Preliminary task: Eval. questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
As i have used a normal idea for my school magazine name, which is to use the schools name itself, and add something extra, i have stuck to the norm where it is concerned. I have placed a logo on the front page, which would commonly be seen on a school magazine, as it would help the reader identify what school it was made for. I used features like an issue number, and date. I also included various events as advertisements for what would be within the magazine. The photograph i used was a typical choice for a school magazine, as it shows two students studying. The contents page also follows the norms and conventions of a school magazine, as it has an image of students working, with the text placed around it, with a plain background that will not distract the reader from the content. The name of the school has been included at the top of the contents page as well, which is a common feature.


2. How does your media product represent particular social group?
My school magazine photographs represent the average school student, which would be associated with homework, and school uniform, which is why they has been included on my own images. The image features 6th Form students wearing the typical black suit that would be required in most schools, and so i feel that they would be the most likely to read my magazine. I also think that their parents would probably read the magazine as well, as it features articles on charity events, interviews with new teachers, and information on the upcoming parents evening.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As it is a standard school magazine, the funds to produce would probably be quite low, as obviously, it is only for one particular school, and so no one else can benefit from it. This is the reason why i would say the magazine would be distributed by the school itself, as they would know what can and can't be included, and have access to information about the school, that could help with the magazines development. They would also be able to keep control of the distribution, resolving any problems that may arise because of the access they would have to it.


4. Who would be the audience of your media product?
The target audience of my school magazine would be the 6th Form students themselves, as well as their parents, and most likely, the staff at the school itself. I don't think that the younger students would find much interest in the magazine, as the contents is mainly geared towards those in the upper end of school. Some students in year 10 and 11 may also read my school magazine, as it would involve information on higher education, which would be something they would need to research themselves.

5. How did it attract/address your audience?
I think i attracted and addressed my audience by including photographs of people they could relate to. Older students would be interested in the magazine because it would feature people that they study with, while younger students may read it because they respect older students or want to gather some information on the school. Parents would be attracted to the magazine as it features many articles on things that they would often be involved in, like parents evening, pamper evenings, and open day dates, and the school calender.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructiong this product?
Since the beginning of the course, i have not had much time to investigate many other types of software, but the main ones that i have recently learned how to use, and am slowly becoming more confident with, would be Adobe Photoshop CS4, and Adobe InDesign CS4. Photoshop allowed me to edit my photographs, by changing the brightness/contrast of them, and cropping the image to change its size, as well as enabling me to remove any blemishes on the models faces. InDesign allowed me to create different types of text, using different fonts, colours, effects, and sizes, which meant that i could experiment slightly when creating my school magazine title.

Contents page for my school magazine.

I have made my contents similar to the Sugar magazine i evaluated earlier in my blog. I have placed the image of students into the corner, keeping the text clear by using the biggest size font for the page numbers, and the main headers. Under each subheading i have included information on what that area contains, using a dark blue that was used for the magazine title on the front cover. I have kept the background white to ensure all of the text is clear, which is a reason why i have kept all the text underneath the subheadings in black. The lines fill the empty space while also creating a link between the image of the students studying, bringing the pink from the bench, and the green and blue from the school's logo onto the page. Additionally, i have used the space on the students folder as an area to place text, ensuring that there is no blank spaces that distract from the contents page as a whole. Overall, i feel as though the space has been used wisely, i haven't overcrowded the page, but there is a fair amount of information on there to keep the reader entertained.

Contents page planning.

This is the plan that i will use to make my contents page.

Front cover of school magazine.

This is my completed front cover of my school magazine. Overall, i am quite pleased with how it turned out. The background has been blurred to keep the focus on the image and the text. In addition, i have kept the text fairly simple, leaving the students mostly uncovered, keeping the image clear. Also, the name of the magazine and the logo have been placed at the bottom, making them easily seen. Furthermore, the text has been kept at a fairly large size to enable it to be easily read by all. The colours used for the magazine title and the school's logo have been kept the same, and i have kept the text for the school's events white to ensure it can be read. In addition, i have included the issue number and the date the magazine was published.

Second set of photographs.

I like that this photo is a close up of all of the students, but their faces are still hidden, mostly. They are all very well lit as the image was taken outside, so it's clear. Their facial expressions cannot be seen particularly well, which was one of the points that i addressed earlier when i said that i wanted the faces to be visible in my photo. This image could not be used on my front cover as it does not look particularly professional. When taking a few more pictures, i tried to focus on capturing the students with their faces showing. In addition, i wanted to have more of a background in the picture, which i did not address when taking this photo.

This photo addresses all of the points that i have looked at. It has more of a background, and it also shows the students faces. It focuses on them studying with fairly neutral expressions, and they can all be seen clearly due to the lighting. It looks similar to the last photo i took in my first set of photographs, which is good because that was a photo that i thought with a little editing could be suitable for my front cover. This is the photo that i have selected to be used on the front cover of my school magazine. I will edit the magazine's logo onto it, along with other features further on, but first i will manipulate this photo in Photoshop.

First set of photographs.

After researching various magazine covers and contents pages, i have taken a few pictures of my own that i will analyse and comment on. As my school magazine is aimed at an all girls secondary school, i have used three fellow students as my models.

I like that this picture is a close up of the students working, but the faces are almost completely hidden, mostly by their hair. They are all also quite close to each other, which makes it look quite uncomfortable. There could be more of a background, as there is only a small patch of grass and part of a wooden bench. Overall, this was a good practice shot, but it could not be used on my actual magazine. 

This image is similar to the first shot i took, in the sense that is quite close up with very little background. The faces are a little more visible due to the faces being tilted up slightly, but they are mostly covered by hair again. The background is the same, with only a little grass and a part of the wooden bench visible. To conclude, although this is an improvement when compared to the previous image, it is still not acceptable to be used on my school magazine.

This picture is a slight improvement from the previous image as there is more of a background. You can also see the faces of the students, and more of the work that they are looking at. Although they are still looking down, their faces are mostly still visible. The picture seems to be more clear than the previous image as more space has been used. In addition, the expressions on their faces are either neutral or quite happy, which would be the desired look i would want in my final photo.