Evaluation Script of Slideshow

The practical for my media coursework was to produce a creatively designed music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. The choice of what style of music we wanted to base our magazine on was of our own, therefore I chose independent music. Familiar to the music and to local bands that followed the trend, I knew almost instantly that this was the best choice for me.

Slide One:
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This first slide is on my front cover of my newly created magazine. As you can see I have made many fair points about different aspects of my design. First of all is the simple one worded title which is the most common generic convention of magazines, and the most important. I chose the word ‘Academy’ to be the title of my magazine as I thought it a very independent word, but also a word which could make my audience feel like a part of a team, by being involved with my magazine, like an academy would do.
The next point I have made is about my positioning statement, situated just beneath the title. This is to create a direct link to the title, insinuating the corporations ‘promise’ to the audience: ‘This is the music of independence’ – It is revealing/informing the readers of what it is offering.
The next evaluation I have stated is about the main coverline. My main coverline ‘Flightplan is taking off’ is on a slanted banner to illustrate how it relates to the main image. I wanted to portray the phenomenon of it catching the image and hooking itself around it to claim a larger ownership over the image. By doing this it automatically dominates all of the other coverlines, and anchors the coverline to the image. I have used a white banner also to make the colour of the text stand out against the image, which is a typical technique of media creation.
The main image itself is important within attracting my audience. This can be done by directly addressing the audience, through the characters eyes and expressions. Having the members of the band in my image face the audience, and looking them in the face will turn more heads than if they were looking away. It generates more interest having the image look interested in the reader. Next is the coverlines. They are separate from the main coverline, but also count to being an important aspect of my front cover. As you can see I have positioned the coverlines to the side of the page, avoiding the band members’ faces in the image. This is to help the image draw more attention with its full intensity, rather than covering up the main interest. I have also used a light text as to ensure the type is visible over the dark image. It makes the coverlines easier to read and more eye-catching.
Lastly, I have evaluated the banner at the bottom of the page. These are very common on music magazines as they inform the reader of what other interests they have to offer. For example, a list of bands is useful as using the right band names, which may appeal more to the audience, will ensure even more of an opportunity for a customer to want to buy it. The word ‘PLUS!’ is a typical leading word to use for the bottom banner, as it hints to additional stories contained inside.


Slide Two:
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This next slide is the evaluation of the contents page I have designed for my media product. At the top of my page, in the left hand corner, is the title of my magazine. It is a smaller type-size than on the front cover as to convey it as a sort of logo, to show it belongs to the academy and this is their contents page. The title ‘contents’ is a considerably bigger type-size as to represent it being the contents page, and dominating the space at the top of the page.
Next are the reasons why my subtitles are split into three. I have done this as it is easier for the reader to find what sort of information they want to read up on, and as it is a more organised layout to read from. This is another typical code and convention of magazines. The subtitle ‘On the Cover’ is different to the other two subtitles as it stands out more, aiding the reader in finding the cover story they want to read.
There is star at the top left hand corner of my evaluation of my images to link the evaluation to each image on my contents page, which I have also placed stars on. The stars are not actually part of the images. I feel the images I have used are reliable to my product as they are different. They are carefully organised but manage to stand out in their own way. For instance, the full image of the band, the solarized image connoting abstract music, and the image of different members of another band split into three are all of their own styles. The fact that they are not all unevenly spread out, also gives the images further presence. This method of organisation is distinctively common in music magazines.
I have given the subscription box a similar link as I used for the stars, by encasing the subscription evaluation box and the subscription on my contents page, in a red box. I thought the use of a subscription on my contents page would be essential as there is usually always an offer for a subscription in magazines. It is just one of many ways a magazine can advertise and promote itself.
My own independent design for my contents, I think, comes from the block of purple behind the contents list and title. This use of a single block of colour helps make the text stand out on the page, and separates the list of content from the images. It gives a simple but more interesting layout, and relates to the colour scheme my magazine uses, creating another link between contents page and front cover.
The last aspect I have evaluated on for my contents page is the numbers on the images. This is evidently a convention of music magazines, as it links the image to its content story and gives the reader a better understanding of what the images are trying to portray.

