Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full production?

I feel like I have learned a great deal over the last few months whilst creating my final product. During the beginning of my research I learned a lot about the codes and conventions of a music magazine as well as what makes a music magazine stand out from the others. The first set task we did was to analysis a music magazine of our choice. I feel that during the beginning of the year I struggled to understand just how much I needed to do and what to focus on. However now I feel like I have progressed and because of this I feel that my music magazine is better than it would have been. Through my research I have also learned about colour schemes and how people perceive different magazines and make assumptions based on their appearance. I feel that since then I have been able to make connections between different types of music genres and magazines that are associated with them. During my preliminary task I ignored things such as web pages, page numbers and effective coverlines. However since then I have used all of these effectively as well as things like features and promotional advertisements in my final media product. Since my preliminary task I have also learned about the readers of magazines and how depending on their age, education and affluence their taste in music or magazines differs, so a magazine has to take this into account and addresses their audience in different but effective ways.

Another thing I have learned since my preliminary task is a
bout the mise-en-scene and editing used in a
magazine and how depending on the genre of music the setting, costumes or even the font of the magazine differs.

Overall I think I have improved greatly since my preliminary task. I have learned how to use different softwares, how to take photos, how to edit my work and learned about the different kinds of conventions associated with a music magazine. 

Evaluation Question 6

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

 Through my construction of my media product I have had to use many different software’s, which I had previously never used before. 

The first thing we had to use was Blogger; an interactive, independent blog which we would use to post our coursework. Blogger is simple and effective in the sense that anyone could use it. It has helped me to branch out of my comfort zone and begin to use the Internet more freely to publish research and not have to worry about where I put it. 

 The next software we used was Adobe Indesign. We had to use this to construct our front page, double page spread and our contents page. A problem I found with Adobe Indesign was that during the beginning of my production I didn’t know how to use the program. But after many demonstrations I have learned how to use it. I have also learned how to edit, change the contrast, filter and backgrounds of images through my use of Adobe Photoshop. I found Adobe Photoshop harder to use than Indesign though that was only because of the complex layout of Photoshop. However by the end of my product I have learned how to use it effectively.

Prezi is another software we had to use. Prezi is an online presentation software, which we could choose to use to help present our evaluation. By using Prezi I have learned how to effectively present information. 

 As well as these I have also learned how to use cameras correctly and efficiently, as well as learning which angles work best when designing a music magazine.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

During the development of my media product my target audience was set to be between the ages of 18 and 25. The type of audience I wanted were people who enjoyed listening to grunge music or had nostalgia for classic 80’s grunge. In my mission statement I said:

“My target audience will be teenagers to early adults as this is a similar age range to common music magazines such as Kerrang! It will however appeal to an older generation of music lovers as well”

The key demographic for my music magazine was exclusively to appeal to males between the ages of 19 and 25, however after research and through a quantative and qualitative survey my views on the audience changed as the results showed that girls between the ages of 17 – 22 also liked grunge. Originally I had chosen males as my main audience as my perception of people who enjoyed grunge was only males however after I’d received my results I soon edited my media product to accommodate to my new audience.

Due to the age I had chosen my media product reflected on the attitudes and social conventions of the different social groups. My media product accommodated different needs normally found in a media product through its writing style, the music that was selected and the images chosen. Due to the ever growing social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr
and influence of the internet, which my key demographic uses regularly, I chose to incorporate the sharing of information that is used on the internet and use it in my media project to share information about up and coming gigs.

I feel that my magazine is a representation of my target audience as the images portrayed in my magazine relate to the audience it’s supposed to target in terms of their posing and clothing brands. The brands of the clothes are items in which the audience is used to seeing and may wear it themselves so it gives them a sense of being similar to the musicians. An example of this is the lead singers shirt which is a "Hype" shirt, which is a well known brand associated with grunge music and alternative bands.

The models hair is similar to the audiences own preferences and style as it mimic’s other well known band members which they may listen to or admire.

The masthead “GRUNGE” used for my magazine stands out and relates to the audience who would read it and associate it with the music genre. The title is bold and different to other music magazines as it’s something that hasn’t been done before, so the audience would want to read it.  

Evaluation Question 3

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

If my media product were to be real I would use Bauer to publish my magazine. The reasons for choosing Bauer is that it is multinational company that operates in 15 countries worldwide and they are the largest privately owned publishers in Europe. Statistically speaking, Bauer circulates 38 million magazines a week worldwide. Because of their success I would want Bauer to distribute my media product. As well as this their affluence and recognition could help my product become more successful than I may have thought possible.

Bauer also uses cross-media platforms; an example of this is Kiss radio, which promotes bands that, Bauer, owns as well as advertising other products too. Bauer also has TV channels dedicated to music and uses the Internet as a way of allowing the reader to become more interactive. This supports my decision to allow Bauer to distribute my magazine.

