7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your final product?

I believe the one thing I have learnt/become skilled at through the progression of producing my final product, is the ability to use the programs necessary to produce my media product.
Out of all the programs I utilized  I believe I have gained the most knowledge of Abode InDesign. When I first began my preliminary task, I was very unaware of many of its features, and how to use the software in general. I believe this is evident from the difference in quality between the preliminary products I produced, and my main products. Certain useful features that I hadn't used in my preliminary task, (due to the fact that I had little knowledge of them) I discovered whilst making my main product; these features helped me to better the overall the quality of my main product, showing an evident improvement from my prelim task.

Not only have I gained great insight into the features of InDesign, I have also learnt a lot about using Photoshop. Similar to InDesign, there were a lot of features I newly discovered whilst in the process of making my main product, helping to improve the quality of my photographs. As the photographs play a huge role in the overall look and quality of my products, this aided me in produced a main task of higher standard in comparison to my preliminary.

Though, computer programs aren't the only technologies which I gained knowledge in to better my main products from my prelim products- my increased awareness of how DSLR cameras operate helped me produce a much higher standard main product. Just looking at my photo shoots, there is a vast difference in quality between my prelim and main pictures. Understanding the importance of lighting, camera angles, models positioning etc., helped me improve my photography skills over the progression between producing my prelim task and main task. Again, this is evidently visible from comparing my main products to my prelim products.

Aside from computer programs, I have also learnt the importance of research and the depth of which I must go into researching in order to produce the best products possible.

All these elements have aided in making my work more professional and of a higher standard. Overall, I believe my knowledge of computer software and other technologies (such as the DSLR camera) have improved- I have learnt my new skills and techniques which have resulted in me having the ability to create a much more professional and higher quality final product, that is my music magazine.

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

http://www.slideshare.net/TheRealDans/what-have-you-learnt-about-different-technologies-from-the-process-of-constructing-your-media-product

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

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4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

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

Firstly, what is an institution? An institution is a company that disperses a media product for audiences to consume them. There are many different companies which disperse magazines, such as Warners Group Publications plc, Seymour, COMAG etc.

InterMedia is a publisher that distributes many magazines, one of their most popular being Vibe Magazine. This company is unlikely to distribute my magazine as it holds a strong resemblance to Vibe magazine through the layout and genre, as I was influenced by it when producing my own product. InterMedia would not be interested in distributing my magazine, as it is very much like one magazine they already distribute (Vibe). This means it is unlikely they would gain anything from distributing my magazine, as the audience I would be hoping to reach would most likely have already been targeted.

 

 

Conde Nast are a very well known company that publishes one of the biggest, most read and popular magazines available; Vogue. Due to the fact they publish and distribute such a popular magazine shows they have the expertise and experience to popularise a magazine, which is something I would want for my product. On the other hand, Vogue is a fashion magazine, and the company may not have the experience when it comes to distributing music magazines which is something that would be vital to me. Not only does this mean they are probably not the best choice of institution to distribute my magazine, they may not want to distribute it if they feel it isn’t within their area of expertise; if they make an investment in my magazine and chose to distribute it, they could fall short and damage their reputation.

 

 

Another very large publishing company that could possibly distribute my magazine is IPC. They publish a variety of magazines genre i.e. men’s interest, music, TV guides and many more. IPC also publish NME, which is one of the most popular music magazines available. My magazine would be of a whole different genre to those they already distribute, therefore I believe my magazine would be successful if distributed by this institution. On top of this, they have the experience of distributing one of the largest selling music magazines and would most likely have the expertise and knowledge to popularise my product.

Out of these few institutions I have mentioned, I believe IPC would be the best distributor for my magazine. Both my magazine and the company itself would benefit from the distribution of my product; this is because they do not publish a magazine like mine, meaning they can enter into a new music genre market. Having IPC as a distributor will also mean I won’t have any internal competition, as there is not other magazine like mine that they publish or distribute.
Though another thing I should consider, are digital magazine distribution companies. My target audience are young adults; at the ages of 18-28, in this day and age, people are very much in tune with new technology and the internet. The vast majority of my target audience are likely to have electronic devices, such as android and smart phones, where that can access the internet throughout the day and the press of a button. Accounting for this, I believe it would be important for me to consider digital magazine distribution companies- companies such as PixelMags. They are the leading digital magazine distribution company, who offer publishers multiple channels to instantly reach millions of customers. They have a very wide array of clients, ranging from Elle Magazine (a fashion magazine), to Men’s health magazine, to Surfer (a surfing magazine). Due to their clear success and popularity, I think it would benefit my magazine it they were to digitally distribute it, but it may also benefit them as they don’t distribute many/any music based magazines, so they can go into a new market. However, primarily, I think it would be good to have my magazine distributed by them due to the great influence technology and the internet has upon young people- specifically, my target audience.

2) How does your media product present particular social groups?

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