Slide Three:
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This slide is the last slide evaluating my actual finished product: The double page spread for my feature article. I worked hard to come up with an imaginative design, one that could stand out for a first feature article. I aimed to do this by using a background image, taking up the whole background of the double page spread. The image is the silhouette of the band stood right in the centre, engulfed in red light, to render a professional attitude just within the use of body language, and also to give them a mysterious persona. The use of red lighting actually creates a link to the smaller images down the side of the right-hand page, as they as well use red lighting, and separately introduce the band members featured in the images.
In this box here (points to box titled ‘Anchorage text on images’) It evaluates why I have used text over the images. My reasons are that the text anchors the image by explaining the who/what/where and when of its origin of creation. Basically, it is more formerly introducing each band member’s participation in the band.
My title for the article is the same as the main headline I used on my front page, to create a direct link to the right article. I have made it a large title so it jumps out at the reader and seizes their attention - similar to codes and conventions of magazines.
Underneath the title is the standfirst, which is the explanation of the article. There is a different typography for this as to separate it from both the article and the title, and to show it is part of neither, so readers do not get confused.

Slide Four:
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This slide is feedback from my target audience towards my music magazine. I used questionnaires for my feedback, but also recorded a few answers from people who filled out my questionnaires.
The first answer I have recorded is for the question ‘Would you consider buying this magazine?’ (click on speaker image underneath question to hear feedback).
The next feedback I have recorded is for another question ‘What do you like about my music magazine?’ (click on speaker image underneath question to hear feedback).
The last answer is to the question ‘What do you think the downfalls to my magazine are?’ (click on speaker image beneath question to hear feedback).
The good points made by my audience are a hopeful sign to my media product being a success. However, I have been offered criticism about my media product, which tells me that my magazine isn’t the best to its ability. If I’m to achieve the target of creating an awesome music magazine, I will ensure that I remember these criticisms the next time I create a media product.

Slide Five:
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For my evaluation we were given questions from our teacher to include in our slide-show. The first question asks ‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?’.
I developed my production to follow codes and conventions of typical music magazines. I kept an NME magazine with me every lesson I attended, to ensure maximum compatibility between my layout and independent music magazine types. My first example is one which explains how I challenged the forms and conventions of music magazines within the ways I have stylised my product, which was by using a slanting banner for my main coverline. Having it at the bottom of my front page challenges the general orderly layout of coverlines. I have situated my main coverline ‘Flightplan are taking off’ near the bottom of the page instead of near the top as to keep the coverline in the centre of the page without covering the band members faces in the image. The banner is slanted upwards to connote flightplan ‘taking off’. As well as this, the banner also uses forms and conventions of music magazines as it was used to make the colour of the typing stand out from the image, which is a technique that music magazines use.
My second example is about how I have developed my magazine, which I have done by my use of a background image and 3 others atop of it on my feature article. It is usually more common for one layout to be used when handling images, other than two sets of layout. I decided to design my double-page spread in this particular way though because of the link made between the lighting, which I mentioned before. It makes the article look more professional, and additionally quite artistic.

Slide Six:
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The second evaluation question asks ‘How does your media product represent particular social groups?’. The first representation in my product is the use of colour. Purple is colour that applies to both males and females, which means that the colour scheme of my product appeals to any social group in general. The next representation of certain social groups is my choice of music. My music magazine represents any social groups interested in ‘Indie’ music. This includes the choice of bands I have incorporated into my contents, as they need to be the right ones to appeal to a diverse range of social groups. For example, using articles on unsigned bands would appeal and refer to young tunefully motivated musicians.
The images of different bands I have used (Flightplan and Kurrupt in the Head) would also represent young musicians. Portraying the right style of attitude (such as lead singer Joe Jackson’s face on the front cover) and a ‘cool’ style of clothing would represent to social groups that can knowingly relate to these attractions. The image for the content story ‘abstract music’ could represent social groups with a creative nature, even more so with my use of solarize to make the image more abstract.
Each representation in my product is a vital aspect to attracting my target audience, and to selling my media product to a wider audience.

