Media Institutes

Contents page peer assess

Media Institutions research

There are three mass media companies that own the majority of the market. These companies are:

The Walt Disney company
TimeWarner
News Corporation

These three companies made a total revenue of $105 billion in 2012. The company that made the most, therefore can be called the biggest, was The Walt Disney company.

I have decided that I want to research the walt disney company. Disney is most famous for the Disney studios in California, Hollywood.Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world. It also has a successful music division. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is a primary symbol of The Walt Disney Company.

Student self evaulation and feedback sheet

This the feedback sheet for my 3rd draft of the LAME front cover.

Positive feedback:
-Good main image

Constructive criticism that I want to apply to my work:
- add more content

LAME double page spread first draft

With my double page spread I made a very eye catching title so to draw the reader into the main article. The title highlights that the word 'negative'. This automatically makes the reader want to know why the character in the picture is negative. My research shows that magazines sell 67% more copies if the main story is negative instead of a positive story. This is because as humans we are interested in people failing then successes.

With the main image I took I wanted my model to be dressed like the target audience I am aiming for. The eye liner coupled with the cigarette shows an image of a girl that is stereotypically into rock/metal music. The magazine genre is alternative rock with can cover all different kinds of music genres. I hope to branch out and say to the potential buyer that its not just about alternative rock, but it dabbles with metal music as well. This opens up the door for more stories and news and will attract a whole new scene of people to buy the magazine. i think if you bottle neck the magazine to one genre then the originality and content will grow stail and people will stop buying the magazine.

LAME magazine contents page first draft.

This the first draft of the contents page for my as media coursework. I went with the black & white theme for the inside of the magazine because I want it to be different/unique from the other magazines in the current market. My research I conducted at the start of the year told me that every mainstream magazine uses bright, in your face colours. I want to change this and be a unique product on the market. I want to have a new vibe to the magazine, a new look and a new vibe. I think its important to innovate and be creative. I hoped to have achieved this with the black and white, simple look of this contents page. It tells you the main information that you want and thats all I wanted from the contents page. You don't spend much time on this page, you only go here for the page numbers you are interested in. This means:

- Clear information
-Eassy to use
-Anyone can use it without thinking.

"LAME" magazine front cover draft 2

With this front cover I took a whole new approach. I tried to fill all available space without making the page look messy and cluttered. I took inspiration from "Kerrang" magazine front covers with there front covers been fill and in your face. (This might be a one reason for the success of the magazine.)

"LAME" magazine front cover draft 1

Commentary

When I was designing my first magazine front cover I wanted to make it as simple as possible. I took inspiration from 'Vice Magazine' in the way that the main image would sell the magazine. Because for AS media you have to use your own images instead of existing ones, the background on the image and the character shown will have to be described to fully understand my motives behind why I did this. But i realized that you probably wont be able to do that for the coursework so I am scraping this idea.

Strengths of this draft 

I love the simplicity of this front cover. I think the quote along with the image, "Rich and famous is hard work", goes fantastically to show what this character is all about. With the character Adam King is lazy fame, the character he portrays is someone who expects the world for no work. This can be symbolised but he hand and face expression as if to say "what?".

I used a simple drop shadow to create the shadow behind the character to add depth and to fill in a large piece of the left head side of the magazine. 

The black on white title makes the whole piece stand out from the crowd. It might be simple but very effective for grabbing a potential buyer when he/she is looking at the magazine shelf.

Weaknesses of this draft

Its biggest weakness is also its biggest strength ( in my opinion). The simplicity of this piece makes it look simultaneously half arsed and  yet professional in an 'arty' way - but from the examiners point of view this wouldn't get many marks that I need to be successful within this course. There is a lack of detail and too much blank space and this could be called shabby and cheap. 

The main image is very low quality but unless I can borrow either a college camera or a friends DLSR  camera I will have to make do with my iPhone camera. This is key to a successful front cover like this one where "less is more". If I cant use a good camera, I will have to be creative with the low resolution camera and hopefully play this to my advantage somehow.

Conclusion 

To simple, needs more to fill the space and a better quality image to make it look professional to get higher marks.

Flat Plan.

Double page spread analysis (Graham Coxon)

Front cover analysis (Rolling Stone)

Front cover analysis (Vice)

Example of the images I will use.

Magazine Preparation

Magazine Preparation

What genre of music magazine will you make? why?

The genre of my music magazine is going to be indie rock/alternative rock. I picked this genre because most of my answers to the questionnaire pointed to this genre as the most popular. With the only two people who buy magazines buying "NME", this is a good indicator that I should make my magazine about Indie rock. This genre also fits in with the age group I am aiming for. 14-25 year olds favourite music genre is pop and indie rock. My questionnaire is evidence of this claim with 50% of people picking pop music as their favourite genre and Indie rock coming in second with 25% of people picking it as their favourite music genre.

What will be in the magazine you make?

The front cover will be filled with a image of the main article which is inside. This main image will dominate  the front cover and completely fill it. The masthead and text I want to add will be put around, over or under the image to add effect and draw attention to the key parts of the magazine. Inside the magazine I will be creating a contents page and a double page spread of the artist on the front cover. This article will go into depth of how he lives and what life is like on the road touring. This would interest anyone who has a keen interest already in the band and anyone who wants to find out what life is like touring the world. 

Who will be your target audience?

