What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The first technology I used was a software called Photoshop, this software allowed me to edit pictures and produce my front cover of my magazine, the contents page as well as my feature article. This was the only software I used, because of this it allowed me to become very familiar with how to use the software and improve upon my knowledge of what each tool is used for. For instance one of the main tools I used whilst working on the software Photoshop was the selection tool; this allowed me to delete the background of the image. For example the image of Emily on my front cover of my magazine was a white background, however I wanted my background of my front cover to be a grey/purple colour to help represent my target audience as well as help make the image of Emily stand out. To do this, I had to select the background of Emily very specifically to prevent any signs of white to be seen surrounding Emily. Another tool in Photoshop which also helped me with this specific need was the eraser tool, this worked just as well, although, I would select the background first then zoom very close in the image and go around my model to get rid of any white that didn’t get picked up with the selection tool. The advantages of using this software is it contains mainly everything that you need in order to edit and produce a magazine, everything that I required was on this software. However, when using this software there was one edit tool that I wasn’t able to find which was a whitening tool, I would consider this as a disadvantage to this software, as even though it contains mainly every tool that you need, it didn’t contain this tool to specifically whiten someone’s teeth. Because of this, I had to find something else that would do a similar thing. I used the paint brush tool to whiten my models teeth to make her look more like a celebrity. 

Another technology I used was Blogger, this website allowed me to keep everything that I have done throughout media on this website for my teacher to see as well as others around the world. This also kept my teacher updated on the work that I have done, and allows him to give me feedback if anything needs to be adapted or changed. Due to me using Blogger regularly I now know how to use this website, I know how to create a blog as well as write posts on it, attach links to the website allowing softwares that I have used such as Flipsnack and Prezi. The advantages of using Blogger to keep all my work on allows my teacher to see how far I progressed in my subject and also allows me to access my work anywhere not just at college. However, the disadvantages of keeping all my work on this software is if something happens to the website and wipes all of our programs we would then have to re-make our blog and we could lose all our work if it isn’t saved on our computer which is why it is always important to have 2 copies in case something like this does occur.

Another website that I used to help present my work neatly was Flipsnack, this website allowed me to upload my work that I had produced on Microsoft into what it looks like a booklet. This allowed others viewing my work neatly and looked very professional on my blog page. I only used this website when producing work which contained a series of writing, just to make it look nicer on my blog making it look more organised. Due to me using this website much throughout my media coursework, it has allowed me to understand the uses of this software and the many different arrangements that it has to offer when producing something on the website. For instance, when presenting my work I was able to create a front cover to enable someone to know which area this work is specifically for. I also learned how to add pages as well as delete pages, when uploading my Flipsnack to my blog it was fairly simple and straight forward making the blog look very organised and structured neatly. The advantages of using this website, is it allows you to form your work into a booklet making you work slightly more interesting than it did before. Also it looks neat when presenting it on your blog, the disadvantages of using this website is sometimes you can have complications with it. For instance when I first used this website I had difficulty finding where things were, how to save the work that I did and also find the link in order to post it on my website. If something where to happen, such as the internet goes down then the work that you have done on this website will not be saved meaning you would have to do the work you had just done all over again.

Another software that I used whilst doing my media coursework was Prezi, this website allowed me to set my work out in some form of timeline making this also look very neat when posting it on my blog. I used this software to present very detailed work, which contained at least 8 pages of writing on it. The reason why I used this website rather than Flipsnack, is due to me only placing work which contains 3-4 pages on Flipsnack otherwise the booklet would contain far too many pages. Another reason for me using Prezi instead is because I wanted to broaden my knowledge on different websites, it allowed to me to see what this website has to offer and also represents the different websites that I have considered using to organise my work making it look far more neatly on my blog. An advantage of using this software is when creating your work on their, it keeps constantly saving it for you just in case anything such as the computer shutting down or internet problems did occur then I wouldn’t need to restart my work all over again. The software is also straight forward to use, allowing me to get on with my work more efficiently due to how easy the software is to work. The disadvantage of using this website is you have to pay to make it a private account, enabling others to view your work. Also I don’t think you can save the work to your files, which means if anything did happen to my blog then I wouldn’t be able to get that post back due to it not being backed up on my files.