There are other publication I could go with, such as IPC Media, Imagine Publishing and Warner’s Group Publications however Bauer has better known magazines than the other publications and
is more established.

A problem with using Bauer is that there aren’t as many Grunge magazines in publication and the only other similar one would be Kerrang! Which is also owned by Bauer, so there might be competition or Bauer might be reluctant to publish my magazine because of its similarities with Kerrang!.   

Evaluative Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media project’s aim was to appeal to a certain social group, specifically between the ages of 16 -25 years of age. In setting this target audience I feel that I have met the required specifications in order to appeal to this audience in different ways.

My front cover was designed to appeal to my target audience through the use of its dark yet bold colour layout, similarly to Kerrang!’s colour format, as well as its informal writing style. As well as this I made sure that my front cover was focused on things, which were relatable to the people who would read the magazine, such as specific bands, clothing and events. The clothing worn by my models and the poses they did shows the relaxed nature of the band, as well as appealing to my target social group, which was grunge and alternative music lovers. Through my research into my target social group I had found that people who listened to grunge music tend to wear thrift store clothing to represent their separation from conventional and mainstream clothing. This helped me to style my models in a way which my target audience would find relatable and allowed my media product to represent the type of music and its audience.

In my article the representation of the social group was portrayed through the main image and subsidiary images as well as the article itself. An example of this in my article is the way the answers are written, as its relaxed and humorous tone makes it easy to read and represents the age of the singer. This allows it to be relatable to my audience as well as inspirational. The article represents the social group as the band itself became famous through the Internet, which is a reflection on today’s youth as being more interactive and involved with different media formats and technologies. This idea that they became famous through the Internet is more common among bands today with the likes of You Me At Six and The Blackout becoming famous through online videos. Magazines such as Kerrang! And Metal Hammer focus on bands like these and promote them, which is what I’ve tried to do through my magazine. The images used in the double page spread reflects on the social group as being enthusiastic about music through their poses, however their relaxed mannerisms reflects of the attitudes of the band and the audience. Their clothing again appears casual and is stereotypical of a grunge band.

 

The contents page represents the social group through its images and portrays the band as being fun and enthusiastic. The titles in the contents page shows what people of my target social group want to read about and is a good social representation.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/ address your audience? 

Evaluation Question 1

In what way does your media product use from llanigon

Finished Contents Page

Finished Double Page Spread

Finished Front Page

Photo Shoot 2

My new images consit of conventional poses normally assosiated with rock magazines, such as Kerrang! the natural lighting and comicalness of some of the photos makes it relateable to my target audience.

"Grunge" Front Cover 2

"Grunge" Music Front Cover 1

First Draft of Music Magazine Article

ROCK GRUNGE BAND BROKEN SOCIAL SILENCE ALMOST SEEMED TO BECOME FAMOUS OVERNIGHT. HERE IN THE UK THEY HAVE BECOME A HOUSEHOLD NAME FOR TEENAGERS AND ADULTS ALIKE. SOON TO BE RELEASING THEIR SECOND ALBUM ‘ANOTHER STORY HIGH’ WE TALK WITH FRONT MAN GAWAIN POPE ABOUT HIS NEW FOUND FAME AND BAND LIFE IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.

Broken Social Silence burst onto the music scene back in 2010 and have been heading nowhere but up ever since. From amateur Internet videos to international tours, Broken Social Suicide seemed to appear overnight.   

After releasing their first single ‘Low to Behold’ back in 2010 they were soon nominated for the Teen Spirit Award for Best British Newcomer and Rising Star.

Soon after they supported You Me At Six, Mayday Parade and We The Kings. Six months later, the band released their debut album, Age of Understatement, in 2011 and headed out on a headline tour in Britain.

They have been making their way round the festivals this year and will be heading out to Reading and Leeds for most of August before returning to the studio to work on new material.

Born in the busy city of Cardiff, South Wales, Gawain found his love for music at the age of twelve when his father bought him the album ‘Nevermind’ by 90’s grunge band legends Nirvana. He found he could relate to the lyrics in the songs and this was what fuelled his passion for music. Soon after he began playing the guitar and participated in school talent shows. By the age of fifteen he formed ‘Broken Social Silence’ with band members Jordan and Rain. Two years on they were signed to Atlantic Records who produced their first single and later their first album.

Grunge Magazine caught up with Broken Social Silence's front man Gawain after practise. Here’s what he had to say.

                       

How does it feel to be on the front cover of Grunge this week?

“It’s quite crazy the buzz around us right now. We’re not what you’d call a High Street band but on our next tour we’re suddenly playing for 10,000 and 20,000 capacity venues. We still think of ourselves as up and coming on the underground scene but it looks like the words getting out there. If it wasn't we wouldn't be on the cover of Grunge!”

Why do you think you've become so famous?

“People hear about us from friends and through the Internet and we've become quite well known. It doesn't seem real. But we have put ourselves out there a lot. We haven’t really stopped touring – ever. We’ve had maybe four weeks off in between tours since all this became serious but we just carry on. We do it for the fans. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are.”