Slide Seven:
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The third question for my media product evaluation asks ‘What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?’. The first institution I found during my research is ‘Bauer’, which is a famous media institution to distribute many different media products to do with music. Examples of music magazines distributed by Bauer are ‘Q’, ‘Mojo’ and ‘Kerrang!’, each of them relating to the style of music my magazine is based on. I have linked the Bauer website to the slideshow via the blue heading (click ‘Bauer’) so you can take a look at the institution yourself. Going onto the next institution though (click off ‘Bauer’ website, and back onto slideshow), I have chosen ‘IPC’ media, another well-known media distributor that may also distribute my media product as again, like Bauer, it is another media to distribute music magazines my product could relate too. For example, ‘NME’ is a famous independent music magazine. I have also linked the ‘IPC’ website to the blue ‘IPC’ heading (clicks ‘IPC’) so you again can look at the institution and what it has to offer (clicks off ‘IPC’ website, and back onto slideshow).
If I had to choose one media institution, it would be IPC media. This is because this institution does not seem to produce as many Indie magazines as Bauer does, and therefore would mean a healthier competition to become bigger-selling than Bauer products.
The main distribution of selling my product would come from shops and advertising. Selling my product in local news agents, shopping centres and advertising them on posters and billboards and even my own website, would be a more crucial way to get my media product to a wider audience. I would be using other forms of media to sell my media product, which would be a jumpstart into really sinking my teeth into the dog-eat-dog world of the media.

Slide Eight:
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‘Who would be the target audience for your media product?’ is the fourth question I needed to answer for my evaluation slides. My target audience for my music magazine is teenagers and young adults aged 16-25. Any other audiences could be anybody interested in independent music, or even any fans of one of the bands included in the contents articles, doubtless of whether they like the other bands of Indie music or not.

Slide Nine:
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The fifth evaluation question asks how I have manipulated my media product to attract/address my audience. First of all, my use of images will help my product sell as the young adults I have used in my main image and other images will address my audience through their ages, and attract my audience through their style and expressions. Direct address also comes to mind, as mentioned before, through posture and direct eye-line.
Second of all, my colour scheme again, causes a great influence on my target audience. My choice in colour is based on my results from my questionnaires filled out by a selection of my targeted audience for my media product. The fact that Purple was one of the more popular colours and I have used it, will ensure a larger population of my audience to be interested in my music magazine.
Next there is my article for my double page spread. I have tried to make my article appeal to my target audience by using modern language, and including the modern slang quoted by the band. This is so as to appeal to a younger audience. Also, I have written my article in a certain style as to let the reader feel more involved in the interview.
My use of typography counts in to attracting and addressing my audience because it is quite plain and simplistic, instead of being too fancy and unattractive, as it is more relative to the genre of music. It also makes my magazine easier to read, which is very important if I want my product to be sold at all.

Slide Ten:
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The sixth evaluation point is about what I have learnt about techniques from the process of constructing the product. I have learnt a great deal about producing media products whilst creating my own. For instance, how easy image manipulation really is, and how simple it is to cover up the truth of an image. For example, airbrushing a person’s skin in a photo to make it look flawless. I did not use this though. I did however use other techniques of image manipulation, such as solarizing the ‘abstract music’ image in my contents, to create a more abstract image than what it was.
I used Desk Top Publishing to create my product, and explored Adobe Photoshop and Quark Xpress to develop my designs (e.g. cropping images, a large selection of typography, frames, etc.).
I have developed a skill in photography, by using a digital camera to produce my images. I have done this by choosing the location, and positioning the band members on my own terms. Also, learning the ability to use objects to signify something else, (such as the fret of a guitar with the shiny side to a CD entwined in the strings to connote ‘abstract’ parts of music), was new to me and a very helpful technique to learn.
Each of these techniques are ones which I have managed to develop in the process of constructing my very own media product, and they have opened my mind to the many creative possibilities that can be used to produce such a product.


