Evaluation Question 3.. Continued

In addition to Egmont UK Ltd,  I would consider approaching IPC Media: http://www.ipcmedia.com/ to publish my magazine because of the gap on the market for another teen pop magazine to sit alongside, 'Teen Now' magazine. 

To view 'Teen Now's' website, click HERE

Publisher: IPC Media- http://www.ipcmedia.com/

Below is information taken from the IPC Media website about 'Teen Now' magazine

Teen Now-  Although our magazines are similar- my magazine's main focus is music whereas Teen Now focuses on celebrity gossip. Therefore I feel that they could sit alongside each other as both focus on different things, and my music magazine would welcome a new type of music loving audience.

IPC Media is split into divisions in order to reach the targetted audience of magazines more efficiently. 'Teen Now' is under the IPC Connect division, alongside celebrity chat magazine, Now. This is in order to capture the correct audience via the correct ways of promotion, distribution etc.

Here is a Prezzi Presentation detailing how my magazine sits alongside it's other products: Prezzi Presentation

If the presentation can't be viewed, I have uploaded a video of the presentation taken from my mobile phone:

If the video at the finale of the presentation can not be watched, it can be viewed below: 

Ways in which IPC Media could distribute my product include:  Click Here for Animoto

• The Internet- I would utilise IPC Media's global outreach and expertise online to publish my latest issue online it's own website, "teenbeatmag.co.uk", similar to "Teen Now"'s online site listed above. IPC Media's websites reach over 25 million global users every month, and I feel that this would be successful as my target audience are generally very computer literate, and are always using the internet. Therefore, my magazine is accessible 24/7 for them, where they can read the article, enter competitions and interact with the magazine team.
• Paper Format- The key way of distributing my magazine would be via a paper magazine that would be sold in all main retailers ie. WHSmith, newsagents, supermarkets etc. This is a similar process to 'Teen Now' and indeed "We Love Pop" and I feel that this form of distribution is successful, as people who desire to buy the magazine will purposely go out and buy it, but also people browsing in the shop will see my magazine and might be encouraged to buy it.
• Subscription- 'Teen Now' is linked to subscription site, http://www.magazinesdirect.com/ and this is something that I would like IPC Media to do for my product. Allowing my audience to subscribe to my magazine means they don't need to actively purchase the magazine, and never miss an issue. Although the audience pay slightly more, they are in the loop and don't miss out on any information listed in the magazine.
• App- IPC Media states on it's website (listed above) that it specialised in prints, online, mobile and tablet distribution of media. Therefore, I would create an app available on smart phones which enabled access to the magazine website on my audience's phone. This form of "new media" is a rapidly progressive popular form of media for my audience and I feel that this form of distribution would enable me to reach a wider audience at any time of day.
• Synergy- A free copy of my magazine could be given away for a limited time only in conjunction with Amazon- where when you buy a CD of the number 1 artist of that week, a free copy of Teen Beat is given out with your order. This would create a wider audience for my product.

http://laurenwainemedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/institution-research.html

Above is the link to the post with briefing of my researched publishers throughout my research and planning phase. 

Evaluation Question 3- Institutions & Distribution

Here is my response to the question:

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

My music magazine, 'Teen Beat' has similarities with popular teen magazines 'We Love Teen Pop' & 'Teen Now'

To view 'We <3 Pop' magazines website, click HERE

Publisher: Egmont UK Ltd- http://www.egmont.co.uk/

Below information taken from We Love Pop website- About Us page: http://www.welovepopmag.co.uk/about

Above on the right, what Egmont UK Ltd say about We Love Pop magazine.... to view on official website click HERE

Here is a press article discussing the instant success of 'We Love Pop's' first issue: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/node/47840

Although 'We Love Pop' has the opportunity to be accessed online, the majority of other magazines such as Dora the Explorer do not have internet coverage for distribution. Although the company sell over 12 million paper magazines a year, I also want my magazine to be accessible for the ever developing technical apt generation that my target audience fall into. Therefore, I have also looked into another institution in order to make my magazine accessible 24 hours a day to my target audience.

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Evaluation Question 2- Social Groups

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I compared the model used as my main artist to that of real life, famous celebrity and musician, Cheryl Cole. I have done this to show how I have represented my model as a character in comparison to how main stream media products do so, but also to show and deliver a message for my magazine. 

Body language/ performance: In my own personal images, I have tried to evoke positive emotions for my audience and utilised a "super smiler" pose to do this. Firstly, I believe that a smile  has the potential to be mirrored by my audience as they read my magazine but also encourage them to evoke positive emotions within themselves. I mimicked Cheryl Cole's (image 2) posture and position in the image for my front cover, developing a postive, confident stance by standing with hands on hips and capturing a direct eyeline match by facing the camera. By doing this, my model connotes a sense of self confidence which some teenagers readers can lack, and I felt that by mirroring this position in my magazine, I was encouraging my audience to develop confidence as one of their personal traits and I feel that teenage girls would strive to have the confidence to do what the two artists in the images do. This is also mirrored in my article where the artist says how confidence and hard work are key.

