evaluation

Lewis Merle and Daniel Riley AS Media evaluation

View more presentations from Anne Horne.

Final products

Analysis

Development of double page spread

Development of content's page

Development of font cover

Preliminary task

Questionnaire

In order to create my magazine I have to create a questionnaire to decide what genre of music will be talking about in my magazine. This will help me a lot in terms of finding a target audience which I will have to try and capture.

Age

10 - 15          16 - 20           21 - 25             26 - 30             30 +
     6                  16                  15                    10                   3

Preferred Music Genre

   Pop            Grime             Dance               Rock              Indie
     3                   7                    30                     5                     6

Do you read Magazines

    No             Yes
    13               37

If yes how many per month?

  0 - 5             5 - 10               10 +
    19                 15                   3

I used an opportunity sample of 50 to find my results and help me in developing my magazine. I found that most of my participants were between the ages of 16 - 30 with 41 votes, this will be my target audience. The most popular music genre was dance suggesting that this music genre identifies with a younger generation. I also found that the majority of my sample read magazines frequently every month proving that there is a market for this. So my final magazine task will be on the genre of dance music and will be aimed at ages between 16 - 30.

Comparison with the preliminary task

I feel I have come a long way since the preliminary task of print. I feel I have learnt more in the terms of layout, representation and essentials in a magazine through my research. The music magazine looks more professional than the preliminary task as the contents has improved in terms of layout, color and consistency. My front cover has improved dramatically as there is more on the front cover not looking bare and boring. My front cover also has a kicker on the front cover suggesting to the reader what's inside the article. I feel I have a better understanding of media concepts as I have had to use them in my magazine such as lifestyle and representation, as I have represented experimental and anti-authority through images in my magazine.

Print over film

I decided to choose print instead of film for my final task as I preferred creating the front and contents pages than filming because I like to be creative and design different things. I feel filming would be more of a challenge for me to do as I know more about music and layouts than camera angles and could be restricted to do things whilst filming such as weather. I also chose print as I haven't yet used Adobe Photoshop which I am keen to learn how to use the program as it will add to my ICT skills

Group Work

Our group had decided to research our own ways an design different issues of our magazine 'iDJ'. This meant that our original background we all had, had to be manipulated to look like different issues. Even though we worked separately whilst researching we helped each other in the process by sharing ideas. I feel we planned our time well except from actually creating the magazine as the blogger was down which delayed adding my research to the blogger. It was only in the last week I could put my front page, contents page and double page spread. As I didn't have enough time in class I had to use up some of my spare time during lunch and after school periods in order to complete the coursework, my magazine

Photo Shoot

From analysing magazines such as Mixmag which are also based around the same genre as my magazine I have found that I must consider mise-en-scene, props, costume and bodylanguage as all of these are codes for the chosen genre of music. I have to have the photo shoot taken where I could use graffiti as the background maybe brick lane for example as the graffti codes for creativity and experimental. This shows that my magazine is trying to identify with experimentalists who like to be creative, it also symbolises the genre of music as most songs are remixes etc. For props I was thinking of using alcoholic drink bottles to code for happiness, very relaxed as this tells the reader what the music is about how it makes you feel. It also shows that this type of music brings people together such as clubbing, place for socialising. For my costume I am going to go for a casual look such as jeans and top with a rolling stones T-shirt as this is shows that the magazine is about music. Add some colourful props or other parts of the costume to amke it seem more materialistic.

Mixmag Font cover analysis

Planning

In order to create our magazine we had to analyse other magazines and a popular dance music themed magazine is ‘Mixmag’. The analysis has helped me to realise what I need to include in my front cover such as codes for dance music relations and to make it bold to make it stand out to our main target audience which is the ages between 16 to around 30.

To promote our magazine I have decided to include a free giveaway as this promotion idea is very popular with other magazines and is used to attract customers. In my experience I find that free giveaways tend to persuade me to buy a magazine.

When creating my magazine I must take into consideration codes such as body language, props and fonts as this will distinguish my magazine from other music genres to show this is a sole purpose dance magazine.

As Dance/Club music attracts both females and males so I must make sure that the magazine caters for both genders and show that it isn’t male dominated or female dominated. I must make clear that this magazine is for both males and females by including images related to both genders and words used on my front cover.

As dance music is related to raving in nightclubs I may use different fonts to make the magazine look a bit messy to act as a code for dance music.

I must make the front cover eye catching as the front cover is the first thing a customer sees when looking through a rack of magazines so must attract and impress. 

Front Cover Analysis

Photo Shoot Planning

For my photo shoot I have to consider the mise-en-scene (background/setting) so as I am promoting dance/club I should use indicators codes that are associated with the genre of music so a dark background with stream lights would give the impression of a nightclub which is where dance/club music is played frequently.

