Friday 30 March 2012

message to examiner

Hello, my name is Alex Emmerson. I am a media student studying at Lutterworth College and this is my finished media product, I hope that you find my blog is easy to use and hope you enjoy reading through it. I found this project challenging and enjoying at the same time, I hope the effort I put into my work pays off. I am eager to use what I learnt during this project in the future. I look forward to continuing with media next year and improving my skills further. Many thanks. Alex Emmerson

final evaluation question 1

Evaluation 1

final evaluation question 2

Untitled 1question 2

final evaluation question 3

final evaluation question 4

final evaluation question 5

script: HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE? I FEEL THAT MY MEDIA PRODUCT HAS ADDRESSED MY AUDIENCE WELL. THIS IS FOR MANY REASONS. MY MODEL FOR MY MAGAZINE REFLECTS THE GENRE AS WELL AS THE AGE GROUP AND OVERALL MY FINAL PIECE LOOKS LIKE A TYPICAL HIP HOP MAGAZINE. MY FRONT COVER NOT ONLY STANDS OUT FROM OTHER MAGAZINES BUT IS VERY SIMPLE TO READ AND NOTICE. I HAVE INCLUDED NOT ONLY HIP HOP ARTISTS IN MY MAGAZINE BUT HAVE INCLUDED FASHION INTO IT ASWELL, THE FASHION IN MY MAGAZINE ALSO REFLECTS THE TARGET AUDIENCE BECAUSE THE FASHION INCLUDED WILL BE DECIDED BY PROFES SIONALS OR FAMOUS STARS FOR EXAMPLE JAY-Z OR WIZ KHALIFA. ALSO THE CLOTHES IN VOLVED WILL BE AFFORDABLE AND APPEAL TO THEM. MY TARGET AUDIENCE WILL BE ABLE TO RELATE TO MY MAGAZINE BECAUSE IT WILL KEEP THEM UPTO DATE WITH THE LATEST MUSIC, TRENDS AND LIFESTYLES OF NOT ONLY THEIR FAVOURITE STARS BUT UP AND COMING ARTISTS. THEY WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO RELATE TO BEN-MY MAIN MODEL ON MY MAGAZINE. THIS IS BECAUSE HE IS ALSO A STUDENT WHO HAS JUST STARTED TO MAKE IT BIG IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT MY MEDIA PRODUCT HAS ATTRACTED MY TARGET AUDIENCE WELL ALSO. THE COLOUR SCHEME MANAGES TO STRIKE OUT FROM THE SHELF AT THE SAME TIME AS LOOKING LIKE A TYPICAL HIP HOP MAGAZINE. ALSO THE FONTS I HAVE CHOSEN ARE NOT BORING TYPICAL FONTS WHICH ALSO ALLOWS IT TO STAND OUT, THEY ARE STILL VERY SIMPLE TO READ AND LOOK STREET GIVING IT A GOOD HIP HOP FINISH. ALSO SINCE IT INCLUDES FASHION MANY STUDENTS WILL BE INTRESTED IN WHAT THEIR FAVOURITE ARTIST IS WEARING AND WILL WANT TO LOOK AND WEAR WHAT THEY DO, MY MAGAZINE ALLOWS THEM TO DO THIS BY ALSO INCLUDING A FASHION SECTON IN MY MAGAZINE.

final evaluation question 6

evaluation final question 7

script: Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I feel I have learnt many things from my preliminary task and believe that I have been able to improve my work by realising mistakes and weaknesses and working on them. For example my colour scheme of black white and red on my preliminary work wasn't very effective and didn't stand out . I improved my front page after realising the layout wasn't as good as it could be, after researching other hip hop magazines I decided to make the headings of this weeks magazine go down both sides, this gives it a nice hip hop finish as it is used by many other music magazines for example vibe adding to the conventions of real media products. From my preliminary contents page I realised that I needed another picture as the one I had in my preliminary made it look very empty, by taking another picture with 4 artists instead of 2 I was able to solve my problem. I stuck with the headings and fonts as I liked the way they were presented and they were simple to read and use. The layout and background on my preliminary double page made it hard to read, I managed to progress my work by putting my interview with Benz into collumns instantley making the layout better. I also added grey blocks that were slightly transparent behind the font but in front of the background this made it very easy to read solving my issues I had with the font colour and background without having to change either of them,  I have massively developed my skills in program-some being Photoshop, Blogger, Scribd and Prezzi. When I first started to work on my preliminary task my knowledge and experience of Photoshop and other programs were at a very low standard and I was very limited with the effects I could use. I struggled to cut out photographs and didnt know how to add effects to my work. I am now much quicker at using these programs and can now use Photoshop to my advantage using special effects, shortcuts and can now go in to much more depth when creating my media product. I learnt these skills while I was working on my preliminary and allowed me to produce a high standard final media product. My research has also allowed me to improve my knowledge of hip hop magazines, I have learnt this while analysising layouts and other techniques used by these magazines. Because of my research on these other magazines my skills have also been improved, using layouts as an example I have managed to research different forms of layouts choose one best suited to my magazine for example the rule of thirds and use it on my final piece.