Similarly, In the image of my model posing for the double page spread, she is connoting a laid back approach, looking directly at the camera in a slightly softer manner by holding her head in a sweet, slightly humble/modest way. The "laid back" look comes from the model sitting down, as does Cheryl Cole in image 4. This contrasts the image used on the front cover but portrays the model as modest, again, a trait that I want to encourage in my impressionable audience. This would appeal to my audience also as the model appears to look like Cheryl Cole in image 4, who juxtaposes herself in image 1. This highlights that although confidence is key in life, to be modest of your achievements is also an appealing quality. I feel the balance of these performances represents pop music as a "friendlier" genre, and as all picture feature the "super smiler" pose, I feel this helps to show that pop was created for "fun" purposes, rather than indie music magazines (such as NME featured above) for example that utilise serious performances from models.

Angle/Shot Type/Lighting: All images are shot front on, from a straight angle to show the models are they would be seen from others. This exposes them at their finest, and with the composition of the other elements mentioned, shows them as pure and confident enough to be shot directly at. This also gives the representation of female artists as powerful in their own right, yet not overpowering as they look appealing and attractive. The image of Cheryl Cole (image 2) is a mid shot, which I also used in the taking of my image for the front cover. Using midshots enables the audience close enough proximity to the model to see all facial expressions as well as their body- which can be an influencial factor of "celebrities" for a teenage audience. I felt that by avoiding provocative bodily exposure, represented my audience's idols as empowering and confident in their own bodies, without feeling the need to flaunt it to appear "beautiful". The wide shot of images 3 & 4 show both artists as laid back and "cute". I felt that by showing their full bodies sitting down, the shot promoted a gentle nature for my audience to pick up, appealing to the younger age of audience I have targetted. In addition to this, I used high key lighting to support the exposure of the models that teenage audience's enjoy to see. High key lighting supports the "bright/fun" themes/beliefs that I want my magazine to promote.

Hair/Costume/Make up: Unlike the images of Cheryl Cole, I have used natural make up on my model to promote a sense of "naturalism" to my young audience. However, in image 4 of Cheryl Cole, she utilises this technique, which I believe is a more acceptable message to deliver to such an impressionable audience rather than encouraging artificiality and aesthetic desires. The natural make up however highlights the model's facial features and encourages the face to be the main focus which helps them become memorable as artists for their fans. Again, I differentiated slightly from the main stream images of Cheryl Cole as I dressed my model in casual clothing. I believe this promotes a laid back approach- something that I feel the age of my audience should be encouraged to have before the stresses of adulthood. I have mirrored the fun element of the pop genre in the colours of the model's clothing, as pop music is traditionally created for easy listening- supporting my "laid back" connotations of image 3, as well as the dance/bop along to element of the genre- I feel shown in my first image. As hair is shown to be natural also, with little composition, I feel that "Stella Mahan" (my made up artist) is representing how teenage girls can look beautiful and attractive without hiding behind the artificiality of hours spent on hair and make-up. Whilst these elements are important aspects of teenage life, I feel that when looking to the media for guidance, my magazine promotes natural beauty, and appreciating yourself for who you are, unlike some other media products. 

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Mise En Scene

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Contents Page

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Main Image

As is conventional of real media products already existing on the market, my magazine has a main image shown above that is used on the front page of the magazine. This creates a bold impact for the reader, and catches the audience's attention by drawing their eyes to the model. 

Here is an Animoto Presentation briefly stating the conventions that my main image incorporates.

Animoto Presentation

My image links to the main sell-line which rests across the the body of the model. This creates an impact for the audience is is used in my genre of magazine to create a double impact, as the audience notice the model and then in turn the sell-line. The eye-line match of the model is conventional of lots of different genres of magazine, however mainly teen pop as often a "super smiler" pose is used, like in my magazine. With a beaming smile and looking straight into the camera, the audience are encouraged to believe they are being addressed directly and this encourages them to buy the magazine, for personal interaction. This technique is mirrored in magazines such as Teen Now and We Love Pop which have been particular case studies during my research and planning, and I therefore feel that this is a successful convention in capturing an audience. 

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Music Genre

My magazine is a teen pop magazine- therefore incorporating the pop music genre. This is a genre of music that I personally enjoy, and I believe the carefree, fun messages that it evokes are positive qualities to exude in impressionable teenagers who are the general listeners to the genre. I decided to create a teen pop magazine as I felt that I could be creative with the product whilst appealing to a large audience, rather than appealing to a niche market. Also, due to the "popularity" of the genre, I feel that my magazine would be successful in attracting the larger audience rather than other genre's of magazines.

