AS Coursework Evaluation

Owen Clarke
AS Media Music Magazine Evaluation

For my AS Media coursework, I had to produce the front page, contents page and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text that I used for my magazine are original and produced by myself. My overall magazine genre is rap and aimed at a dominantly male audience, aged 15-25. Before I began actually putting my magazine together I had to look at a range of music magazines in order to find out the codes and conventions used. I looked at magazines such as; ‘VIBE’, ‘NME’ and ‘Q’. By looking at these magazines, it enabled me to get a more detailed view on music magazines aspects such as; colour scheme, masthead, cover lines, main image, the arrangement of items on the page etc. For example, I found out that the majority of music magazines include red, black and white in their colour scheme. Therefore, I took this into consideration when actually producing my front cover. By using LIIAR – language, ideology, institution, audience and representation – I could break parts of a music magazine front cover down and analyse using the different parts of LIIAR. For example, I looked at a certain edition of VIBE magazine with Keyshia Cole as the main image on the front and analysed using the ideology aspect of LIIAR. The main image is manipulated to make her skin look airbrushed and also the lack of clothes shows natural beauty which relates to the sub heading - 'American Beauty Keyshia Cole' which is written next to the image.
For my planning, I included a mood board of several different music magazines which I liked the look of but also they included aspects which gave me ideas for my own music magazine. Furthermore, I created a mind map in order to plot my colour scheme, audience, content and main image. After actually producing my final product, I have looked back at my mind map and only used around 50 % of what I included at the time. This shows that as research and planning progresses, so does the ideas for my music magazine. I drafted the preferred layout of my music magazine before I produced it. This helped me a lot when it came to placing the images and content of my magazine on Photoshop. However, when it came to producing it, I had to slightly change my ideas from my drafts because of factors such as; the image size, the amount of writing, what I wanted to be included and how they placed together. I also spent a bit of time manipulating my images on Photoshop. This enabled me to get the best image for my magazine and also further developed my Photoshop skills which aided me in the final production.
I used Adobe Photoshop to manipulate my images but also construct all parts of my magazine. This is because I felt comfortable with Photoshop at the time, and I felt like I would successfully be able to produce my magazine on Photoshop. Furthermore, it enables me to keep everything included in my magazine within one programme and in the same format. I used my Sony Ericsson Satio 12.1 mega pixel camera phone to take my images allowing me for quick, easy and practical use of the phone to get my images onto my computer. I manipulated all images and text using Photoshop and used Microsoft Word and Blogger.com to produce my planning. I used internet explorer to research a range of different magazines.
My front cover is used to put across the ideology of a rapper. My main image consists of a rapper named ‘BigZ’. His cocky pose shows dominance and his ‘I’m the best’ attitude. This also reflects of of his casual style in clothes with a simple black hoody. Yet with the hood up, it represents the stereotype of this contemporary era with teenagers and hoodies and relating to the style of the popular rapper ‘Eminem’. His white top brings a calmer side to the image and also prevents the risk of the image becoming too dark. I purposely used the blue, white and red colour scheme because these are the colours of the USA and UK flag which relates to the story of ‘The American Dream’. I placed the bold text saying ‘BigZ American Dream’ over the top of the image so that the audience relates the two together. I used blending options on the cover stories text providing the text with an outer glow making the text stand out a lot more than it would otherwise. The masthead is created in a worn out style font to represent the urban areas of which most famous rappers come from. Also, the name ‘Flawless’ came from the idea that all artists and content included in the magazine are going to be seen as ‘the best’. The blue on the white background stands out yet the rest of the layers on top stand out on that colour. The blue is manipulated with a plastic wrap which I believe provides it with a watery effect related to the main story of ‘BigZ’ travelling over water from the UK to the USA.
My contents page is used to include the content of the music magazine. The background is a photo I took of a t shirt. The rose on it represents the magazines love for music while the crosses represent the magazines content which regularly interviews upcoming stars and the birth of new stars, relating to the sub content titles on the front cover. The main story of my magazine is obviously ‘BigZ American Dream’. Therefore I needed to include clearly, the page on which his story is situated. I included another image which I manipulated on Photoshop using the artistic tool and then film grain. I believe this overall effect made the image look better. The image also includes 20 pound notes being thrown into the air. The ideology of this shows that ‘BigZ’ has the luxury of having so much money through his rap fame, that he can just throw it around. The contents page is split through three separate parts including, cover stories, interviews and a chance for the audience to have their say. This provides the magazine with a variety throughout the magazine. I also included another image which shows a laptop with Itunes on the screen, an ipod touch, an ipod nano and a mobile phone. The image relates to illegal downloading, music programmes and gadgets available in this modern era.
My double page spread is included to provide the audience with the main story in my magazine. After trying different backgrounds on Photoshop, I found that the more simple the background is, the better the effect of the layers above. I added a simple brush effect onto the white background in black. The single image of ‘BigZ’ is spread across a whole A4 page. This represents what most popular music magazines do and I gained this idea from my research beforehand. I spread the title of the main story across both pages in the black font with a bold style of text to contrast with the white background. The black text is used throughout the double page spread. The image I have used is a medium close up. The shot is taken at a low angle to make the rapper look dominant and powerful relating to the fact in the story that he wants to conquer the USA. I also included some big sunglasses, a ‘bling’ watch and earphones making ‘BigZ’ look rich and representing the style of other famous rappers such as ‘Kanye West’. He is also looking upwards with a focused expression reflecting the main story. I have constructed an album and placed it at the bottom of the page. This is because at the end of the story, it goes on to say when his next album will be released connecting the two together. To construct the album I created a square using the shape tool and went on to use an artistic effect. I also added a shadow in blending options to enable the image to look 3d then added a simple pattern with the brush tool and text. Furthermore, in the top right hand corner of the double page spread, I used the brush tool to add several star shapes to represent the stars in the American flag. I then added the blue and red to represent the colours of the flag. All photos included in my music magazine required the background cut out. To do this I used the lasso and quick selection tool.
My music magazine required audience feedback in order for me to know whether my content has been successful in fulfilling the aims. I wrote 7 questions providing myself with a range of answers about my music magazine. I then added this to my blog. The feedback enabled me to see which parts worked for my magazine and which parts needed improvement.
Overall, I feel like I have succeeded in most parts of my magazine. I have learnt a lot of techniques through the production of my music magazine and also learnt a lot of codes and conventions to how a music magazine is constructed and what is used to do this successfully. I believe I have highlighted the main parts of my magazine successfully although I feel like there could be more of a link between my main story and my 3 different page types.