2. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Vibe is going to distribute my media product through cross media promotion off IPC. IPC because they own a lot of media and produce mass media for the population. Vibe is good at making hip hop/rap magazines. Here is some background information on what Vibe has done and why I chose this media institution. Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in Summer 2009, Vibe was purchased by the private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners and is now issued quarterly with double covers, with a larger online presence, aided by the Vibe LifeStyle Network, a group of entertainment/music websites under the Vibe brand. The magazine's target demographic is predominantly young, urban followers of hip-hop culture. Vibe magazine launched the "Best Rapper Alive Tournament" on July 21, 2008. There were four brackets, and four number 1 seeds: Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Andre 3000. The actual final four included Ludacris, The Game, Eminem and Jay-Z. The last two rappers standing were Eminem and Jay-Z, with Eminem eventually garnering 69% of the votes for the victory. When Em heard the news, he stated: "It’s obviously an honor to have won the fans' support by being voted the Best Rapper Alive. I don't think that there is any one rapper that is simply the best though. Everyone who was in consideration and many others are the best at certain things, and at what they do. But since VIBE's offering the distinction, hell yeah I'll accept!“ This source is from wikipedia about Vibe magazine.
3. Who would be the audience for your media product? The audience for my media magazine would be older teenagers and young adults of age 16-25. White British, Asian , but mostly black. This is mainly for black people, because my front cover image is of a black rapper an up coming artist. I market this magazine to people who listen to rap / hip-hop as my front cover magazine covers that kind of genre. My artist is an upcoming person but local people would know him and people are interested in new up coming artist in the UK these days. My magazine targets people who shop at JD and were branded clothes like Nike, adidas etc ... and people who wear era hats as that is in my magazine represented and iconic for a rapper. My up coming artist is a young person his rapper’s name is redemption and he works in the music studio in Kilburn producing his music. People who live in ghetto places would most likely buy my magazine as they are an iconic representation of were a rapper starts his life from. The social class I am targeting are C1,C and D. The social groups I am probably targeting are male, although not leaving out females as they are also more and more interested in rap/ hip-hop. The people that I am targeting the most for definite are black people that dress and act like gangsters as my front cover is symbolic of that ideology as I have a picture of a rapper on my front cover. The people that would be targeted are people aspiring to be upcoming artist themselves and wanting to learn about the business and through this magazine they can. It would be people who love rap and hip hop. The people that would be fans of that kind of genre are people that would read, live and experiment with that particular music. Example creating beats for rappers. The people that I am targeting are people that associate with that genre and go out to concerts and gigs to see there favourite artist of that kind of genre eg. going to a Chris brown concert.
4. How did you attract/address your audience? I attracted my audience by given them a chance to win a prize. I attracted them by keeping my conventions the same like a real magazine. The people I address are of social class C1,C and D. I address my audience by talking about what products rappers use to make there music. I had an interview with a rapper telling the audience (16-25) about the way he made in into the industry and what challenges he faced and what he needed to do to get success and the do’s and don'ts as a star. I attracted my audience by having a house style and using the colours red, white and black predominantly representing the magazine of a Hip hop/rap artist. This is used to keep the audience focused on my magazine and engaged as the colours are iconic of hip hop/rap. I also attracted my audience by me interviewing an upcoming artist who made it in the industry. He told about his life and what he needed To do to make it. This attract and address the audience by giving them hope and feeling a sense of it they want to make it in the industry to They can if they follow some or all of his guidelines. My music magazine also has the latest gossip of celebrities which people are interested in so they can have a topic they can discuss about. They will also find out about the celebrities life and what they struggle in day to day live ,which they might want to aspire, as this is their favourite artist. In my double page spread I have got information about how the music technology works and how to use it. So when people Want to try there luck in their life it is possible as I have given them the information how attracting and addressing the audience at the same time. I have gone a step further and created an advert for my audience. This is to attract and address a problem in life that people are facing. The Product I used was lynx a favourite product to the boys as it has this ideology it attracts girls. I attracted my audience by taking a picture of a Girl and boy posing according to the ideology of it being a woman catcher. This also addresses the audience as boys armpits sweat a lot and Need a product to keep it fresh down the armpits.
5. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learnt that it is not easy to learn how to use the technologies. ( Adobe in design CS4 and Photoshop CS4) At the beginning I could only Use the basic functions example creating a text box to write on. My teachers also didn’t know how to use the software to its full extent. I also needed a lot of help from my friends as they knew a bit more than I did, but as I started researching on similar magazines like mine it Became easier to use adobe in design as using the basic was good enough. I realised as I started to use the software more and more I Needed something to edit my pictures I took or there will be a problem with the way my magazine would look. Then came the technology of using Photoshop to edit my pictures. That programme was hard to use for me as I have never used it before. To my rescue I had a girl in my class she was an expert at using photo shop. So I ask her for a lot of help how to use the programme and in What best ways I can edit my pictures. To my astonishment she was able to help me with all the pictures I needed help in and through her helping me I learned how to use the Software photo shop. It took me time to get use to the software and i needed to experiment with it a bit before getting to know even just The basic of it. As I got better at using adobe in design through constantly using it I was lacking skills in photo shop as I only knew the basic e.g. how to cropt A picture. Although as time was passing by, I got better and better at using both software to a semi professional level and my research into Looking at other magazine have also helped me to design my magazine in the way I have design it. Overall I got better at using both soft wares to make my magazine looks as realistic as it can.
6. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I have learnt so much it made me grow as a media person. I knew how to make a magazine that looks realistic to the real thing. I learned a lot Of new skills which is working with people and getting organised and taking pictures. I also learned how to do proper research asking these Questions: What is my target audience? What music do I try to promote? Etc... These are the questions and ask myself and came up with Solutions. I learned how to manage my time properly by going places and taking picture of my magazine. I also learned about how to interview a person. What kind of questions I need to ask them for example how did you make it in the music industry . I learned how to take professional pictures. What distances the pictures needed to be close up shot, mid shot and long shot. I also was able to make a house style for my magazine and I learned that thorough looking at news papers, magazine etc… I also learned what audience I had to choose and about representation. I learned about connotation and denotation to evaluate my magazine and to target a specific audience. I also learned that everything the media shows to the public has been mediated to their own liking. So the information they give is one sided. I learned how to make an advert and how to make it appealing. By me looking up a popular ad for example lynx and to recreate it to make it my own version. The picture that needed to be taken needed to be a close up / mid shot. It needed to convey the meaning of the advert for boys to attract woman through that spray that was the image I needed to create.
7. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? My media product uses real media conventions by having a promotional prize.(Free headset) It also has a barcode, number of issue and date. I got a picture of one up coming artist on the front cover following the conventions of a real magazine. I have also taking another magazine Ideas of a rap/hip hop magazine XXL here is the link http://www.xxlmag.com/ . I also got a title showing I used the conventions of a real magazine product. This is using all real conventions of my magazine according to my front Cover. My contents page challenges the conventions by me putting a picture of me in the right side of the magazine and making it not have one Column. It had a bit more of a quarter of a column to itself and writing underneath it with a margin between it. I also challenged the idea by putting a Hidden meaning in my magazine by having a fist and saying under the fist Music is life. Showing the power of hip hop/rap that is a lifestyle of hardness. I also challenged it by having writing on the side of my fist. Which is all unconventional in a real music magazine. What was conventional is the topics I was talking about which is Gossip, info and regulars. My double page spread is conventional by it talking about Music production and having 4 pictures of how people make music by using these Machines and having text underneath it. It also has a title and subtitle. Next to the double page spread is my interview with sniper. I have develop the Convention of writing interview by it having an angle. I also develop my picture of my artist by it having a shadow on his picture making him look more Realistic.
8. How does your media product represent particular social groups? All media products represent different social groups and most represent the target audience. A representation isn't a real thing but an idea of that thing. . The social class I am targeting are C1, C and D. The social groups that would be interested in my magazine are older teenagers and young adults 16-25. They represent this product as they are the ones that listen to the music does artist produce and make a living out off it. So my magazine covers the topic that people would like to hear and listen too. The front cover represent older teenagers and young adults as the picture of my artist is of age between 16-25. His face, his look, his stance is made to represent people in black community's. The look he gives out is to represent black young people and of other ethnicity but more rightly black to aspire to get to his position were he is. In the contents page there is a picture of me representing black people as I give out a stern look to represent a rapper as my arms are folded. The front cover attracts the 16-25 age group of people as the focus of a rapper is to make money as the time he spends to make music is money according to my artist shirt “ Time is money” that is conventional for rappers. In my double page spread I have an upcoming artist Who wears a black coat is black and has a black earring representing a typical black rapper. That the young people of today who wear that are part of my target audience as my rapper is symbolic of the way an artist should dress. Young people look up to the music they listen to by aspiring to be like the artist, but by getting a picture of an upcoming artist on the front cover. Young people know that if they aspire to make it in the music world it is possible as my magazine shows that through the people I put in it.