Click HERE to go to my Prezzi Presentation on how my product identifies with the music genre.

If you can't access the presentation, here is a video recording of the presentation taken on my mobile phone:

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Layout

I followed the general layout of teen pop magazines that I had looked at throughout my research and planning stages. I used these for inspiration when making mine, however, I also used my own creativity to try to create a unique, new magazine.

My front page is orientated around the main image of the female artist who is just off centre of the frame. This establishes the main content for my magazine as the audience are introudcued to the main article of the magazine. This is typical of a conventional pop music magazine, as most feature one singular image as the main attraction of the page. By mirroring this in my work, I am following what my audience prefer- an image led magazine rather than a text led magazine and this means that my audience would be more likely to pick up the magazine and buy it if they feel that the front cover is a reflection of the rest of the content of the magazine. I overlapped the main image with the masthead to connect all the elements and create a realistic magazine, which conforms to the conventions of a real teen pop magazine.

My contents bar has a "busy" look to it that is conventional of contents pages featured in a teen pop magazine. This was something that I wanted to incorporate into my magazine whilst having a page that is easy to navigate around. I have a separate section on the left which lists the contents of my magazine in a way that is easy to read. Also, any pages that the audience might want can be quickly located. Each element to the page appears to be separate from the others, for example the section on The Maverick Rejects is seperated from the part of the main artist due to the shape it is in. I did this to avoid any confusion for my audience whilst maintaining the "busy" look the genre often requires. Each page refers to something that the audience can physically gain from the magazine e.g free posters on the front cover and a competition is featured in the contents page. As I found from my research, competitions are a successful hooking tool for my target audience and I would therefore appeal to a wider audience. The "words from the editor" section was included to make my magazine interactive and give the reader the impression that they are being addressed directly. In addition, my images are placed on slight diagonals or are different sizes. This is conventional of a teen pop contents page as the page appears more busy and it breaks away from traditional straight block information by adding different, fun dynamics to the page by using angular positioning.

My double page spread maintains my three shade colour scheme by using blues, pinks and black as well as the additional colours of yellow and white.The colours are immediately eye catching and would attract the audience as they were the colours proved most popular during my research and planning phase. On the right hand side of the page, I chose to keep the page quite minimal with only a pull quote as I felt that the page could be removed from the magazine and used as a poster if the audience so wanted to. This is something that encourages me to buy magazines and I felt that this would be an attractive quality for my audience, of whom I fit into the age group for. The article is split into 4, easy to read columns with alternating colours to make it obvious as to who was speaking, and I felt by placing the text on one page, the audience would see that there wasn't too much text and more focus would be on the images. The title for the article entices the audience to read more, acting as an enigma code in itself. The sub heading then provides a brief explanation of the what the article contains, encouraging the audience to read on. I also chose to include a competition that required the reader to read the full article in order to answer correctly. This is a hooking device in order to get the audience to read the entire article as there is no obvious answer from just looking at the article. Competitions directly related to the artist as common features of a teen pop magazine, and although they are not initially shown on the front cover or contents page, this is a gratification for those readers that read the entire mag/article as they are the ones who achieve more.

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Title & Font

My masthead- Teen Beat

I used a downloaded font named "Debussy" that was big, bold with a "bubble" style effect to it. This enabled my masthead to stand out against the other elements of the background. As mentioned in the video above, "fun" was a main theme of the magazine and I feel that the font allows that to be expressed to my magazine- also fitting in with the pop genre.

Evaluation Question 1- Conventions- Written Content

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

My double page spread

Written Content:

My written content utlisises the vernacular in order to address and relate directly to my target audience. This is conventional of a teen pop music magazine as the publisher realises that this is the best way to make media accessible by using typical teenage language in order to be understood by the audience. Typical features of teenage language include abbreviations, such as "goss" and "amaze"- both featured in my article. By using language frequently used by the audience, they aer encouraged to interact with the magazine as they understand and can relate to the written content. The actual content of my magazine as well as the double page spread article covers music related topics as well as conventional features of teen pop magazines such as gossip elements, artist's personal life and love life. This gives the audience an insight into their lives, allowing my audience a relationship with the audience as they have insight knowledge into their lives. By using a music artist, a general convention of a music magazine, I was able to always reference the fact that my product was a music magazine, and I was able to incorporate musical competitions (something my research proved popular amongst my target audience), such as winning tickets to the featured artist's gig. This reflected the genre of the magazine whilst appealing to their needs (competitions- shown in research stage) and therefore attract a larger audience.

Research and Planning- Bye bye!

