Progression

Since i have made my college magazine cover and contents i have learned alot more about making magazines. Using the right programmes for the right parts of the magazine is an essential whilst making a magazine such as photoshop for editing. I have got used to using different fonts for different types of magazines, such as serif and san serif fonts. I think that my photo has improved more on my front cover in my music magazine, the one i used in my college mag was an action shot therefore being very blury and not getting much of a point across to the reader. Whereas the photo i have used gets its point across just as i wanted it to. I kept thinking about the audience whilst making my music mag, this allowed me to keep on track and make sure that they will be happy to buy it. As you can see from the two finished products, my college magazine really has no relation to the image on the front cover. This is an example of my progression with using software such as photoshop. My music magazine has a picture of an inditmating male, this is related to the genre of music within the mag.

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

This is an example of me using photoshop on my double page spread in photoshop. I have used a good few techniques on this piece, if you click on the picture there is a flickr analysis them and how i have used them. Photoshop and flickr and blogger i had never used before making this blog, learning about all the techniques that are used to present people to an audience has been very usefull whilst making the magazine. Also bringing more than one piece of media together has been key throughout making this blog, such as pictures,text,video clips and flick analysis. Without using these would of been very hard to get alot of my points across to the reader. There are many bad points about having to use an essay method, one of them being not being able to use moving image text. Watching videos really can bring you into the target audiences perspective, therefore showing why they would be interested in buying the product.

How did you attract/address your audience?

As you can see, the layout of my magazine is very similar to the hip-hop magazine. Also the colour scheme and how it has been used is very similar, although using different colours. I thought that the picture of the rapper and the gun was a bit explicit for some audiences, e.g younger people, or religious backgrounds. This was a big factor i disliked about the source magazine.This is why i used Ashley to do a more intimidating pose but not over the top. One of the main ways of attracting my audience was using slang such as " Sick " and " Keepin ". Seeing as grime music comes from london there are many slang words which people can relate to. This gets the audience attracted to the product because of how they relate to the product.

( UK Tribes is closed for Update )

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine target are outgoing grime fans. A majority of them being Men and Women ages 16-30. Following grime music is all about listening to underground grime. This is grime music which hasn't been released in the charts, although it is very popular. It includes hard base lines with very low synths, and of course an mc. Grime fans do not appreciate artists that ditch the grime scene to go make mainstream music, often known as sellouts. Artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder have moved onto the mainstream music, although looking at past evidence Dizzee's first album was rated the best hip-hop album in centurys by critics. My target audience would shop in places that sell sports wear such as JD sports. They would watch tv programmes that envolve crime, and gangstas. Below is the early days of where and how grime started, this really does show the gritty streets of london.

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

My magazine was based on youth culture and the music that they enjoy. I have researched some distribution companys and i would like WWMD to distribute my magazine. They also have many different music magazines such as NME and Q magazine. Looking at past sales and what they have achieved with these magazines, i would happily let them distribute my magazine. http://specialistmags.co.uk/cat_details.php?urn=2209&sal=index&magsearch=Q" The UK's biggest selling music mag and the world's best music guide. The reason is simple - Q gets the interviews and exclusives that no other can. Add this to the famous Q review section and thats the only music mag you will need. " This leads me to believe that i could very much achieve the same with my magazine. My target audience are not very rich people, but the magazine is not over priced so this allows my product to sell respectivly.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Both pictures represent a "Badman" image, both wearing a tracksuite with hoods up. Both postures slouched against a corner of two walls, people usually look at people with slouched postures as a person who doesn't care. The gesture of my hand shows my spitting bars " Rapping " showing that i have nothing else to do. The angle of my picture is more of a high shot, whereas the other picture is more down at his level, this also shows them both as being outcasts. The long shot is used to connote the fact of being alone, and people would not take one look at the person and turn there head straight away, although what they dont know is the talent behind the artist. The lighting on my picture has been changed to black and white, this is to show that there is no colour in this persons life at the moment in time. Also the other pictures colour is completly different colours, this is a good way to show an outcast. My mag represents and reinforces the stereotype of chavs. Using this stereotype is a goodway to connect to the audience of my magazine because of there similar interests. The mag represents young males " youths " that have interests in grime music, although there are some Girl MC's this allows me to make the magazine connect with both sex's.

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

My main photos for my magazine suit the "grime" magazine well because of the street look it gives it. On the front cover I used Ashley for the intimidating look, the angle was aimed low to make him look more dominant. This suits the magazine well because grime started on the streets of london, commonly looked at as a scary place to live. The hip-hop magazine called " source" influenced me to make this magazine cover, although american music is usually based over " money,girls and cars" whereas UK Grime is based over real life situations. This is why i didnt use and props such as money or guns in my magazine. Also i wanted the cover picture to be darker than usuall, giving it a dangerous effect on the people buying it. My masthead is very bold much like the hip-hop magazine, although i chose the colour green becuase grime is usually occasiated with green. I got ashley to put his hood up in this picture to respresent the youth culture throughout the UK. I feel that a lot of people can relate to this when the look at it.



I looked at some different double page spreads from some hip-hop magazines and saw that they were near enough exactly what my target audience would like to buy. I wrote about famous rapper Dizzee Rascal and how he doesn't make grime music anymore and has moved onto mainstream pop music. And then also went on to interview the grime artist Wiley, and asked him alot of FAQ that fans would love to ask. This would hopefully interest the fans into buying the magazine. The main picture on the dps is a " Boy in da corner " dizzee rascals first album title. I felt that getting the picture from a high angle, and sitting in a corner with bad posture would help present him to the audience as an "outcast". This allows the reader to realise that if you are not the smartest of person, it doesnt allways mean you can amount to anything e.g Dizzee Rascal.