final front cover

final front cover, a photo by mgalloway2 on Flickr.

My unedited photo's

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

Screenshots taken from exsisting music magazines similer to that of mine (top) and from my own products (bottom). Click the images to read my flicker analysis

My finished products

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

I used many different technologies in planning, researching

and designing my magazine pages. I also used Blogger to

blog my work. I used different software and computer

 programs and also different hardware for taking my

photos. Photoshop was the program I used the most when

 designing and producing my magazine pages and in

photoshop I used many different processes. I learnt many things about these different technologies, how to use them efficiantly and how to make them do what I need. The main thing I learnt was about how magazines work around the different technologies and how the magazine industry has evolved around the evolution of computer software. The main technolgy I learned about was Blogger. Most coursework pieces are presented in essays, using a blog is a more modern and unconventional method with many different advantages. Firstly the most obvious advantage with a digital online coursework piece is with the variety of media available to use. I have used conventional text, images and even a video clip, with editing and changes being easier to make a blog is the way forward with coursework presentations. With an essay on the other hand it is alot easy to say what you mean and has an easier format and is easier to use. The layout of an essay is also more conventional and makes more sense, an introduction and the main content and then a conclusion, blogs do not have this in the conventional way.

Lookling back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

college front cover (very unfinished)
Originally uploaded by MattGalloway1992

Click images to read about my skills development.

Front cover (unfinshed) more unfinished
Originally uploaded by MattGalloway1992

I also learned alot about the planning and research section of the magazine production. I learned that target research is very important and that planning the actual content of the magazine, pre-production, is a great help.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine reperesents a group that is part of the large youth group called the "indiescensters". http://www.uktribes.com/?p=tribe&id=7 (see UK tribes)

The images have many similarities, firstly both subjects seem to be staring into nothing and are pulling very dull and boring poses, this shows they are not overly excited and is quite a 'cool' pose. Showing over excitement and being too invovled would connotate being uncool and too botherd. The colours are also quite dull, I didn't want a bright vibrant image but a dull and simple one to give a certain idea of my magazine, one more mature and artistic. The shot angle is similer and the shot distance is also quite similer. The lighting in both pictures is quite dull and dark. My picture's model is also wearing more stylish clothes and has a more modern hair style while the existing products model has boring and dull hair and clothes. Both subjects expressions are very similer, dull and a look of boredum, I like both images as they make the subject look rebbelious and 'cool' becasue they look like the don't give a monkey about anything. The fashion sense of my magazine's subject is much more indie looking and alot more modern stylish. Although my subject is looking away from the camera and the other is not I think both pictures give a very similer feel about my magazine. My magazine is for conventional indie kids, not challening any of their forms or conventions, it is for general indie music supporting kids.