AS Media Studies Coursework
’Rock N’ Roller’’
Seb Warren
Portfolio Evaluation.
In this evaluation I will cover the following:
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Forms and conventions of my Media Product and how it uses,
develops or challenges real media products
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How my media product represent particular social groups
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What kind of media institution would distribute my media product
and why
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Who the audience would be for my media product
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How the audience was addressed/attracted
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What technologies I have learnt in the process of making my
media product
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Review of progress from preliminary task to my full media product
Seb Warren
2
Forms and Conventions – Front Cover
The masthead ‘’Rock N’ Roller’’ is at the top of my magazine, the style of the
masthead resembles the music genre my magazine is based on, the font used is
‘LD Rock Hero’ it resembles the font that is seen on Guitar Hero’s logo which has
matching genre to my magazine, the colour is white with a black border around
each letter to make the masthead stand out as well give the classic rock look.
The main image was used has the whole background of my cover so I could get
every part showing. I took my photo outside using no props, I used my friend
Hayden and myself as models In the picture (due to the original model being away
at time the photo was taken), we are positioned in front of a wooden wall, We
chose this stance because it looks like we are In control and looking off into the
distance, I needed enough space above our heads for the masthead to go at the
top and also space on the sides for the text. Therefore I set the camera up on a
tripod with a low angle setting and took a self timer picture, because the location
was outside I had enough room to achieve this. I used Adobe Photoshop to edit
my picture to right style of genre. The techniques I used to edit this image included
cropping, increasing brightness and contrast, changing the colour scheme to Black
and White, I also applied colour depth to darken colours more than others. All of
the techniques I used contributed in changing the picture to suit the genre my
magazine is based on.
I wanted to use a font that would stand out and work well with the theme, So I
used ‘Royal Acid’ for the headings , I type of font which is used as the masthead on
the ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine, the style of it is very neat and very much suits the
classic rock genre. Another font I used was ‘Chalkduster’ for the text underneath
the heading, this font works well with the background image, finally the last font I
used was for the main heading, this font is ‘LD Rock Hero’ it matches the font used
in the masthead. The reason I chose more than font is because I wanted my cover
to stand out more, because with only one font it could be bland and boring. I
chose the colour of my font to work with the back ground image, the White stood
out on the Black parts of the background.
I have placed a barcode on the right hand side of my photograph along with information such as issue number price. I chose to place it here because it was
the only place where it wouldn’t have clashed with any of the texts, I made it vertical so it was easier to fit on the photograph. Also I have the date the
magazine was released in the top right away from anything else so It’s not the way, and a webs address is placed underneath the masthead
Seb Warren
3
Forms and Conventions – Front Cover
Real Media Example
The annotations are parts of the magazine
front cover I have used In a similar style on
my magazine.
Masthead located at the top.
Distinctive font. Largest text
on front cover.
Headline’s placed
on one side of the
cover.
Magazine
information: issue
number, price and
date.
Main headline is
big and easy to
see.
No text covering a
lot of the main
image.
Main image of
cover, placed as a
background.
Seb Warren
Model not looking
directly into the
camera.
4
Forms and Conventions – Contents Page
I wanted to maintain the same style from the front cover, but also try to apply a
different affect found on contents page you might see in a real media magazine.
‘Contents’ is at the top of the page, above the text , this is usually found on a
contents page. The image used is very large and the font is the same style as the
masthead seen on the front cover, I used the same colour scheme as the
masthead on the front cover, ‘’LD Rock Hero’’ I selected the same font found on
the front cover for the text used to show the headlines of the pages, ‘Royal Acid’
because the font is big enough to read and you can see it due to the colour I
made it. The page numbers are also made clear by using a font called ‘Royal
Acidbath’ this is virtually the same as the other font but now the colour covers
all of the lettering this font is slightly larger so you can see the page numbers
and I used the colour Black so stand outs against the back photograph, the name
of the magazine is also located at the top.
Behind the wording have placed a photograph of a creased up piece of paper
located on a wooden desk. I got this picture from a video game. I used a piece of
paper on a desk to show the genre of my magazine, It ties in with the song
‘School’s out’ by ‘Alice Cooper’, also I thought that the creased up piece of paper
on a school desk shows the classic rocker’s attitude to life. I got pictures of things
that resembles the genre of my magazine such as ‘Aerosmith’ records and a
‘Gun’s N’ Roses sticker, as well other things you might find located on a desk.
