Draft product commentary

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The main image complements the masthead "nOstalgia" which means looking back to a period in the past as to what the model is doing in the picture. The masthead is unconventional as it has two different font sizes making the audience question why it is like that, making them fascinated in the magazine. Moreover, the main image is quite blurry so the audience cant see the face of the model clearly so they quiz themselves on how they this image could be clearer and why they do not get to see the model's full face.

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The text of the context page is slightly unreadable as the text color is similar to the background's color, so its harder for the audience to read and understand the text. The image used is set in a close up to capture the facial expression of the model, through the costume worn by the model the magazine is unconventional as Grime music artists are usually dressed with a bit more 'swag' e.g. They would wear less clothing to show of their masculine body, they would wear more 'hood like' clothing such as - baseball caps (either sideways or backwards), wearing tracksuit bottoms and jeans whilst wearing drop downs (jeans a bit lower than expected). Whereas my model is formally dressed  showing less skin which presents his formality. Lastly, there is only one image for my contents page where as in most magazines there are more images usually from different pages in the magazine.

The background is unconventional because it does not enhance the genre (grime). The background image should be electrifying and exciting. In addition, to this the background decreases the reader's ability to read the text easily and clearly. The font type, size and color do not illustrate the genre of the magazine because its not as bold and dull as most Grime magazines

Final Product commentary

For my final  magazine cover, the black background makes the image stand out and the text is of a mid toned color which attracts the audience's attention. Moreover, the use of dark colors emphasizes my chosen genre because it associates with violence and crime. Since the title of my magazine is "nOstalgia", the audience expects the main image to have a connotation with it. My masthead has two different font sizes making the "O" in nostalgia protrude from the rest of the letters.

For my contents page, the effect on the sub heading is artistic, big and bold to catch the eye of the audience, making them intrigued with the contents they will find it in the magazine. Furthermore,the image is perfectly placed to the side so that there is enough space for the text alignment. The picture is a close up because it brings out a focus on the artist's facial expression and highlights the importance of the magazine. The spray paint on the background connotes the informality of the magazine. This is because Grime music is typically set in biased areas.

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The double page spread layout is conventional as the text surrounds the artist. This brings out a sense of personality because the audience can understand that the story is about the artist. Also, the artist's facial expression indirectly motivates the audience to read the story and to somehow draw themselves throughout.

Magazine Evaluation Question 7

Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My preliminary task made me realize the color I wanted my text to be, where I wanted to position my text, masthead and date/price and whether it was a close up, mid shot for my cover, furthermore, my media product has improved a lot as shown below:

        

Preliminary task                                                            Final Task

My idea from the start was to have a blurry image as it enhances the title "nOstalgia". However, i decided to change to a better quality image and increases the quality of the front page. Furthermore,  i changed the font type and background color making more readable and exciting. The title is much more intriguing an eye catching.

Magazine Evaluation Question 6

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing this media product?

 I used Photoshop, Blogger and Microsoft Word for my media product production and the software that I found hard to use was Photoshop as it was my first time using it and I didn’t know how to navigate it but in due time I got the hang of it.
Moreover, the problems I experienced with Photoshop were that it had a variety of tools that I was not familiar with making it harder for me to edit my cover, contents page and the double page spread such as the photo did not fit the whole page when I copied and pasted it to the background layer.

Furthermore, I had a problem with the layers as every time I clicked anywhere on the page a new layer was created so I asked for help from my teacher and he showed me how to carry on with my production without creating any extra layers.

I also used the Canon EOS Series 700D as it has a high resolution and it had a variety of settings to choose from when taking my picture. When I was taking the photographs, I had to consider the environment and its surroundings, the lighting, the clothing of the model, the props used etc. Moreover, I had to think about the camera angles and shots in order to come up with the perfect close-up for my main cover and to also make sure that I could place text on the right side of the magazine as demonstrated below ;

Magazine Evaluation Question 5

Question 5 - How did you attract/address your target audience?

I believe that the image I used for my cover was very attractive to the human eye as it cooperated with the masthead.

Moreover, the font size and the color I used is unconventional for a grime magazine as it is very bright and grime is a very violent genre of music so it needs a dark toned color like violet or dark red etc.

Moreover, I would attract my audience by promoting it on lots of social media platforms I could also stick poster around just to get out to my Target audience everywhere. 

