Being new to Media Studies, my goal in this task was to develop forms and conventions of real media products but instead was to learn from existing, popular media products and try to incorporate these things into my product as best I could. I did this through extensive primary research and being pro-active by finding out what my target liked about existing products. I did this by creating a questionnaire and was able to get all the information I needed down on paper and this played a big part in the development of my media product. To answer this question I would say that my media product does not develop forms and conventions of existing media products but instead learns and uses them. It does this in the way its laid out and the way the content is displayed on the page which goes back to Narrative Theory and how useful it can be. My product uses forms and conventions such as layout, house styles and overall iconography and I feel that this is what makes my product stand out as one of the better Hip-Hop magazines on the shelf.
The following links help answer this question by showing different magazines of the genre mine is based on, Hip-Hop. This is where some of my research took place and I feel that my product incorporates some of the features used in these magazines:
http://www.xxlmag.com/
http://www.magazine-agent.com/mens-health-best-life/magazine
http://www.thesource.com/
The image below shows the words used to describe the look and feel of my product by my target audience. The bigger the word, the more it was said by my target audience. The feedback given for this is in relation to the conformity of my product:
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents represents a particular social and was only really aimed at one and that was Hip-Hop lovers. With Hip-Hop there is a specific social group, a specific type of people that will listen to that type of music and Hip-Hop has a distinctive nature in terms of the way people in that industry represent themselves and this is something I looked carefully at when creating my product and deciding what should be featured in it. I feel that my product carefully analyses 21st century media and incorporates this with the types of social groups that would follow Hip-Hop as a genre.
I originally recorded a "Vlog" for this question but had trouble uploading it. This was something I hadnt done before and tested my ICT skills. The "Vlog" answered this question in detail.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I feel that my magazine is very similar to Hip-Hop magazines such as Best Life and XXL. XXL for example is distributed by a company called Harris Publications and I think that after undergoing some research on this company they would be the kind of company I think might distribute my product.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The perfect audience for my product would be teenagers and people around the age of 20. This seems like a vague target audience but my magazine has slightly mature themes and will attract readers of a wide age range. People of these ages would feel comfortable with this product as I got feedback from my target audience which told me these things.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience first of all by making sure my product related to them. I did this by carrying out research on what my target audience like and also gave out questionnaires to my audience so I could get this information first hand. This information was crucial to the development of my product and in the end I was able to give my target audience a good quality product that they could appreciate and enjoy.
In terms of addressing my audience I feel I did this be relating my magazine to things that would interest my target audience the most, things such as current affairs and light hearted segments. My research helped my realise that features like these in a magazine are what can make or break it and I feel that these things fit well in my product.
I originally recorded a "Vlog" for this question but had trouble uploading it. This was something I hadnt done before and tested my ICT skills. The "Vlog" answered this question in detail.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Whilst creating my product I have learnt about many different types of programs and technologies such as Digital Cameras and editing programs such as Photoshop, Illustator and In Design. I have learnt not only how to use these things but ive learnt that all of these programs are needed to produce a proudct of high quality and without every one of these things I wouldnt have a product of the quality I do and it wouldnt be able to challenge forms and conventions of existing products.
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 preliminary task I have learnt a lot such as the skills and techniques needed to create high quality products such as these. I have learnt that without having a passion for media and the tasks your doing, it will be very difficult to create something that will appeal to your target audience. After this task I have a much greater respect for paper based media and the work that goes into it and I will hope that my skills will keep being challenged and refined so that I can continue to make products of a high standard.
No comments:
Post a Comment