When I was taking the picture of the creased up paper, my camera wouldn’t
allow me to get all of it in one shot, So I had to take a picture of one section and
then move down, I did this for 4 shots. Once I had the shots I used Adobe
Photoshop to piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle, I had to use tools like the
healer took to join the lines that were showing from where It didn’t quite fit.
While I was in Adobe Photoshop I also added real life pictures, ones I had taken
for my front cover and double spread, as well one of my other friends,. I located
these around the page
Sadly I did not have enough room to sort the headlines out into a categories or put
picture headlines on one of the sides.
Seb Warren
5
Forms and Conventions – Contents Page
Real Media Examples
The annotations are parts of the magazine
contents pages I have used In a similar style
on my magazine.
Contents title located at the
top, In big writing.
Ripped/Creased piece of
paper look.
Headlines of what’s in the
magazine.
Pictures of what’s in the
magazine.
*Lines in Black so they stand out.*
Seb Warren
6
Forms and Conventions – Double Page Spread
Much like before I wanted to maintain the same
style from the front cover, only this time for my
double page spread, It was more difficult for the
double page spread.
The two main problems were the background
colour and the original pictures I had taken to go
on my double page spread. Getting the right
background colour Is needed for when the page
is printed because I wanted a clear background,
but because of the original images I took didn’t fit
In with any background or the layout of the page
I decided to use another set of pictures and cut
Hayden and Myself out and place us onto it.
Also a suitable font was needed so It can be easy
to read. I used a fairly basic font, which was
‘Arial’. This font was probably clearest to read , so
all of the paragraphs have the same font.
In between the paragraphs I have included
quotations, this is quite common in articles that
are about people, the quotes state something big
that is said in the next paragraph, so I have put
them in a different font and made the text larger.
The font I used was ‘ Harlow Solid Italic’, this is
because the italic shows it off as a quote. Both
text’s are White to stand out against the
background.
My paragraphs are located on each side, I have made them fit around the two images located on the
left and the right, because I cut the pictures out I didn’t need to worry about the colour scheme not
fitting in with the image. Due to both the photographs still being in colour they stand out the most .
I have used ‘Harlow Solid Italic’ for the title of
the double page spread which is located at the
top, I wanted to stick with two fonts, to avoid it
looking messy. This is also white so it stands out.
I also put the magazine name onto the double page spread, along with the website, the date issued,
page numbers and under them then first 3 letters of the main name, I also included a small grey text
box with Black writing to state an album release, along with a picture of the created album cover. the
font used in that box is ‘AR BERKLEY’.
Seb Warren
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Forms and Conventions – Double Page Spread
Real Media Examples
The annotations are parts of the magazine
double page spread I have used In a similar style
on my magazine.
Name of
magazine.
Page
numbers.
Text not covering main
person.
White text.
Main title of
article.
Black background
Article in
columns.
Person in colour.
Seb Warren
8
Representation of a particular Social Group
The social groups I have chosen to attract my audience were classic rocker’s who go festival’s
such as ‘Download’ and concerts held by big name bands. The representation can be seen in my
magazine with the type of colours and fonts involved in my magazine, these were all achieved
through techniques used in Adobe Photoshop.
It also represents the social group of the younger generation who are into classic rock music, the
type of clothing and body position this can influence the younger generation. It can give them a
sense of power and they can achieve what they want. This impression is seen in many music
magazines companies because they make there model’s look this way.
The photographs I have used also represent the social group because I have taken pictures of two
males and you usually see classic rock bands made up of a group of males. In some ways It can
represent that the classic rocker’s are in groups and not by themselves.
Seb Warren
9
Institution for distribution of my Media Product
After the magazine has been completed and produced, an Editor of a company will have to think
how to distribute the magazine to the target audience, So this means a Publisher will come in
and help distribute the magazine.
Big name publishers are Wenner Media LLC the publishers of the magazine ‘Rolling Stone’, also
IPC Media is a leading magazine publisher who also publish the hit music magazine ‘NME’
The Institution I would use for distribution of my music magazine is Bauer Media Group, this is
because they are the biggest rock music magazine publisher in the UK. They have also published
many music magazines such as ‘KERRANG’, ‘Q’ and ‘Mojo’
My magazine would hopefully become popular in the UK and the US because classic rock and
originates from the US and some in the UK, classic rock has been a hit since 1970’s and there are
still many classic rocker’s out there who would buy my magazine. So hopefully the Bauer Media
Group would be able to get high enough sales around the UK and the US to then start to
distribute it to other countries.
Seb Warren
10
Audience for my Media Product
An audience is the biggest part and the start for any media product. Which means when
producing a music magazine the audience must be chosen and then market correctly before
the process of production can start.