final double spread

retake picture double spread by emmerson!
retake picture double spread, a photo by emmerson! on Flickr.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

changes to my draft work for my final work

After recieving feedback on my draft work, i decided to completley change the layout of my contents and double page spread. I have decided to make these changes to the contents page becuase the picture used wasnt good or strong enough for what i really was aiming for. Also the fonts and layout i used isnt big enough and it doesnt stand out enough, where as if i use two pictures on the contents page, a large one and a smaller one, this will show the target audience what they will be reading about and whos featured in this months edition. By using stronger fonts and images together well with a new layout I am hopinig for my contents page to look a lot better as well as stand out to the readers. I have found and uploaded examples of current contents pages i wish to use simular layouts too. My double page spread i am happy to use the same image and some of the fonts i have used in this as i believe they are strong and are effective. I also like the colours. I am going to change the layout and change the 'interview' into an 'article' making it easier to read and better overall. I am also going to flip the image of BENZ to the right and have all the font down one side and make it stand out and easy to read by using simular grey boxes i used in my draft work.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

contents and double page spread

I really like the simplicity of these two contents pages, they are both really simular and i believe i would be able to use the templates of them very effectivley and it would most definatly work well with my genre and magazine.

The font on this page is very good, i like the use of the image it looks very effective and once again it would suit my genre. I am going to use an article on my artist, like this double page spread, and use a little section in the bottom left or right corner using this as a template.

Sunday 18 March 2012

graffitti

I like this 'handwritting graffitti' font, once again it links well with the genre.

Friday 16 March 2012

colour scheme

I like this colour scheme, off white, black, red, and blue. The white as a background and the black to be easy to read and give it a proffessional finish. The red and blue can stand out and be used in the fonts. These colours have been used often in this genre.

Wednesday 14 March 2012

research

I like the graffitti used in the image, it also goes really well with the hip hop genre, and makes the whole theme look really street and 'fresh'

Tuesday 28 February 2012

evaluation

I am going to change and add more of the fonts, to make it appeal more to the hip hop genre also making it bigger and stand out more. I am also going to add more coverlines and a date and price of the magazine. I have decided that I am going to add effects onto the pictures on the contents page to make them stand out a little more. I am going to make the interview a little longer and add quotes to the double page making them stand out and easy to read.
Scribd

Friday 3 February 2012

start of interview (example)

YO! This is Alex and today I will be interviewing Benz the successful wonder kid from Leicester, world famous for his successful hip hop music is one of the youngest and most successful stories the world has to offer, we interviewed him after his world tour ‘that kid named Benz’.

Ben: SUP!

Alex: So Ben, how and when did you start making music and rapping?

Ben:       I was around the ages of 12 when me and my friend Faze started rapping to songs we already liked and listened to regular, we both loved Jay-z and other rappers and have always wanted to grow up and live the lifestyles they had, even though neither of us expected to get anywhere in it, we just used to mess around with beats and make our own freestyles and amateur raps, we went off to different colleges he gave up on his dream of becoming a artist while I followed it going into music course making my own mix tapes, I soon got picked up by a label and after recording my first album I soon after went on to my world tour, I am enjoying every minute of this and I hope it never ends!

photos I may use for magazine




the firstpicture i like,its looking down on Bal and includes his whole body,you can see clearlywhat he is wearing and is also giving a good facial expression that you can clearly see, almost an 'i dont care' look.



This picture is a mid-shot you can clearly see what he is wearing on his body and head, also you can see the facial expression on him, the clothes he is wearing are well suited to the hip hop genre.




















first preliminarywork

preliminary front page

preliminary double pagespread

preliminary contents page

Thursday 26 January 2012

feedback

As i finish my pitch i recieved numerous questions regarding my animoto mood board. From these questions i gained further knowledge for how to improove my magazine. from the feedback i have decided how to layout my magazine and have also learnt that i needed to decide on a colour pallet that will reflect my genre. Also after positive feedback from my title of the magazine i have now confirmed that 'kicks' will be the name of it. I may need to think about the type of shot i use for my front cover and which fonts i wish to use within my magazine.

Saturday 14 January 2012

preliminary evaluation

Preliminary evaluation

The magazines I looked at for inspiration for my magazine include NME, Kerrang, rolling stones, complex, billboard plus many more such as the schools current magazine. They all had different structures, some being simple and others being complex, this helped me choose if I was to use simple or complex layouts These helped me choose the way I set out my magazine cover, by giving me ideas of where to place photos and ideas of fonts and texts.
I have learnt how to use photo-shop in many ways such as learning shortcuts and better effects and methods to use. I also learnt about the effect of thirds and different ways to have centre of attention on the covers.
I am impressed with the design and the way I used my pictures and think that the title and photos go good together giving it a professional look overall I am happy with the photo taken as the pose he is making looks good and really professional even though I was a little unhappy with the quality of the picture. I am happy at the fonts I used and the background, I think it gives it a good overall first impression of the magazine.
I would improve my time management as I spent to much time on the front cover and didn’t leave enough time on the contents and other work that needed completing. Also I would improve the quality of the photos taken, as the overall quality of the pictures, they wasn’t very good when they were enlarged. I would experiment with the features Photoshop and not use my time more wisely if I was to do this again.

contents page

Front page-magazine cover

Friday 13 January 2012