Slide Eleven:
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The final evaluation question asked me to look back at my preliminary task, and describe what I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product. I feel I have massively progressed since my preliminary task, especially with organisation, but also through using better sources of information and images relative to my product. This is an important change as it makes more of a difference to the value of my magazine. I have improved my imagery within use of lighting and use of flash. The photos I have taken for my music product illustrate how my imagination has developed since the creation of my preliminary task.
My interest has also increased throughout this production, and is clearly shown through the drastic improvement in creative organisation. Looking back at my preliminary task, my coverlines were a mess and my positioning of images in my contents were no better. My newer, finished product has been immensely developed since these mistakes, and completely taken into account of my new design. Again, using objects to represent something else is definitely something I have learnt throughout my production of my music magazine. It has taught me the larger impact that can be made by using objects, as well as people, to signify something more. To completely conclude, I have learnt a lot throughout the year, developing and challenging my own creative knowledge. My expanded understanding of the media has taught me that nothing just happens in the world of media, you’ve got to make it happen. Thank you.

January 28th, 29th and 30th 2009

I spent these lessons working on my evaluation slides. This included another 3 slides pointing out codes and conventions on each feature of my product on the finished pages (front cover, contents and double-page spread). I tried not to go over the top with information, as I planned to keep the more informed answers in my script. After these lessons we are finished with working on our coursework in lessons, and I need to finish the rest of the work in my own time.

January 27th 2009

In today’s lesson we went through the evaluation questions we needed to answer on our PowerPoint and in our evaluation script. Our teacher also went through with us how to answer the questions, so we understood what to include in our answers.

January 26th 2009

Today we made questionnaires for audience feedback on our product. This included asking questions such as:

What do you like about my music magazine?
and What do you think the downfalls to my music magazine are?

These questionnaires were specifically for our benefit – so we knew the strengths and weaknesses of our product and to get us thinking on how we could have changed it.

January 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd 2009

For these next four lessons I began and continued work on my double-page spread feature article. I followed the drafts for my layout for my DPS, and found that the one including the silhouette image for the background worked really well with the other live images I had taken on the 16th gig over it. I pasted my article into the layout, and it did not fit as it was too long, so I had to cut a lot of the paragraphs out. I made sure to keep the more essential paragraphs in there though. Having the text white over the background image works really well, and all the images included were taken in red lighting, which makes the double page spread work and look better than I thought it would.

January 19th 2009

I finally incorporated the images of the band into my product. The image I chose to use for the front cover was the following:

I chose this image as all the band members are staring out the page, at the audience. Direct address is an important code and convention of music magazines and as this was the best image for it, this is the image I chose.
I also used the next following image in my contents page:

I chose this image as I think it is quite well posed. There is not really any direct address in this image, and I used it as it contrasts with the main image, displaying the band in two different lights to the audience.

January 12th, 13th, 14th, 25th and 16th 2009

I continued my work on my front cover on Monday, and then began the layout of my contents page, again planning my layout to follow the drafts i made for my contents page. The contents page was to be produced on Quark Xpress, just as the double-page spread is to be as well. I still have not got my images for the band, but I am attending a Flightplan gig on the 16th in the evening, where I will finally get my images of the band. I have taken other images, and have used some of these in my contents.:

CD entwined in a guitar with a purple background:

Lead singer to the band 'Kurrupt in the head':

Guitarist and backup singer, Bassist and Drummer from 'Kurrupt in the head':

Members of Kurrupt in the head again, different image:

I have used creative techniques to manipulate these images to bode better with my production:

I solarized the abstract image to give it more of an 'abstract' look:

I then cropped the abstract image to make the design more mysterious and again, absract:

With the other images, i cropped one band member out of each and made them a bit smaller to fit into the space available:

First i cropped the lead singer:

I then cropped the guitarist/back-up singer out of the next image:

And lastly i cropped the bassist out of the last image:

I set each of these cropped photos side-by-side in the same size, to create a sort of collage of the band playing live, as displayed in my production.