For a music magazine, the audience is wants the genre of music covered in a music magazine.
For my music magazine I chose to include the classic rock genre, I wanted my magazine that
would include this music, and put it into one media product for the audience of it to read about
the genre’s. The Audience of my magazine would like reading the news and information about
the genre of my magazine.
My audience for my music magazine are fans of the classic rock genre, which I believe to be
the older generation who remember the classic rock era and also some younger generation
who have grown up with it, the ages for the older generation would be 50 to early 60’s and
for the younger generation around early teens 14 to 20. The fans are about mostly male when
it comes to gender, because I feel my magazine targets more of the a male audience, because
mostly the male’s are known for listening to classic rock more than woman. I also hope that
some woman will read my magazine as well.
Seb Warren
11
How my Media Product addresses the audience
There are lots ways in which I address the audience of my Music Magazine, This includes the use photo’s I had
taken and the Adobe Photoshop editing I had done on all 3 pieces to attract the audience with the use of text
the fonts and the colours. Also the type of effects I used to show the genre of music.
My photography used address the audience because of the type of angles I used and the stance I had the
model standing in. This is because the audience want to see something that will stand out. My magazine will
address the audience because what they see is what they wanted. The photoshop editing that used on the
photo’s that I had taken. The black and white effect will interest the audience because the same style is used
on other magazine’s with the same genre. The style I set edited my photographs shows of the type of genre
my magazine is.
The text was an important part in address the audience because I wanted to make sure the text worked well
with the colour on my pieces as well have the right style of writing that is best suited for my genre. I kept the
font the same style on the front cover and I also used it on the contents page, I used it because it links well
with the music genre because It has been seen on various products from my genre. But on the double page
spread I needed something that was rather plain so it was easy to read. The colour’s used also work because
the black is well known as a colour that links well with the genre, the font colour also had to be white because
it stands out and it means my audience can read it clearly.
The style of writing I have used addresses the audience because they want to read about classic rock and also
have parts that stand out, the type if words also show of the genre, I included a small information to tell the
audience to look out for this and check out this site.
Seb Warren
12
Technologies I have learnt about in the process of making
my Media Product
I have learnt about many technologies in the process of creating my music magazine. I have used and learnt
different technologies in making the 3 pieces , front cover, contents page and double page spread.
As soon as I started the course, I learnt how to manage a blog site called ‘Wordpress.com’, It allows me to
upload the photo’s of my work and organize everything into a nice and neat page which includes text.
Straight from the start I learnt about the technologies involved in photo-shoots for each of my media
products. Using my camera, I found out different angles and techniques that are used in some pictures.
Some of these techniques are setting the zoom and the colour effect in order to made some great photo’s
that can be used.
The editing and design process of the photo’s I had taken. I learnt a lot of Adobe Photoshop techniques when
creating my front cover and contents page, one of those on the front cover was how to change the colour of
the photograph to ‘Black and White’ and how to add different style of texts in area’s. For the contents page, I
used had learnt how to piece all the photographs together and then use the ‘Healing tool’ to match the colours
and merge them together.
In the design process in making the double page spread I learnt how to use an new program I had never used
or heard of before, this was Adobe InDesign. It let me create the double page spread with fair easier than
trying to make it on Adobe Photoshop, It let me create and move the text area’s to where I wanted them go. I
learnt how to cut out another image and use parts of it on my double page spread, finally I learnt how to add
effects to the double page spread.
Seb Warren
13
Looking back at the Preliminary Task
This is a look back at the work preliminary task at the start of the course to prepare myself for the real Media
Product, this is to asses the knowledge I have learnt.
This is my front cover I created on Adobe Photoshop at the start, It is
magazine designed for a school, as you can see there is nothing on this
cover that stands out, the masthead just blends in with the background
and all of the text is located on only one side. It looks like it is just placed
on there in areas that are free, but it does go over the model in the
picture. There is only one font used on the cover which is just plain and
looks bland, but the title’s are in a different colour. I also kept the main
photo the same colour as It was taken
You can see a big difference between this and the main task.
This is the contents page I created on Adobe InDesign at the start, I kept
the same design as the front cover so it was nice and clear as you can see
it. I have included the name of the magazine at the top, as well as the
word ‘Contents’ , I put all the text at the bottom so you could see the
picture in the middle, this wasn’t a good idea because It means the text
was squashed at the bottom. All of the text is in the same font but like the
front cover it has a different colour. The background image stayed the
same colour.
You can see the massive improvement on my main task compared to the
preliminary task.
Seb Warren
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