Images Not Used- Double Page Spread

All images on the double page spread were single images taken. For example, the image on the right hand side of the page was the only image taken of the model jumping, and I wanted a picture capturing that action for the reasons listed on the document: http://laurenwainemedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/main-image-document-double-page-spread.html

The two inset images were images taken for myself and are original images. These have been on my computer and therefore offer no alternative

This image was not chosen simply because it cut the feet of the model off and therefore contradicted the image I wanted to create of "chilling out" in front of the screamer of the article. I wanted this pose and therefore would not consider any other images.

Images Not Used Document- Contents Page

Here is a document containing the images that I have chosen not to use for the front cover of my magazine with justifications as to why I have not chosen them. 

Other images have been previously explained in other posts: 

http://laurenwainemedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/main-image-document-front-cover.html

or were single images taken with one shot, and therefore have no other alternatives.

Images Not Used Document- Front Cover

Here is a document containing the images that I have chosen not to use for the front cover of my magazine with justifications as to why I have not chosen them. 

Main Image Document- Double Page Spread

Here is a document containing the images that I have chosen to use for the double page spread of my magazine with justifications as to why I have chosen them. 

Main Image Document- Contents Page

Here is a document containing the images that I have chosen to use for the contents page of my magazine with justifications as to why I have chosen them. 

Front Cover Working Edit #5

Here is the almost finished version of my front cover. From the last post, I have added the rest of the sell-lines on the right hand side of the page. Additionally, I added an extra image to support one of them and to give my audience something to visualize, as I know from my research that my audience prefer this. One of the most important elements that I changed was the exposure on the model's face. Initially, as you can see from the last post : http://laurenwainemedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/front-cover-working-edit-4.html

the face of the model appears to be very overexposed, as the image was captured in front of a non-covered window, which could account for the brightness of the camera, as the natural light may have interfered. Therefore, I had to edit the image by duplicating the layer, and altering the levels to "multiply" and darken the single layer. 

DPS Working Edit #3

Since my last post, I have added further text to my page and added an extra inset image to again, link the text to an image. This image was taken on a high quality camera and I have blended out the background to the best of my ability to avoid a pinning down of location to the image. Both inset images have been anchored with an enigma code to explain their relevance to the text whilst also encouraging the reader to read on to discover the truth behind the picture. 

I aim to finish the text and also add a competition in my next post.

DPS Working Edit #2

Here, you can see the progress of beginning to add text to my double page spread. The article is just as important as other conventions of the page, as it has to be relatable, relevant to the music genre and written in a way that is understandable for my audience. I have thus began to introduce the yellow and pink elements of the three shade colour palette to help maintain my house style. By alternating between pink and yellow for each paragraph, it is easy for my audience to understand who is speaking (ie. the interviewer/ interviewee). I chose the white text of the subheading/stand first to compliment the white of the title.
Also, as you can see I have added a minor image inset of the artist and a family member. As family is mentioned in my article, I decided to use a high quality image I had already of me and my mother to link the text to something visual (the image). As my research told me, my audience would be more interested in reading an image led article. Despite the article having the be written and be informative, I felt that the font/colour helped create a visually dynamic page, and the image makes the page more interesting for my young audience.

DPS Working Edit #1

This is the beginning of the production of my double page spread. I have maintained the house style by utilising the same background colours as the other pages. I will aim to maintain the three shade colour palette with the blue background to maintain a house style as well as adding the pink and yellows used previously on the front cover/ contents page. Maintaining a house style gives my magazine an identity which is important in attracting the correct audience, in my case, young teenage girls. I have started to incorporate the pinks through the colour of clothing I chose to use. I aim to keep the page on the right fairly simple, with little more added on to it. I have decided to do this so that my page could act as a poster if ripped out of the magazine, giving my double page spread different dynamics to appeal to my audience.
I will be adding text and further images to anchor the text to the image, making the page more visual for my young audience.

Contents Page Working Edit #5

Here is the next instalment to completing my contents page. As you can see, I have gone back on myself and removed the competition at the bottom of the page and also the message from the editor. After receiving feedback from my lecturer, it was decided that my competition of "winning a trip to New York" wasn't a suitable competition prize for my target audience, as they would have to be accompanied by an adult and this may affect their decision to enter the competition. I have therefore decided to change the competition to something related to the aligned band, The Maverick Rejects as this keeps my content related t each other and is also a more achievable prize for my teenage audience.

Also, I found that my text in the message to the editor section seemed too cramped, looking as if I was running out of room. I have therefore redrafted this message, to a more concise, more direct message so that the audience don't have too much text to process yet can still have the sense they are being spoken to directly by the magazine.

In addition, i have also added images of high heeled shoes taken with my own family camera in the bottom of my wardrobe. I then edited out the background to the best of my ability to give a "professional, studio" type of look to the images. The shoes are anchored to the text underneath which links the music industry "Shoes that SING success" as well as mentioning how they are "chart topping". This was done to maintain the music genre throughout, as well as featuring fashion, conventional content of a teen pop magazine.