January 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th 2009

This week I spent each lesson creating my front cover for my product. As I have yet still not got my images, I focused completely on the layout and organisation of the other features, as so to be able to incorporate my main image easily once I had it. I produced this in Adobe Photoshop. This is the only section of my product I will be using Adobe Photoshop to create from. I planned to follow my drafts for the front cover, but ended up making a few changes due to some of it not working out, for example: I planned to have my title positioned to the left of the page, but it did not look right so I had to stretch it out to cover the whole top of the page.

December 18th and 19th 2008

I continued on the drafts of design for my double-page spread. I incorporated the image of the silhouette of the band into the background one of them, as I had already planned to hopefully have this in my design.

December 17th 2008

I had my article ready to hand in and finished. I spent the lesson working on more drafts for my production, this time planning out my double-page spread design.

December 16th 2008

I wrote some more of my article, extracting quotes from the answers the band had given me. I was only able to interview two members from the band out of three. The third member (the drummer) had not been present.

December 15th 2008

I began to write my article, starting with the first paragraph introducing the band, and flowing into the interview with the second.

December 11th and 12th 2008

I spent these lessons planning out my draft layouts for my front page/contents page. I put a great deal of thought into how I was going to pose the pictures and where I was going to position the text. I also tried to come up with a creative way of displaying the title. I made about 2/3 drafts for each.

December 9th and 10th 2008

I came up with a final list of questions for the band I was planning on interviewing this upcoming weekend at their band practice. These questions are:

When did the band first form?
What does your music sound like?
Are there any band/artists that have influenced your music?
What styles of music are you all into?
Where did the idea for the name ‘Flightplan’ come from?
How many gigs have you performed at?
How nervous were you when you played your first gig?
Describe your best gig?
Describe your worst gig?
What venues have you gigged at?
Have you got any upcoming gigs?
Who in your band writes the songs? Is it a group effort?
Are you currently working on any new songs?
So you have a favourite song? What is it?
How well do you work as a band?
What does being in a band mean to you?
Asking you all individually, what is the best concert you have ever been too?
Do you want Flightplan to go far?

I aimed to have a variation of questions to ask to have a lot to write about in my article, to fully inform and involve the reader.

December 8th 2008

I was supposed to start writing my article, but I have not yet managed to interview the band. Instead, I did more research on the ways of styling my article.

December 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th 2008

I spent the rest of this week’s lessons researching similar articles to the one I shall be structuring. I was particularly looking for useful questions that I could use and the right layout for my article. I want to avoid having my layout in a Q&A style, as this can be seen as lazy journalism and I want to write more creatively.

December 1st 2008

I decided the content for my double page spread article. I am going to be interviewing a local band who goes by the name of ‘Flightplan’ to fill my double page spread. In the evening I went to a gig to get some live images of them playing, but due to the lateness of their performance, I was unable to get the images I set out for. I did however get a few creative images, one that I am thinking for using as an image on my double page spread (hopefully the background).

Silhouette image of the band 'Flightplan':

November 21st 2008

We were shown an example of a publication plan, and told to create our own, making notes for each section: the title, positioning statement, frequency of publication, price, distribution, rationale, style, regular content, feature content, house style, features for first paragraph, body type and the colour scheme.

November 18th, 19th and 20th 2008

I typed up all my tally results using Microsoft Excel, to produce my results into graphs. I then transferred these graphs into my PowerPoint, after my codes and conventions slides. I drew conclusions for each graph of my results, and explained how the results will help influence the decisions I make for each section of the creation of my music magazine.

November 17th 2008

I tallied up and wrote out the feedback from my audience research questionnaires that I had had filled out.

November 14th 2008

I began my slides on the codes and conventions of music magazines. I finished the slide on the codes and conventions of the front cover, and then had to finish the rest (contents page and double page spread) in my own time.

