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

Looking back at my prelim task, it looks so simple and....boring!! I remember being happy with the way it turned out and thinking I could never EVER create a magazine that looks remotely professional. I never thought it'd be quite so challenging to create something that'd actually look decent.

I used Microsoft Publisher to create this, and to be honest, it really is clear the difference in quality of the programs used to create OFCs - because for my real OFC, I have used, GIMP, Picasa and Picnik. In a way, seeing as this is a school magazine, it doesn't really have to look incredibly professional, because it suits the school environment being the way it is.



Looking back on it, it really is quite awful... the sell lines are small and pathetic and definately wont catch anyone's attention.


I think I have learnt the concept of better photo angles and poses to suit a certain genre. Also learning about the layout of a OFC has helped me hugely when deciding when to put what where and when it looks too cluttered.








I'm still quite shocked at how long it took to complete the magazine considering how much time professionals have. Although I am proud of the workload I've done (62 posts :P) and also of what I've managed to achieve :)

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

During the making of my magazine, I have been experimenting with different types of technology. I have to admit, I have never used an editing program for more difficult tasks like this before, so it was a new challenge.

Firstly, I'm stating the obvious a bit here, but the better the camera was, the more professional my magazine would look. I used my own camera to take all of my photos, including the photos of locations and target audience. My camera is a Panasonic DMC-Z51 which is also known as a Panasonic DMC-Tz6. It has 10.1 megapixels and has 12x optical zoom. I actually love my camera and find it very easy to use. It has complicated settings to improve the photos, but are easy to use. Here are some photos of it:

Computer-wise, I have used an Apple iMac, a ACER Aspire One D255 and a Dell Dimension 4600.

I found the iMacs rather unsusual for editing on. I think this is because I'm used to Windows and not Apple software. I didn't get how to use iPhoto, and I felt more comfortable using a Windows based programme. Although, they are good for using the internet. Very fast and very efficient.

My ACER Aspire One D255, for me, was the best computer I used. It was very fast and rarely froze. I got along with it well because it has Windows software, although I had to get used to Windows 7, which I soon got the hang of. Considering it is only a netbook, it suprisingly had enough space to download editing programs and still work without a fuss!

The other computer I used was a Dell Dimension 4600. I found this okay to use, but considering it has aged quite a bit since we bought it, it has slowed down a bit and froze often. But when it was busy freezing or messing up, it was very handy to upload things to my blog with!

When I wanted to use examples from a magazine that I couldn't find on the internet, I would use my scanner that is built into my printer, to scan the pictures onto my blog. The scanner/printer I used was a Epson RX620. It is a very good printer, it scans quickly and easily, the controls are easy to follow and it generally does a good job.

I orginally wanted to use Photoshop to edit my pictures with, but as I've said earlier in another post, the part of the Photoshop website that you use to download the free 30 day trial version, wasn't working. This really annoyed me so I had to find another editing program. On the home computer (the Dell one) we have a program called GIMP. I had never used it before but remembered the name. So I downloaded GIMP to edit my photos with.
I've got along quite well with GIMP. I find it relitively easy to use, depending on what you want to do. Adding layers can get quite complicated, whereas so can the simplist of things, like resizing a photo. This got quite tedious but eventually I figured out how on earth to use it. On GIMP, I learnt things like how to put a layer on so the subject of the photo was infront of the text.

I used a free online editing programe called Picknik. I found this very easy and simple to use, but I could tell it wasn't desinged for huge editing projects, just little pieces of editing here and there.

I have also used Picasa to create my magazine. I used it to put the text on the OFC. I cant say I get along well with Picasa but it's bearable.

I've also used webistes like Wikipedia, Fontspace and Google. They have all been very helpful and very efficient. I've also used Publisher to help get my results from the questionnaire into a pie chart.

Evaluation - How did you attract/address your audience?

I have addressed my target audience by creating a questionnaire. This gathered some fantastic results, and it helped me create my magazine.
I think I have attracted my target audience well by using models that the readers can relate to!
I specifically chose people who wore makeup (eyeliner in particular), had piercings (Loz has her nose pierced and Pie has scaffolding). They both dress in an appropriate way for the genre of music and both look young enough for the readers to be able to relate to.
In my opinion, I think that I chose the selection of bands featured well. It has a mixture of old and new, e.g Guns N' Roses. But the teenagers of this generations are seriously into old rock music as well as new, I personally LOVE Guns N' Roses and Nirvana, and I know many people of my age and younger that adore them.

Evaluation - Who would be the target audience for your media product?

After finishing my magazine, I thought I'd try and find some people who would actually enjoy reading it. I asked a range of people whether they liked it or not, here's how one person reacted:

I guess he didn't like my magazine... So he definately ISN'T my target audience!

My target audience would be teens and young adults who have an interest in rock/metal music...that would look something like this:

I wanted to find out some opinions on my magazine, so I sent a copy of my work to my cousins in London over msn. I thought it'd be fair to get some fresh opinions from people who haven't been working on the same task. This is exactly what they said in the conversation:

Me: What is it about the OFC that makes you want to read my magazine?

Steph: The stars featured in the main image, they suit the genre of music, which would draw people in.

Laura: The size and colour of the font also stands out a lot, the white is a big contrast against what Georgia's wearing, so it'd grab my attention.

Me: What do you think of the contents page?

Laura: I swear I've seen one similar to this...

Steph: That's because it's based on Kerrang! ... noob.

Laura: I knew that...yeah, I like the amount of pictures, it's easy to scan over and see if my favourite bands are featured in it.

Steph: Yeah, I agree...is that Bon Jovi?!

Me: Yep

Steph: NICE!!

Me: How do you think my live review DPS would attract my target audience?

Steph: I like the way you've used a photo from the concert as the background image, it gives a sense of what it was like to have been there.

Laura: Yeah, what with teenagers being avid concert goers

Steph: And what you've written too, the language you've used is exciting and attention grabbing.

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

For this part of my evaluation, I researched the magazine distribution companies. I found out the names of two of the major companies:

• Bauer Media Group Inc


• International Publishing Cooperation

Bauer Media Group Inc distribute magazines such as Kerrang! and Q, whereas IPC distribute NME.

I'd like Bauer Media Group Inc to distribute my magazine, because they seem to deal with the higher quality magazines. The paper is glossy, the paper feels like it's good quality, and if my magazine was with this company, it'd be turned into something professional.

Evaluation - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

To help gather an opinion on whether my product does represent my social group well, I inteviewed Becky Tye and Sophie Oliver.
Blogger wouldn't upload it so I had to create a new youtube account and upload it there...
On the name of it, I put ignore it, so other youtubers wouldn't pay much attention to it and it wont waste their time.
Here's the video:

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

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

View more presentations from Sarahhh-WOO.

for some reason the presentation cuts off some of the writing in one of the slides... o.O