How would you describe your music?

It’s fun and energetic but serious and expressive at the same time. It’s kind of a mixture of different kinds of rock from different decades, which our fans enjoy. We were heavily influenced by Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins so you could say our music is similar, but we’ve tried to put a modern spin on it whilst keeping it nostalgic. We have songs which some may find depressing, but we also have songs that get people jumping around. It’s always fun to see the crowd’s reaction to our music.”

Who’s coming to the shows these days?

“A mixture of people. A lot of people have heard about us from music channels like Kerrang! But a lot of the time it’s through word of mouth. We’ve been getting a lot of press coverage recently but ultimately people found out about us through a mate or message boards online. The whole "word of mouth" thing is cool though because for people to take the time to recommend us means we’re doing something right.”

How have your gigs changed since becoming famous?
“Back in 2010 when we were touring with smaller local bands it was kind of difficult since we didn’t have our album [Age of Understatement] out. A few people knew three or four of our songs from the Internet but now it’s all changed. Literally when we sing ‘Now I’m Here’ everyone know the words. But we’re looking forward to people hearing our new stuff, which is finally out on February 5^th.”

How easy was it to pick the songs for your debut album?

“For Age of Understatement we first went away and wrote a load of songs but they didn’t seem good enough for our record. They were just simple rock songs that didn’t really have any meaning. We’d previously written a few songs but we wanted to do something new, something out of our comfort zone. After a while we sort of branched our ideas together and it worked.”

Preview copies of the album have been watermarked to prevent leaks on the Internet and yet Broken Social Silence are a product of the Internet age. What are your views on music and the web?

“We, as a band, grew up on the Internet so we’re very open to what we can and cannot do through that medium and we know from our own personal experiences just how useful a tool the Internet can be for new bands. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the Internet. The Internet is a great way to get your name out there.”

Thank you for answering all our questions

“No problem, it’s been fun answering them!”

Broken Social Silence’s new album, Another Story High, is to be release on the 5^th February. Watch their live acoustic session and many more clips on our homepage at www.grungemagazine.com

New Edited Images For Music Magazine

After consideration I have decided to use my previous images but edited them in a way which doesn’t promote smoking and looks better. To edit the photos I have used Adobe Photoshop to change the contrast, exposure, the hue and the colour balance of the four photos to make the images appear more professional and effective to be used in a music magazine.

Photo Shoot/ Masthead Query

After evaluation of my images for the front cover and article I have decided to re-take the photos as it endorses negative activities and now knowing how and what I want to do the pictures may be of a better quality.

Since my target audience is 16-25 year olds the promotion of these activates cuts off the audience at a certain age as well as idealising and encouraging these activities. As well as the photos the masthead hinders the possibility of a larger target audience. The masthead could even make other possible buyers of the magazine not want to purchase it because of the word “teen”.

Kerrang Mock Magazine - Cover 5

Kerrang Mock Magazine - Cover 4

Kerrang Mock Magazine - Cover 3

Kerrang Mock Magazine - Cover 2

Kerrang Mock Magazine Cover 1

Broken Social Silence - start of Interview

Broken Social Silence burst onto the music scene back in 2010 and have been heading nowhere but up ever since.

They were nominated for the Teen Spirit Award for Best British Newcomer before they had released any official material and after supporting You Me At Six, New Found Glory, Mayday Parade and We The Kings the band released their debut album, Eccedentesiast, toward the end of 2011 before heading out on their own headline tour.

They have been making their way round the festivals this year and will be heading out to Reading and Leeds for most of August before returning to the studio to work on new material.

We caught up with Broken Social Silence's front man Gawain Pope and the rest of the band for this weeks interview. Here is what the band members had to say.

The fashion came out of the financial privation of the times, combined with the regional growth of grunge music made popular by bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The style combines elements of punk mixed with cheap working class clothing. The development of grunge also brought back the ripped and shredded clothing popular during the early 1980s. At its height, grunge was in many ways a rejection of the capitalist excesses of the 1980s, but the style was quickly picked up by designers and turned into a well-known fashion trend.

 

Grunge Fashion Now 


Normally people who prefer to dress "grunge" wear dark clothing, denim, or inexpensive clothing from charity shops. People who normally dress "grunge" change their hair colour to appear less mainstream and more of an individual. Grunge is inherently anti-fashion. The stereotypical grunge outfit would be slightly baggy worn or ripped stone washed jeans with a plaid flannel over a grunge band shirt and lace up boots or Converse All-Stars.

Grunge - Music Genre

Grunge is a sub genre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in America, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song dynamics, and apathetic or angst-filled lyrics. The grunge genre is stripped-down in contrast to other forms of rock music.

Examples of grunge bands

• Nirvana
• Bush
• Alice in Chains
• Pearl Jam
• Hole
• Green River 

Potential Photos For Music Magazine - Main and Supplementary Images