November 12th and 13th 2008

Continued and then finished the research slides on the PowerPoint. This involved four more slides on the issue size, regular content of music magazines, and the feature articles of music magazines.

November 11th 2008

I typed my questionnaire out on the computer. The teacher then asked us to print 20 copies off in our own time and get them filled in for Monday.

November 10th 2008

We discussed task seven, which is about audience research. I needed to construct a questionnaire ensuring it included questions about the design, content, price and frequency of publication, aimed at my target audience. I then began and finished the draft for my questionnaire.

November 7th 2008

In today’s lesson I began my next slide on the next category – Frequency of publication. This is how often the magazines are sold (e.g. weekly, fortnightly, monthly). I had gathered this information with the prices research, by looking at magazines in stores. I entered this info into my slide with my conclusion (this time comparing it to the price). The results for the frequency of publication for each of my competitive magazines are:

Kerrang! - Weekly
Q – Monthly
NME – Weekly
Mojo – Monthly

November 6th 2008

I started the research task, beginning to make notes on the first category: Prices. All research obtained was to be put into slides. I laid out my slides in the manner of a slide for each category, other than a slide for each magazine with each category listed beside it, as I thought comparisons I could make would be easier to conclude this way. I used the internet and the local shop to find the correct prices:

Kerrang! – £1.90
Q – £3.90
NME – £2.20
Mojo – £3.95

November 5th 2008

Today we wrote down notes on the codes and conventions of a double page spread for a feature article:

1. One page: Big text image of artist/band [usually left page]
2. One page: Text/Article
3. Image may bleed onto text page
4. Column layout – 2, 3 or 4
5. State who wrote the interview
6. Image can take up whole page or whole of DPS with writing over images
7. Creative use of framing
8. Lighting is carefully considered
9. Mise-en-scene is carefully considered
10. Image conveys an image for the artist
11. Direct address for image
12. Headlines – Largest text
    - Creative – don’t tell the story, e.g. use puns to intrigue the reader
    - Font used is only used for the headline and sometimes on the standfirst
13. Standfirst – Introduction to the article
    - Directly below the headline
    - Usually includes the byline
    - Tells reader what the article is about
14. Byline tells us who wrote the article
    Byline can be separate
15. Drop capital – signal where to start reading
16. Other techniques can be used e.g. capitals for first line, first two words, colour, first paragraph slightly larger type size, bold type.
17. Quotes – Extracted from article
    - Provocative, sensational, interesting quotes used.
    - Can be used on pictures, in standfirst or inset into the layout
    [to break up the text and make it look more inviting to read]
18. Simple colour scheme
19. Plug at the end of the article [music magazines]
20. Page numbers and name of magazine at bottom of the page
21. Strap lines at the top of the page
22. 11/12 pt type size
23. Bold usually used in Q&A articles to separate the Q from the A – lazy journalism
24. Creatively written – personality and opinions of the journalist come through the article, often subjective
25. Reported speech used as well as quotes

November 4th 2008

We had a lesson on the significance of typography, and how there are only two types of typography: Sans Serif and Serif.
SERIF fonts are ones which are formal/traditional
SANS SERIF fonts are more modern and youthful.
Each of these fonts can be used to link to a certain genre of music.

November 3rd 2008

I began the Main Task, starting and finishing task one. For task one, I needed to make the decisions of what type of magazine I intended to produce, and the target audience. I had already decided this, having looked at many different magazines and decided based off my creative interest. I have chosen to create an ‘Indie’ style magazine, with the target audience being teenagers and young adults (age range about 16-25 year olds).

Our teacher then started explaining task two to the class: ‘You now need to conduct research into existing music magazines. If there are magazines already produced which would be competitors to your magazine then you should focus on these.’ I focused on magazines such as Kerrang!, Q, NME and Mojo. I chose these magazines in particular as they all deal with independent music in some way within their selection of interest.

There are five different categories of research we need to make notes on:
Prices
Frequency of publication
Issue size (number of pages)
Regular content
Feature articles