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

The progression from preliminary task to this one made me realise I needed to do much more planning than I originally did, so on this task I made sure I did the biggest amount of research and planning so I was prepared for the production part. Planning and preparation are important because without it you are unable to attract the target audience in ways common in other magazines and you will the create a magazine by guessing features. Organisation is also important so on both productions I created a time scale to make sure I wasn't going to run out of time. Having a time scale meant I could do extra work if I had run too quickly. Knowing how to use the cameras is important because if a shot needs to be portrait it is much easier to put the camera onto that setting rather than edit in Photoshop. I chose to not use lights because i wanted a more urban fitting background. However getting the right lighting is important else the magazine wont look lifelike. My post production skills improved a large amount since doing the preliminary task. My preliminary product isnt very realistic because i didnt have much experience. The improvement is noticeable when looking at my preliminary task: I think the editing of the image is what made it look less lifelike so on my new product i didnt edit it because i didnt want to make the same mistake twice. For my preliminary task i didnt assess my target market enough to attract them so after learning this i over researched my audience to make sure there was enough features to attract my intended audience. The biggest thing i learnt was research and  planning because on my first task i definitely didnt do enough i feel because of the way it turned out. If i had used social networking sites i believe feedback would've improved it but i have learnt that now. Knowing my audience and making a profile meant i could go into precise detail on the pages, e.g. font, colours and content. I have improved since i made targets because i wanted more structure to the process for which i made a timescale and stuck to it. Also i wanted to do more planning so i would be ready for production, i feel i could've done more for this but it was definitely an improvement.  I have enjoyed using more techniques and learning new things since the preliminary task.

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

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The research part was very important to have been done well to ensure attracting my specific target audience was successful. When I did my research I noticed most R&B magazines have similar features some being bright colours, ethnically diverse models, urban fashion and articles about famous artists of this genre. I used all of theses elements because I felt it would give me the best chance of my magazine looking real. I addressed my audience by featuring a competition for high tops on my front cover because this would make the target audience more likely to buy it as it is something they would want to wear/win. Another thing I did was to have a simple magazine name 'Replay' I chose this because it is to do with music and is easy to remember. The colours I used on the front page are very bright and eye catching with a mixed race male model in the centre wearing very urban clothing. On my contents page I used a three column page because I felt it would look too simple as a 2 column one. I decided to have interesting things on the end column such as 'Upcoming Artist's' and 'Top 10 R&B songs of the week' I think these were the biggest things that attracted my audience because I think they are the type of people to be very interested in things like that. My contents page didn't consist of much writing because I wanted it more packed with images because they are more interesting and eye catching. The double page spread features an interview with an upcoming male artist called Aaron, within this interview I tackled common problems my target audience might be going through so they could relate such as a single parent family, poverty and gang crime. I think my content is preferred reading by the feedback I got from it, the target audience that gave me feedback liked the way I used famous artists from this genre in my contents with articles about them e.g. Rihanna. I felt I was successful in attracting my target audience with the certain features I included. I showed my magazine to a group of students fitting my target audience because I wanted them to give me the feedback that was relevant. They were able to identify the similar factors of my magazine to that of a real one. They thought the colour font I chose to use for the double page spread wasn't right nor fitting with the rest of the magazine and that it would've been better if i had it in yellow and blue to connect it to the cover and stand out better. They liked that I chose to not use any serif fonts because they would've been too formal for my genre of magazine. The response told me that the models and props I had chosen were the best part of the magazine and they were the parts that made it look most realistic because its noticeable that in most R&B magazines the models are dressed very urban-ly with caps, hoodies and high tops. Some of these responses are shown in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvUr02nVTmE
The fact the people from my audience I chose to give feedback took the preferred reading of my text is very good because it makes me feel that the things I used to attracted my audience worked successfully. So I believe my magazine was a success bar a few factors I could improve upon so with critical feedback it helped.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

http://www.slideshare.net/Kiahnatalya/4-who-would-be-the-audience-for-your-media-product-11723766

3. What kind of media institution would distribute your product and why?

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

http://prezi.com/y64s5xzgw5jw/how-does-your-media-product-represent-particular-social-groups/

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine is based mainly on Vibe magazine, during my research period I focused mainly on that magazine because it is the exact genre I was focusing on. There are features in my product that are very similar to that of Vibe's. I used models of different races because the majority of R&B singers ect are of black origin and I didn't want my magazine to be any different to that of a real one. I decided to name my magazine 'Replay' because it is simple and its with the genre being music.

My front page image connotes a determined young artist. I wanted his pose to be almost aggressive to show his want to succeed in the music industry. I based my front cover image on this Vibe cover because I think it looks very effective. I used simple props because the facial expression captures the whole image. The main prop I added was the flat peak cap. I chose to use it because its very common in R&B magazines and lots of artists sport them.

I chose to have a running head because every magazine I researched featured one. This one is from Vibe magazine I chose to have mine very similar to this because I like the way it is simple and fills up unwanted gaps. The names used are famous R&B artist giving even the front cover an R&B focus. I used capitals to connote importance to the names putting them in a red font.

Another thing I did, similar to Vibe magazine was that I used a pull quote next to the main image. Having a pull quote I believe makes the reader more intrigued to read on. Using this feature it mean't I could give the front page model more of a personality to their look which is what R&B magazines do. 

I decided to add a 'Upcoming Artist' profile to my contents page because in real R&B magazines they advertise free downloads for mix-tapes so I thought this would give a more real effect. I think it gives my magazine a more recognisable  feel to R&B because the models dressed very urban and I wrote a small introduction to the artists letting the reader know what type of music each artist produced. I put the images and writing box's at an angle to draw more attention to that specific area. Another feature I added was to have a top 10 R&B of the week because it specifies the genre of the magazine. Most magazines I researched had a feature similar to this whether it was top albums or music video's ect.

On my double page spread I decided to use a quote from the model to give the page a more personal feel. R&B magazines are very informal giving a quote makes it more recognisable to the genre. I used an inspirational quote for mine because I think it fits with the bled image. The imaged I used is very fitting with the genre due to the fact it originated from Rhythm and blues from Africa. I tried to use models of ethnic minority because most artists from this genre are seen to be of that ethnicity. I used the quote as the title of the page because I think it descibed the article well enough. I think it would've been better if I had pulled the quote from the interview however I did not. Another feature I used was a small title in the top right hand corner to show the reader exactly what the contents of the article would be. I got this idea from another magazine however it was a Pop magazine but I think this feature doesn't give the magazine a specific genre. I believe using this feature did challenge the conventions but I wanted a more direct title rather than just a quote. Using a large amount of writing on the double page spead could've also been seen as challenging the conventions because most magazines of this genre have very limited writing but with it being an interview it is more informal and interesting to the target audience who enjoy to learn about different R&B artists. All of the fronts I used were sans serif because the magazines I researched all didn't feature them. 

Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Front Cover

feedback for my contents page possible layout

The feedback helped me because I wasn't entirely sure as to whether it looked too crowded but I feel the more on the page the more interesting it makes it. Having an upcoming artist column it makes it more of an interesting read. Rather than just page numbers. I intend to have a three column page.

Contents page layout.