My target audience for my magazine will be people aged 14-25 years old. My research showed that 25% of 16 years olds favourite music genre is Indie rock. This is a good enough size of people to justify the reason why I want to make this kind of magazine.This group of people come under social economic group 'E' which is student. This floor to aiming at this generation even though their clear interest in music is apparent, the age group I am selling to doesn't have much money. So to combat this I have to find a good balance between cost and quality of the magazine. I will be pricing my magazine between £1-£3.

What makes your magazine original?

My magazine will be original with its title. The title has not been used on another magazine before. The images were all took by me and only me so this makes my magazine original.

How will I ensure that my music magazine looks professional? 

I have looked at many mainstream music magazines and learned what makes them successful. I will have a big masthead that clearly shows what the magazine is and what you will be getting with my brand of magazine. There will be a HD main image in the central of the front cover to show what the main two page spread will be about. I will stick with a particular colour palette so not to make the pages look odd and unprofessional. The software that I will use to create my product will be a mix of photoshop and InDesign. 80% of my work will be done within photoshop because this is the software I am most comfortable and confident using. Most modern day magazines are produced using these softwares so I will follow suit.

What will you magazine be called and why?

My magazine will be called "Lame Magazine" because everything inside will be Lame and not worth reading. Obviously this is not true, but i want to play around with the concept that all mainstream magazine outlets shout and rave about been the best and 90% of the time the content is doesn't live up to the hype. So, if I say that my magazine is Lame customers and critics cannot complain. I per-warned them. But the target audience I am aiming for will appreciate the sarcasm and the not so serious approach I will be taking with the magazine. 

Front cover analysis (Rolling Stones)

Questionnaire results and conclusion.

The questions I used in my media magazine questionnaire. This was used as research for my magazine.

What is your sex?

-Male                     4

-Female                 11

What is your age?
-16                         15

How many hours a week do you listen to music?
-0 Hours                 0
- 1-2 Hours             0
- 3+ Hours              15

What is your favourite genre of music to listen to?
-Pop                        8
-Indie Rock               4
-EDM                       2
-Country                  1

How do you listen to your music?
-Internet                     11
-Phone                       13
-Radio                        10
-Other                          0

Do you buy music magazine? if yes, state which one.
-No                               13
-NME                            2

What attracts you into buying a music magazine?
-Price                              10
-Front cover                    3
-featured artist                 2

How do you buy your music?
-iTunes                             10            
-CD                                  2
-I don't buy music.            3

Whats your favourite band or artist?
-Arctic monkeys                5
-Rihanna                            5
-Kings of Leon                  5



Conclusion of results

My questionnaire was handed out in a sixth form classroom filled with as students. 11 girls and 4 boys took part so I have to take into consideration that my results are not 50/50 for both genders. All the people surveyed were 16 years old and in full time education. This implies that most students will be into there music but don't have much money to spend on music magazines. This is a good resource to ask what would make them buy a music magazine with such little money.

The amount of hours each teenager spends listening to music a week is more than 3 hours a week. This means that there is a clear interest in music within the teenage age group.

Music genres are an important part of my music magazine preparation. I wanted to find out if there was a good audience for a indie rock magazine. My research found out that 25% of the survey population has indie rock for there favourite music genre. I think this is a big enough audience to target and a good reason to justify making a magazine about Indie rock.

The next question I asked was about how people listened to their music. This would factor in how I would advertise to sell the music on the magazine. All three, Internet, mobile phone and radio are popular with everyone surveyed. This means I can choose what method of advertising I want to use. I asked how people buy music and 66% of people said from iTunes. This coupled with the results from my previous questions I will be marketing the new album of the featured artist on iTunes.

When I asked in my survey what attracts you into buying a music magazine 66% of people said the price. This means I have to think hard of the pricing for the magazine. Not to expensive that it puts people off buying it and not to cheap to compromise the quality of the content and what its made out of (Cheap thin paper or high quality glossed paper.)

Word Definitions.

Representation - The act of representing or the state of being represented.

Stereotype - A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing: "sexual and racial stereotypes".

Target audience -  In marketing and advertising, a target audience, is a specific group of people within the target market at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed at.

Language - The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.

Institution - A society or organization founded for a religious, educational, social, or similar purpose.

Genre - A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Conventions - Behavior that is considered acceptable or polite to most members of a society.

Denotation -  The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Cover Lines - Cover lines are short statements found on the cover of the magazine that allude to or describe the articles inside.

Masthead -

The title of a newspaper or magazine at the head of the front or editorial page. Connottion - An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

College front cover and plan

What to look for in a college magazine.

When reading through a magazine there are certain things you look for within it. The main thing in a magazine is if it entertains you. If that element isn't there then the magazine has failed without getting out of the starting blocks. Students whom read the magazine should find information init that is useful and entertaining, engaging and suitable for the target audience. (16-19)

A college magazine should include dates and times of upcoming events, stories and information about whats going on around the college and what has already happened. The inside should be bright and vibrant, engaging and attractive. This should also apply to the front cover. It should be bright, in your face and stand out so it catches the eyes of the students. the style of the magazine is big issue. the style of the text should be easy to read, large and not a formal type face.

The pricing of the magazine should be free. Students at college don't have much money therefore it should be free otherwise not many people would buy it. If the magazine is free, informational and enjoyable to read then it will be a massive success within the college.





Sean Fairless