To be honest, I didn’t really do any audience research for my preliminary task, I just went by what I knew from learning about magazines at GCSE. But carrying out audience research for my main task helped a lot. It helped me to understand what my audience likes and what appeals to them in terms o f music genre, bands/artists, magazines, price and technology, therefore when creating my final product I had a good understanding on how to make my magazine as effective as it could be in terms of attracting my target audience (young females interested in indie music). Although, when carrying out my audience research, I didn’t have the idea to target a predominantly female audience, only to target a young audience. But to resolve this I went by what appealed to me, as I actually fit into my target audience.
After carrying out my magazine research I learnt a lot about the layout of a typical music magazine. I think the layout of my preliminary task front cover and contents page is awful when I look back at it, because now I have a very good idea on how to make a magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread look professional by following conventions. Some of the concepts of my preliminary task product and main task product are the same (Front cover: large photo that takes up most of the page, masthead in a big font that spans across the whole of the top, headlines), but the ones used for my final product were done out of greater understanding, more thought and specific intentions, all gained from in depth research and planning. When looking back at my front cover and contents page of the preliminary task, it is clear that I had very limited understanding of magazine conventions, as the front cover is crammed with text and images, making it look untidy and cheap looking. Also, I had used a large range of colours for my text, one colour for each headline or puff to be exact, which makes it look as if it has been created for children, let alone college students! But for my final front cover, contents page and double page spread I had chosen specific, appropriate colour schemes for each page, consisting of no more than 3 complimentary colours for each page, in order to make it look more professional. I have also included less text on my pages, making sure I avoid the crammed look, and more going for the classy, simplistic look.
For the preliminary task I used publisher to produce my final product, making it look unconvincing and not advanced in terms of technology at all. I had avoided using InDesign for the production of the front cover and contents page of my preliminary task, as I thought the software looked really hard to use. Therefore when creating my actual product for the main task I made sure to use InDesign, as I wanted my magazine to be of a high, convincing standard, so I eventually leant how to use the software properly. PhotoShop wasn’t really an issue for me, as I already knew how to use the software. The only new thing I learnt was how to cut part of a picture out, which I thought was really easy to do.
When researching existing magazines for my preliminary task, I only picked up on basic elements and didn’t gain much of an understanding of music magazine conventions. However, when researching existing magazines for my main task I looked at it in a more in-depth way, picking up on typical conventions, whether they were subtle or not, and analysing them by thinking about why certain conventions have been used and what impact they have on the target audience. So, I was able to apply these conventions (I Mainly followed conventions, rarely challenged them) in my own product, making it look more professional and convincing and applying each convention to create a certain impact on the audience (e.g. list of bands on front cover, editorial on contents page, large photo across double page spread).
For my preliminary task, I took note of what clothes to dress my model in to make him look like a student, so it would fulfil it’s purpose of appealing to a student audience. I used a mid-shot, As I knew already a lot of magazines do this for their front cover. However, I didn’t really put much thought into the location, as I did the shoot in a random park, whereas I should’ve done it on the college site (e.g. with college in background). Therefore, when carrying out research for my main task, I found that location is an important element in creating a certain mood for a photograph, as well as costume, make-up, props and mise-en-scene (lighting, shot types). I carefully took note of all of these features, making sure they created the right effect (e.g. retro/vintage/party atmosphere for Betty Chicago shoot – retro clothing, yellow lighting, garage, alcohol & cigarettes, vintage car). Also, A big part of it was how I took the photo, as it should be done in away to have a certain impact on the audience (e.g. mid-shot to show what they are wearing, their facial expression, to get an idea of the surroundings. To have the models looking directly into the camera, especially if the intension was to use it on the front cover, so that they look like they are directly and personally addressing the audience). I have learnt that the better I consider these elements the more straight forward they are to incorporate into my magazine, as they will be more likely to create the desired effect and impact on my target audience. It also helps to relate to the indie music genre.
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