cover story called ‘new talent’. Using this camera for these shots I learnt how to focus the camera better whilst taking the live shots at the local festival as it was hard to get a good shot when they were moving around stage a lot. Also by playing around with the camera settings I learnt how to change brightness, contrast and change the effects within the camera.

Camera tripod I used this briefly when taking the photographs for my front cover and double page spread as some of the photo compositions were at awkward angles so this piece of equipment was helpful in getting the shot I wanted.

 

Another camera that I used was the camera from my iPhone 4. This camera was used within one of the gig shots (the one with the ginger wildheart story). I had to use the camera on my phone as in many gig venues you are not allowed to take in any cameras over 8mp. As I had never used this camera phone at a gig before I had to learn and figure out the right way of getting the clearest shot. I learnt that the best shot is taken without the flash on, whilst trying to keep steady hands when the crowd is pushing.

Finally the last camera I used is from the Blackberry touch 9100. This camera was used for the ‘music icon’ content story. This camera was the hardest to use as the camera quality isn’t very good, I had the same problems that I had with the iPhone about trying to get a clear shot and not being allowed in a better camera. I also had to learn how to get a good clear shot as I had never used that phone at a gig before.

COMPUTER PROGRAMMES

I used InDesign for creating my media product; this included me learning how to use the different variety of tools. A new tool that I learnt to use in the production of my magazine was the wrap text tool. I used this to wrap the article text around the initial that I placed at the beginning of the article. Another new tool that I learnt to use was the eyedropper tool, I knew previously how to use it but I learnt that you could pick out the colours from an image. I used the tool for this reason; it is where I got the house style colours for my magazine by picking them up from my photos.

I used Photoshop briefly to add brightness to my original photography; I learnt that I can select certain areas of an image using the magic wand tool to highlight the certain areas that needed to be brightened. I used this new skill for my cover photo to make the brightness of the wall appear whiter.

iMovie was used to edit my video clips together. I learnt how to add a voiceover recording over my video, and also how to zoom into different sections of an image to show it clearly what I was talking about in my voice over. Also I learnt how to cut and crop clips, and add different transitions into the videos to make them run smoother.

Prezi allowed me to create interesting PowerPoint’s which zoom into different elements that I want. I learnt how to use this site to create better presentations, learning how to add images, text and create the link path for the presentation.

YouTube was used when I uploaded my video recordings of audience giving me feedback on for final media product.

Slide Share was also a new programme that I used for my media research and evaluations. I learnt that you are able to create presentations simply using PowerPoint and then all you do is upload them to the site account that you create for yourself.

Blogger let me upload all of my work onto one site. I learnt how to create new posts and follow existing blogs, as I had never used blogger or created a blog before this was all new to me.

Flickr was used briefly to show my annotated versions of my draft designs, I learnt how to upload images to the Flickr site that I created.

 I used the social networking site Facebook to post my final media product to see if I would get feedback from an online audience, which includes friends and people I know

I also used Twitter to post my final media product, as I was trying to get audience feedback. because on Twitter the audience seeing the post are different to Facebook. Posting it to Twitter was better as the people who follow me on Twitter listen to the same music as me which is Indie Rock.

Evaluation 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

Here is a voice over video I have created using iMovie and uploading it to YouTube. The video is of me talking about the elements of the magazine which engages the audience and zooming into them aspects. I think this is a good way of showing the ways in which my media product attracts my target audience.

Evaluation 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have created a brief video recording of feedback from someone that fits into my target audience, asking him what he like about the magazine. As you can hear he mentions some of the bands within the magazine that he recognises as he listens to this genre, their the types of elements that attract my audience to the magazine. also within the video is a short recording from the 'Two Door Cinema Club' gig that I went to recently. within the clip you see clear key iconography from the way the people within the Indie Rock genre act. The people from this gig would be the type of audience for my media product as they're interested and listen to the genre of the magazine that I produced.



From that gig I asked some people in the queue before hand their name, favourite bands/ musicians, magazines they read and their hobbies, so I could use these people as examples of the targeted audience. I wrote them down on my phone notes, as if I had done lots of recordings it would have killed my phone battery so I wouldn't of been able to use it in the gig.

Name: Amy Fowler
Favourite Band/ Musician: Two Door Cinema Club
Magazines you read?: Sometimes NME
Hobbies: Gigs, Listening to music

Name: Dan Smith
Favourite Band/ Musician: Mumford & Sons
Magazines you read?: None
Hobbies: Guitar, Going out with mates

Name: Micheal Copper
Favourite Band/ Musician: Fun
Magazines you read?: Q, Golfing mags
Hobbies: Playing Golf

Name: Lauren White
Favourite Band/ Musician: The Vaccines
Magazines you read?: NME
Hobbies: TV

Name: Scott Jackson
Favourite Band/ Musician: The Libertines
Magazines you read?: Sometimes NME or Q
Hobbies: Football

Name: Jenny Read
Favourite Band/ Musician: Tribes
Magazines you read?: None
Hobbies: Going to gigs with mates

Evaluation 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Here is the link to my Prezi presentation on the evaluation question 3. It shows how I looked into the two main Media consumers which are IPC Media and Bauer Media one which is mainly UK based and the other which is worldwide. This presentation shows my choice of decision for which institution I would go for if i was publishing my magazine in real life.

Evaluation 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The images above are an example of how my magazine represents a particular social group. My original photographs show the social group that my media products represents because of the models/ musicians used within the images. The social group that my media product represents is Indie Rock, the target audience who follow the indie rock music scene and the representation that goes with that same genre, such as the clothing, festivals and gigs. In the case of my images the ways they show the social group is from the location, composition, props, instruments and key iconography shown within them. For example the variety of location shows many different gig venues, which is a main part of the Indie Rock scene. Many of the bands and musicians within the genre tend to go on tours around the country. The people who follow that Indie scene will usually attend some of the gigs and are widely interested in them, as some tickets can be quite cheap, they’re in a variety of locations and mainly there a lot of fun and you can meet new people into the same music as you are. The instruments used in the photos show my social group as basically all musicians within my chosen genre uses live instruments such as guitars, bass guitars and drum kits which I have tried to show within these photos. I have tried to show a range of age groups within the magazine, from the photos I used models from my own age group and also from an older age group. The Indie Rock genre has a wide age range across the musicians and listeners this is why I have also tried to show variety in age within the models. The colour scheme I have used represents the genre as red, orange, black and white are unusual colours to use in a magazine. I didn’t use a bright red, but a warm darker toned burgundy colour which represents the genre better. For example if I had used pink or bright blue it wouldn’t represent my genre at all. The colours would be too bright for my genre, as Indie Rock is quite a subtle genre which is the opposite of the pop genre.  The contents of the magazine includes popular well known bands within the Indie Rock genre, these elements of furniture clearly show who the magazine is for and who it is aimed and targeted at.  

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

Here is my answer for question one I have shown this using a Slide Share presentation. I have shown the use, development and challanges of conventions from existing media products which are similar to the media production that I created.

Evaluation: Question 1 from hayleycrone