Another website that I used throughout my media was Survey Monkey. This particular website allowed you to create a survey of your own, allowing you to add questions that you wanted to ask as well as allowing you to share the link of your survey to others such as your friends. This website insured me that I would get answers off the public and would improve my knowledge on what others would like to see featured in a magazine to make my magazine more suitable for my target audience. I mainly asked people who were the age of my target audience to make sure that I would get the right answers, to suit my type of magazine. This website improved my knowledge on both what the public wanted to see, as well as how to use the website in the correct manner to produce a functional questionnaire. The advantages of using this website, is it provided me with accurate answers on what the public would like to see in a magazine, it was also very simply to use and produce a questionnaire. Once the answers were collected in, the website also provided me with a bar chart showing me the difference between each answer allowing me to see how big the difference actually is making it much easier to write an analysis on this. A disadvantage of using this is I am relying on the internet to get my answers and something could go wrong. Such as the public may not be able to work the website and also the public may not be able to access my survey due to some technical difficultly.

Throughout my media coursework, one of the main software’s that I used was Microsoft Word. I used this software to write most of my essays and analysis’s, due to it being extremely easy to work and access. I have not learnt much since using this software, due to me using Microsoft on a daily basis before starting my media course. The advantages of using this software is it allows you to access this anywhere, even on devices such as Apple. The software is also very straight forward to use, however, one of the main disadvantages for me when using this software is I don’t save my work very frequently and sometimes the software would sometimes close down by itself due to it automatically stop working. Because of this, it had taught me to constantly save my work just in case something like this did occur. This prevents me from losing my work, however, the chance that I could lose my work or even my progress can be sometimes off putting.

One of the main technologies I used throughout the making of my media products was my camera as well as the camera on my phone. Due to me using my camera more frequently it has allowed me to discover different sections to it that I had never discovered before, for my phone camera it has taught me how to transfer images from my phone to the specific computer that I had been using more quickly and efficiently. The advantages of using both of these technologies is it enables me to capture images sharply whether that be at college or outside of college, allowing a variety of different images and sceneries included into my coursework. Because I used my own equipment, it enables me to do photo shoots outside of college making my pictures a little more interesting. The disadvantages of using these two, is I am replying on my cameras to provide me with images to include in my media coursework. Another disadvantage is, if I forgot to bring in my camera or phone lead I would prevent me from continuing with my cou

rsework due to me needing my images to continue forward.

Addressing My Audience

Release forms

Media Kit - Question 4

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

The company that I have decided on producing and distributing my magazine is Time Inc. Considering the type of magazines they produce such as InStyle, People, Style at Home etc. I think my magazine would suit the existing ones being sold within this company, due to what my magazine is about being music, fashion and New York City. Observing and researching this type of company, they sell quite crafty magazine, to do with interior within a house as well as celebrities. Having magazine that features both celebrities as well as fashion would be a perfect combination for this company. I think my magazine would be best placed medium/major publisher, this is due to the financial support they would have with my magazine, they would also be able to produce many copies of the magazine due to the amount of money they have. However, I may not have that much say with the magazine, which would be a big disadvantage to the magazine as well as myself. If I were with a small/ independent company it would be the other way round, I'd have say with what goes in the magazine as well as the layout of it. However, they won't be able to financially support my magazine and create as many copies preventing the magazine from hitting the target audience as effectively.