Magazine Evaluation Question 4

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience would be mostly black males and some females aged 13 to 21 as they stereo typically listen to this genre of music I have used some slang in my magazine as my target audience would understand most of the words because they’re probably in the countries like The USA, UK and countries that listen to this genre of music as they relate more to the songs or the artists. Furthermore, the socio-economics are group D & E because they usually have the time to purchase and read a music magazine and they also are eager to keep up to date with the latest music released by grime artists, moreover, my target audience doesn’t have any disposable income that’s why I made my media product as cheap as £1.99 so its affordable for them.

The psycho graphic profile of my target audience is fans of Grime artists, entertainment, fans of R&B n’ hip-hop and Grime.

Magazine Evaluation Question 3

Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The kind of media institution that might distribute my media product is Time Inc. as this institution had published music magazines that were the same genre as mine in the past so they’re more likely to publish mine too, moreover, my magazine that appeal to youth and they have a wider audience appeal and they the audience what they what they want, they know how to make their audience come back for more. 

Their network would get my media product out to the world as they have a wide international audience they also have retail outlets everywhere to get the word out for new magazines.

Magazine Evaluation Question 2

Question 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Aiming at an audience that has a disposal income by creating an inspirational lifestyle, as the images were appealing to both men and women that are interested in this genre of music. This magazine was created for the socio-economic groups D and E and this is because these groups of people has a lot of time on their hands to purchase and read a music magazine as they maybe enjoy the type of music or they are influenced by the people around them to keep up on the new trends.

My media product represents these particular socio-economic groups by the use of Mise en scene might be eye catching or familiar to them, the colors used for the text are a mid toned orange making it easy to for the audience to read, moreover, the pose of the model on the main cover page is intriguing making the audience question the meaning behind it e.g. the masthead is nOstalgia and the model is looking over his shoulder as if he’s gazing back into his past. Furthermore, all the pictures in my product are close-ups because I wanted my magazine to be unconventional and different from other magazines that have all types of camera shots.

Magazine evaluation Question 1

Question 1- In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions?

My media product uses conventions such as the technical term for describing the layout of the magazine e.g.; first of all the title/masthead for the magazine which is nOstalgia as I wanted a word that reflected the established nature of the genre so giving it a more important feel to the audience. This was created in a way to challenge the normal conventions of a magazine because I used a different font size to make the O in nostalgia stand out from the rest of the heading to catch the eye of the audience. Moreover, I also researched how the conventions were used in different magazines to get an idea of how mine should be or if I wanted to challenge the normal magazine conventions by analyzing V magazine, Billboard magazine and more. The titles of these magazines are both conventional and unconventional e.g. V magazine influenced me because the title of most magazines are behind the image but in a magazine the title is brought forward to stand out challenging the conventions. In contrast, to Billboard magazine which reflects the conventions by having the masthead behind the image.

The conventions influenced the design of my magazine as grime magazines have a certain types of fonts and colors to attract the eye of my target audience, which are mid-range tones, which reflect the mood of the music such as purple (not dark purple or lilac). I used Myriad Pro which is a sans serif font type I used it in both lower and uppercase as I wanted it to have something common with all other music magazines, furthermore, the colour I used for the text was a bright orange color in order for me to attract my target audience and because most grime magazine have a mid-toned color for their text as the music is more aggressive but not violent at the same time. 

Parent companies

Parent Companies

I would like my magazine to be part of the Time Inc. previously known as International Publishing Cooperation as it publishes many similar magazines to mine, which are music magazines e.g.  NME, Time and Look etc. Moreover, another reason why I have chosen to use this parent company for my magazine is because the magazines they publish use mid toned color and their house style is normally the same for all issues. Furthermore, I chose this parent company as it posts music magazines with similar genres as mine also, if this company produces my magazine; it is more likely to become successful because it has a wide audience appeal and it will make my media product popular with my target audience.

Parent companies could promote my music magazine on social media as they have a wide audience of different age groups so I would not have to worry about my magazine not getting to my target audience, as they would do all the promoting and publishing internationally.

Magazines published by Time Inc. `

Risk Assessment

Location Reece Form

Where or what location are you planning to shoot your music magazine?

I would like magazine photoshoot to be in my school as it has a wide variety of spaces that are ideal for a photoshoot and I wanted teenagers (my target audience) to feel more involved because it is in a learning space to educate them more about life after school.

Directions to get there?

·         Buses to take are 191 and get off at Oasis Academy Hadley.

·         Trains to take there are any trains that stop at ponders end train station and walk two minutes out of the train station to your destination.

