Evaluation:
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Overall my magazine challenges the conventional methods used by usual magazines. The front cover of my magazine is a clear of example of challenging. The title “Control” is very different from other magazine. Control attracts the user to buy it because it sounds outrageous and makes the user want to get involved and read the magazine. However it does follow normal conventions by using an irregular name for the title but is less extreme and not shortened to attract the reader, e.g. NME (New Musical Express). Also the way in which the title looks stamped across the top of the magazine is different because usually the main image is somehow incorporated with the title, usually having the image overlapped. This makes it unconventional and makes it stand out different to usual magazines.
Also the style used for the mise en scene is similar to conventional methods using darker shaded reds and primary colours which make it bright and attractive. The colours work well with the colours of the clothing that Andrew (main picture) is wearing. The use of primary colours and fashion is very common within the general conventions of a magazine.
The background of the magazine is completely different to any usual convention of a magazine. The blackboard with writing is something that has never been seen before on a music magazine and also brings in a new concept of art involved with music. The writing on the blackboard is again in primary colours linking it with font colour as well as costume.The mise en scene is also very different to conventional methods because there aren’t any instruments involved. This for a music magazine is very rare as music instruments make it easily fit to purpose. However if an instrument was involved it would have cramped the front cover and would have made it look overcrowded and generally unplanned.
The contents page in some ways is conventional because it contains a large image of a band and album covers. However the use of mixing page numbers and artists across the page is very different from magazines and separates the pages which contain whole articles and pages which contain only minimal stories about the artist(s).There aren’t any features in the contents page that make them extremely different from conventional magazines but the way in which the colour scheme links with the front cover as this will makes it more user friendly and makes provides the magazine with a colour theme.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media represents the new teenage group which is held within the Indie/rock social group. It uses a choice of music favoured by myself and people in the class and the ever changing music taste of teenagers. It represents them by using colours and language which are worn and used by people of my age and who are in this style. The person featured on the front cover could be used as a recognised symbol of the Indie/rock social group by his choice of clothing. This would make my magazine appeal to them.
Also, the magazine is built around people who are within this social group which I am aiming it towards, and contains all the things they wanted to feature within a magazine such as freebies, competitions, gig listings and album/gig reviews.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
There are many kinds of media institution that would distribute my media product, Control magazine. Companies such as IPC Media may distribute this product as it combines modern fashion along with modern music, much similar to NME magazine. This would allow advertising from fashion companies who would want their products to be seen and sold. However, it is different as it offers newer and more amateur artists to get noticed, creating a scheme magazine allowing artists to get heard of and allowing producers to track the artists work. This would make it popular for people to buy as they will want to hear the newest acts, along with more world famous bands.
Another reason why a company such as IPC media would distribute my magazine would be because they would want to expand there company. Having another magazine at their hands, designed for people between the ages of 15-19 would open their marketing and attract magazine sales within this age range. With NME aged at a University mature audience, there is no Indie styled magazine aimed towards people between these ages. However with the attraction of the mature audience as well, with the use of old and new bands, more people would be likely to by this if they saw this on a shelf. This would then maximise sales and make the company more likely to distribute the magazine.
Also skateboard shops may distribute my magazine. This would be not as vastly advertised as if a world renowned distribution company distributed it, however it could gain results on how popular it could sell within a local community, meaning that a bigger company could take it off their hands in the future depending on how popular it really is.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
My audience for my music magazine is students between the ages of 15 and 19. This is because from my research the magazines within the Indie range are for a more mature audience. This is where control is different because it offers everything that people between these ages wanted to see within a music magazine. Also I chose this age not only because there was a gap in the market but also because fashion among people between these ages are shown and represented through artists these days, with them wearing 80’s styled clothing and having extreme hairstyles with multiple colours in them.
The magazine would also attract people who are very much into the Indie scene of music. This is a genre of music which is in-between the pop and rock genres. This means that a wide variety of bands would be able to feature within this. However with the mix of using old and new bands together will attract a more mature audience to also enjoy this type of magazine.

How did you attract or address your audience?
I attracted the audience to my magazine using an Indie styled person (Andrew Sebkhi) who wears fashionable clothes. He represents the newly created Indie scene well with his choice of haircut and his fashion. Also the colour choice for the title, a deep red, which makes it stand away from the main image, but keeping the choice of music which I am trying to represent distinctly away from the metal and pop category. Also I think that the blackboard in which Andrew is standing in-front of completed the style and shows how free spirited and how the classical mix between the music is represented with the modern in the foreground.
On the blackboard, there are captions which have been edited in also attracting people to want to read the magazine and find out what’s happening inside.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contrasting this product?
In creation of my magazine it required me into learning how to use new software’s such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe in-design. This software is of a professional standard, which create an ease for photo editing and magazine layout. The main software in which I used was Adobe Photoshop, which is used for editing images which allow any blemishes to be removed, and also improve the picture making it suitable for a certain purpose.
I learnt to use this using the internet with many different websites offering help and tips on how to create certain tips and make certain effects happen to a picture. This helped my magazine because it meant that pictures could be collaged together and also allowed me to make my images fit for purpose.
The second type of modern technology that I used was Adobe In-design. This is a highly noted professional piece of software which allows columns to be aligned correctly. This was the perfect software to use when creating my centre page spread because it allowed the article to be pasted in and fill the columns correctly. This gave it a much more professional look and also meant that any images that would be put in with the article would fit correctly within the text. To use this again the internet was used in giving me tips and providing me with tutorials. The use of the internet was very helpful when using this software as I wasn’t familiar with such a professional piece of editing software before, previously only using Macromedia fireworks, a semi-professional imagine editing software. Another technology which I learnt to use was the use of a professional SLR camera.
This provided me with the picture for the front cover and pictures for the contents page and for the centre page article. The camera is of a higher quality than a typical compact camera and required me adjusting fine settings such as white balance and image contrast which helped me create professional images suitable for use within my magazine. I learnt to change these settings with the use of SLR camera manuals and also the use of the internet again.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From my start of the preliminary task, there has been a vast improvement since then. I feel that my Photoshop skills as well as my photography skills have improved. The major improvement was my editing skills in Photoshop as I used higher levelled editing skills such as the "rubber stamp tool". This tool was used in order to remove some of the blackboard on the front cover and replace it with text used as a caption. This was much harder than any skill which I used on the preliminary task, which was when I really did not understand at first, but with help from other peers in the class as well as use of the internet, my skills improved drastically. I also feel that I have learnt how a magazine is constructed and what people from certain age groups want to see within a magazine. This would help me in case I ever developed my skills further and decided to be part of a media company producing magazines.
Another skill I felt that I improved on was my ability to use a camera. I feel that images produced for the preliminary task where basic and editing towards them was of a minimum, however images where more complex and I feel that I took into consideration all the different elements that would make it suitable for a magazine and also making sure that the photos would be of the correct orientation for each page. Finally I felt that my writing skills have much improved since GCSE level. I found that I was using more complex terms which would make the magazine both suitable for a young and mature audience. I found that my language improved since reading similar magazine such as NME which uses complex terms, along with humour to keep the reader attracted to the article.