If I were to self publish, my magazine, the advantages of this is I would have complete full control of how the magazine looks, what goes in the magazine and how much it would sell for. Although, the disadvantages of this would be I may not have the finical support that the magazine would need to become successful. Also, going with a big company would allow more readers to view the magazine, and would attract more attention towards the magazine due to who published it. If I published the magazine independently, it may not get the amount of attraction it would need to become as successful as I would like. Another option could be do to an online magazine, providing the audience to subscribe my magazine. This could also be a good option, due to my target audience being between 16-25 this age range is normally very frequently on the internet, whether that be social purposes or uploading images to social media websites. I think if I had the magazine online, it could be successful due to who my magazine is targeted at. Social media websites such as Twitter, could help advertise my magazine due to Twitter being one of the main social media websites that my target audience regularly checks.

If my magazine was to become successful, the sponsors that I would want to sponsor my magazine is companies such as iTunes due to my magazine being about music, as well as fashion companies like NewLook, River Island and maybe high end fashion companies as well to make sure that it hits all kinds of people between the ages of 16-25. I think my chances of them getting sponsored by them could be 50/50, this would all depend on how successful my magazine becomes as well as how much of the topic is featured in the magazine. However, my target audience might help persuade them into sponsoring my magazine.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Representation

Main Draft Products

 Front Cover

 Contents Page

Feature Article

Production Schedule

Week 1 (October 12th) Work on drafts for three products
On Holiday
Week 2 (November 2nd) Start constructing front cover (cover lines, title, bar-code, date)
Week 3 (November 9th) Photo shoot with Anna for feature article, start constructing feature article
Week 4 (November 16th) Photo shoot with Emily for front cover, start constructing contents page (outline)
On Holiday - Photo shoot in New York for magazine
Week 5 (November 30th) Add pictures of Emily into front cover, finish front cover
Week 6 & 7(December 7th - December 18th) Continue with feature article and add images of Anna and New York
Week 8 & 9 (January 6th - January 20th) finish both contents page and anything else that hasn't been finished
Week 10 (January 20th) look back through all products, final changes and edits. Make sure that all products are 100% finished. Double check.

Location / Props / Costume

I will be taking some images whilst I'm away in New York, images such as landscapes and New York streets to create extra detail to my products. I will consider using the images that I take as backgrounds, and use Photoshop to add my models into the picture to enable them to look as if they have gone to New York. Making my 'New York special' magazine more believable. I will also be planning on taking images at my college, with my friend Emily. I will be shooting her on a white background to make it easier when cutting the background out, to then see if her image will suit the front cover of my magazine. The props that I will be using in Emily's photo shoot will only be a tall lamp, this will be used to help get great poses out of her and to make the image look fun for my target audience. Lastly, I will also be taking images of my other friend Anna. This photo shoot will be taken place at her house, and will be using different props such as a bench to feature in the images. The reason why I am shooting at my friends house, is due to the fact that it will be include different sceneries such as a brick wall, plants featuring in the background as well as a bench which I won't be possible in a studio room. I thought that by having Anna lay/sit on a bench, would add extra detail in the image as well as help her pose differently to Emily. I will only be using the photography studio with Emily, this is because this worked well for both my media subject as well as my photography subject. This enabled me to do all the shoots in one, and allowed me more time to focus of how to style and angle my images to suit my front cover. I will have both Emily and Anna dress differently from one another, I will have Anna wearing jeans a pretty top with straight hair and have makeup on her face. Whereas, I will have Emily in black jeans and a shirt with her hair partly up and not straight, she will also be wearing makeup but not as much as Anna. My reasons for having the two dress completely different to one another, as well as the hair and makeup is because I want to try and represent two different teenage girls and the different fashion that women have, however, both look fashionable to go with my fashion side to the magazine. This technique should hopefully encourage and give ideas to other women to be different and style how they want to style to suit their personalities.

Contact Sheet

This is my contact sheet, these are images that I contemplated on using throughout the making of my media products. Some where taking whilst I was away in New York and others were taken at college as well as around Gorleston. I tried to use a variety of sceneries whilst taking my images, to enable a variety of different backgrounds to been seen to make my products much more interesting to look at.