·         Train to Southbury road and a 10-minute walk to your destination.

What do you like about it?

My chosen destination is a wide area and it is not too busy during after school hours as there are no students around to be distractions, it also has varieties of places that are ideal for a photoshoot and there is perfect lighting both inside and outside the building, which was a key for my magazine.

What problems might you encounter with it? How do you plan to overcome them?

·         Students are distracting so this is a problem I might encounter during the photoshoot and I could overcome this by doing it when the students are in class or during after school hours.

·         Furthermore, the lighting can be a problem as the building lighting might have either too much or too little lighting so I can overcome this by doing the photoshoot outside to use some natural lighting.

How is your location relevant to your music magazine/artist?

My location is relevant to my artist as he has been at this school for over 6 years, my magazine is about taking my audience back in time so I figured it would be a good idea to take my artist back to a time of when he had just arrived at that location to get him ready and in character for the photoshoot.

How does your location relate to the (sub-genre) music genre?

The location relates to my sub-genre as it is a school building and my target audience is teenagers so it will be an easier way to promote my music magazine and the music genre, which is what most teenagers enjoy.

Picture of the place if you can get it...

Hand drawn design for front cover and Contents page and Double page sread

Graphs

Questionnaire results from shadianakazibwe

Magazine Double page spread conventions

Double page spread analysis from shadianakazibwe

Double page spread text

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nOstalgia: Hello guys  today we’re here with an 18 yr. old male rapper who made his first appearance on a YouTube channel for freestyling in May 2015, and today he’s here to tell us more about his struggles and how he made it to where he is now. We are here to bring you an exclusive one on one interview with the one and only Santan DAVE. So Dave, when did you realise that your music is getting serious.

Dave: It’s funny because when I turned 17 everything started getting even more serious and it was easier for me to breakthrough, when you’re younger it’s difficult to get older people to listen and pay attention to you, when you’re young you have to make sick content in order for a 25 yr. old top listen to you and say “that tune bangs. It’s usually when you grow up that everyone acknowledges you a bit more.

Column 2

nOstalgia: what was your path to fame like?

Dave: The more music I done, the easier it was for me to get a grasp of what was going to make people interested and what made react the way they do to certain songs and things, I don’t have a formula to fame or anything, it all just happened naturally and I think that the freestyles I did helped me build emotion and a connection with my audience, at that point I didn’t know anything other than lyrics, tracks and music videos didn’t concern me as I wasn’t thinking about shows and going on radio, so I went out and tried to make songs but I felt like it was all falsed so I kept doing my own thing. I was invited to Fire In the Booth after JKYL+HYD which was a big song for me as it opened a lot of doors for me; I linked with AJ Tracey and then we made a song called Thiago Silver together after he popped up to me on twitter, it’s a song to look at for inspiration as you can remix the track and put your own bars on top of it if it’s going to set your path straight for you.

Column 3

nOstalgia: Some people find it difficult to write songs whereas you make it look so easy, how did you get used to hard to write bars/songs?

Dave: it helped growing from freestyles to tracks because once you can write lyrics you can’t just forget how to write lyrics, there’s a lot people who can write like 10 choruses but when it comes up to proving who they’re and what they can do, they don’t have what it takes whereas I know that I can put bars here and there and I can put this chorus here making it easier for me to make music.

nOstalgia: Why did you decide to start making music?

Dave: At first I made music in order for me to express myself as a lot of stuff was going on in my life at the time so I needed to make music because it was kind of therapeutic now I make it because it’s fun but there’s a lot of pressure but you can’t let it get to you but I don’t know what I’ll be doing if I wasn’t making music. I’m not coming at it at a normal angle of making music, I’m not here to make a couple sick choruses, have an album and disappear; I’m here for every single aspect of music like I’m here for the instrumentals, production, the vocals, for the live acoustic session. I’m here to score soundtracks and do everything possible in the entire music industry not just rap music. A lot of my music sort if started off from me sitting down on stairs and rapping lyrics, I look back sometimes and I just think me, my friends and family have all come so far in the nine or so months that has been since I recorded, this is the one theme that I have in all my videos to sort of sit down and deliver the lyrics form a staircase where I grew up its kind of where it all started. My love for this we’ve seen in particular, I have this complex where it’s like I can’t stand to see myself be second best.

nOstalgia: That was all for now thank you very much for joining us on this heart felt interview with Dave