Angles would be very important in the way how I capture aspects of my chosen genre dance/club, I am considering a high angle shot of a crowd with arms in the air like they are dancing/raving in a dark room with stream lighting to give the reader the impression that the picture was taken in a nightclub. I want the body language shown by the club dancers to portray a laid back attitude by having arms in the air as it identifies with a rebellious younger generation who adopt this type of attitude.

Music Magazine and Target Audience

For my magazine I have decided to promote the genre of dance/club music. I have chosen one particular genre of music as that way I can focus solely on one target audience. I feel that if I decided to focus on other music genres I would get sidetracked and include too much on one music genre than others in my magazine. I have also decided on this music genre as dance/club music attracts both genders, male and female. This creates a wider audience for the magazine so would most probably increase sales of the magazine issues. From the background research, I have found that this music attracts people between the ages of 16 and 30, and attracts party-goers which is our main target audience. This would benefit me as this is the type of music I listen to and am familiar with what it is about. I have the same type of mind set as my target audience as I am in the same age group so think and act the same. For example text/language used in my magazine would include slang and slogans as it makes the text interesting to read and would be suitable for my target audience as we are trying to attract younger rebellious party goers. This genre of music attempts to identify with 'anti authority' and 'rebellious' as it is familiarised with nightclubs where people go to rave and get drunk to have a good time.
People who decide to listen to dance/club music are creative and experimental as dance/club music can be remixed or mixed with other soundtracks. There are a variety of different types of dance music as I have listed in an earlier blog which shows that dance/club music is experimental.
Daniel Riley

Front cover analysis

This is the front cover of a Mixmag magazine. The audience demographic it is attempting to identify with is 'rebellious' or 'anti authority' as it is represented by school kids who usually are cheeky and rebellious. It is also aimed at people who are creative or experimental as the costumes code for this as well as the artists being unknown shows that it is for people who like to experiment when listening to new artists/music. It is different in tone and style to other music magazines in that it is not trying to identify with an audience that enjoys manufactured 'pop' like the X Factor variety. The kicker on the front page says meet the new artists on the scene, 'Meet the young things that run tings'. Using slang such as 'tings' suggesting that the magazine is suitable for the younger generation. This suggests that the fan base/audience of Mixmag are a younger generation, and Mixmag are keeping them up to date with the latest news and gossip such as new artists etc. This is something the magazine prides itself on - they are on the side of the fan.

Daniel Riley

Magazine Research - Music background

Magazine Research

The music magazine genre our group have decided on making is dance/club/electro/funky house. This appeals to both male and female genders. We decided on choosing this genre, as there is many different types of music in this category, which means it, can reach a wider target audience. This could mean we attract more customers with our magazine as dance/club music has a variety of music and aren’t specialists compared to other genres of music.

Electronic Dance Music is produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting or an environment that is set upon dance based entertainment. This is created for the use of DJ’s (Disc Jockeys) and produced of it being heard in the context of a continuous DJ set then the DJ progresses from one record to next record via a synchronized mix.

Electronic Dance Music brings a variety of types such as:

· Break beat

· Dance – punk

· Disco

· Drum and Bass

· Down tempo

· Electronic body music (EBM)

· Electro

· Euro dance

· Freestyle

· Post – disco

· Hardcore

· Hi – NRG

· House

· Intelligent dance music (IDM)

· Speed core

· Techno

· Trance

· UK garage

A nightclub is where club/dance music is usually played and is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue, which is usually open after dark for business. Nightclubs are distinguished from bars, pubs and taverns because they include a dance floor and a ­­booth for DJ’s where they play recorded dance music. The music usually played in nightclubs is either live bands or most commonly a mix of songs played by a DJ. The usual dance music genres played in a nightclub are techno, house music, heavy metal, garage, hip – hop, salsa, dancehall or soca music.

You would associate Nightclubs with strobe lights, mirror covered disco ball, and foam and smoke machines. Nightclubs feature lighting and other effects to enhance the dancing experience for everyone.

By Daniel Riley

This is the front cover of the NME magazine. The audience demographic it is attempting to identify with is 'rebellious' or 'anti authority.' It is also aimed at people who are creative or experimental. It is different in tone and style to other music magazines in that it is not trying to identify with an audience that enjoys manufactured 'pop' like the X Factor variety.

The kicker on the front page says that the lead singer of the Arctic Monkey's is not 'leaving' his band for The Last Shadow Puppets. This suggests that the fan base/audience of the Arctic Monkeys are very loyal, and the NME is keeping them up to date with the latest news and gossip. This is something the magazine prides itself on - they are on the side of the fan. 

James Boudaboussa