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 think that I have learnt a lot from the task to my full product. When I had started my preliminary task I think that I struggled to use Photoshop, and my knowledge on how to use Photoshop was very limited. My preliminary task - a school magazine cover and contents page was very basic and plain, it was obvious too see that I found using Photoshop very difficult a lot, the image on my preliminary task was very poorly cut out. I also used very basic text, with no effects or patterns in the text. The background on my preliminary task is too dark and my cover looks very boring.
I have learnt a lot since my preliminary tasks like how to manipulate images, on my preliminary task my image had not been changed at all, whereas in my final product the photographs that I had taken were manipulated a lot, I learnt how to make the skin of the model look smooth and more radiant, I did not know how to do this in my preliminary task.

Also my preliminary task had very basic font, in my final media product I used lots of varied fonts, I also used lots of different effects such as drop shadow and inner glow to make my text look more bold and eye catching. The masthead for my preliminary task is very basic and boring; however my music magazine masthead is much more interesting a much more effects have been used.                                 
Also in my preliminary task I had a plain black background which made the cover of my school magazine look very dull and dark, in my final product my background is pink – to attract my target audience, with a glittering effect. This shows that I have learnt that how to apply a background with an effect to my work.
  







Looking back on my preliminary task I think that I have learnt a lot about using Photoshop and In Design. By comparing the two taks I think my creative eye has gotten better and I think my skills in Photoshop have improved.                                         

How did you address/attract your audience/

I addressed and attracted my target audience of teenage girls by doing research. I did questionnaires, interviews and group interviews, which allowed be to find the specific needs of my target audience. When choosing my genre I did a questionnaire to find out which genre was most popular with my target audience.
I also addressed and attracted my audience by my choice of model; I chose a teenage model as I thought she would appeal to a young audience, and because teenage girls would be able to relate more to someone their own age. I chose image where the poses were very natural and friendly, as I didn't want my model to look too serious and I didn’t want the images to be too overpowering. I wanted to choose pictures where my model looked very happy and feminine so that my target audience would look at the images and not feel like my model was to inappropriate or intimidating to be a pop star. For example I chose images where my cover model looked happy and was smiling naturally.       


To attract my target audience I did need to make a lot of changes to my magazine. When I had finished the first draft of my magazine I had a group of people that were in my target audience tell me what they thought of it. The feedback that I got back was very constructive, the people I asked like the masthead and the images, however they said that my contents page was too dark and that I needed to give more detail in my contents page.

So I decided to change my contents page, in my second draft I had changed my contents page’s background from grey, to pink. However I still did not like my contents page, for my final draft I had changed my contents page completely. I decided to have a pink glittering background on half of the page, and a darker pink background of the other half. I did this to separate the text from the contents image.  I also made shaded boxes around the page numbers to make the look less plain, I changed my page numbers from pink, to blue with a white outline so that they would stand out more and so that everything on the page was not the same colour. I also changed the image on my contents page; I decided to use a smaller image on my contents page, so that I could write more about the content of my magazine.

This is my final draft for my contents page, looking back in my work, it has changed a lot. II was able to get the opinions of my target audience and change what they thought needed improving.
I was able to meet the needs of my target audience by asking them what they think I should change. My contents page is nw much more detailed and I think it looks much better that my first draft.














I also made some changes to my cover I needed to make the text on my cover bolder as it was quite difficult to read. I made the font a very bright pink as it would grab the reader’s attention and the colour would also attract my target audience. Also I thought that my cover was too plain, so I added a pink background I think that this will attract my target audience because it will make my magazine stand out more, and it will attract my target audience as pink is a popular colour amongst teenage girls.
On my double page spread I put the image that was on my contents on my double page spread. I did this because I thought that the image would be more suitable for a double page spread rather than a contents page. I liked the image that I used for my contents page, however it too up too much room so I decided to use it for my double page spread. I put a purple background on half of the page to make my double page spread look less plain, I put the purple background on the same side as the images to make that page stand out and grab the reader’s attention. I didn’t put a background on the side of the page with the article because I wanted the article to be clear and easy to read.


I have made a lot of changes to my magazine so that I could attract my target audience through the presentation of my magazine.

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

Throughout the process of constructing my media product I have learnt how to use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe in design. In Photoshop I learnt how to manipulate the images on my magazine; I was able to give my photos a more professional look. In Photoshop I used the spot healing brush and the blur tool to make my model's skin look clearer, I also manipulated the images by using the burn tool to change my models hair from blond to brown.



