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

Preliminary Task-
This is my original preliminary task front cover and feature article. Below is my front cover which is unconventional and bad in many ways as it features too many coverlines with almost unreadable font and colour that cover a majority of the boy's face. The image is warped and stretched too making the mise-en-scene look distorted.

Above is my preliminary contents page which features uncompostioned images, a stretched and unreadable mast head font and a lack of organization in the subtitle and article sections which is confusing for the audience to read and follow.

Front cover-
There were many changes between the preliminary and final task. The masthead was made bolder and more readable and a selling line was added to draw in the audience. The main image was made larger to stop warping and distortion so it became clearer. I reduced the size and amount of coverlines so the image could be seen better and so I could add a main coverline over the centre of the image. I added boxes to the final product to help certain features stand out and draw the audiences attention. I also composed the final product, following the rule of thirds, to make it look more appealing and organized to the audience. The bar code was also made smaller so I could get more information on the front cover. I feel I've learnt how to create a more appealing front cover by developing my Photoshop skills to add new features and improve on the ones I used in my preliminary task such as changing the fonts and adding boxes.

Contents Page-

There were many changes between the preliminary task and the final product. The title was made smaller, bolder and more readable so the target audience could identify the page they're on. I added one main image in the centre of the document and based the text around it so that the page could be organized through the use of the rule of thirds. I clearly labelled each section (e.g "Music reviews" compared to "Technology") so the audience could see what was under each section easily.  I used boxes to draw attention to certain features in the final product instead of leaving everything big empty spaces. The font was smaller so that more information could be contained on the page and was made bolder so that it would be easier to read.  I also used a variety of fonts on the final product to connote different meanings for the different sections of writing but only used two on the preliminary task. I feel I've learnt how to create a more appealing contents page by using a variety of techniques and conventions along with developing my Photoshop skills to add new features and improve on the ones I used in my preliminary task.

Conclusion-

In conclusion you can see how my abilities have changed and become better since my preliminary task as I learnt to use Photoshop and the tools that it had to offer. The hardest thing I learnt to use were the image transform tools as I obviously wanted to keep the image at a certain resolution without distorting it. The problems with the transform tools can be seen in the preliminary tasks but in the final product you can see the images are of a high quality and scaled to a larger size than the original representing that I used to learn the tool in order to enhance my work.

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

Question 5: How did you attract your audience?

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

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

Feature Article analysis

The main image is composed on the left hand side of the frame and fits in with colour scheme of magazine by having dulled out colours and a red tint giving the singer connotations of excitement and danger. Plus the emotion on his face gives connotations of joy and enthusiasm representing to the target audience that he enjoys performing and makes him look desirable to go see in concert. Using the rule of thirds we can see that the singer is composed completely on the left hand side of the frame in a powerful pose giving him connotations of strength and making him appear to be more desirable to see to the target audience.

The feature article has a dark red, white and black colour scheme as they are colours that stereotypically connote heavy metal and represent the band to be dark and dangerous. To reinforce this stereotype, the gravestone acts a logo for the band and gives them connotations of death, a taboo to normally sing about in society, which is a stereotypical generic convention of most metal bands.

The masthead font has connotations of being raw and energetic and represent the band to have similar connotations so they appear exciting to the target audience who will want to read about them. The red highlights certain words in the masthead and drop quotes to connote the extra positive points from the quote and make the band seem cheerful and and excited about their come back. The main body of text is bold, with a black border so that it also stands out against the background and has an appropriate distance between the lines and words so that's easy to read and appealing to the eye of the audience.

The feature article also has web links for a website where the target audience have the opportunity to gain extra information about the band. Seeming as the information is exclusive it would act as a unique selling point to the website and would attract the target audience to visit the site in order to get more information. 

The images at bottom of page are bright and stand out against the darker background and draw your eye to their on stage antics. This reinforces the connotations seen in the masthead font and represents the band to be full of energy and enthusiastic to perform; which could act as another selling point to the target audience. 

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

Contents Page analysis

The silver background of the contents page gives metallic and electronic connotations and represents the magazine to be linked closely to these aspects. This is conventional for this type of magazine as it's for a target audience who are interested in the technological aspects of music and video games.

The magazine features web links for social media where the target audience have the opportunity to interact with each other and talk about the magazine. The range of social media would appeal to the target audience and also boosts the magazines online presence which could boost sales, especially as a majority of people said they'd buy an online version of the magazine if it was published, as seen in my questionnaire.

The subscription box in the corner is red to connote attention and attract the target audience. The white font also stands out against the red background and draws your eye to the box. The subscription box also features intriguing language like “find out more” and “sweet”. This language connotes interest and makes the audience want to check out the offer to see what they'll get out of it.

The exclusive box serves same function and attracts the audience to read the article that can only be seen in this magazine giving it connotations of being special and rarity.

The main image is composed centre frame to give it connotations of importance and exclusiveness which can be reinforced by the exclusive tag in the bottom left corner of the image. As it's centre framed it also draws the audience's attention to the main image and thus the feature article. 

The bright red masthead and acts to attract the audience and stand out against the silver background. The mast head font also has sci-fi connotations and the name "Electric Dreams" also reinforces the representation that this magazine is technologically based whilst the main cover line has more rock n'roll connotations, looking similar to the Status Quo logo therefore representing both aspects of the magazine in full. The main body of text is in a bold and easy to read font that stands out against the lighter background. The font has also been kerned so it's farther apart and easier to read for the target audience. 

The magazine cover is also showed on the contents page so audience are reinforced that they’re reading electric dreams and can make the link between the front cover and the contents page.

Front cover analysis

The front cover follows is generic for a magazine cover and features different conventions for the magazine. In relation to colours, it has a a bright red masthead and yellow master coverline in order to attract the audience and stand out against the grey background. The mast head font also has sci-fi connotations and the name "Electric Dreams" also reinforces the representation that this magazine is technologically based whilst the main cover line has more rock n'roll connotations, looking similar to the Status Quo logo therefore representing both aspects of the magazine in full.

The cover lines also follow a convention by having a red title and white description on the right hand side of the magazine cover with the deep red also having eye-catching connotations. The deep red colour is taken from the guitar and represents that the music aspect of the magazine is heavily integrated and a huge part of the magazine.  

The barcode has been slimmed and turned on its side, to follow convention of magazines by having it present, yet out of the way so it doesn't interfere with the coverlines or obstruct the photo. Extra information, the issue and price, are also conventionally composed near the barcode as they are seen as retail information and not seen to be as appealing to the target audience. 

After looking at my questionnaire results, 93% of respondents would be influenced to buy the magazine if it had a free gift which is why I decided to include this convention to appeal to a majority of the target audience. I also put it in a red box to make it eye-catching and follow the colour scheme 

of the magazine. 

The photo is brightly and he's composed on the left hand side of the frame which leaves more room for the main coverline to be seen on the front cover. The photo also has a darker background, with the red guitar standing out against it. The guitar also dominates all sections of the rule of thirds and represents that it's a big part of the magazine as music is one of the key genres covered in the magazine.

Finished products

Front cover

Contents page

 Feature article