These are both my magazine front cover image, the one on the left is my original photograph, and the one on the right is my final image (the manipulated image). As you can see I have manipulated the image a lot, my original photo looks very different to my final cover image. Using Photoshop I was able to get rid of any imperfections to make the photo look more like a magazine cover photo by making Katie's skin look smoother and more radiant. I was also able to change the colour of my models hair, I used the burn tool on all of my photos to change the hair colour. I found this quite difficult at first as I would often make the hair look too dark or I would leave spaces with blond patches. However I did get used to using the burn tool and I was able to use it on the hair well, so that it was hard to tell that I had changed the colour. I changed Katie's hair from blond to brown as I wanted her to more like a celebrity, and I think the brown hair suited my model more. Also on photo shop I was able to get rid of the background to create a clear background. To get rid of the background I used the magnetic lasso too and the eraser, I found this very useful as I did not want the background attached to the image. I found using the magnetic lasso tool quite difficult as I would often erase parts of the photo that I wanted to keep. Also when using the eraser I would often leave patches of colour and this would show when I placed the image on In Design.

I was able to use Photoshop to make my masthead look more unique and eye catching. By using the effects on Photoshop I was able to create a glittering effect inside the text. I was very pleased with how my final masthead looked as my masthead is eye-catching and original. The effects that I used to make the masthead like this were drop shadow, inner glow and layer filter. By using Photoshop I was able to meet the needs of my target audience through the presentation of my magazine. By using the effects on Photoshop I was able to make my masthead appeal to my target audience.

Final Masthead



This is an image of my final masthead, as you can see there is a glittering effect inside the text which I did using Photoshop.

Using Adobe in Design I was able to rotate and add borders around my images. On my double page spread I was able to create borders coming down from the top of the page. I learnt how to put borders around selected images, and I was able to rotate the images on my double page spread, to create a photo frame effect. Also using in design I was able to create backgrounds. On my cover I have a background that I created in Adobe in Design, the background is pink with a glittering effect, the background is darker in the middle. I did this by using the gradient effect.

       

 

               

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product is teenage girls, I have tried to represent my target audience by making choices that I think my target audience would like. I chose my cover model because I thought that she would appeal to a young female audience. My cover model Katie is a teenage girl so I think that other teenage girls will be able relate to her, Katie looks very friendly and natural so I think that teenage girls would like her. All of the photos I have used for my magazine make Katie look very down to earth and friendly so I think that teenage girls would think that she is the kind of pop star they would like.

I thought that it was quite easy making a product for a teenage girl as I  myself am a teenage girl, and I was able to ask a lot of teenage girls on their thoughts and opinions. I tried to present my magazine in a way that I thought teenage girls would like, I think this was easy for me to do as I used a lot of colours that I liked, and that I knew were very feminine. The text that I used was all pink and purple colours as I knew this would immediately attract my target audience . I also thought it was easy to meet the needs of my target audience as I was able to ask for others opinions, for example in my first draft I asked a group of people in may target audience to say what they thought, they said that they liked the magazine, but they thought the contents page was too dark, so I changed my contents page and use much brighter colours so that my target audience would like it more.
For the genre of my magazine I chose pop music, I chose a genre that I knew about and liked, as it would be easier to create a magazine with a genre that I liked as I could write more on the cover and contents of my magazine, as I could use artists that I knew were pop singers.

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

I think that supermarkets will distribute my magazine.
I think that my magazine will be popular because there is a gap in the market for pop music magazines that are specifically for teenage girls. In supermarkets today the shelves are filled with gossip or fashion magazines more than anything else. There are very few music magazines in supermarkets, so I think that their needs to be a new music magazine in shops. I think that my media product would be suitable, because lots of girls like looking at and buying magazines that are in shops, and there are more magazines that are directed towards females. So I think that supermarkets would think that my media product would be popular, as there are no music magazines out at the moment that are specifically for teenage girls. And lots of teenage girls buy magazines and most teenage girls like music, so I think that my product would sell in a supermarket. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents female students of a middle class background. The genre of my magazine is pop, which tends to be the type of music that girls are more interested in. Also my magazine represents females more than males as I have used lots of bright pink colours on the cover of my magazine, and the artists referred to on the cover are all female. Also, I think that my cover model would attract a female audience. She looks very friendly and sweet, I dressed my model in clothes that are in fashion and that make her look very feminine to appeal to females. I also did this to make my model look girly and as she is a pop star so I wanted her to look the part. If I had dressed my model in very casual or plain clothes then she would not have been able to represent my genre.                   
I also think that my media product represents teenagers. This is because my model is a teenage girl so teenagers would be able to relate to her, and in my photo shoot I took lots of happy smiling photos of my model, so that she would not come across as to serious. I think that teenage girls would like the cover model that I have used, because she looks very friendly and she does not look like she takes herself too seriously. Also my cover is very bright and my masthead is pink, with a glittery effect in it, which would attract teenage girls more than older women, as pink is a popular colour amongst younger girls.   
My contents page also represents a particular social group, like my cover it also represents female students of a middle class background. In my contents I had a large picture of my cover model, so that the contents would relate to my front page, in the image that I have used my model looks quite cheeky and mischievous and I think that my target audience of teenage girls would be able to relate to her. I also used a pink background with a glittering effect to attract my target audience; I know that the colour pink and purple are very popular amongst teenage girls.